India's love with Bollywood

Indian cinema is celebrating 100 years, but what legacy does it leave on its society?

When I was growing up in 90s, my parents didn’t approve of me watching Bollywood films. They thought most films were distasteful and could have a negative influence on me. They, however, handpicked some films for me that they considered good.  I remember watching my first Hindi movie, Sholay. My parents sat around me trying to explain things I couldn’t comprehend, but I loved it.

Later on, I was sent to an Anglo- India boarding school where Hindi seemed to be a foreign language. Bollywood was strictly banned.   When I graduated from school at the age of sixteen, I had very little knowledge about Bollywood, but by then, my parents allowed me to make my own choices.

It was only when I came to Delhi, I realized the popularity and craze for Hindi songs and films.  I was still very selective and started watching popular films of the day. I loved the songs, was always thrilled by the dances and enjoyed the new themes that Bollywood was experimenting with.

One of the unique aspects about Bollywood cinemas -and this is something I find fascinating- is that despite its huge popularity and being in social domain for 100 years, Bollywood hasn’t been that effective in influencing India’s social consciousness.

From the very beginning, majority of Bollywood films revolved around the theme of romance: stunning actresses, charming actors, outstanding music and brilliant cinematography excited the country. It became a trendsetter for fashion, eras were defined by it and actors became demi – Gods. But, unlike Hollywood, which forms an integral part of societal norms and expression, Bollywood’s narrative portrayed a world of fantasy. For ordinary Indians, it served as a break from the daily grind. Bollywood never really became a potent tool for counter –culture.

 A vast majority of Indians have never allowed cinema to influence their social notions and customs. Love remains a vexed issue in society, and traditional values and formulaic ideas overshadow the liberal messages of love as espoused by popular Indian cinema. Caste based marriages, honour killings, forced marriages, dowry and other social problems didn’t mitigate because of Bollywood.

As an industry, Bollywood served as an important tool for India’s soft power and public diplomacy over the last few decades. The popularity of Bollywood in the Middle East, parts of Africa, Central Asia, Russia and countries with huge Indian diaspora like the UK has been huge.

I was surprised when my friends in Ghana and Rwanda told me how their parents loved watching Bollywood.  In the UK, Bollywood has almost become a part of mainstream culture owing to mixed marriages – bhangra and other forms of Bollywood dances are popular with the new generation of Brits. Growing popularity of Indian cinema at Cannes and periodic interviews of Bollywood starts abroad bears testimony that Indian cinema has come-off an age.

India today makes the most number of movies in the world. Its film industry growing, and many Western production houses like Warner Brothers have entered into the Indian market. 

 One only hopes that in the years to come, Bollywood will be more experimental with its narrative and will cease to live less in the make- believe world. As a powerhouse of entertainment,  it has a public obligation to support regional cinema and actors. We hope the Bollywood will represent different aspects of Indian culture and values as well as be in sync with new technology and popular culture.

  

No protection for India’s civil society?

The shocking behaviour of Delhi police to hush –up the case of a brutal rape of a minor girl by trying the bribe the family of the victim, and then slapping a women protestor by one of its officers calls for a serious police reforms in India.

It was around 10 pm in South Delhi. I was speaking with my friend whom I met in a shopping square close the area where I live. She was dressed in a skirt. Two policemen, apparently on a patrol, came on a bike and started asking questions about who we were and very rudely asked us to move away from there. They said: “if you don’t go, I will take you on your bike.”

I had to show them my visiting card to establish my identity. They calmed down and drove away. They belonged to Vasant Vihar police station. Locals tell me that they are out to make money and often target people who look like outsiders.

A couple of months back in another residential residential area(C. R. Park), police stopped my motorbike. They asked me for papers. When they found I had them, they began asking me about my salary and the type of job I do. Then one officer said: ”what about a party sir?”

As I write this thousands of people are protesting outside the Delhi Police HQ. They are angry because they tried to bribe the family of the five-year-old girl who was brutally raped, and to add fuel the fire, one of the senior officers slapped a young woman officer in full glare of the media!

Rishi Kant, a well-known social activist, who rescues trafficked women comments: “This situation we face in every police station. The police IO of any case try to purchase the victims slowly to change the statement in the court.”

Police, like most government organisations in India, is heavily corrupt. But if India really wants to protect its civil society, the trust deficit that people have with police needs to be improved.

India’s police have no ethics of customer service. They are not trained to speak politely and have no respect for others. The whole idea of being on the street is to earn money and harass the weak.

A few things needs to done immediately: a mechanism for civil –police partnership needs to be created for community policing. Given India’s diversity, police needs to work with the local community to understand the demography and culture of different areas. The police force in the national capital should have officers from other states speaking different languages.  

There has to be transparency in police recruitment and promotion. Promotion has to be merit based on not based on seniority. The well- cultivated system of corruption in police that has been existing over the last 60 years has to be dismantled – technology is the best answer to this.

Finally, sensitisation  of police and change of mindset is the need of the hour for 21^st century policing.  It is time for India to get the basic public services right so that the civil society can breathe in peace.  

Make strong foundation for BRICS

don't waste him

Rahul joins me for a pint of beer on Holi- the Indian festival of colours. He jokes and tells me that his life is not colourful. “ I want to go back to my home town to Darjeeling- I don’t like Delhi.” His friend Prabhakar agrees with him. They both work for Adidas as salesman.

Priya (name changed), a beautiful girl, also from Darjeeling works in a beauty parlour in South Delhi.  She probably has other sources of income, which she doesn’t want to divulge at this stage. She loves clubs and going out at weekends, but life is Delhi is tough.  She says, “ I have to stand the whole day,  and sometimes I am abused by the customers.  I don’t want to live here, but I need to earn. I want to educate my 9-year-old brother. I will do everything for him”.

Every year thousands of young boys and girls make their way to Delhi from the picturesque hills of the Darjeeling and also the north –east of India  hoping to get decent jobs.

Thanks to globalization: India’s booming retail industry and glitzy malls have given employment to many of them. “ We have the looks”, says Sanchita (name changed), who looks extremely smart in her mini-outfits.  “ We might be uneducated, but we know how to carry ourselves. We are easily employable. ” Sanchita’s bother is disabled, father is blind and her mom is often sick. At 22 she has to look for ways to support her family.

Darjeeling is known as the Queen of hills and is the home to one of the world’s most expensive tea, which contributes greatly to India’s exports. But unfortunately, the locals have benefited little from it. The tea is auctioned in Kolkata and drained out of the region much to annoyance of the local population. The locals have been asking for a separate state- Gurkhaland. The political demands have had fallouts- frequent strikes and bandhs have crippled the local economy. Tourism has been hit and the posh Anglo- Indian boarding schools no longer attract students from the rest of the country.

On a wider context, the suffering of the locals and lack of unemployment in some of India’s most scenic regions shows how exclusive India’s economic growth has been.

In many ways, the rising prosperity of India’s cities has given rise to a host of serious social problems- human trafficking is one of them. Hundreds and thousands of girls from India’s troubled north-east are directly or indirectly into prostitution in Delhi alone.

As BRICS leaders cobble up in Durban to discuss the possibilities of setting up a BRICS bank to help sustain infrastructure and human development, we hope that such initiative will be duly accompanied by a vision to economically boost some of the backward regions and communities in each of the BRICS countries.

For India, the priority should be to look at human development issues, creating more economic opportunities across the country and improve its defunct infrastructure. Above all it needs to fight corruption to say the least.

Meet great women on Women's day

One of the best ways to celebrate international women’s day is to remember the great women we meet in our daily lives.

Nisha, the biker

Shabnam is just 16. She is friendly and loves books. She says: “ all I need is an opportunity. I want to go out of Haryana. I want to be a lawyer, so that I can fight and bring justice to the girls who suffer like me.”

Seven months back she was brutally gang raped by a group of  “upper caste” boys in her village near Hissar.  A week later, when her father learnt about the incident, he committed suicide. She refused to bury him, until police found the culprits.

The family received death threats and was offered money to drop the case by the politically influential families of the culprits. They had to flee the village. Her education jolted; she had to start afresh in Hissar, where she now lives under police protection. She says: “ I will not give up. I want to inspire other victims like me and tell them that it is not the end of life."

In another village near Rothak in highly conservative Haryana, we met two college going girls: Laxmi and Gunjan. They have to balance their studies with tedious household work. They both want to become teachers. They acknowledge that there are many things that are wrong in their society but are hopeful that things will change.

The girls tell us: "we will be killed if were to fall in love with someone in the village outside our caste, but this has to stop. Inter –caste marriages are good for our country. It will help us to understand other cultures and make our nation strong.”

When asked about the dikat issued by the Khap panchyatas (a group of unconstitutional law makers comprising of elderly people) not to wear jeans and carry mobile phones, the girls laugh: “we listen to our parents and no one else. Do you think all the girls in the West are bad? How can you judge a person’s character by clothes? This is non-sense. Wearing Western clothes alone is not a sign of modernity.”

In rural north India, Indian women are the backbone of the economy, though they face worst form of gender discrimination at home.

In a recent visit to Rajasthan I noticed women, who work hard in the fields, look after the children and take care of all household chores whilst men vibe their time gambling and drinking.  A village elder told me: “every morning we get up and go on a bike ride. Politics and smoking hookah is our passion. We are men” 

women working the fields

Also, in Dausa in Rajasthan we meet Nisha, who has barged into a high -risk 'man's world'.  She is a biker; gambles with her life everyday by performing breathtaking  incredible stunts with her bike. Her two sons were murdered. She allowed us to film her. All she wanted in return was a copy of her photos! 

I cannot stop admiring my building sweeper and her teenage daughter: they work relentlessly to keep my neighbourhood clean. This self-respecting family, run purely by women, doesn’t even know what social security means. They have no education, but their refined manners and strong work ethics have a lot to teach others about leading a honest life. Shikha, the daughter, is learning English and embroidery. She loves fashion and is determined to be an independent woman.

On the Valentine’s Day, we interviewed several couples from various backgrounds. Some of them told us that their families are their biggest impediment to their relationship. We meet Nur and Ranjan, a Muslim girl and a Hindu boy.  They tell us: “We do everything, go out for movies, meet in a mall, in the park, but we do it secretly.” Whilst Ranjan’ s parents have some hint about his relationship, Nur is waiting for the right opportunity to break the news.  “What ever is the consequence, I am ready to face”: Nur tells me with her face gleaming with joy.

In a gloomy slum next to one of the richest colonies in New Delhi, I meet Geeta Negi, who works as program co-ordinator for a NGO, Faith Foundation. Eloquently dressed, Geeta has taken the challenging task of running a school with little financial means.  Their aim is to educate the slum children and provide lunch to them free of cost.

Geeta Negi

She says: “ it is not an easy task. I have to go and convince parents to send their children to school. Once when we distributed free clothes to children, the entire population of the slum was here demanding clothes for their children. I had to make them understand that the uniforms were meant for children who studies here.” Geeta also works hard to raise funds for the charity.

Finally, my own BBC correspondent Natalia Antelava: she was heavily pregnant when I travelled with her for filming a documentary on human trafficking. It was a daunting project and involved a great deal of travelling to some of the far- flung areas. Natalia’s spirit was simply inspiring.   What else, after reporting on the miserable state of women that are victims of trafficking, she herself was blessed with a lovely daughter.

Women are both the source of joy and strength. The international women’s day should be used to send a message to liberal minded people to liberate millions of women from subjugation and oppression. It is not a question of celebrating freedom for women but it is a fight against changing the attitude towards women in a much wider context.

Cameron's apology could have made sense

It would have been commendable had the British prime minister David Cameron directly apologised for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.  On his visit to Amritsar on his recent state visit to India, Mr Cameron termed the massacre as 'a deeply shameful event in British history'.

His gestures of bending on his knees and maintaining a minute silence were good- many see it as indirect apology, but such actions, however great they may be, can never be a replacement for ‘sorry’.

Cameron invoked then secretary of state for war Winston Churchill when he quoted his 1920 remark where Churchill had termed the event as "monstrous”. However, history will  indicate that General Dyer was never really punished for the gruesome killing. He had a premature retirement, which earned him sympathy from then British gentry in India. Dominique Lapierre’s Freedom at Midnight illustrates that funds were raised by the British elite in private parties to compensate for Mr Dyer’s premature retirement.

As a nation, India has been simply great in coming to terms with history. Indians have never really hated Britain or demonized the country in its history books. There has never been anti- Britain sentiments on events like Indian Independence Day. Indians by and large admire Britain; millions look at it as its natural partner in the West. Thousands of students flock to the UK for studies, businesses love to invest there. Britain too in return welcomed millions of Indians, and has around 1.5 million subjects of Indian origin.

An apology at the holiest city for Sikhs, where Brigadier- General Dyer mercilessly killed thousands of peaceful protestors could have been purely a non political, yet Britain would be forgiven for its 200 years of subjugation of India.

Britain would have won the hearts of Indians; David Cameron a hero! It would have greatly strengthened the ‘special relationship’ between the two great nations.