@Manzilmukul, thoughtful points I agree with some, but I
disagree with some of them. Since you
added a PS not to make you see logic, this is for the others who would like to
know.
Type casting is not good and since it is universal it is
obvious there are advantages to the creators in portraying the character. But
there is nothing wrong in a bahu trying to be good looking or wearing
embroidered dresses and jewellery. Just
as a man dresses up to go to his profession, a "home maker" (bahu's profession)
should be good to dress up as long as she enjoys it and not imposed.
I would like to point out that typecasting is shown not just
for women but to everybody - for example a good husband and a successful
professional man are shown in similar stereotypes. A high ranking professional
is shown to be abnormally rude, snobby and bossy just to make a point! My point is - we just need to mentally filter
them and see through it. In any case, in Sandhya's case, she is not shown as
dumb, docile, etc.. and in fact she is the smartest in the family.
In my opinion it is wrong to imply negativity (door mat,
etc) to a girl who is shown as a "good" bahu, and implying an aggressive,
rebellious image as progressive and desirable (a reverse stereotype?). I know it is controversial, and I am open for
the brickbats!
IPS has a lot of halo around it (another stereotype!). It is
said that one has to forget their families to be a good IPS - it is as wrong as
forgetting one's professional life to be a good bahu/husband. True that their
professional lives are highly demanding and family lives are affected (like in
many other professions), but to "forget" family is going a bit too far (a
professional door-mat?). IPS are indeed
allowed and encouraged to a work-life a balance (there are specific training
programs for them for this as part of stress management). There are as many
happily married IPS officers as in any other profession. I think the next phase
of DABH is on how Sandhya IPS balances her work and family. I hope viewers will
not exclaim "What?! IPS officer cooking for her family!".
The trophy - it is a recognition and encouragement to bring
out the excellence in skill, performance and success, not as a starting point
for a list of "additional" responsibilities on the winner. This is true even for
a Bharat Ratna. Tendulkar's life is not going to change even after getting it.
Whatever responsibility that goes with it is more emotional and self-imposed
than formal expectation. ALL IPS officers have SAME level of expectation at
work, whether the BEST cadet or the WORST cadet.
My point is, even after becoming IPS and winning the tropy,
Sandhya is absolutely right in expecting to be posted close to home to strike
the work-life balance.
One point I strongly oppose in Manzilmukul's post is that
Sandhya is suffering in "dharma, parampara, pratishta and samman". On the
contrary, woman is given high importance in our Dharma and Parampara and a
woman is the pratishta and samman of every family. There are always digressions
and wrong practices, but the spirit of our dharma is always to regard woman in
high esteem. One needs to understand the real intent and meaning of our dharma,
identify the wrong practices and shun them. It is absolutely wrong to imply
that our dharma needs to be rejected, just to be progressive.
Agreed that the Sandhya's character has
shortcomings, it is not perfect and ideal, just like any real human being. Some things are not exactly inspiring if
looked at individual event level. But
what inspires me is the very fact that someone who is cheated into her marriage,
that too into an incompatible family, instead of just being depressed and
crying for her fate, actually changed her fate and that too by love, honesty,
courage and hard work. She will have happiness both at home and work and she
will also make her family and country proud. She is exemplary AT THIS LEVEL and
needs to be emulated.
Sorry for long post!
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