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LONDON, ENGLAND, March 8, 2003: Southall, the British capital’s mini India, was taken aback to see British soccer star Gary Lineker dressed as an Indian bridegroom, with his hair dyed black and sitting on a white horse. There were women in saris dressed for the wedding, and a proper baraat, or marriage party, in tow. So was he marrying a girl from Southall? Not quite, he was modeling as an Indian bridegroom for an advertisement for crisps (potato chips.) Going to the bride’s house, he discovers her to be an elderly woman, but she has a dowry for him — the keys to a corner shop with crisps inside. Not everyone in Southall, located in west London, was pleased. “It is bizarre and terribly stereotyped to suggest that the bridegroom would never have seen the bride before because it is an arranged marriage,” said Piara Singh. “And it gives the idea that Indians marry only for dowry, whatever the woman may be like.” Many in the UK wish the “Indian flavor” was something other than the Bollywood advertising image of elephants, curries and arranged marriages.

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