She & Her - Part 2

She entered the police station, scared; she didn't know the identity of any of those guys, nor the details of the vehicle used for the crime. She just knew that what had happened to her could have happened to anyone. The police were welcoming, made her sit, offered her some water and gave her enough time to start the story from the time she woke up that day to the time she stepped inside the police station

The story was told, heard, believed but still not considered true. As ironic as it sounds. She wouldn't blame anyone for not believing her story because even she did not believe herself. She had no clue what had gone wrong on her part and why was she targeted by those young boys probably from a respected family. She had no clue why those guys did not harm her as long as she was in the car with them, they were not sure? Or they were scared of the crime they were planning to commit? Or they couldn't understand why she did not scream enough and pleaded to leave her? Whatever is the reason, fortunately or unfortunately she was safe.

Attempt to rape and Rape are two very different things. You can’t prove attempt to rape, how do you know that those guys were actually kidnapping her to rape. Who is going to believe her when she herself is dumbfounded about the whole situation? That’s how the society, our law works. A girl being eve-teased, touched or even forcefully made to give away her self-respect, is not considered as heinous as Rape.

She gave her statements to several people at the police station, and every time she narrated her story she could feel the pinch, she would control her tears and kept telling herself to be strong. She had fought with 4 guys at once and saved herself, but even she wasn't sure if those guys were going to rape her or they were just having fun in their normal, boring lives. Every time she gave her statements she couldn't mention the word rape, that made her feel disgusted and she couldn't believe that would have happened to her.

Is it society or is it her moral? Well, Morals are imbibed in us because of the society around us. But was it really rape? Or just another attempt to rape? What was it, that she still feels the pinch when someone mentions it to her, people say she was fortunate to be saved, people call her brave, but do you notice the regret, the disgrace, the disgust behind her constant smile?

Some things cannot be explained, The feeling itself is so strong that it does not leave you no matter how much you try to run away from it, or maybe it is just the way you think and the society. 

Lessons In Forgetting - Movie Review

As you open the website to know more about this heart-warming movie you find this one line that grabs your attention and force you to think, “The greatest act of courage is to forget”, isn’t it true? Doesn’t it force you to think and think and rethink? I’m sure it does. And I’m sure this movie will leave you with many questions and you will fight yourself to find the simple but very hard to accept answers. Lessons in forgetting is a story of redemption, of real people, of dependency, of second chances, of love, of betrayal, of women, of the symbolism, of hope. It’s an adaptation of Anita Nair’s book by the same name.

I happened to see this beautiful movie, this year at IFFI, unfortunately this is the only movie I could watch and fortunately this was the movie that I watched on that one fortunate day I could visit IFFI. The story is how a single father, J.A. Krishnamurthy, fondly called as JAK, comes to India from the US, to find out how his teenage daughter, Smriti, ended up in a hospital, comatised. Helping JAK with finding the clues is a single mother, Meera, clueless about her husband walking out of their marr

iage, suddenly, leaving her alone with their 2 growing children and her mother and grandmother. Its JAK’s desperate attempt to closure that brings Meera and him together in finding the reason behind his daughter’s gruesome condition. The movie is about how a ordinary father discovers the unfamiliar world of his daughter. The sub plot subtly touches the subject of female foeticide.

Amazingly wrriten by Anita Nair, and fantastically directed by Unni Vijayan. The screenplay leaves you with the wow feeling. Adil Hussain (JAK), Maya Tideman (Smriti) and Roshni Achreja (Meera) keep you engrossed in the movie with their super-effective portrayal of the characters. What amazes me is the background music by Ganesh Kumaresh, it keeps you glued to the screen. Every particular frame is just amazing, from the one with which the movie opens, the beach, with the wooden boat, the one in which she is raped, drums rolling, the same wooden boat hitting her head, to the frame where her father walks behind the baby Smriti collecting the shells. Every little character puts life in the movie and keeps you engrossed till the end, not giving you even a moment to move you attention away from the movie.

This movie kept me crying the entire time, not female foeticide, or because of the father’s emotions but because the gruesome reality that ‘with power, comes freedom’ freedom to fight, freedom to stand for a cause, ‘with no power, you suffer’, you cannot stand up for something you strongly feel about, you have no freedom, and ultimately you will be killed by someone or you will just kill yourself out of desperation. It brings me to a hard reality that no matter how developed you call your country, women will always have to be protected, they will always need men to help them, and they will always remain dependent. In the end of the movie JAK (the father) says something like this (I don’t remember his exact words), ‘I always taught my daughter never run away from the things that terrify you, and I was just being a responsible dad’. Doesn’t this leave you with some questions too?

She & Her

She stood there scared & surprised, the memories of what happened two months back came back flooding in her mind and she couldn't move,talk, or even ask for any help, because she wasn't sure.

2 months back as she walked sadly on the lane next to her home, hoping to smile as she gets home looking at her room-mates, hearing their stories about how was the whole day, hoping her dabbawala might have given her favourite food, lost in her thoughts hoping to find one simple reason that could make her smile, she came across a car and 4 hungry jerks coming her way and pulling her inside the car.

It took her several moments to realize that she was kidnapped and something really bad was about to happen with her, unable to digest the fact that she could be picked up randomly to be raped as she knew none of the guys in the car. All she could feel was the hands of those jerks touching her and making her feel guilty that she was a girl. All she could do is screaming for help which was probably unheard as the car windows were shut and pleading wasn't going to help in front of these insane people. Well, all of this gives her Goosebumps till date, fortunately or unfortunately these guys couldn't do anything to her and she saved herself somehow. How she saved herself and what happened to that guys in another story altogether.

The real scare started later. She reached home safely with her clothes torn, unable to breathe. She sat, closed her eyes and analysed the whole situation. Was it a illusion? A dream? Or what just happened was real? What was to be done next, should she share this with her room-mates, her friends? Or they will become judgemental about her and her life might get difficult? All these questions kept flooding in her head but finally she decided to inform her friends as she feared of being followed again.

Her friends decided to inform the Police which she was very scared of. She had no idea who those people were, fortunately or unfortunately she wasn't harmed except some scratches and her clothes torn. She had no idea which was that car or the car number nor did she clearly remember those jerks faces. But yes informing the police was important for her safety and for the safety of every other girl who existed in this world. 16 hours she spent in the police station giving her statements to every single police who came across her. Some asked her questions because it was their duty and some asked just out of curiosity. 16 hours of constant questions with some time for sleep and food, where friends and family asked the same questions and the whole story had to be told in details again and again.

It’s been 2 months since then, she stopped going to the police station, and the police might have just closed the case by now. She doesn't know what happened later, because that 1 or 2 week were enough to make her exhausted and desperate to forget everything like a bad dream and move on in life.

 she was followed again, now she is scared. She does not want to bother her family and friends and does not want to go the police. She isn't sure of the guy’s identity or sure if she is followed. She dreads going back to the same procedure all over again. Her social, personal, professional life has a direct effect of this case.  All she knows is she does not want to make a fool out of herself, and her mind isn't on the right track. She just wants to stay alert and face it herself no matter what comes across her.

She is a proud female, believes in herself but refuses to believe the society. Is she wrong anywhere?