Netflix’s ‘A Suitable Boy’ & Modi era

Safiyat Naseem
November 9, 2020

suitable.jpg

Recently binge-watched a six part mini series directed by Mira Nair on Netflix, titled “A Suitable Boy”, an adaptation of Vikram Seth’s novel of the same title. And while I am neither a movie critic or reviewer, nor a fan of watching series with a backdrop of the post Independence era, I was still moved to write about it. To lay down my emotions on paper with nothing but words. It isn’t extra-ordinary, or brilliantly amazing, neither the characters are made to grow on you nor the plot is meticulously twisted, then what was it, you may ask.

It was Relatable, I would remark.

I usually don’t prefer series or movies that lay down the post Independence India theme with 1950s timeline because I don’t relate to it’s story or characters, and I don’t know if I watched it for Tanya Manikalata who played the character of Lata in the series or the fact that this series was on number 1 on Netflix, but I know for sure that I don’t regret watching it.

Being an Indian Muslim Women, it was shocking or rather depressing to relate to the newly Independent India even after 73 years. The political clashes, the Hindu-Muslim riots, the hatered based on religion, the stigma layed down on love between hindu and muslim, lack of women empowerment and discrimination, what was there is still here, now and growing more than ever.

It’s been 73 years and we as a Nation are still dealing with the same issues, we haven’t grown together, the lack of secularism is till there, the hatred and fear still reside or worse, it’s reoccurring.

When in the first episode the issue of Mosque was depicted, where the muslims demanded a peaceful place to pray, for those who still stayed in India, and the Raja started establishing a mandir in its direction to make them deprived of this right, I remembered the recent demolition of Babri Masjid and the Supreme Court’s judgement and acquittal of the accused.

As Maan went to the village with Rasheed, and acknowledged the miseries of farmers and labourers, the atrocious behaviour towards womens and workers, it wasn’t surprising or new. I thought about the Farm Bill 2020, the egregious condition of the working class amidsts pandemic, the walks they took barefoot and with empty bellies to go back to their hometowns as they were dealing with unemployment, lack of resources and ignorance of the Government and society. I remembered the Hathras case and other numerous sexual harassment as well as domestic violence cases. How I wish to get shocked by the problems of 1950s shown in the series, but unfortunately I was’t, I am rather acclimated to it. I have been there, heard it, been a part of it…even after 73 years, I have still seen it.

And as Rasheed told Maan “Aur bhi dukh hain Zamane mai mohabbat ke siva” (There are many other sorrows in this world besides love)… Indeed Rasheed, Indeed.

In the later episodes, as a communal riot emerged as Muslim and Hindu mobs were crossing roads, and one of them pushed the other, my mind instantly went towards the Delhi Riots. As Maan and Firoz were running together to save their lives, I connected with them and my eyes filled with tears as I remembered the misfortunate event that took place in Jamia Millia Islamia on 15th December 2019. Being a Jamia Student I remembered hiding under the table in the old library of my campus where Delhi Police showered us with tear gas shells.

When Maan and Firoz gets caught by the angry mob, and one of them asked Maan to say Gayatri Mantar to prove he’s not a muslim, and Maan obliged and did the same to save his and Firoz’s life, but Firoz couldn’t say it being a Muslim. I remembered the viral video on the internet that showed two people in the car, forcing a Muslim man to say Jai Mata Di, and were constantly abusing him.

As the main plot evolves, we see Lata falling in love with his schoolmate whose name’s not known up until the time when Lata’s friend warns her to not meet the guy, as he a Muslim, named Kabir Durrani. But Lata follows her heart and as predicted her mother took her away from the city to find her a suitable boy, and definitely not a Muslim. Tanishq’s advertisement flashed across my mind, the controversy revolving around how it depicts so called ‘love jihad’, whereas all it does is showcase communal harmony, and how they had to shut down the ad because apparently it hurts the “sentiment” of people. It’s been 73 years, and communal harmony still hurts the sentiment?

In the first episode, as the establishment of the mandir was taking place, it was already mentioned that there were bound to be protests regarding the same, still the government didn’t uphold the security levels and gave direct orders to shoot if the protesters didn’t stop. Not shockingly, it was a peaceful protest until the police started shooting, 20 people died. And as we see later in the Parliament meeting, the government was nonchalant to this action of police. Remember again, the attack on Jamia Millia Islamia, peaceful protest, tear gas shells and bullets… similar isn’t it? Potato-Patato, same thing…no?

Well, I believe nothing much has changed, the situation in 1947 and Modi era are almost the same, one way or the other. Except that in 1947, India was a newly democratic and independent country where freedom of speech was introduced, Jamia was a symbol of resistance and nationalism and people were the priority of the government. Whereas in Modi era, India is a newly non-democratic country, where freedom of speech is a myth, Jamia is an anti-national University, Islam is terrorism, people are least of the priority and Modi is God.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 19,2024

bommai.jpg

Bengaluru, Mar 19: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday said that the Congress will split in three months after the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and its impact will be visible on the Siddaramaiah-led state government.

"Due to internal squabbles, the state government will not last long," the BJP leader said.

Talking to reporters on Monday, he said the sitting MP from the Gadag-Haveri constituency, Shivakumar Udasi, has done a lot of development work and implemented the Central government's schemes effectively.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi will surely become the PM for the third time. The overall response has been good in the Gadag-Haveri Lok Sabha constituency," the former Karnataka chief minister said.

Asked if he was contesting the election in a half-hearted manner in the Gadag-Haveri seat, Bommai said "such a question does not arise when the party's high command gives instructions".

He said he would respect his opponent and not take anyone lightly. 

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 27,2024

Bengaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday launched simultaneous raids in multiple places, including Bengaluru and Shivamogga.

Reports suggested that the ongoing raids are in connection with the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe on March 1. The blast had injured at least ten people as per the police report.

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) had launched an investigation alongside the NIA, and the trail of the suspect led them to Tumakuru first and subsequently to Ballari. Investigators believe that the bomb was planted by Mussavir Hussain Shazib, a handler of the Islamic State’s Shivamogga module who was aided by another IS handler called Ahmed Taahaa.

Sources in the know said that Shazib and Taahaa had stayed in Chennai for about a month between January and February using fake credentials. The names of the suspects were identified after they traced the cap worn by Shazib to a shop in a mall in Chennai. The cap, which was abandoned by the bomber in Bengaluru after the blast, was reportedly bought by Taahaa, around January-end.

As per the NIA, Shazib hails from Masjid Road in Thirthahalli, Shivamogga district, and Taahaa from Fish Market Road, Soppu Gude, Thirthahalli Rural. Both "wanted" suspects have been termed "absconders" by the NIA.

The NIA has questioned seven jailed terror suspects so far in connection with the blast. The investigation agency had also obtained seven-day custody of a jailed terror suspect named Maaz Muneer Ahmed.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 21,2024

billionairs.jpg

New Delhi: India has now become more unequal in terms of wealth concentration than the British colonial period as income and wealth of the top 1% of the country’s population have hit historical highs, according to a paper released by World Inequality Lab.

By 2022-23, the top 1 per cent income share in India was 22.6 per cent and the top 1 per cent wealth share rose to 40.1 per cent, with India’s top 1 per cent income share among the very highest in the world, higher than even South Africa, Brazil and the US.

Co-authored by economists Nitin Kumar Bharti, Lucas Chancel, Thomas Piketty, and Anmol Somanchi, the paper stated that the “Billionaire Raj” headed by “India’s modern bourgeoisie” is now more unequal than the British Raj headed by the colonialist forces. 

The paper said there is evidence to suggest the Indian tax system might be “regressive when viewed from the lens of net wealth”. A restructuring of the tax code is needed, the paper said, adding that a levy of a “super tax” of 2 per cent on the net wealth of 167 wealthiest families would yield 0.5 per cent of national income in revenues and create space for investments.

“A restructuring of the tax code to account for both income and wealth, and broad-based public investments in health, education and nutrition are needed to enable the average Indian, and not just the elites, to meaningfully benefit from the ongoing wave of globalisation. Besides serving as a tool to fight inequality, a “super tax” of 2% on the net wealth of the 167 wealthiest families in 2022-23 would yield 0.5% of national income in revenues and create valuable fiscal space to facilitate such investments,” the paper said. 

The paper has analysed data based on the annual tax tabulations published by the Indian income tax authorities to extract the distribution of top income earners between 1922-2020.

The share of national income going to the top 10 per cent fell from 37 per cent in 1951 to 30 per cent by 1982 after which it began steadily rising. From the early 1990s onwards, the top 10 per cent share increased substantially over the next three decades, nearly touching 60 per cent in the most recent years, the paper said. This compares with the bottom 50 per cent getting only 15 per cent of India’s national income in 2022-23.

 The top 1 per cent earn on average Rs 5.3 million, 23 times the average Indian (Rs 0.23 million). Average incomes for the bottom 50 per cent and the middle 40 per cent stood at Rs 71,000 (0.3 times national average) and Rs 1,65,000 (0.7 times national average), respectively.
The richest, nearly 10,000 individuals (of 92 million Indian adults) earn on average Rs 480 million (2,069 times the average Indian). “To get a sense of just how skewed the distribution is, one would have to be at nearly the 90th percentile to earn the average income in India,” the paper said.

In 2022, just the top 0.1 per cent in India earned nearly 10 per cent of the national income, while the top 0.01 per cent earned 4.3 per cent share of the national income and top 0.001 per cent earned 2.1 per cent of the national income.

Enlisting the probable reasons for sharp rise in top 1 per cent income shares, the paper said public and private sector wage growth could have played a part till the late 1990s, adding that there are good reasons to believe capital incomes likely played a role in subsequent years. For the shares of the bottom 50 per cent and middle 40 per cent remaining depressed, the paper said, the primary reason has been the lack of quality broad-based education, focused on the masses and not just the elites.

“One reason to be concerned with such high levels of inequality is that extreme concentration of incomes and wealth is likely to facilitate disproportionate influence on society and government. This is even more so in contexts with weak democratic institutions. After largely being a role model among post-colonial nations in this regard, the integrity of various key institutions in India appears to have been compromised in recent years. This makes the possibility of India’s slide towards plutocracy even more real. If only for this reason, income and wealth inequality in India must be closely tracked and challenged,” it said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.