Nerve Endings Firing Away

Sonia Falerio pointed me to this ridiculous post on Perez Hilton who report the weird story of an Indian prince who has come out of the closet. My initial reaction was why the heck was Sonia reading Perez Hilton who apparently is known primarily for holding the fort for his other famous namesake, Paris Hilton during her ‘moments of crisis’. The post on Perez Hilton starts thus:

Say hello to Manvendra Singh Gohl, the only son of the King and Queen of India. And he’s gay!

Never mind the gay part but King and Queen of India? The last time any monarch even claimed to hold that title was when Ashoka was battling his conscience. Sonia responds appropriately when she says, ” Proving again that too many Americans know nothing about the world, and want to keep it that way.” And of course, we shouldn’t expect any more from sources like Perez who generate fluff news. Where did Perez get that piece of ridiculous information? It was from an ABC News report that mentions this non-story:

Singh Gohil is a prince, the son of the maharajah — Indian royalty from a dynasty that is more than 600 years old. Today, though India is a democracy, the Singh Gohils are still honored as if they ruled the land.

I imagine he read this bit of news and thought India is one big homogeneous chunk of land still ruled by one monarch. After all, history books are for wusses, right? I am sure he isn’t aware that hardly anyone in India apart from those who are apparently still honoring the Singh Gohils has heard of them. The least he could have done is Googled the so-called Prince of India. I did and found only one reference to him (that Google deemed valid) and guess what, it pointed to a link which was written in reference to the Perez Hilton story. I am sure if he truly was the Prince of India, our dear Indian media would have flooded the Internets with the news of his inane habits and possessions. Heck, even a forgotten also-ran Bollywood actress has more Google juice (and hence exists). So Mr. Perez, please continue with your celebrity reporting but at least Google them first to see if they really are celebrities.

I am not even commenting on the ABC News story which seems to be written by a soap opera fan obsessed with the exoticism of the East. </rant>