Thursday, March 19, 2015

For All You Saree Lovers

6 metres of cloth, amazingly versatile, 
As it adapts to so many a diverse style. 

The Bengali version with its dupatta style drape, 
The Gujarati, Marwari and such versions versions that the pallu the star make. 

The quintessential Indian fashion statement, 
That the bais, to the farmers, to the  AI hostesses to the top rung executives use as their primary adornment,

The Sari, the Saree, 
The showcasing of  beauty, 
The manifold styles flexibility, 
The through the ages durability, 
The all body types adaptability, 
The all weather conditions suitability, 
The symbol of power and vulnerability, 
Sexy, shy, revealing, veiling, the blessing, (my tragedy) - The SAREE. 

For all you Saree lovers. 👆

- Written on 18 March 2015
- A random whatsapp chat with my cousins led me to rant against the saree and many of them love it, so this was an apology of sorts. 
- I still HATE it for me. :) 

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Some days, some nights

Some days, some nights
You pause, you reflect, you emit sighs,
In memory of conversations, the 1:00am kind,
The comfort that only with friends you will find. 

Some days, some nights, 
You wonder how time slipped by
When, and also why
The conversations reduced by and bye. 

Some days, some nights,
Reality lands you in a blindside,
Then love releases a triumphant cry,
No matter what, some bonds, however stretched, will see you through life.  

Some days, some nights, 
Make you relive anew those delights, 
And a promise elicit outright:
"I will always be there (in spirit at least) by your side".

- Written on 18 March 2015
- Somehow it is in the middle of random actions that you suddenly miss someone the most. For no reason. Not that they are away, or distant. Just that they are not there right that moment by your side for a hug. Or that it is too late, too early, too inconvenient to call to say a "Hullo".
- So you whatsapp them your angst, so they can wake up to it and curse you, I guess ;) 
- Then again, it is their fault for being your 1:00am friend.  

Sunday, March 08, 2015

India's Daughter???

Well, all that the conversations and news feeds have been going on and on about is Leslee Udwin's India's Daughter.

Did I see it? Yes.

Did I like it? Yes.

Do I think it is relevant? Yes.

Do I oppose the ban? Yes.

Do I think it is flawless? No.

Some feminists want to ban the documentary thinking it would incite more rapes? Seriously? Then bring it on, I say, for then perhaps, FINALLY, humanity will revolt and put an end to this nonsense show of power.

Yes, Mukesh has been given space to present his views. So? Why should he not speak? If we cannot, do not, engage with these people then how will we know what they are thinking? Why they did what they did? It is all very well to say they are monsters, but they were born human weren't they? Furthermore, it perhaps might be easy to dismiss them as anomalies to be extinguished, if their actions were not merely the tip of a humongous iceberg of women's oppression.

In fact, it is not merely women's oppression. Imagine men who feel they have the responsibility to be the guardians of a society's mores and must enforce said morality through hook or crook. Imagine a boy belonging to a household so poor that they starve for days that he ran away to make his living in a place, any place. Imagine men who think that women have one role to play and men another. If a man, thus, is unable to protect (read control, if need be) his family, or defend its honour, then he kills and commits suicide. In fact, one of the rapists in this case allegedly did just that. We do not know why. Imagine the growth of society with a large population burdened with such belief systems. Why imagine? See. See India.

Then there is the other side of the coin - the understanding friend. The guy who makes Jyoti Singh sound even more saint like than her parents made her out to be. That is some achievement!

I mean, really!!!

Her friend wanted to watch an action film and she wanted to watch Life of Pi and that is presented as if it were the Holy Grail she had chosen. Right because if she had agreed to see a film such as Love, Sex, Dhoka (LSD) she would have been less deserving of the basic safety standards, is it?

She once got a juvenile pickpocket thief new jeans, and food and asked him to never steal again. I commend her efforts, her intentions, but please do not tell me that her stop gap solution was a solution at all. That was just as worthless as the Bar Council slapping a show cause notice on the defence lawyers NOW. Where was any such agitation invoked when one of the idiots, on television, mind you, stated he would take his womenfolk to his farmhouse and set them ablaze with petrol if they dared eschew "morality"!

She worked in a call center to fund her studies. Again commendable. Especially, when you contrast her efforts with those of her rapists who whiled away their time drinking and partying.

She wanted to open a hospital in her village. Super. I am not deriding her ambition, or her social activism, but the effort to make her seem to be the equivalent of Mother Teresa or some such august personality gets my goat.

The friend makes Jyoti Singh sound holier than thou and makes a case for "good women" vs "bad women" almost as much as the lawyers in the film. In fact, even more dangerously, insidiously.

In fact, the film, and I refuse to call it a documentary for the overly dramatic script writing done, makes such a strong argument of the sheer "goodness" of the girl that it seems to be catering to the rapists' ideology that says "good girls" do not fight, go out late in the night, party, etc. 

I do not care if she were studying to be fashion designer and wanted to make pots of money. She deserved to be safe and be allowed to follow her dreams. The way that the film made her out to be saint irritates me because it then seems to espouse the same ideology it supposedly fights against. 

The constant repetition that it was ONLY 8:00 pm. That is "not late" (read 'not bad'). WTF. I come home at 1:00 am sometimes. So? And it matters, does it, if I were coming home from a 'party' or my workplace? 

Sheer bloody nonsense. That kind of mentality gets me almost more riled than the rape. 

We need safety. PERIOD. 

I really like the film. I think it raises important issues. I think it has been well researched to a large extent. It has tried to explore multiple perspectives, which is more than can be said of those imposing the ban on this film.

I liked the sheer pathos that wife of one of the rapists invokes saying her plight is pitiable and that there are worse criminals and that she would die and perhaps need to kill her infant son without male support of her husband, whom she contends (a) did not rape and (b) there are multitudes out there with worse crimes than what her husband is accused of. Also true.

The psychiatrist who matter-of-factly states the chilling fact that there are men in jail convicted for a dozen or so rapes, when they themselves claim that the rapees number at least 200 that they can remember.

I like that Udwin focused on Mukesh's hands to show his discomfort. I also wonder at the people who want the rapists to show remorse. Why? Would you forgive them then? Would you ask for a repeal of the death sentence? By the way, how does one show remorse? In the eyes? What if he were conscious of the camera, of being spoken to, of having company, female company, after being put in prison? These are men who were asked to pose for a front, left and right profile reminding them of their criminal status. I for one am GLAD he did not show remorse. The way people are at it, it almost seems they would forgive him for having learnt his lesson! He should in 02 years learn that what he had observed, learnt for his entire life was wrong? Have we learnt our lesson to NOT expect change overnight? To NOT be self-congratulatory about how much better we are? To NOT discontinue the agitation for better, more sensitive, more nuanced understanding of the problem? To NOT shy away from even more troubling facts such as marital rape? 

Yes, the film is NOT unbiased. I do think Leslee Udwin has over dramatised an already dramatic narrative. The documentary maker is in love with the protagonist. Which is her right. And which is fine. But I want more narratives unfolding from this one. Many more narratives. 

The easy way out provided by most activists on the show is 'education'. Puhleez!! Let's look at our education system steeped in patriarchal mores. The 'educated' friend emphasising the "goodness" of Jyoti, the lawyers (they hold valid certifications to practice law, don't they) making statements about woman equating her to a 'flower' or a 'diamond' or thinking one has the right to set her ablaze, the social activists, some of them feminists, so many government officials, many of whom are educated (at least they have a degree) tell me that mere education is NOT enough. 

Let's engage in debates. Let's probe. Let's confront reality. Let's allow space for alternative views, however, uncomfortable they make us, however much they differ from ours, however radical they may seem. For if we do not, we are no better than those behind the attacks at Charlie Hebdo's offices. 

I think we are mistaking listening for accepting. It is NOT. It is a step towards reflecting, analysing, engaging, acting or not acting, changing or not changing, but always improving. 

Here's to an India when Transgenders, Women, Men, All are treated at par. 
May we find reasons galore to celebrate HUMANITY each day of each year. 

- Written on 8 March 2015
- Self-Explanatory

First written in comments section in https://kafila.online/2015/03/08/indian-feminists-indias-daughter-and-sexual-violence-the-issues-at-stake/

Happy Women's Day

"Women should stay at home and stay protected." 

Not that that would make a woman safe from abuse, be that of a father or mother or brother or sister or husband or father-in-law or mother-in-law or the various other relatives and friends, but she would stay safe from strangers, well maybe not the courier delivery person or the milkman, or the vegetable vendor, or the sundry salespersons, but she would be safe. Yes, indeed safe. 

"Women should not deck up and go out. It is an open invitation to rape, molestation, abuse and degradation."

Not that fully decked women, women in the 'ultimate Indian attire', the Sari, are never molested, but at least she would have society's sympathy and outrage and who knows maybe the abusers would be reminded of other women they like and spare these women, whom they probably abuse or have mutely witnessed being abused anyway, but "decently clad" women needing to venture out would be safe. 
Yes, indeed.

"Women should go out alone. Women should be accompanied by men who are relatives when going out."

Of course, because random strangers will immediately recognize that you are related and will not pull you up and ask you bizarre questions as to who you are and where you are going and why you are out at all. Women will be then safe. 
Yes, quite. I do see your point. 

"One cannot expect the police to keep you safe. They are so overburdened. Just do not tempt. Do not question. Do not flash. Do not advertise. Do not hide. Do not be quiet. Do not be loud. Do not laugh. Do not reject. Do not agree. It is your responsibility to keep yourself safe and your family 'honour' intact."

Yes. That is why when houses get new paint and get robbed, the owners deserve it. That is why when one buys jewellery, perhaps diamonds, and the house is broken into, one is told that one 'invited' the crime and the criminals, sorry the 'dogs'. That is why when flashy cars are stolen, the owner is chided for the thirst to show off and not  be satisfied with a 'safer' option. That is why someone late at night is knifed outside the ATM, the government should ban ATMs and such, the cause of all such crime. 
Yes, indeed. I agree wholeheartedly. 

Happy Women's Day all! 
I hope for a day when we can celebrate ALL genders equally and every day. 

- Written on 8 March 2015
- I am still reeling with India's Daughter, reactions to the same, counter reactions to the same and on and on it goes.