I believe I lead a call for more sexy sepia men on the Mutiny, but now that a reader sent in some pics, (thanks Ananya) I’m not sure what to think. (mental note: research loopholes and plausible deniability)
Over on the right, we have John Abraham, the 6’1”, half-Keralite/half-Parsi, 1999 winner of Gladrags Manhunt India. Let me hasten to add that he’s now fast becoming an established Ahctor with roles in Dhoom, Water, Viruddh and the soon-to-be released Baabul, among others. The last two with none other than the Daddy-O of Hindi cinema, his excellency Amitabh Bachchan.
As an avowed vegetarian, Abraham recently posed for a PETA India campaign to release caged birds, (see the sexy results below), but it’s this latest poster promoting vegetarianism that caught our tipster’s eye. “Abraham appears dressed in green onions, chilies and what looks like green peas,” s/he succinctly writes. Am I the only one rather turned off by this pic? I dunno, but a scallion grass skirt covering a man’s tender parts entirely makes me lose my appetite. For anything. And what’s with that highly ridiculous crown of chilies? Is this a pun on hotness?
“I’m against cruelty of any kind. That’s why I’m associated with PETA and work against cruelty to animals. Though I’m not the moral police, I’d like people to be considerate to other living beings,” he says. [link]
Sure, sure, but what about cruelty to men, eh? I think forcing a man to wear vegetables surely counts in that category.
Of course, given that I’m an incorrigible carnivore, I can’t speak to this with any authority. When my guest tenure is up, dear readers, know that the mutineers will breathe a sigh of relief for they won’t have to hear me slurp ox-tail soup in the close quarters of our North Dakota bunker anymore. Anna is ready to label my flatware, kosher-style, and Sajit still hasn’t forgiven me for eating all his Marmite. (I thought he bought it for me - I didn’t know yeasts weren’t animal!!)
Kudos to PETA for finally tapping the Indian market. I guess a long history of cow-protection and vegetarianism meant the country was ripe for PETA style re-education:
Cattle who were once revered partners in our culture and part of our spiritual and family lives endure dreadful lives and painful deaths. Their suffering has become ours, as studies have shown that consuming milk that was meant for baby cows puts us at risk for a host of ailments, including cardiovascular disease; ovarian, breast and prostate cancer; diabetes and even osteoporosis. The cholesterol and saturated fat in dairy products clogs arteries and feeds tumours, and the high protein levels leach calcium from our bones, making them brittle and fragile…A study revealed that at least 70 per cent of the South Indian population cannot digest milk sugars! [link]
My ignominious days as a bio student are long over, but perhaps Abhi or one of the science/medical braniacs reading this could explain why (some of) this sounds like rot to me. Drinking milk leaches calcium? And I thought South Indians lacked lactase because of a childhood diet short on dairy? Damn..where’s Razib when you actually need him!
As much as I agree that frankenfoods (aka genetically modified tomatoes and such) are scary, and that Vestern agri-businesses are not environmentally sound, and that modern cattle raising methods are inhumane….PETA’s propagandistic tactics leave me cold. And this relentless scrutiny of everything worn or eaten reminds me of the hippies in Gita Mehta’s Karma Cola… you know, the “India’s so lovely, too bad about the Indians” sort.
Ah, but I digress. Here, finally, is John Abraham’s poster for Avian Freedom. Let’s scrutinize it for, um, fashion faux pas, and, er, ethnocentric perspectives, shall we?
Related posts: one fish, two fish, three fish, blue fish.
