Shefali Vaidya stands out as a prominent and assertive voice advocating for dharma in contemporary times. A freelance writer, insightful newspaper columnist, and a vibrant media personality, she commands attention across diverse linguistic platforms. Her multilingual prowess spans English, Marathi, Konkani, Spanish, and more. As a consulting editor for Marathi news platform Media Vidya, Shefali’s written contributions are fixtures in publications like Swarajya Magazine, IndiaFacts, Tarun Bharat, OpIndia, FirstPost, ABP Online, Indian Express, and New Indian Express, encompassing cultural reflections, political discourse, social concerns, and current affairs.[1] [2]
Shefali was born into a legacy of Indian freedom struggle. Her father, Shri Prabhakar Trivikram Vaidya, led the Azad Gomantak Dal, an armed revolutionary force in Goa’s liberation from Portuguese rule.[3] She married Ganesh Mohan and gave birth to triplets, two sons and a daughter, in 2010. Vaidya moved from the US to India in 2011, where her family supported her raising the children.[4] She holds a Master’s degree in Mass Communications from the University of Pune, an advanced post-graduate diploma in Spanish language, and a post-graduate diploma in Indology. Shefali merges her passion for temples, textiles, and travel into engaging vlogs on YouTube in both English and Marathi. With three authored Marathi books and an English translation of Dr. G. B. Deglurkar’s ‘All About A Temple,’ a revered Marathi book on temple architecture, her literary contributions flourish.
Taking on Big Business for Anti-Hindu Practices
Shefali embodies pride in cultural heritage, reflected gracefully in her attire with elegant sarees. Notably, her participation in the Special Committee formed by the Ministry of Textiles underscores her commitment to revitalize handloom exports, aiming for quadrupled growth within three years.[5] Perhaps Vaidya’s most significant impact on the larger Hindu society has been her #NoBindiNoBusiness campaign that challenged leading Indian retail brands advertising for Diwali without Hindu feminine symbols. Her stance signaled a loss of business for brands disregarding Hindu identity in their ads, drawing attention to significant issues.[6] In October 2021, Shefali observed that several Indian retail brands were advertising their products vociferously with a reference to the upcoming Deepavali festival. However, the models featured in the advertisement were totally devoid of Hindu feminine symbols like bindi, bangles, and other prominent symbols. To this, Shefali, with a sizeable fan following on Twitter, initiated the ‘No Bindi No Business’ campaign that categorically announced to leading brands that they can expect a loss of business from her if they are not unapologetically symbolic of Hindu identity in their ads, something that an average Hindu associates with.
She heightened her stance by directly addressing retailers like FabIndia for employing Islamic-sounding titles like “Jashn-e-Riwaz” in their Deepavali advertisements, a move they retracted following substantial backlash online. She delved deeper, examining the models’ demeanor, critiquing their lifeless expressions that were totally in contrast to ads intended for a lively and joyful festival like Deepavali.[7] [8]
On another occasion, Shefali exhibited her genuine commitment when she led an awareness campaign among customers of a major private sector bank that had appointed a controversial figure as their brand ambassador. As problematic views about Hindu deities surfaced from the individual’s past tweets, Shefali vehemently objected to their trivializing humor, especially regarding a sensitive subject like rape. She encouraged Kotak Bank customers to express their dissent by writing to the bank and objecting to this selection. Subsequently, Tanmay Bhat was dropped by Kotak from their campaign.[9]
Shefali fearlessly vocalized her opposition to regressive socio-religious practices and openly criticized the inhumane aspect of the mass slaughter of animals during the Islamic festival of Bakar Eid. Her stance led to intense hateful trolling from not only radical Islamists but also supporters of the Congress party.[10]
Shefali’s impactful voice has resonated across news debates, YouTube channels, and various media platforms, sparking discussions within India’s newly awakened social spectrum. In her composed demeanor, she adeptly questions distorians like Romila Thapar, highlighting the distortion of history to gloss over the genocide of Hindus by Islamic invaders. She points out that, contrary to the notion that these invaders were solely interested in temple riches, the destruction of temples raises significant questions about their intentions beyond material wealth.[11]
Calling out Church Atrocities in Goa
Being a native of Goa, Shefali has been vocal about the colonization, conversion, and Christianization of Goa. She has written and spoken[12] extensively about how the Portuguese carried out the orders of the Catholic Church in persecuting native Goans by not just subjecting them to conversions but using extreme measures like torture to ensure the complete erasure of the native Hindu religion in the region. In her writings, she details the persecution of Hindus concerning specific places in Goa, like the Vholda Ghor, which was used as a torture chamber to punish native Hindus if they violated the Church orders. In 2016, the Catholic Church apologized for their crimes of the Rwandan genocide. It is at this point Shefali voiced her question to the institutional perpetrators of the Inquisition, seeking to know if the Catholic Church would apologize to the Hindus for their inhumane crimes of Inquisition in Goa as well.[13] She observes that during the Inquisition, anything remotely associated with Hindu dharma was banned to the extent that even the plantation of Tulsi plants was forbidden.[14] She has also been actively defending her position by writing rebuttals to the criticism of her position on the Goan Inquisition.[15] She has also relentlessly worked to raise awareness about the Inquisition through various initiatives like an online exhibition on the Inquisition of Goa that was organized in 2020.
A Steadfast Warrior for Hindu Values
Shefali has also voiced criticism against big tech companies for utilizing their algorithmic capabilities to amplify pro-left voices while suppressing those aligned with the right wing. She notes a shift in the behavior of social media companies, highlighting that before 2014, they were more open and served as facilitators of newfound platforms for expression. However, before the 2019 elections, these platforms became aggressive gatekeepers, arbitrarily banning pro-right handles and employing shadow bans on their posts, reducing their reach and impact.[16]
Remaining steadfast in her commitment to dharma, Shefali has not hesitated to critique the BJP, a party she aligns with, for its missteps. She expressed her dissent against Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s actions when she intervened to issue a passport for a Hindu woman under a Muslim name while concurrently transferring the officer who had delayed the process due to an apparent discrepancy in the application.[17] She also criticized Amruta Fadnavis in an open letter to her, slamming her public support for the Be Santa campaign by a radio station.[18]
The strength of Shefali’s honesty becomes apparent in the desperate actions of her detractors, who resorted to defaming her with fabricated screenshots. One such instance involved a journalist attempting to tarnish her reputation by creating a photoshopped image that falsely portrayed Shefali making hateful comments on her Twitter account.[19]
Shefali is a social media power user and can be followed on Twitter, its Indian rival Koo, Facebook, Instagram, and her Vlog Shef’s Special. Her talks on Bharatiya Vichar Manch, Sangam Talks, Citti Media, Festival of Bharat, and India Foundation, among others, are highly educative and rational. Her dharmic viewpoints have made a definitive impact on the Bharatiya society. Shefali is an important voice for all Indians, particularly young women and students.
Citations
[1] A bio of Shefali Vaidya https://tfipost.com/2021/12/shefali-vaidya-biography/
[2] Shefali’s articles in Swarajya https://swarajyamag.com/author/17642/shefali-vaidya-2
[3] 13 April 1955: A Day That Marked A Glorious Chapter In Goa’s Fight For Liberation https://swarajyamag.com/politics/13-april-1955-a-day-that-marked-a-glorious-chapter-in-goas-fight-for-liberation
[4] Shefali’s family https://www.mumsandstories.com/2016/03/22/the-inspiring-shefali-vaidya-and-triple-impressions/
[5] Shefali Vaidya as member of textile ministry special committee https://www.opindia.com/2021/08/shefali-vaidya-pune-author-appointed-handloom-special-committee-ministry-of-textiles/
[6] No Bindi No Business https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-cm1VJULd0
[7] Outrage over FabIndia Diwali collection https://www.dnaindia.com/viral/report-nobindinobusiness-outrage-over-fabindia-s-diwali-collection-takes-a-new-turn-2916504
[8] Shefali critiques sad models in Deepavali ads https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6mV65cYVpfU
[9] Kotak removes Tanmay Bhat from their campaign. https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/trends/story/kotak-mahindra-bank-removes-ad-campaign-with-tanmay-bhat-after-10-year-old-tweets-resurface-370247-2023-02-14
[10] Congress supporters troll Shefali Vaidya for her comments about animal slaughter ahead of Bakr id. https://www.opindia.com/2020/07/shefali-vaidya-peta-goat-slaughter-controversy-congress-attacks/
[11] Shefali Vaidya nails propaganda of distorians like Romila Thapar https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BMDYvgF3rJI
[12] Inquisition of Goa: Lest we forget – A talk by Shefali Vaidya https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nEseljBZ-c
[13] Will the Catholic Church apologize to Goan Hindus for the Inquisition? https://bharatabharati.in/2016/11/27/when-will-the-catholic-church-apologise-for-the-goa-inquisition-shefali-vaidya/
[14] Persecution during Portuguese Inquisition of Goa https://www.thepamphlet.in/english/goa-a-small-state-with-fusion-of-influencesnbsp/
[15] Defending her position on Goan inquisition – Shefali Vaidya https://theprint.in/opinion/heres-history-of-portuguese-violence-in-goa-shefali-vaidyas-rebuttal-to-theprint-column/1398584/
[16] Shefali Vaidya on ‘anti’ social networks https://swarajyamag.com/politics/the-anti-social-networks-why-indias-non-left-voices-need-to-move-beyond-facebook-and-twitter
[17] Shefali questions Sushma Swaraj on passport issue https://www.opindia.com/2018/06/shefali-vaidya-troll-hindustan-times-sushma-swaraj/
[18] Shefali Vaidya’s open letter to Amruta Fadnavis https://swarajyamag.com/blogs/to-amruta-fadnavis-why-i-dont-support-your-choice-to-lead-the-be-santa-campaign
[19] Journalist Stuti Mishra uses fake screenshots to defame Shefali Vaidya. https://www.opindia.com/2020/10/journalist-independent-stuti-mishra-shares-fake-tweet-to-defame-shefali-vaidya/