I sipped my morning cup of coffee, ruminating
and pondering over the past week. I gradually gathered the week to be bleakly stodgy for women; television
actress Gauhar Khan got slapped by a random idiot who claimed to be some moral
police, two sisters from Haryana beat up
3 youth in a moving bus for allegedly molesting them in public- this case is
however under sub judice, as higher Law authorities suspect that the
allegations are fake, and a Hindu Mahasabha leader went to the extent of
branding item dancers in movies as
prostitutes and also sought a prohibition on wearing jeans and skirts by girls
in schools .
As a country, we
are constantly striving for development and growth. Surely, after a certain
point we will accomplish the target set for us economically; but somewhere I do
believe we need some change in our outlooks as a major step towards development,
not just among men but also among women. In Kerala, till date we have a
population of 2 lakh people in the Wayanad region (which consists of a huge
mass of tribals). The women are dressed in a way that could sound and look very
peculiar to our moral police in the otherwise modernized India. They do not wear
any blouse with their sarees and most of the time their upper body is exposed
to the outer world. Now, these tribals are not making any style statements as they
are not aware about Jennifer Lopez , Charlize Theron or the Kardashian Sisters
and also do not have the foggiest idea about Munni, Shiela or JalebiBai, but
are women who struggle everyday and every night to make a living for their
family. Who judges them? Nobody does, why; because that is their way of living and
it’s best not to interfere right? My point is, why do we poke our butts in
other cases? If women are dressed in attractive costumes in dance numbers, why
can’t a normal human being with minimum common sense understand that she is out
there to titivate the movie with her talents and is not attempting to invite
men towards her? And why are these dance numbers in movies considered so sordid?
Imagine a bleak movie with no songs or
dance numbers which is just a story with regular men and women reciting their
dialogues and ending it with a moral. Will such movies work? Oh sure,
Art Films and thematic documentaries work but hey, we are talking about
Entertainment business where beauty and grace of a woman is utilized to make a
project work because at times it serves the purpose of marketing the premise and
subject of the movie to the mass audience. We have women in the entertainment
Industry who come from respectable family background of
Doctors, armed forces, engineers, commissioned officers and politicians who are
affirmatively inclined towards art and creativity. We know of people in the
industry who have quit their respective professions to join the Industry not
only for the money but mainly for their love of art and creativity. How could/can
anyone affront their character or choice this way? Why can’t anyone appreciate
the beauty and talent and not salivate on their curves?
Most of us who
believe in God also know that the Gods and Goddesses often entertained themselves
with dance which was originally invented by them. Pre-historically dance was
enjoyed and appreciated by the Gods as a means of celebration and amusement. Feminine grace and movements were treated in a
sacred and pure way. Classical performances like Bharatanatyam, Kathak,
Kathakali and other dance forms are today performed as worships for the Lords
and yet many of these forms illuminate the beauty and grace in a woman.
I think the
world will be a better place for women to live if people in general understood
the difference between art and seduction. We have paintings that depict women
in a certain way; are they promoting vulgarity? No sir, they are putting forth
a point, about a definite essence, feeling or suffering of a woman. Now if all art enthusiasts start
getting aroused by the mere depiction of women in a certain way, then we could
have a huge concern in Art, as women were/are mainly used as a muse and
interestingly since time immemorial, the muses chosen by artists were
prostitutes, maids and dancers. Famous poetries talk about love and affection
which mainly focus on women and their beauty. Vintage and modern literatures
have spoken about love, lust and arousal where both men and women are largely
involved. So are we going to put a stop to all this?
I condemn every
man and woman who believe that banning dance numbers will make any difference
to molestation or rape. Well, it will make a difference, a huge difference but,
to the artistic world as it can cause a huge hindrance in the thought process
of creativity with the absence of the most beautiful and charming gender who we call, women!
Image Credits: Google
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