For reasons good or bad, Jade Goody is a celebrated reality star who walked the walk and talked the talk and now she is dying the death. Phew!

Like most of us Indians, I did not know Jade Goody until Shilpa Shetty became as star in UK. Luckily, I was in the UK, when this whole episode of Celebrity Big Brother was being telecasted. Shilpa Shetty, a celebrity in her own right, wasn’t bagging any lucrative projects for her survival in Bollywood when Celebrity Big Brother happened to her. She was one of the wild card entries along with Jermaine Jackson, Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd, Jack Tweed et al.

In the weeks that followed, Jade and Shilpa were at each other – one showing the nasty side of her character and the other, character of tolerance, patience and humility. The show took a nasty turn when Jade snubbed Shilpa with remarks that were soon made out to be racial. What followed was a spate of controversies with Jade becoming increasingly unpopular amongst British tabloids and the public in general.  On the contrary, Shilpa Shetty became more of a household name in the UK.

While Jade Goody lost most of her commercial contracts, Shilpa went on to gather many more. Rubbing salt to the wounds, Shilpa was portrayed as the symbol of resilience, tolerance and mental strength while Jade Goody was set as an example of overdose of fame and familiarity gone awry.

Well, that was my impression until a year ago

Now, with Jade counting her days on this planet and fighting every minute to see more of this world , she has suddenly become an inspiration to many. One who lived life to the fullest extent, in the limited time that she is blessed on this earth. She is hardly 27 years old and in the last five years she probably has lived more than anyone imagine

She has brought a new definition to Reality TV. For all you know, she probably might be called the Queen of Reality too.

Jade Goody who was a dental nurse from Bermondsey in London before the Big Brother craze struck her and she came into the spotlight in the 2002 season of Big Brother. Although she stood at 4th place in that place, Jade went on to become one of the most successful reality TV stars doing several Reality TV shows, shooting many fitness DVDs, launching her own Perfume line called “Sshhhh…Jade”…which was once the third best selling perfume after Kylie Minogue and Victoria Beckham and so on.

Jade Goody has apparently appeared in 4 seasons of Big Brother – Big Brother, Celebrity Big Brother, Big Brother Panto and the very desi version a.k.a Big Boss, albeit for a short period until she flew back to London following the news of her cervical cancer.

With every passing day, she is moving closer to death and even in these hours of extreme difficulty and privacy, she wanted the camera clicking. Her marriage to Jack Tweed post her chemotherapy sessions, will probably be remembered for a long time as one of the most celebrated marriages in recent years. Her final days are being recorded by Living TV which is expected to rake in millions of pounds for telecasting her death, part of which would go to Jade’s two kids. If that’s not all, there is this OK! magazine which ran a Tribute Week in memory of Jade from 1981-2009 even before her death.

All this, apparently, with the permission of Jade who even in her last days wants to be the Queen who lived and breathed Reality TV. Replacing her stature as the undisputed Queen of Reality TV will be a humongous task for the next in line. Sounds like the death of reality, for some time !

What say you ?

Image Credit: Wikimedia

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