Sorry, Salman Khan, but money does not buy you everything. Even in India!

Sorry, Salman Khan, but money does not buy you everything. Even in India!

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© Salman Khan Twitter

Twelve days into the Olympics, Salman Khan has, finally, woken up. The Bollywood star, who was unceremoniously appointed as the Olympic ambassador, has announced his intention to 'appreciate' the Indian athletes by presenting them a cheque of Rs 1,01,000 each. A generous gesture from someone who is known for his generosity.

While we are yet to get an answer or explanation as why he was selected as an ambassador in the first place. What followed after he received the honour can easily be turned into a script for one of those movies he makes these days—tacky and dumbfounding.

Bhai firstly went and shot his mouth at the other ambassadors. While deciphering complex social situations like “how to deal with women” are out of his capacity, shooting your fellow messengers is quite a bad move. Especially when you take offence with the 'God of Cricket' for being a one-sport wonder. But, how does one expect him to understand that invariably all sportsmen play only “one sport”, when he thinks he can win “gold in walking if only it was an Olympic sport”.

Additionally, being Salman, he went and made that sexist or absolutely normal (depending on whether you are a fan or not) statement about rape and got himself almost disqualified from being an Olympic ambassador. However, as usual, he got away with a gentle rap on the knuckles.

His social media team did a passable job of churning out colorful copy+paste posters day after day, but intriguingly, these posters and tweets stopped as soon as movie Sultan was released. Should a role as prestigious as the Olympic ambassadorship be treated as a marketing opportunity like 'Comedy nights with Kapil'?

While Salman Khan was chilling and basking in the glory of the success of his movie, Sachin Tendulkar flew to Rio to encourage and cheer the athletes. Abhinav Bindra visited the Indian boxers at Baku, Azerbaijan, where they were fighting for the last of the Olympic berths and cheered from the sidelines. He also stepped in and tried to resolve the difference between Narsingh Yadav and Sushil Kumar, and insisted that he would personally write to every member of the Rio-bound team to offer their help if needed. That is, apart from competing himself and coming close to winning a medal for the nation once again.

But this a battle, and Bhai cannot lose it. Sachin and Bindra stole his beloved limelight, and Salman was in desperate need to have the final word. But speaking brings along the risk of exposing one's intellect, and that is a risk Salman cannot afford to take. So, he chose the easiest way to make the mark in this nation—money.

These poor Indian athletes are in desperate need of money, and Salman decided to be generous. Every obstacle these poor athletes have faced in their lives, every sacrifice they have made to reach Rio was evaluated and a number was attained - Rs 1,01,000. The audacity is disturbing, but nothing you would not expect of Salman Khan.

This 'gesture' is not only demeaning, but also humiliating. But, perhaps the worst part about this whole incident is the support and pat on the back Salman will generate for his 'goodwill'. After all, 'donation' makes everything right in this nation, where hero worshiping has reached a new level. We as a nation appreciate 'free' stuff more than anything, no matter how that stuff were acquired.

However, sadly for Salman Khan, the poor athletes are unlikely to appreciate his benignity. Yes, most of these athletes struggle financially, and are in desperate need of better facilities. But, the last thing they need is sympathy, or be the part of some star's PR campaign. They receive enough 'sympathy' from the fans during the two weeks of the Olympics, who forget about them for the next four years, much like Salman Khan did once his movie was released. Please spare the athletes of your genorosity.

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