So you thought Richard Gere was a Buddhist? Of course, you are right. While trying to stand up for the cause of AIDS among 40,000 truck drivers in New Delhi, he ended up giving co-cause celebrity Shilpa Shetty forced pappies and plenty of embarassment, and the truckie pappes plenty of cheer and hoot and honk about.

So, an angreezi hero swept our desi heroine off her feet (or, so he thought) and planted a chummi on her hand first, then cheeks, and then did a Mika-Rakhi almosty by forcing himself on the Shilpa desperately trying to ward him off.

She is certainly a Pretty W oman, but no, he isn't her Big Brother, even if he was out to prove that he isn't a racist either. As a matter of fact, he is the best known face of Buddhism. And he was instrumental in dishing out instant nirvana!

While the footage of Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty was also nirvana for the channels who went rewinding it ad nauseum. And as predicted members of the Shilpa Shetty Fan Club, activists of the Vande Mataram Sangharsh Samiti and of course the everready brigade of Shiv Sena, have begun their "anti-Gere" rally in Varanasi, Indore and Mumbai.

Members of the Shilpa Shetty Fan Club took to the streets raising anti-Gere slogans. They later burnt an effigy of the actor demanding that the Hollywood Buddhist star either apologise for his indecent conduct or else leave the country immediately. A look at the footage showed him in lesser light than Shakti Kapoor.

Activists of the Vande Mataram Sangharsh Samiti did the same by burning Gere's effigy near the Geeta Mandir at Godowlia.

Led by their convenor Anup Jaiswal, the activists of the organisation not only demanded that Gere leave India immediately, but also mocked Shilpa for not protesting the star's indecent behaviour on stage. Poor girl, she didn't have a chance, and not that she didn't try as politely and politically correctly as she could.

Shiv Sena activists led by Gulshan Kapoor also got into the effigy act and demanded that he leave quit India. The Delhi truckies of course had a roaring time at the 'Seena Taan Ke' AIDS campaign and got to watch the 'live' act.

But the other shool of lewd thought is holding forth on the double standards of us Indians. They don't mind watching Emraan Hashmi and Mallika Sherawat licking off each other's face on the big screen, but can't tolerate the Gere guerilla tactics.

Where were these self-appointed saviours of Indian culture and Bharatiya abla naris, when Mika forced himself upon Rakhi Sawant at his birthday party (of course, that is only one side of the picture and face).

But all that takes away from the real issue: it was the trribly cheapo stunt that Gere tried to pull off, prtobably thinking he is some Govinda or someone, certainly egged on by the lusty truckies, and with the excuse of trying to prove a point in AIDS awareness. Let us be grateful he wasn't there with Shilpa Shetty to advocate the use of condoms!