An acquaintance expressed dissent in the middle of the video, “You couldn’t leave your feminist rant on even men’s day?”. I watched in silence and gestured him to do the same. After it ended, he smiled and said, “Thank you!”
Why did we make this video specifically for men’s day? It certainly did not embody the (misconstrued version of) feminism that a lot of us believe in. What was THE PURPOSE?
Shanti Devi sits comfortably on her charpoy shielding the gleaming sun with her hands. She gestures for me to sit beside her and offers me a cutting chai. I question her, “Do you know what feminism is?”. She gets puzzled and gestures no. I ask again, “Do you know what sexism is?”. She smiles shyly, perhaps at the mention of the word sex, and says no.
Just then, a gentleman parks his truck and calls out, “Auntie, take a look!”. She excuses herself and starts fixing the punctured tyre of the truck.
Meet Shanti Devi, at 56 she is the only woman truck mechanic in India at Asia’s largest truck halt point – Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar (SGTN). She works in an area where speaking in crude platitudes and dusty roads are a common sight. As the many soot-darkened hands exchange tools to fix the punctured tires of this male bastion, her bangles clink as they brush the same tools, darkened by the same soot. The mother of eight, has also trained her husband in this field. He has worked alongside Shanti Devi since they moved to Delhi, 45 years ago.
Her story is a testament to the fact that you needn’t know the definition of feminism to understand the meaning of it, as do all the women who are a part of this video.
Mehrunnisha, the 30 year old bouncer at HKV social has quite a job. She has to make sure that no weapons make their way into the lounge. She also guards the women and protects them from drunk misbehaving men at the pub. Born to a Hindu mother and a Muslim father, Mehrunnisha hails from Saharanpur in U.P. She protected many Bollywood celebrities like Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan and Vidya Balan, during events in Delhi. From the days of battling her conservative father who used to cut electricity supply just so the daughters couldn’t study, to enrolling as an NCC cadet, she has come a long way. Despite holding a degree in Hindi Literature, it was only with the help of an NGO that she got a job as a bouncer. The fact that Mehrunnisha was trained in karate piqued her interest in the job and improved her chances to get it.
Vankadarath Saritha, is the poster girl for public transport in Delhi. She starts her route at 6 A.M every morning in the midst of 5,000 public buses. She is the first woman in a city of 10 million to take up the responsibility of driving its population around. What started as an effort to end the endemic sexual harassment in public transport, has led to an idea that is an inspiration to many. She hails from a village 900 miles away from the capital, in Telangana. She left school at 16 and earned a living by driving her father’s auto rickshaw. She has made her way to the capital and a pay check of over 20,000 rupees a month only with the belief that she wants to, and she can.
Teena Chaudhary, a certified fitness trainer (with UrbanClap) and a gym instructor has trained men and women alike. Her regime not just includes weight training, but also changes in lifestyle. People watch in awe as she lifts heavy weights with ease and teaches others the right technique to do the same. “They sometimes even ask aloud if I can lift the weights that are mostly assigned to men. They fail to understand that it is more about the technique than the strength.”
What do these women have in common apart from being passionate & having an unconventional career choice? They are women who embody feminism. Who tell us that they do not need men, but want them. Who do not need to undermine the opposite sex to feel empowered. Who do not need to say, “I can do it despite the fact that I am a woman”. They just say they can, because they want to. Who do not take a stand in the debate of men v/s women. They just stand on the middle (balanced) ground and say, “We can coexist.”
THE PURPOSE of this video was to bridge this very divide and end this debate. Whatever feminism or sexism may mean, we stand as equals to coexist. We want each other, every step of the way.
Happy Men’s Day, from equals to equals!
How important is your wedding decor? While you may not want to spend most of… Read More
Your wedding is coming up soon, and you're yet to decide wedding and mehendi favours… Read More
In this post, I'm going to tell you about... The best red lipstick shades in… Read More
In this post you will learn: Why you should use rose water for skin care… Read More
We asked the women of UrbanClap to reveal their favourite red lipsticks, and in the process,… Read More
There's something about marble, isn't it? It has a very calming and untouched appearance --… Read More
View Comments
Love this! This definition should be on a freaking dictionary
thank you Parul :)
Love it!
Thank you
Well said! Interesting take. I would never thought in a million years that this is how the video will end :P
Thank you Ziu!
Congratulations on your man-hating video. Men's Day is about MEN — but as always, you have to make it about women. Disgusting. I will never use your hateful app or services.
Hey Frank
Let me try to put things in perspective for you on behalf of the brand I work for. We are not bashing men in the video or the blog. If anything we are trying to undermine the many minds that has a wrong notion of about feminism. The meaning of feminism, like pretty much everything else today, has been twisted beyond recognition, especially by entitled urban women and "enlightened" men expressing self-righteous outrage that only lasts for a while. If you really watched the video till the end or read the blog this wouldn't be so difficult to understand. This blog is not about bashing men or undermining the importance of celebration of a day. It is about understanding that no sex is superior. We re equals. and it is in this equality that we can coexist.
Men's day might secondarily be about celebrating achievements of men but its primary motive is to raise awareness about men's mental health issues, male suicides, et al. How is it even 1 % relevant on men's day? Is it even about men? No! How would you feel if no one gives a flying fruit basket about your problems all year, and on the one day they're supposed to listen, they still yap about how they feel about you and how you're supposed to be? Would you not tell them politely to shove it up their arses?
Hmm.. fair point. Except this blog never undermined the problems of men (or for that matter any sex). If anything, I am trying to bring down the women who have a misconstrued understanding of what feminism is about. Nobody is saying that there is no need to listen to those who are suffering, but how is their sex relevant to that? how is the fact that a man is voicing his ordeal any different than a woman doing it? This blog is not about bashing men or undermining the importance of celebration of a day. It is about understanding that no sex is superior. We re equals. and it is in this equality that we can coexist.
Supriya, you don't understand the basic meaning of Men's Day. On this day the spotlight should be on us. This day is about highlighting our achievements and contributions towards society,. Its about focusing on issues faced by Men like lack of gender neutral laws, false accusations, domestic violence, sexual abuse and men's health. Its not about any other things like removing misconstrued ideas about feminism as you say. You have rest of the 364 days for doing this. Hope you understand.
In the video explains why women do not need a man with details about the work that they do, but it does not explain why they want that man. Is necessary to love a man just because he is a man? What kind of insane message is that?
Look like a video about working women, and about lazy men.