Original posting on Black Girl Dangerous.
Please check out the following post by Asam Ahmad. A thoughtful and interesting piece on how South Asian's should look at the Trayvon Martin case.
Original posting on Black Girl Dangerous.
0 Comments
Damini is a maid in the apartment complex. Some time back, she also decided to start giving massages for Rs. 150 an hour to the saabs and mehemsahibs of the buildings. When you meet her, she's thin, always smiling, and loves to chatter. Though massages are usually a matter of silence and tranquility, Damini's hour feels like catching up with an old friend who has so many stories that you have no time or space to squeeze in your own. She is very proud of her figure, and tells you so at every chance she gets. Damini also speaks of how well-behaved her elder daughter is, and how at 10 she is making parathas for the whole family because she knows mummy will be tired when she comes home. When talks about her younger daughter, she tells me that she has become shaitani, a little devil. She would tell me about how loving and caring her mother-in-law was when she was pregnant, helping around the house and doing all the cooking so she wouldn't have to get up. I remarked to my grandmother about how happy she was with her life, though she lived in a village.
Damini is abused by her husband. They were married when she was 17. He is a rickshaw driver, and when he decides he's "off duty", he goes to the local liquor store and purchases anything and everything he can manage with the day's earnings. If Damini misses a day of work because of cramps or illness, he beats her. If she goes out with her friends to the park in the evening, he beats her. At her brother's wedding, Damini got all dolled up (as she loves to do) and wore a beautiful sari that everyone complimented and she danced with all her heart during the baraat. That night her husband beat her so badly for "shaming him" that she could not leave her home for 3 days. But you would never know this was going on, not unless you talked to her daughter (who plays on the swings by the apartments until her mother is done with work) or some of the older women in the buildings. Damini is a fearless woman, who when confronted with the men "eve-teasing" her in the park, yelled at them so fiercely that they ran away. She will talk to you for days on end about how the tenant in 204A's thighs are thicker than tree trunks, or what the best hair oils are for shine and breakage treatment, but she will never tell of her plights at home. It is a mixture of fear, pride, shame, and practicality for her to keep her silence. She does not want pity; she wants work. She makes a living to provide for her children, even if her husband will not. She is Damini. - Neha Madhusoodanan "N as in Nancy, E as in elephant H as in Harry A as in apple. M as in Mary, A as in apple D as in David, H as in Harry U, S as in Sam, O O, D as in David A as in apple N as in Nancy A, N as in Nancy."
Start at Samachar Apartments
1. Head toward Sahakarita Marg "Sahakarita" means cooperative in Hindi and the road owes its name to the numerous cooperative housing societies located on the road. 2. Left on Dadri Road Dadri is a city in Uttar Pradesh, one of the states that border Delhi. Dadri played a very important role in the battle for freedom in 1857, when its Gurjar ruler "Raja Umrao Singh Bhati" rose against British rule and damaged the same by joining together the other Gurjar rulers of the area. He was hanged along with 4 other mutineers by the British. But nothing is found in any texts about him and his sacrifice. 3. Take Gurjar Samrat Mir Bhoj Marg Mihira Bhoja (836-885 CE) was a rular of the Gurjar Pratihara dynasty of India. He was a devotee of Vishnu and adopted the title of Adivaraha, which is inscribed on some of his coins. He was an outstanding political figure of India in the ninth century as a great general and empire builder. 4. Continue onto Nizamuddin Bridge Nizamuddin Bridge passes by Nizzamudin Dargah, a mausoleum of one of the world’s most famous Sufi saints, Nizamuddin Auliya (1238-1325 CE). Nizamuddin Auliya, like his predecessors, stressed love as a means of realising God. For him his love of God implied a love of humanity. His vision of the world was marked by a highly evolved sense of secularity and kindness. 5. Turn left onto Mahatma Gandhi Road Mahatma Gandhi, or Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, was the leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India. Stressing non-violent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for non-violence, civil rights, and freedom across the world. 6. Slight left onto Bhishma Pitamah Marg Bhisma Pitamah was a son of King Shantanu in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. He was grand uncle of the Pandavas and Kauravas, and lived a long, celibate life (the meaning of his name is He of the terrible oath). He took this oath to serve whoever sat on the throne of his father, so his father could marry the fisherwoman Satyavati. 7. Turn left onto Lodhi Road Lodhi Road is named after the Lodhi Gardens located on it. Two Mughal mausoleums, Humayun’s tomb and Safdarjung’s Tomb lie at the eastern and western ends of the road respectively. A number of cultural, educational, and international institutions line the road. Arrive at India Habitat Center Neha In the aftermath of the public awakening that occurred after the Delhi rape, Indian society has had a chance to take a step back and introspectively reflect upon the current standing of women across the country. How did we get where we are? And how do we change? These are just a few of the questions that are being asked by a number of Indians. In the immediate response, legal steps, such as anti-rape legislature, have met limited success; laws may change, but people's attitudes have not. Instead, India must look towards influential institutions that shape cultural thought patterns to accomplish the desired results. One such establishment would be Indian cinema. Movie stars, not politicians, are looked upon with God like reverence, so who would be in a better position to influence the people than the movie stars themselves? In an industry where sexualization and objectification runs rampant, a new attitude towards females would send a clear message about the direction in which India should head. I am not the first person to make this observation; since December, many people have highlighted the objectification of women in movies as a fault that needs to be changed if we are to move forward. As critically acclaimed director Zoya Akthar noted, “It [Indian Cinema] does fuel ideas about objectifying women. For example we have scenes in our films where the male hero woos a woman by stalking her. Indian cinema is the only defining popular culture in this country so we have to take more responsibility.” However, dialogue about using cinema as a tool of change has been largely limited to the onscreen portrayal of women, usually discussing the use of item girls and the lack of independent female heroines. Whilst these two points are definitely of the utmost importance, a third, equally salient point has gone largely unnoticed: sexist language in Music. Movies, whether in cinema or on TV, enjoy a large numbers of viewers, but their respective soundtracks are listened to by even more people. Recently when I was listening to Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s “Chahat”, I was shocked by the severity of the language used in what comes across as a harmless love song. The lyrics to the song go as follows: Hindi: main to bas teri chaahat mein, chahoon rehna sada main to bas teri kurbat mein, chahoon rehna sada saaya bhi tera main, hone na doon juda.. main tay kar liya.. tere ishq pe, tere waqt pe, bas haq hai ik mera teri rooh pe tere jism pe, bas haq hai ik mera bas haq hai ik mera, bas haq hai ik mera.. English: In your love only, I want to live always, In your vicinity only, I want to live always.. I'd not let even your image go away from me, I have decided.. On your love, on your time, I only have right.. On your soul and your body, I only have right.. I only have right.. There’s no doubt that this is intended as a harmless, cute, love song. However, the language chosen to paint the image of love is highly disturbing and distressing. The first thing to grab my attention was the idea that the wooing male has sole right to a woman’s love (tere ishq pe, tere waqt pe, bas haq hai ik mera). This lyric seems to espouse the idea that a man should have proprietary rights over a woman’s feeling; that it is his decision, not hers. The woman seems to have both no agency and no voice in the decision making process. Furthermore, the idea of deciding to keep yourself in the vicinity ( Main toh bas teri kurbat mein chahoon rehna sada) of the woman without any form of consent (the man in the song decided, regardless of the woman’s preference) is, well, creepy and stalkerish. These are not the only two moments that can be picked on; there are other moments too, but these are just the ones I chose to look at. The biggest issue lies in how the kind of language demonstrated in this song has become a universally accepted way of expressing feeling. Just take a quick look at the top YouTube comments and this point becomes instantly clear: "My fav song," writes one youtube user, whilst another writes "Awesome song. Really heart touching". Whilst these are just 2 comments, the amount of up votes they have received is indicative of the general consensus about this song, and the language used in it. In order for progress to occur, a complete reversal must take place. A language of stalking and unanimous decision making must be rendered unusable. Lyrics must be changed to represent a more bipartisan, healthy kind of love. If we want to carry out societal change, especially in an age where pop culture defines how we think, we must use pop culture (music in particular) as a tool to positively, not negatively, influence the way we proceed. People will, for the most part, love and behave as pop culture informs them to, so it is up to the creators of music to use the weapons at their disposal to carry out the necessary change. Ravi The Rubin Museum of Art is the first of its kind in New York City, an entire museum dedicated to South Asian art. Though it heavily features Tibetan paintings and sculptures, there are exhibitions from India, Burma, and China as well. See more at http://www.rmanyc.org. |