Newly-crowned Miss World Manushi Chhillar on Monday said she is too busy enjoying her success as a beauty queen to be upset over Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's pun on her surname, which translates into "loose change" in colloquial Hindi.
Manushi's win at the Miss World pageant ended India's 17-year-long dry spell at the coveted event.
"A girl who has just won the World isn't going to be upset over a tongue-in-cheek remark. 'Chillar' talk is just small change - let's not forget the 'chill' within Chhillar,' Manushi, the sixth Indian to win the title, tweeted.
The Congress Member of Parliament had played on her name in a tweet yesterday. "What a mistake to demonetise our currency! BJP should have realised that Indian cash dominates the globe: look, even our Chhillar has become Miss World," Tharoor had said.
What a mistake to demonetise our currency! BJP should have realised that Indian cash dominates the globe: look, even our Chhillar has become Miss World!
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 19, 2017
Guess the pun IS the lowest form of humour, & the bilingual pun lower still! Apologies to the many who seem to have been righteously offended by a light-hearted tweet today. Certainly no offence was meant to a bright young girl whose answer i've separately praised. Please: Chill!
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 19, 2017
The former minister's attempt to attack the Centre over demonetisation using Manushi's surname did not go down well with the social media.
I saw @ShashiTharoor tweet regarding @ManushiChhillar . I wasn’t offended even though she is a times girl. We need to learn to be more TOLERANT towards light hearted HUMOUR. #MissWorld2017 #MissIndia
— Vineet jain (@vineetjaintimes) November 20, 2017
However, Vineet Jain, MD, Times Group, the organisation behind the India chapter of the pageant, took to the microblogging site to say that Tharoor's comment was not offensive.
"I saw @ShashiTharoor tweet regarding @ManushiChhillar. I wasn't offended even though she is a times girl. We need to learn to be more TOLERANT towards light hearted HUMOUR," he wrote.
Exactly @vineetjaintimes agree with you on this. A girl who has just won the World isn’t going to be upset over a tongue-in-cheek remark. ‘Chillar’ talk is just small change - let’s not forget the ‘chill’ within Chhillar 🙂 @ShashiTharoor https://t.co/L5gqMf8hfi
— Manushi Chhillar (@ManushiChhillar) November 20, 2017
Manushi Chhillar seconded Jain and tweeted, "Exactly @vineetjaintimes agree with you on this".
After his comment triggered a heavy backlash, Tharoor apologised on Twitter, stressing he meant no offence to Manushi.
"Guess the pun IS the lowest form of humour, and the bilingual pun lower still! Apologies to the many who seem to have been righteously offended by a light-hearted tweet today.
"Certainly no offence was meant to a bright young girl whose answer I've separately praised. Please: Chill!" he wrote.
The academician appreciated Chhillar’s easy-going attitude towards the tenor of his tweet and called her a “class act”. “You’re a class act, @ManushiChhillar! Beautiful, smart & uncommonly gracious too. Still, if any offence was caused to any member of your family, sincere apologies. Like every Indian, I’m proud of you,” he tweeted.
You're a class act, @ManushiChhillar! Beautiful, smart & uncommonly gracious too. Still, if any offence was caused to any member of your family, sincere apologies. Like every Indian, I'm proud of you. https://t.co/42wdOqV0wZ
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 20, 2017
Tharoor’s initial tweet was also lambasted by several ministers including two Haryana ministers and the National Commission for Women. In fact, the NCW on Sunday said it would summon Tharoor for his “derogatory and degrading tweet”, made by the Thiruvananthapuram MP after Chhillar was crowned Miss World. “He degraded the achievement of daughter of #haryana and #India who got glory to the country. Will he call his own daughter chillar? He must apologize immediately,” the NCW tweeted.
NCW condemn the tweet of @INCIndia leader @ShashiTharoor. He degraded the achievement of daughter of #haryana and #India who got glory to the country. Will he call his own daughter chillar? He must apologize immediately. https://t.co/WD6q49vUo8
— NCW (@NCWIndia) November 19, 2017
