A great Indian movie

 Hello,

            Fellow Indians, stay safe , healthy and follow covid appropriate behaviour to save yourself and people around you. This is obviously one of the toughest times India is facing due to the careless behavior of one section of population and the politicians who cared only about their own survival.

                                      By seeing the title, I think some of you would have guessed what I am going to write about. 'The great Indian kitchen' which was released in January in the online platforms is a powerful, silently piercing movie, for which there will not be the likes of it anytime soon. Much has been said and written about it that I will not go into the length and breadth of this classic Malayalam movie. Those who are yet to watch this, I recommend this a must watch. If a movie needs to be good and powerful, the story, direction, cast should be good and it need not necessarily have superstars as this one has proved.  It did prick the conscience of both the sexes in different ways. The film portrayed the lead women being the slaves of  extreme levels of patriarchy in the so called 'prestigious ' family. The mother-in-law is not shown as cruel or domineering,  but silently carrying out the daily monotonous chores which was to be borne with full responsibility later on when she leaves the home temporarily for family commitments.  No one is demonized here. The daughter in law religiously carries out the repeated kitchen and other household chores. The lead roles played with perfection by Nimisha Sajayan and Suraj Venjaranmoodu deserves international recognition and even Oscar instead of some worthless Bollywood movies which are sent every year shaming the Indian cinema.  We shudder at the repeated and unromantic way of showing the daily cooking, cleaning the whole mess after the men of the house eat. After sometime,  it just starts piercing us and makes us feel to some extent uncomfortable and forces us to introspect our own trapped lives that is essayed by the society for centuries.  Mentally , the ladies start defending by thinking that their lives are not this bad and trapped like what is shown. But many of them are still relatable and we grow up to the thought that it is a woman's responsibility to feed and look after her family wherever she is. The degree of responsibility may vary.  There was one advertisement which caught my attention where the lady of the house trips and has leg sprain. The father-in-law hands over the pain reliever saying that 'tumhaare pair mein ek ghar padaa hai.' (The whole house runs on your feet...that much weight she is carrying). Men start defending themselves (at least some) by saying that they are not that insensitive and they 'help' the wives with the daily chores.  Though the times are changing and easing out, we need to go a long way before we can pride on gender equality in the responsibility of household jobs. We should not be discussing like 'Oh, that lady does not cook and so she kept a cook ' instead of saying why can't he cook? Cooking is a skill required for survival and we need to stop attaching the gender to it. In the movie, the character who was a dance teacher  had to pause her career to 'fit into ' the 'prestigious tharavaadu family.' The father-in-law softly and firmly does not allow her to become dance teacher by saying that her highly qualified mother-in-law was not allowed to be a working lady and that what these ladies do inside home are 'more valued' (by whom!!??) than those of collectors, bankers, engineers !! 

            Another topic which is usually not shown in Indian films, but which is very much prevalent is the untouchability and forced isolation during the days of menstruation. It would have brought back the painful memories to many ladies who were forced to isolate by other family members so that nothing is 'polluted ' by touching. It did bring in the memories to me of being isolated, lunch being given by my mother-in-law  in a plate with katories for sambar,  curry, curds and they to be washed and kept separately for 3 days. Also, like what was shown in the film, the announcement of periods invited shocked reactions as if something catastrophic took place!! Of course,  it goes without saying that I needed to sleep on a mat and wash pillow covers and bedsheets on 'purification head bath ' during the 4th day. It was embarrassing for me if guests turn up during 'those days' and I have discouraged from some of them visiting during those days. Of course, for men of the house, sons-in-laws,  no rules apply. As a last resort,  her sex life was nothing but torture, forcing her to walk out of the house with dignity and become a dance teacher and alas, only to be replaced by another woman in the movie! 

          As expected,  there was lot of heated discussions that followed all over the social media. Some  of those which I saved are below. Please read them..It only highlights the relevance of this film.

     

 

                                  

Below this is copy pasted the review posted by the macho man named Vijay Pathi who can very much fit those characters of the two men in the movie. He has 2 sons. Hope his daughters-in-laws pour muddy water on his face !!

Great for Swiggy & Zomato types to produce and sponsor !!!!

MNC pharma companies and corporate hospitals can Co Produce too !

First ...the beautiful.....Indian Joint Family system was systematically damaged with stupid notions of lack of privacy , independent living & sheer selfishness ..self centred thinking. The consequences are old age homes....aged parents being abandoned.....tiny kids being left in creches and playschools to be taken care by ayahs and staff .

Now ....liberal Filmmakers are attacking the fabulous Indian Kitchen.....in the name of drudgery , patriarchy , female emancipation and what not .

Already , thousands of Indian homes ... particularly nuclear families and millenialls have stopped cooking at home and ordering from Swiggy & Zomato types.

Consequences are life style based diseases ... mushrooming of hospitals .... surgeries and annual diagnostic pilgrimages. Corporate hospitals have unique packages....keep deserting our kitchens and feed the coffers of multinational pharma companies and corporate hospitals.

Kitchen is the heart of our homes.....our cooking....our recipes are treasures ....passed down from generation to generation . Many homes and families have already lost the treasures....forever . It's a disaster.

There are atleast hundred different varieties of rice.....tens of varieties of pepper ....if kitchens don't exist....then.... families depend on packaged food or hotels churning out standard food made from unhealthy ingredients. We will lose our wealth of knowledge and understanding of our cooking methods and techniques....each ingredient has a role to play....each season has a particular food ....winters .. have their own food....summers have special food... pregnant women have specific needs....each comes out beautifully from Our Indian Kitchen .

Our cooking process is elaborate... making the best use of every ingredient....every flavor...every nuance....it's medicinal too....it's therapeutic ...it's an stellar art.....this film portrays it as drudgery , boring and stretched.

During Covid19 pandemic.... millions of kitchens saved millions of lives....Kadha , Kashayam became the norm.....India handled Covid19 way better than...modern , advanced nations....& our kitchens had a major role to play.

Vastu Shastra has specific methodology in both placement and design of the kitchen....and gives it utmost importance.

Not entering the kitchen during menstruation...is basically to ensure a holiday from work and physical exhaustion....it's implementation is through the notion of impurity.....may be it's flawed ...but...the reasoning is sound....even sexual absentation is executed by the same notion of impurity. Else...we will never listen or implement.

It's a 4 days painful period ....bad design by the almighty....don't know...why such a seriously dented design was chosen by God for the female anatomy. Unfortunately...the notion of menstrual impurity has taken prominence .... overlooking the underlying reasons , which are eminently scientific and based on our body physiology.

The word " impurity " was used to enforce the restrictions required for the wellbeing of women during menstruation....it should not be taken literally

This film .... seriously destroys everything fabulous about Our Indian Kitchen...Our Traditions & Culture .

Food is intrinsic part of our Culture....Our way of Life....and that takes lovely shape in The Great Indian Kitchen !!!!

I am not venturing into...writing about...why only women must control the kitchen.....and why men must work on road construction projects....coal mines....steel plants , mechanic garages or be a rickshaw puller or a truck driver.

That's for a different day.

If cooking is drudgery .....what should a rickshaw puller say about his work......he toils in hot sun for 14 hours....just to feed his family.....or ....even better....to ask a truck driver....who spends months together on highways ....away from his wife and kids.

One must avoid making a big scam about men reading newspapers for 20 minutes in the mornings ....while women of the house are brewing fresh ....hot filter coffee !!!! 

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   The movie that gave us lot of 'food for thought '. 

See you folks yet again in next post...

Deepa.