Great Khali and multiple narrative universes

A blog post on the Great Khali - a WWE wrestler of Indian origin sparked an email conversation between Sam Ford and me this week. Sam, a wrestling scholar, wrote to me that among WWE fans in the US, Khali is seen as an interesting spectacle, but thats it. It is interesting how he is adopted by Indian fans and cable TV stations, and how the narrative around him changes completely in this context. Of course, none of the English news media covers this in India. It's a Hindi thing - a jingoistic Chak De India kind of yes we showed them chest-thumping, but yet, such joy at the approval and prizes won from "them" - in this case, the WWE, which of course, stands in for the USA. It's the same as with Shilpa Shetty and the big brother racism story last year I suppose. Two contrasting narratives running throughout. Narrative one is the fact that she - "our Shilpa" has won approval from "them" - namely the British, by winning Big Brother over "there". The "there" is significant. Because its the UK, former colonial master etc, there is some element of post-colonial pride, and I guess, joy at receiving approval. (Of course, the "them" and "there" in the UK no longer stand for exclusively white people.) Narrative two is that "our Shilpa" must simultaneously be protected from "them" - in this case symbolized by the demonized Jade Goody. Shipla stands for Mother India in this narrative - pure, good mannered, virtuous and Indian, wearing her culture as a badge of honor, while Jade, whiteness, the UK, etc. are the "other" which she must fight against, and fight she does, with her army of digital diasporic warriors, further reinforced by the 24-7 connected natives back "home" in India which then helps the news circulate like wildfire, and suddenly, British ministers visiting India are made to feel embarassed by and apologize for their society's racism. What happens post that is even more interesting, but Shilpa will be studied for many years in the academy and its such a rich case study, so lets stop for now. Suffice to say that I like these multiple narrative universes that build around cultural phenomena - and the aha moment that occurs when people from the different silos encounter each other and their narratives. Kind of like the engineering and marketing teams behind a product encountering each other and wondering - what, THIS is what you thought we were making??? Actually, its THAT.