Women overburdened by work, violence and social norms, says Nandita Das

Acclaimed film actress and director Nandita Das who is always passionate about womens welfare and gender equality is no stranger to tackling difficult issues that are often missed or go unnoticed as did most notably in her film Zwigato starring Kapil Sharma At the launch of the ILSS Emerging Womens Leadership Program in New Delhi Das however spoke about her short film Listen to Her She shot the film which like Zwigato also revolves around the theme of the complexities of life under Covidinduced lockdowns at home with son Vihaan and it zeroes in on the issue of women being overburdened while staying back and facing domestic violence to bootAlso Read Achint Thakkar The music is influenced by Pancham darsquos workOne fine morning I woke up and read this newspaper article about how women are being overburdened during the lockdown And I am talking about the privileged class who are attending zoom meetings and taking care of their kids and what is being cooked at home Das said unspooling her memories of how the idea for the film germinatedDomestic violence was on the rise not just in India but the world over Das said These two threads somehow came together If we say domestic violence exists in a certain class we know its not true its across classes Ill be afraid to acknowledge thatShe added There is an overburden of work not just in the poorer sections but across all classes and probably in a strange and a more subtle way in a more privileged class Das who was seen most recently at the Toronto International Film Festival where she had premiered Zwigago then went explain how she shot the entire short film at homeI didnt even have a tripod I had no filming equipment So just with my phones and I had two phones one phone to shoot and the sound rolling in the other which I would give to my cook And so that sevenpage story I wrote one morning was shot by the next Das recalled It is just a little story about two women when there wasnt another woman around The rest are all voices And there is a male voice A lot of people asked me where Ali Fazal was sitting And I was like No he wasnt in my bedroomDas said women need to be confident and open up on different issues She said on certain occasions because they carried different responsibilities women often forget what they wanted in life and what their hobbies were She added that she advises friends not to be overburdened and think about their needs as well Once my friend was visiting my place and I asked her What do you want to have She replied My kids are like this so I can have the same And I was like No you tell me what you want because that is also important Sometimes while thinking about our families and kids women often forget what they want for themselves The fact is even I do the same and I am also no different to those women Das saidShe later discussed how wearing the hijab has become an issue across India Women are asked either why they are wearing the hijab or why they are not but no one asks them what they want Certain times Das said women believe that they do what they want to do but it is in reality what society wants them to do Their minds is conditioned in such a way that they get confused about their own needs and desiresAlso Read Mahesh Bhatt Irsquoll be the coolest grandfather in townSometimes we think we are deciding that this is my decision its my body I want to wear this or I want to wear that I want to look like this or I want to look like that Is it really my decision Das asked Or is it being informed by all those images that are being bombarded that I need to be lightskinned that I need to be thin that my hair needs to be proper that my waist needs to be of this size Is it informed by that So its a long and meandering journey But yeah there is no wrapping up really because its an ongoing journey that we all have Das addedLater Das also discussed about the positive changes that are happening in the film industry with more women directors and writers coming up and making their voices heard She concluded by saying After becoming a mother at 40 I was challenged with my own thoughts thoughts of what I thought I knew what I had thought I had internalised and what I thought I was capable of I started observing myself and other women around me much more and realised till we individually in our own hearts dont really change the collective and cumulative change is not going to happen as fast as we want it toWe are here because we need to hasten that change because it is just taking too long and many lives are perishing while we still think feel and understand our own selfdoubts and vulnerabilities At the end Anu Prasad founder and and CEO ILSS flagged an important concern She noted Women comprise 50 per cent f our population so we should be having at least 50 per cent of the voice In terms of numbers we are a force Yet when we see that women have little representation in Parliament in civil services or in industry leadership rolesILSS or India Leaders for Social Sector is a Delhibased nonprofit that works to strengthen the leadership talent pool in the social sector Prior to setting up ILSS in 2017 Prasad was the founding Deputy Dean of the prestigious Young India Fellowship YIF and a founding member of Ashoka University Indias first liberal arts universityThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever