“I’m tandoori chicken, gulp me down with alcohol…”
The recent ₹370 biryani incident from Gurgaon reminded me of these golden words from a popular Hindi film song starring industry A-listers.
Content
There are many more such Indian songs that objectify women, reducing them to fragile, unstable objects of pity, fascination, and pleasure. And these are wildly popular!
So are movies from across India that glorify toxic, man-child characters who wreak physical and psychological violence on their female partners.
But guess what?
Those men had a difficult childhood, are misunderstood, have a pure heart, and need to be rescued!
If this is not love, I know not what is!
There’s also “humor” that objectifies women and reduces them to less intelligent beings worthy of ridicule.
(Side note: At a time when anything breathing with criminal confidence is a stand-up comic, I miss the days when lugging around a DSLR was the fad.)
Coming back: Animal, Arjun Reddy, Housefull… It would be easier to count popular Indian content that is NOT misogynistic.
Now, none of this is meant to excuse the 23-year-old moron behind the ₹370 biryani statement.
That said, we ARE products of our environment, conditioning, and culture.
Not to mention the people with a misplaced sense of morality talking about how even a lipstick costs more than ₹370 these days.
Not. The. Effin’. Point. That meteor could not hit Earth soon enough, I swear!
Anyway, we can demonize this moron now and wait for the next one, OR we can ask some uncomfortable but essential questions.
Culture
The incident reminded me of another event—the BBC interview of Mukesh, the main offender in the 2012 Delhi Nirbhaya case. The man was confused as to what the fuss was all about. Mukesh genuinely did not believe he had done anything wrong. After all, what kind of a woman goes out late in the evening with a man who is not related to her?
He went on to talk about Indian culture and tradition, and the value and purity of women in our society. It was fascinating!
Soon after, Mukesh received capital punishment along with his co-offenders. And with that, we resolved misogyny and related violence.
Naah!
Last week, a woman was stabbed 34 times in her office by a former partner in Punjab. By the time her colleagues could separate her from the assailant, it was too late.
But to be fair, popular content did tell us—there is always a “yes” hidden in a woman’s “no.”
Stalking, self-harm, and domestic violence are all love languages here. I know, beautiful!
Now, for anyone who may feel the itch to blame all of this on “modern” and “western” culture: every day since forever, newspapers have been filled with reports of dowry and domestic violence.
The most recent high-profile case is the suspicious death of a new bride from Bhopal last month, and the alleged abetment and cover-up by her lawyer husband and retired-judge mother-in-law.
By the way, rape-convicted political leaders and “spiritual” leaders continue to be popular and powerful across India!
Currency
In India, a woman can either be a goddess or a witch. There is no middle ground.
There are women that men date, and then there are women that men marry.
Interestingly, women themselves actively contribute toward defining these two types.
Even in seemingly harmless ways, gender-based shame and prejudice are peddled daily from a thousand different platforms.
Misogyny is an industry worth hundreds of billions—from diamonds to green tea. It is an all-weather currency, really.
For instance, there is an advertisement running on OTT platforms right now from an e-commerce brand in which a woman whispers to her male friends that all her bras are in the washer, and hence she cannot come on a trip. Her friends tell her that she can order from an app that delivers in minutes. They loudly add that they get their underwear from the same app.
Now, why the different, gender-based treatment for the topic of innerwear?
Gender-based prejudice, discrimination, and crimes are a global phenomenon, not unique to India.
What IS unique to India, however, is the mainstreaming of them and the lack of avenues for awareness and empowerment.
In conclusion, let us demonize the ₹370 biryani moron and wait for the next one. Do not worry, it will not take long. In the meantime, let us try to contain our excitement for the release of Animal 2 and Housefull 6.
P.S. Hope I am not overselling this, but neurodivergent minds see patterns.
arguments & agreements 