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Comedian Bharti Singh spoke about the body shaming and trolling for her weight on Moving in with Malaika, but it all sounds scripted and not real.
Happened to watch ‘Moving in with Malaika’ on Disney Hotstar and though I am not reviewing the series here, I would mention a particular episode about body shaming and positivity, where Malaika Arora invites popular comedian Bharti Singh.
They talk about how women are trolled for their choice of clothes, their weight, complexion, age, etc. And then Bharti Singh gets emotional about being bullied all the time for her weight. She says, the day she got married, trolls went to the extent of saying, “Bhains (buffalo) ki shadi (marriage) hui, Bhains ne Bakre ko Pakad Liya!” (A buffalo has got married to a goat!)
She weeps, yes, trolls can be merciless and abusive at times.
But surprisingly, I feel indifferent, I can’t somehow bring myself to sympathize with her.
She is one of the top comedians in India and is ruling in a domain dominated by men. My respect for her notwithstanding, I recollect some of her skits and a few shows she has been part of.
Over the years, almost every performance of hers involves her being referred to as ‘Genda’ (rhinoceros), baby elephant, cow, buffalo, and the choicest of fat-shaming jibes. The jokes are invariably about her weight and mind you, these are scripted, well-practiced skits. She has happily let the jokes be, and now when I look back, I kind of realize that her rise to fame has been mainly through slapstick comedy, based on body shaming.
Not to mention, these particular comedy shows rely heavily on shaming women. ‘Buddhi, Kekde jaisa Muh, Aadmi ki Shakal Wali, Haathi ‘, are just some regular digs at ladies in the show, that pass off as punches. And unfortunately, Bharti Singh has been participating in most of these, in fact, her acts often involve mocking other women in the skit. She’s famous for those punches, for addressing clean-shaven men as ‘Ladki‘, slim girls as ‘Machees Ki Teeli‘, and whatnot.
For someone who has been fat-shaming, face-shaming, and body-shaming people in the name of comedy, and has been sporting enough to take jokes on herself, what would a mere online troll mean?
So, the tears Bharti shed on Malaika Arora’s show, are they for real? Or just another marketing strategy for another show with another format?
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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