This is a video which I came across yesterday just by
chance. While the music is good the best thing about this video is the stark
contrasts that it portrays. On one side we see rap singer Hard Kaur attired in
modern attire rapping out issues which have had great impact on her -1984 &
so on and on other side we see Bhanwari Devi singing folk song from behind a
full veil!!!
Both the singers represent today’s society in India where
modernity & tradition co-exist, and in harmony, without each having to
justify its existence or trying to impose on the other its own point of view.
However there are large forces at work, from both sides,
which are trying to shout the other down. In this fight, which, at times turns
ugly, media plays or can play a big role. Problem starts when media starts to
get biased and project one point of view as being better than the other. Case in
point is recent issue of women pressing for a right to offer prayers in the
inner sanctum of a Shani Temple. This fight lead by a, so called, activist who was
showcased in media as a savior of women in India. Did anyone, in the English TV
channels, even try and get a point of view of other women who favoured the
tradition and did not have any desire to go an offer prayer in the inner
sanctum of that particular temple? Answer is NO. Yes we did see some, again so called, God men
trying to justify the restriction but did they represent the Indian women?
Again answer is NO.
Point that I try and make is that it is very much possible
for tradition & modern thought to coexist and in fact complement each other
rather than cause any conflict. Modern thought can be a constant evolving
process, which can look at not what is good or bad, for that will mean being judgmental,
but what is relevant and what has lost relevance. It should also allow for
space for those who wish to continue to adhering to traditional thoughts/values
and allow them to choose their own time frame to evolve.
Ending with my favourite question- is it so difficult?
Enjoy the video.. Kattey on Coke Studio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npKCgowu-Bk
