I was in awe of Aai today. I don't remember the last time someone did such a daring act on ITV. She just defied all the rules and norms of "sanskaar" which Indian TV swears by. How many times have we seen women on TV being abused, humiliated, threatened and treated like doormats to protect their suhaag ki nishaani? How many women have been forced into marriage against their consent because accidentally or not, a pinch of sindoor fell on their head from the hands of some "man"? How many times have we seen women having to prove themselves through some ridiculous, abusive agnipareeksha because she is threatened she'd lose her right to her man's sindoor? Isn't there a currently airing show where two women are fighting for the same man because one has right over his sindoor and the other for his mangalsutra and they spend hours debating which is important than the other?
Not to mention, the infamous "ek chutki sindoor ki keemat tum kya jaane ramesh babu" dialogue. Well, Aai just declared today that sindoor ki keemat means nothing if it is used to threaten women into submission. I'm not invalidating the sentiments behind them nor offending their religious significance, but such cultural symbols denoting the marital status of women have been used for centuries to suppress them. They have normalised the idea that suhaag ki nishaani is the most important thing in a woman's life and a woman without it – a widow, an unmarried woman or a woman denied of those because she's been "disobedient"or "unruly"–are worthless in the society, basically associating a woman's identity to the man she's married to. Aai is right, why do not men have any of these visual markers to denote their marital status? And if they had one, would women be able to threaten them the same way? Well, probably not, if we go by the same logic of –if men were to menstruate, menstruation wouldn't be even considered as impure in the first place. 👎🏼
I was honestly shocked seeing Aai saying all these out loud, declaring that if Vijay threatens her with her sindoor, mangalsutra and bindi, she'd gladly denounce them and walk out. I was grinning like an idiot seeing Vijay's face at that moment–he was speechless and shocked and had to drop his suicide attempt half way. The best thing about the whole scene was that usually we see the young, modern and educated women giving such progressive speeches once in a blue moon, but here it is the mother-in-law, the eldest woman in the house who questioned the regressive rules and thrashed the ego of the men in the house.
If Star Plus at least cared an iota for their Rishta Wahi Soch Nayi tagline, they should have telecasted this as a promo. Not only would it have grabbed some eyeballs and helped our TRP, it is actually something progressive for a change. What a wasted opportunity!
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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