Thursday, June 28, 2007

Women & their "soapy:" woes...!!!

The day starts with surya namaskar, innumerable rituals while worshiping to god, sending kids to school, then husbands to offices & getting down to the much awaited bitching sessions. And through all this, they are dressed up so amazingly that one might start thinking “Are they super women?” Well..you guessed it right. They are the much talked about adarsh bahus of the “so called” fanciful, morphed and the corrupt world created by Ms. Ekta Kapoor & her clones.

In today's world, when we are trying to get over our unreasonable customs & traditions and helping women rise above them, these so called TV soaps force us to look back and start thinking about them again? In a country where widow remarriage has been propogated since time immemorial, why is it depicted in the tv soaps that a widow should not give blessings to a newly bride because it brings bad luck? Why is it shown that if a woman cannot bear a child then she is thrown out of the house and the mother forces her son to remarry for a child and in many cases for a son? Why is it shown that if a girl from a middle class family is married in a rich family(which always remains the central theme for ekta kapoor), she has to face the brunt of humiliation for a long time till the time she can succumb to the whims & fancies of her mother in law and sister in laws who would be potrayed no less than a vampire loaded with jewellery with “bitching” as their only aim in life?

Why are the TV soaps portraying women in two extremes? Either as “tulsi” who is the embodiment of patience, compassion & affection and who would not utter a word even if her children throw her out of the family every other time? Or like “kamolika” who enters the family with the main aim of breaking the family? Are they the only two roles a woman can do? Have women become so aimless today? Women are worshiped for their ability to nurture and not for playing games with their families and sometimes their own children. I dont understand why Ms. Kapoor wants us to go hundred years back when we are trying to move forward? Why does she come up with serials like “kahaani ghar ghar ki” or “Kasauti Zindagi kay” and so on which go on proving the fact that relationships dont mater in a family? Everyone in the family enjoys an extra marital affair. There are no legitimate children and women normally end up getting married in same families maybe to different brothers. Why are serials named “Betiyaan...paraya dhan” reminding everyone that daughters are burdens? That always remains the central concept in these serials.

I wish to make an appeal with my folded hands to Ms. Ekta Kapoor and all those people who come with such derogatory concepts for a tv soap. The need of the hour is to move forward and not to go on reminding the public of all the social evils that we have left behind. Why are you delineating the concept of a house wife and limiting her role to gossiping, back biting, loaded with jewellery and selfishness? Today the middle class constitutes almost half of the population and it is this middle class that forms the educational intelligentsia of society. Then why are you portraying the girls brought up in middle class families as those who are unaware of the world outside them? Why are you emphasizing on the materialistic aspect of life so much that we start to forget our academic and family aspect of life which holds much more importance?

As an individual each one of us has to make an effort to bring about at least a small change in society in the best way we can. And by being a woman, that effort can be made even more strongly. So heres an appeal to Ms. Ekta Kapoor & her “clones” that please dont stop with your tv soaps, they are an entertainment to lakhs of people. But since it is an entertainment for so many people, prove yourself to be responsible by potraying what is beneficial for the society. And not for yourself & your never ending pockets!!!!

Friday, June 15, 2007

Kanyadaan?

Kanyadaan is considered to be the biggest daan (donation). In this ceremony, the parents of the bride hand over their beloved daughter to the bride groom and his family with the assurance that they will take proper care of her. i have a little problem here with the term "daan" or "donation". Lemme put it this way. What do we donate? or lets say give daan as? maybe food items? money? clothes? or sometimes animals?

Let me make it clear for my readers and the "so called" followers of traditions and customs that this is not an attempt to make a mockery of any tradition or custom. On the contrary, i wish to ask you all if the term "kanyadaan" is suitable? Doesnt it objectify a women who is to be given as a "daan"?

In the earlier times women were subjected to homes. They were not allowed to step out of their homes and thus they were a burden on their families since they were not an earning member. But today things have changed. Women have crossed the border line and they are now much better equipped in terms of education and earning a livelihood. In the background of all this, i wish to ask everyone, is the concept of daan still relevant?

Is the term "kanyaadaan" justified? I am still seeking an answer to this question...