Kiran Joneja 'loo'ses it!

I proud to be Indian

That's the message the usually soft-spoken Kiran Joneja (Ramesh Sippy's wife) sounded off to a foreigner who was being rude to an Indian inside the ladies washroom at Cinemax multiplex.

Joneja was there to attend the premiere of Casino Royale on Thursday evening, when the unpleasant incident took place.

Dressing down
Former model Nutan Lohia, who witnessed the entire incident, recalled, "During the film's interval, several women were waiting in queue inside the ladies' washroom when this foreign lady barged in. She walked past the queue and walked straight into the empty cubicle, shoving aside the lady who was waiting to enter it. When a lady protested, the foreigner started arguing and said something insulting about Indians, used the bathroom and walked out."

Kiran was witness to this ugly exchange as she was present in the washroom.

When Nutan emerged from the ladies room, she spotted the rude foreigner with an Indian man and walked up to him and related the incident. The foreigner continued to act hostile. It was at this moment that Kiran stepped in and gave the foreigner a dressing down. "She made it a point to see that the foreigner apologised. But she didn't leave it at that. The boyfriend too mumbled an apology on behalf of the lady," said Nutan.

Improper act
When we spoke to Joneja, she said, "I'm not sure exactly what happened as I was inside one of the stalls. But then I heard this foreigner saying something extremely offensive about Indians, which I can't repeat in print. It's possible that she could have been upset about something one of the ladies said to her, but there was no need to be derogatory about Indians. I was extremely annoyed by that and told her that if she had a problem with the lady who was rude, she should have spoken to her rather than pass an offensive comment about Indians. The lady saw my point and said, 'I am sorry if it offended you'."

No courtesy
Kiran then went up to the Indian man who had accompanied the foreigner and spoke to him too. "He was quite passive about the incident and kept saying it was a misunderstanding. I had no idea who he was, but Indian or not, I will not tolerate anybody talking derogatorily about us. I love India and I'm very patriotic. But it is also a matter of courtesy, you know. I'm not going to go to Russia and abuse all Russians on the basis of an unpleasant experience with one person, am I?"

Kiran said that there were about 10 women inside the washroom who were fuming after the incident occurred. "When the foreigner left the washroom, all the women reacted but not one of them had the guts to tell her off, except this one lady called Nutan Lohia, who went up to the lady and her companion with me to tell her off."