Shobhaa De, a celebrated journalist, novelist, and columnist, is a living example of the fact that sometimes, acting too pricey and knowledgeable can be a hindrance for you. The lady has been known for her sharp comments on various subject matters, but this time, maybe she got a tad too far when she tweeted this, on our Olympic athletes.
Goal of Team India at the Olympics: Rio jao. Selfies lo. Khaali haat wapas aao. What a waste of money and opportunity.
— Shobhaa De (@DeShobhaa) August 8, 2016
Tut, tut. For a lady who boasts herself on being the face of Indian literature, and considers herself to be an ‘opinion shaper’ (as per her Twitter profile), this is certainly an unacceptable remark.
Soon enough, we came to know that we were not the only ones thinking so. Tweets poured in from all over the country, as the whole India united over this insult of our Olympic players.
A notable one was that of singer Abhijeet, who apparently had the good intention of demeaning Shobhaa De and uplifting the athletes, but miserably failed in doing so, because of two reasons. Firstly, because of the derogatory language that he used for the veteran journalist, and secondly because the chirpy Sonam Kapoor was ready to take him on by reminding him of his infamous tweet on the Salman Khan case. Take a look at the tweets below to get the jist of this.
Unstoppable shameless #बेशर्म बूढ़ीयाs .. abusing and cursing their own motherland, own children, own talents .. https://t.co/nMhy0xfhTF
— abhijeet (@abhijeetsinger) August 8, 2016
You're such a hypocrite.. https://t.co/FoTF1sp5c6
— Sonam Kapoor (@sonamakapoor) August 9, 2016
Yes @sonamakapoor we all r hypocrites bt not the Khandani FILMI type hypocrites nor page3, we r proud of our players https://t.co/sy8Q3o2sjd
— abhijeet (@abhijeetsinger) August 9, 2016
????????? https://t.co/3jTLwYwQCF
— Sonam Kapoor (@sonamakapoor) August 9, 2016
Well, though Sonam did not clear her stance on the matter, but she did have a point. She called Abhijeet a ‘hypocrite’, referring to the tweet of his that stated that Salman was indeed innocent of the ‘hit and run’ crime.
Take a look at that ‘notorious’ tweet here,
Suicide is crime so is sleeping on footpath..80% homeles film ppl strugld achievd stardom but never slept on footpath @BeingSalmanKhan
— abhijeet (@abhijeetsinger) May 6, 2015
Hypocrite much?
Anyway, actress Sonakshi Sinha too took to Twitter to express her support for the players, and slammed Shobhaa De for her insensitive comment.
Lions dont lose sleep over the opinions of sheep. N champions dont lose sleep over opinions of the ignorant. INDIA is proud of u. #Rio2016
— Sonakshi Sinha (@sonakshisinha) August 9, 2016
But the real gold goes to ace shooter Abhinav Bindra, who, with all his honesty and modesty, gave a befitting reply to Shobhaa De.
@DeShobhaa that's a tad unfair. You should be proud of your athletes perusing human excellence against the whole world.
— Abhinav Bindra (@Abhinav_Bindra) August 9, 2016
To which actress Gul Panag gave the sweetest response, with an embedded burn for Shobhaa.
@Abhinav_Bindra And do so despite of and in spite of there being no infra & institutional support, and no sporting culture @DeShobhaa
— Gul Panag (@GulPanag) August 9, 2016
Lots of lament about medal tally, but no lament about lack of fitness culture (which builds a sporting nation) @Abhinav_Bindra @DeShobhaa
— Gul Panag (@GulPanag) August 9, 2016
Abhishek Bachchan, known for his calm and sensible tweets, too pitched in his opinion, and we couldn’t agree more.
Yes, winning is the goal. But representing your country at the Olympics is a HUGE deal too regardless of the results. Proud of r athletes.
— Abhishek Bachchan (@juniorbachchan) August 9, 2016
Glad to see the whole nation uniting for and appreciating the efforts of our players in Rio. You go guys, and whether you win or lose, you have already won our hearts!
