Opinion Love and dishonour
The boy is from one caste,the girl from another. They fall in love. They wish to marry. The boys family,in particular,objects to the match.
The boy is from one caste,the girl from another. They fall in love. They wish to marry. The boys family,in particular,objects to the match. The young couple is determined to wed. Eventually,the boys family relents and a grand engagement party is held . In front of both families and guests,the boys grandmother asks the girl to dance,which she does with great reluctance. She is mistaken for a nautch girl by a guest. Her family is speechless with mortification. Then,the grandmother insists that the girl allow herself to be examined in front of the entire gathering to see if there is a mole on her back which could be inauspicious for the boys family. The girls family is stunned,the boys family enjoys the insult to the girl and her family.
This is the story so far on Yeh Pyar Na Hoga Kam (Colors). But it could be a scene from everyday life. Whats frightening is not that serials such as this one,are increasingly imitating reality but that they can become accomplices to crimes perpetrated in the name of caste,class or other biases (like the colour of your skin in the old Zee serial Saat Phere,or your looks as in Laagi Tujhse Lagan,Colors ). Where reality TV shows,talent shows have been democratic,aspirational and inclusive,allowing thousands who think they can sing or dance to audition watch Indian Idol on Sony to find out more . TV serials reinforce barriers,prejudices and the narrow domestic walls they should be breaking down.
In all soaps,the most important entity is the Family,the most critical event,the Wedding,the central theme Marriage. The promos for a new soap,To Baat Hamari Pakki,coming soon to Sony,picture a young girl decked up in jewellery and clothes almost as heavy as her ornaments,before she is thrust before the boys family with a tea tray for a show. In Behenein (Star Plus),the family is preparing for a wedding: Shaadi,shaadi,shaadi thats all you ever hear on these serials.
If weddings are the plot,family honour is the underlying driving force,always linked to the idea of a suitable girl or boy for marriage into the family. Together they propel everything towards conflicts in which the girl is usually humiliated and the boy is either helpless before his family or suffers as much as the girl. In Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo (Zee),Shekhar,the upper caste boy is exiled from his home because he is with the wrong girl,Laali.
Finally,there is that elusive thing called love. It casts a shadow across the families,the arranged marriages planned by the families,and in almost all cases will lead to untold misery. Anyone who watches these serials regularly will conclude that romantic love is bad,that it disgraces and dishonours the family and therefore cannot triumph. Indulge in it only at your own peril.
TV serials justify the continuance of ignorant,harmful old ways of thinking and discourage,nay,punish anyone who dares to flout them. The khap panchayat diktats on same gotra marriages,the honour killings we read about and which has perhaps seen a mother kill her own daughter in the Nirupama Pathak case,are very much a part of the world in our TV serials.
And what can one say about the atrocities being committed on Emotional Atyachar (Bindass) where lovers find their partners cheating on them as soon as temptation in the form of an irresistible member of the opposite sex drapes him or herself all over them? Doesnt this promote the belief that love is a mockery,that young people should stay away from it as far as possible and lets quickly lock them into arranged marriages?
By the way,last week Rahul Mahajan was on Emotional Atyachar. He was seen enjoying the company of women,while his wife watched with a heart beating just a little too fast. The entire show was predicated on his being unfaithful and so of course he wasnt. At the last moment when the temptation was overwhelming ,he drew back.
shailaja.bajpai@expressindia.com
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