The literary performer is drawing flak for his explicit references to women's breasts and sexist remarks about their attire.
Published Nov 15, 2022 | 9:30 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 15, 2022 | 9:55 PM
Literary performer-spiritual speaker Garikipati Narasimha Rao has been called out for his misogynistic remarks in his discourses. (srigarikipatinarasimharaoofficial/Facebook)
Literary performer (Telugu Avadhani) and spiritual speaker Garikipati Narasimha Rao is making headlines, yet again, and for all the wrong reasons.
Old videos of his, where Garikipati was seen making insensitive and misogynistic remarks during his spiritual discourses, have been circulating on the internet for the past few days.
In the videos, some of them even a decade old, the literary performer is seen adopting a scornful tone and branding women — especially modern women — for their choice of attire and appearance.
Interestingly, he even gave excuses for the rising crimes against girls/women by resorting to victim-blaming.
For those who don’t know, Garikipati Narasimha Rao delivers spiritual discourses on television and news channels like Bhakti TV, ABN Andhra Jyothi, and SVBC.
His speeches are also telecast by several Telugu YouTube channels, broadcast on the radio, and widely shared on social media.
The literary performer has over 1.5 million subscribers on his YouTube channel and Facebook, and over 4.33 lakh followers on Instagram.
The Central government recently conferred him the Padma Shri for his contribution to the literary world.
After the videos with the misogynist comments went viral, women’s organisations in Andhra Pradesh demanded a public apology from Garikipati for his appalling remarks and took objection to his brazen references to women’s bodies.
Going a step further, Hyderabad-based journalist C Vanaja called him out in a clip by collaging all his videos, which went viral, garnering over 82,000 views over the past five days.
“I was discussing with a friend about the recent child sexual abuse case in the DAV school [in Hyderabad] when she brought Garikipati’s speeches to my attention. The contempt he has for modern-day women and the explicit sexism in his content prompted me to do the video,” Vanaja told South First.
She explained that what Garikipati said in his speeches was not just misogyny but casual misogyny.
“It’s easy to counter misogyny, which is usually blatant. But casual misogyny, under the garb of humour, impacts the listeners at the subconscious level. For a man of that stature and huge fan following, we can’t imagine the extent of the damage he’s been causing over the years,” she said.
As soon as the journalist’s video went viral, she was trolled by Garikipati’s followers for “not wearing a dupatta”. She was body-shamed even by women.
“I was expecting a backlash from men, but I was shocked when women used expletives against me for calling him out. This is called conditioning and this is how casual misogyny works,” she explained.
The journalist also pointed out that Garikipati’s discourses were only widening the gap between generations instead of helping them adapt to the changing times.
Unlike other speakers (like Chaganti Koteswara Rao) who stick to spirituality and mythology, Garikipati has many followers — not just among the elderly but also the younger lot of English-speaking NRIs — because of his speeches that are usually laced with humour.
Activists are of the opinion that all his discourses predominantly reflect Brahminical ideology, casteism, and regressive patriarchal norms.
To everyone’s surprise, he termed gender-based violence as men’s right on several occasions, and even justified rape by claiming women’s attire was the reason behind these horrendous crimes!
In one instance, Garikipati said modern women deliberately seek physical contact with strangers (men), especially while using public transport.
At another point, he declared that smart dresses and makeup were meant only to seek men’s attention to women’s bodies.
Interestingly, the “normalised” bigotry echoed in Garikipati Narasimha Rao’s speeches (in the guise of safeguarding culture and traditions), his explicit references to women’s breasts in every discourse, and his obsession with women won him both admirers — mostly traditionalists of various ages — and critics.
In fact, in 2021, popular singer Chinmayi Sripada, who was vocal about gender abuse, called Garikipati out after he delivered a speech on how “married women should dress appropriately”. He was apparently referring to deep-neck/backless blouses, jeans, and other Western attire.
In one of her tweets, Chinmayi also referred to a video where the spiritual speaker asked how younger men could control themselves when he, at the age of 55, could not.
Someone needs to tell Sri Garikapati Narasimha Rao garu to stop shaming women. His pravachanas are obsessed with women, their clothes, how married women should behave & etc. He is highly respected which makes it realllly tough to drive home the point that he’s spewing nonsense.
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) January 4, 2021
On Sunday, 13 November, Garikipati’s controversy gained steam after Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Telangana unit president RS Praveen Kumar shared Vanaja’s video, demanding a public apology from Garikipati for degrading women.
మహిళల ఆత్మగౌరవాన్ని కించపరచినందుకు ఈ గరికపాటి అనే పురుషాహంకారి బేషరతుగా క్షమాపణ చెప్పాలి. ఇలాంటి Misogynist లను తెలుగు సమాజం మరియు మీడియా బహిష్కరించాలి. Thanks Ms Vanaja garu for making a bold video✊ https://t.co/1OcExPtJJJ via @YouTube
— Dr.RS Praveen Kumar (@RSPraveenSwaero) November 13, 2022
It may be mentioned here that Garikipati, in one of his discourses, body-shamed BSP national president Mayawati by referring her to an elephant — the party’s election symbol — which is believed to be the reason behind Praveen Kumar’s reaction.
Telangana BSP official spokesperson Aruna Queen told South First that besides a public apology, the party is also demanding the revocation of Garikipati’s Padma Shri.
“A man who treats women with such contempt doesn’t deserve the Padma Shri. In the next couple of days, we’ll coordinate with women’s organisations in Telangana and hold a press meet to call him out,” she said.
When contacted, labour and child rights activist Varsha Bhargavi recalled that Garikipati shot to fame with literary programmes like Saahityamlo Haasyam and Avadhanam.
“His earlier works were benign and he only spoke about literature or myths. But, over the years, popularity seems to have got the better of him. He’s now spewing venom in his social commentary through discriminatory remarks and explicit references to women’s breasts and attire,” she said.
This reflected his regressive mindset and contempt towards modern women, she added.
While netizens wondered why women’s organisations did not respond on this issue, Hyderabad-based activist and social worker Deepthi S told South First that women’s rights activists would soon urge the Telangana government to take cognisance of the matter and initiate appropriate action against Garikipati.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Women and Transgender Organisations’ Joint Action Committee released an open letter addressing Garikipati’s followers.
In the letter, the JAC threw light on how the literary performer was spreading hostility towards women and justifying rape culture under the garb of spirituality.
The JAC also urged them to be cautious against falling prey to such a “serial abuser (of ‘modern’ women) who is dinning his own versions into the minds of younger men, in particular”.
Meanwhile, the Telangana chapter of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) held a roundtable meeting in Hyderabad.
It was attended by AIDWA General Secretary Mallu Lakshmi, Progressive Organisation for Women National Convenor Sandhya, and Bhumika (feminist) magazine founder and Editor-in-Chief Satyavati Kondaveeti, among others.
On the occasion, the activists came up with a few resolutions like imposing a ban on misogynistic speeches or discourses on media channels, organising a meeting with the Women’s Commission and government officials, and initiating legal action against the likes of Garikipati for making derogatory remarks against women.
Incidentally, Garikipati Narasimha Rao was in the news in October after he threatened to leave the “Alai Balai” event organised in Hyderabad if actor Chiranjeevi didn’t stop his photo session with admirers.
His comments drew flak from the irate fans of the Megastar. They trolled Garikipati for being casteist.
Even a host of artists from the Telugu film industry, including actor Nagababu and lyricist Anantha Sriram, took swipes at Garikipati and expressed their solidarity with Chiranjeevi.
Though the war seemed to have ended after Chiranjeevi requested everyone to bury the hatchet, old clippings of Garikipati are doing rounds on social media.
“The issue got huge attention because it involved a star like Chiranjeevi. Unfortunately, nobody paid attention to the casteist and sexist remarks that Garikipati made during his discourses until the Alai Balai event,” pointed out Deepthi.
It was high time the government initiated serious action against people like Garikipati, she added.
Meanwhile, Garikipati was not reachable on phone to respond to the ongoing controversy.
