Posted:
@Parm aand Shri: Your comments about Ravi and Pintu and boys in general made me think about several issues with the way boys are raised in India. There is no doubt that even to this day, boys are raised with a silver spoon in their mouths whether they are born to the wealthiest or the poorest family. However, interestingly what is changing is that girls are now being educated and in my experience have a lot more drive to study, do well and become independent. So while on the one hand it is unfair to girls that boys are treated like god's gift to the family, it has also worked in their favour in the long run. I hadn't even realised they were bringing this up until you guys made me think about it!
In Ravi's case, he has always seen the discrimination between him and his sisters by his mother, ie with the dhoodh as Parm mentioned, and I am sure that is only one incident that we saw. Also, he feels entitled to hit his sisters simply because he is male. He takes none of the responsibility for the family financially etc and so in no way earns any authority but feels it his birthright simply for being male. He has been brought up with a lot of pride but without the pressure to do something as it was always taken for granted that he would eventually, simply by virtue of being male. This combination leads him never to introspect until he is challenged by Manisha. And he does try to change when that introspection happens. But the problem here is that that thought about his own actions and that sense of responsibility has not become inherent to his character and so he is easily swayed by external events. In his mind he is above Krishna in the family hierarchy so she is answerable to him, even in her officer capacity.
Pintu is brought up like a beloved pet really. He is given toys and royal treatment in exchange for looking good, being impeccably trained and unwaveringly obedient. He is given the responsibility of the family but never that of himself, so he never takes the time to think about his life and puts all his energy into making sure the family runs smoothly. He is enslaved by his upbringing where he has been taught that any sort of confrontation is to be avoided, even if it means swallowing what is right and keeping mum. But eventually this was going to cause a lot of bitterness in him, even if he never broke away and rebelled. Babloo and Sargam are the only ones that treated him like a human being and tried to hold him accountable not for the family but for himself but I think he didn't understand why this was important until Krishna came along.
Basically, I think they are challenging the stereotype of boys being free to do whatever they want and girls being trapped and oppressed. While this is certainly not untrue, there is another side to the coin and I feel that boys are much more subtly trapped and oppressed by the treatment they get for being official waarises of the bloodline/business/family. I love this show for touching upon such subtle and underlying issues.
In Ravi's case, he has always seen the discrimination between him and his sisters by his mother, ie with the dhoodh as Parm mentioned, and I am sure that is only one incident that we saw. Also, he feels entitled to hit his sisters simply because he is male. He takes none of the responsibility for the family financially etc and so in no way earns any authority but feels it his birthright simply for being male. He has been brought up with a lot of pride but without the pressure to do something as it was always taken for granted that he would eventually, simply by virtue of being male. This combination leads him never to introspect until he is challenged by Manisha. And he does try to change when that introspection happens. But the problem here is that that thought about his own actions and that sense of responsibility has not become inherent to his character and so he is easily swayed by external events. In his mind he is above Krishna in the family hierarchy so she is answerable to him, even in her officer capacity.
Pintu is brought up like a beloved pet really. He is given toys and royal treatment in exchange for looking good, being impeccably trained and unwaveringly obedient. He is given the responsibility of the family but never that of himself, so he never takes the time to think about his life and puts all his energy into making sure the family runs smoothly. He is enslaved by his upbringing where he has been taught that any sort of confrontation is to be avoided, even if it means swallowing what is right and keeping mum. But eventually this was going to cause a lot of bitterness in him, even if he never broke away and rebelled. Babloo and Sargam are the only ones that treated him like a human being and tried to hold him accountable not for the family but for himself but I think he didn't understand why this was important until Krishna came along.
Basically, I think they are challenging the stereotype of boys being free to do whatever they want and girls being trapped and oppressed. While this is certainly not untrue, there is another side to the coin and I feel that boys are much more subtly trapped and oppressed by the treatment they get for being official waarises of the bloodline/business/family. I love this show for touching upon such subtle and underlying issues.
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