The Dirty Woman

Every once a while comes a Dirty woman who makes the world cleaner. For every vulgarity that she exhibits, she brings the world inch by inch closer to its own dirty realities. Giving them seek fake voyeuristic pleasures in thinking about their world as an angelic place. Where this Dirty Woman faces the wrath of morals, judgments and allegations by the society. Every once a while comes along this Dirty Woman who brings about a change.

The latest one being Vidya Balan as ‘Silk’ who broke all records (and buttons) to show that it takes sheer guts to be the Dirty Woman. For she was judged, elated and then smashed to pieces by the very people who whistled for her. For someone who endured the pain of a hunter to give audience the forbidden pleasures, she was the one who dared. And there was nothing sympathetic about it. In fact this Dirty Woman was strong enough to endure without any inhibitions.

Time and again there have been many Dirty Women who have been excluded because they did not fit into the ‘good Indian woman’ mould. There was Kamala Das who shocked everyone with her version free writing. Then there was a Protima Bedi, who gave a run to others morality. Or better still, Zeenat Aman who introduced the hippie Indian woman to the mediocre saree-clad world. From a Shobha De who redefined the socio –cultural ethos to a Sushmita Sen who continues to live life on her own terms they have all been tried and tested by the society.

The examples are plenty and each one of them being slammed by critics and society alike. Only to be put on pedestal later for bringing about a change. Helping in the emergence of a modern society and changing its perception of women beyond mundane trophy wives, good girls and angelic deeds. Instead these women have shown their real selves making them catalysts of a truer, better society.

So ready for more Dirty women...are we?

- Prachi Mujumdar-Kurlekar

Relations

Relations

Relations are the core of every human today. Going back to the Stone Age era where man was an animal. His life revolved around searching for sufficient food. With the need for security, he started living in groups. These groups led to attachments and attractions, some physical and some emotional.

‘Relations’ were thus involved.

With frenzy for naming every relation, there came parents, siblings, friends, lovers, spouses, colleagues, acquaintances … everyone. Each came in with its own dynamics. And more so with their respective responsibilities. As we evolved from food hunting nomads to well settled corporate honchos, relations formed a social idea to a self imposed definitions of what we are or what we should be in our lives.

Are they good , are they bad? We can’t say! Ever imagined a world without any relations? Well, who knows, without definite relations we wouldn’t have restricted ourselves to being good, considerate and caring to certain people. Maybe we would have cared a bit more about the old granny who takes a walk on a particular road everyday. Maybe we really wouldn’t have been so selfish so as to think about My Family, My Relatives, My Cousins, My Neighbours or My Countrymen.

Maybe the care and consideration went beyond all these. That man wouldn’t commit crime to keep his kin rich & happy. Maybe it would have helped us evolve as a collective human race. That we didn’t restrict our feelings to a certain clan or country. We would all yet again be humans in the truest sense.

Blog....the four lettered word I swear by...

Blog….

Blog… a four letter word that has been on mind for a pretty long time. Yes its everywhere, the world is blogging from shiny hair to relationships you can get every information, imagination and persuasion through blogs .And yet I have shied away from it for a very long time.

Why? No answers really, mmm… maybe I have just been lazy to open my laptop and start writing ( yes now typing is the new writing). Ideas were many but they came and went, never really documented them. Some while ago I tried writing diary but gave that up when things started getting too personal and the idea, the thought, the inception was lost translation. During my post grad media course we were told to maintain a blog under any god damned circumstances but I didn’t pay any heed then, too easily thinking that writing is what I’ll be doing the rest of my life.

My romance with writing started when I was a school girl , I used to write random poems, stories and the oh-so-typical letters to the editor and mind you every one of them published. Interest turned to obsession when I started freelance writing for newspapers, I bunked my college lectures and attended press conferences, interviews covered launches, film screenings et al. So while classmates were in search of soulmates , I continued with my romance with writing. Then more of college in post graduation where I tried my hand at a couple of movie reviews. However, there came a twist in my love story. I got in to an advertising job…and got married. Settled with my husband in Pune and chose to start off my career in full swing.(people are still awed that at 22 I was already 3 years old in freelancing, had completed my post graduation was into a full time media job and was already married!) Back to obsession, after pretty much settling down in my first job and a year into my marriage, thoughts of the word affair started brewing up. I realized that my tryst with writing was not a fling it is one of those relationships that blossom, that connect on a very different level, more than friends, more than siblings something that can’t really be named.

And lo and behold! That’s when I decided that I have to let this happen, I have to get back to writing. It doesn’t really matter where you write, it matters how you write..right? and here I am, writing about everything that I feel I can better express through words.

Im ready for this…. Really!