It was a peaceful Sunday and my siesta was rudely
interrupted by a phone call. An old friend, who went way back to school, had
lost his father. He was with me right from school to college and the news was a
little emotional. I rushed off to his home, which was a agraharam right in front of the temple. Crowds were
gathered already. The space was already small and everyone was nearly standing
on the toes of the other. Priests with
bare torsos and the traditional strings
moved around nonchalantly. Soon the mantras started and we moved outside where
there was a little fresh air.
I joined my old college mates. We started chatting about the
life we ended up living and soon the
conversation veered off to the latest trend topic- the young actress who was
molested recently in her own vehicle by her former driver. The incident had
happened two days ago. Although the news did not catch much traction initially,
it picked up steam soon with the media and stars expressing their ‘huge shock’.
And here we were, in the middle of a cremation, talking about the molestation.
There were wild guesses and suggestions of the people behind the incident.
People made suggestions about the contents of the video and how soon it is
going to be released. Probably the actress would have never experienced such a
huge hype even over any of her movies. I went back home, lost in thought over
how a melodramatic scene shifted to much racy topic.
The discussion was heard all the way to tea-stalls,
bookshops and beer parlours. Most of the male population seemed to be eagerly
waiting for the ‘video clip’. The next day at the office, the friendly sweeper
lady remarked innocently about the film star on whom shadows of doubt had
fallen, ‘He is already married twice. Why did he have to do this’.
The common man who didn’t enjoy the privilege of any
personal protection or support from the film stars & who had to risk daily
travelling late hours among unknown people started making their own inferences.
To have a driver is a luxury in itself. To appoint a person
with criminal credentials is a luxury as well as arrogance. The actress who represent the arrogant girl of new
generation crossed her line in roaming around with a criminal. Bhavana who came
into movie as the innocent sister for the big star, who get ditched for lack of
good looks suddenly transformed herself into the torch bearer of new
generation. The cool image although had its share of success, didn’t go down
well with our Sanskari clan. Well it’s still okay for guys to drink and smoke,
but it’s totally forbidden for women. They have greater responsibilities like
child bearing and child rearing.
Now this, at the outset, sounds as an issue which we can sit
back and make judgements upon. But looking at it again don’t our women face the
same issues in a different intensity everyday. To some extent, yes a woman can
collectively counter the offense by a unknown attacker at a public space. But
can the same narrative be used in a
workplace, where her promotions, relations and outfits are out to
constant scrutiny and judgement.
Sexual shaming is a powerful tool. It is actually easy to
counter every allegation except the ones involving sexuality. It is not
confined to women alone and many institutions have used the weapon to confront
unruly elements. Now you may recall during every student agitation the first
allegation to come out would be the sexual anarchy. The public digests it
happily and without reasoning.
Sexual depravation is another factor. The effects of
liberalization has moved from economy to social life. If you look at the recent
works in mainstream movies, which are used as a benchmark for culture, the common
theme loudly proclaimed is if you have enough money, you can enjoy women,
drinks and drugs sans any moral limitation. And if you can’t afford a woman, you have every right to stalk her and
assault her. The spurt in recent killings of women, who refused the advances of
men, is a grim pointer.
I am winding this up here for now…more to follow
