From Padmavat to Padman - PadmaNvat

Our country saw a major furore over the last few weeks. It was not Cricket. It was not the NaMo crazed rallies. It was not some celebrity destination wedding. It was not the sequel to another political scam. It was neither the budget nor the elections. It was... the protest against a movie. 

A movie which may have been based on a fictional character. A movie which is merely showing what has happened in our past. A movie which, by all means, is grandeur personified. A movie which might have taken poetic liberty to add dance and song sequences. A movie which nobody has forced anybody to watch.

The Kuch-Nahi-Karni Sena went on a rampage around the country. Saving the dignity of ‘their’ Queen was their excuse. The silliest thing that they came up with was that they got close to 2000 women to register for a modern day Jauhar. Yeah, of course, this does sound progressive for the Rajputs. Some said that the movie glorifies Jauhar, whereas Sanjay Leela Bhansali just depicted on screen what has happened in our country, ages ago. It is like brushing our past under the carpet. Well, with the present day off-screen drama, the future also doesn’t look too bright. 

The last straw was attacking school buses full of children. Obviously, nobody will take the opinions of such goons seriously. This threat to the lives of young innocent children and their Jauhar-ready women did nothing more than cutting off the nose to spite the face. Oh wait, didn’t they threaten that too? But here’s to them: Deepika Padukone got paid more than her male counterparts in the movie. That’s royal and befitting, I say, for a Queen. That sure has her nose high up in the air, now!

Now, we get to hear that the few agitated people, finally, actually saw the movie. They concluded that the Rajputs have been rightfully glorified in the movie. And now, hold your breath.... they want to promote the movie! Whoa, what a change of heart. Bravo! 

Well, the real bravo would be to actually ‘Karni’ something. As fate would have been, they are given a second chance:

Our current day Indian ‘Suppperhero Supppperhero Supppperhero’ PADMAN is making his debut soon. How about we all join hands for removing this taboo around Menstruation from our society, for once and for all. Rather than shying away from our fathers and brothers and friends, let us make our generation, and the future generations to come, aware of this very natural phenomenon. Let us make us sensitive about this nature’s act. Let us make us more comfortable while buying the sanitary napkins from a pharmacy. 

Let us be more sensitive about our mothers, sisters, wives, friends who are going through their periods. Let us pause for a minute and think that they might need a more supportive system; one which does not compel them to hide from the world for those 3-5 days. Yes, on those days, we might be low on energy or high on mood swings. We might want to take a break of a day or two from our gym or swimming session, work from home rather than holding our stomach in the office, or may be just a cup of warm tea to make us feel appreciated. If only we had more understanding folks around us rather than we hiding our ‘situation’. I would definitely want my son to be more caring towards my daughter and show his true ‘brotherhood’.

Another thing that needs to be pondered upon: Do we really need to be banished from the kitchen? In the earlier days, this was done to give the womenfolk of the house a break from the tedious house work and more importantly due to hygiene issues. I think we have come a long way. Gone are the days when we would be told that menstruating women have the ‘power’ to spoil pickles by merely touching the bottle. We rather be told the truth that we need to avoid salty foods, in general. I feel that sometimes when our ancestors wanted to pinpoint something, they spun such illogical stories around it. It would have worked alright back then but people, inspite of being more educated and aware now, have turned these old wives’ tales into eerily superstitious rituals. It is nothing short of torture when you are shunned around in your own home. Time to rethink a few of our customs and superstitions?

Hopefully, we all do some thoughtful and progressive ‘Karni’ in our lives and throw out this taboo from our lives.