Shedding Light on the Shadows of Caste

Written by: Dil K Bola

“What’s your last name?”

This is seemingly an innocent enough question for most, but is yet, one that is entirely something different for South Asians, where it holds the weight of thousands of years of often, oppressive history.

This Spring, the Poetic Justice Foundation is displaying a thought provoking exhibit at the Burnaby Village Museum. The museum explores the concept of caste, a hierarchal and hereditary social classing system developed in Ancient India which still holds its clutches on modern South Asian [and diasporic] society. The exhibit explores the “evil of caste that lurks in the shadows of our community.” In its scope, it touches on how caste migrated with immigrants from the region to North America. The exhibit also dives deep into caste’s pervasiveness in Panjabi popular culture, and how equality—a core tenet of Sikhi—is rarely truly practiced today with the adoption of caste in contemporary contexts.

This exhibit illustrates the bizarre, dichotomous reality and juxtaposition of religious equality through the lens of Sikhi and the prevalence of caste oppression. When asking for a South Asian’s last name, you’re asking for more than just that. You’re asking for their family history, their status, their place in society. And that is exactly why “the Sikh Gurus sought to abolish the Indian caste system that assigned value and rights to individuals based on the families they were born into.” [wearesikhs.org]

Caste continues to affect our community in new shapes and forms, and the exhibit implores you to think about how it has adapted after following us to the West.

The origins of Sikhi lie in caste abolishment

With hopes of ending discrimination and promoting equal rights, the Gurus encouraged their followers to take the names Singh and Kaur. This change not only eliminated the classism that powers caste discrimination, but also allowed women to be recognized “as individuals with value and identities existing independently of their relationships with men.” [wearesikhs.org]

At the end of the day, this is a core value of the Sikh religion and community at large – so why are last names and conversations on caste so pervasive today? The excuse I hear the most is, “oh, immigration led to us bringing our last name back … we needed it to better identify ourselves … etc.” Some say only those who have taken amrit follow this tradition whereas others claim its to avoid forgetting their history.

The modern concept of caste

The modern concept of a last name coming from a patrilineal line is fairly Western against the background of South Asian history. Last names are at the end of the day, our clans. If we know our pind — our village — would we really forget who we are are and where we are from?

As the exhibit displays, even when part of the diaspora, we cannot escape our identity. Throughout the various stories shared within it, many spoke on the fact that despite growing up in the West, conversation on caste prevailed. The aforementioned question “what is your last name?” echoes through the halls of schools for local and international students alike. Inter-caste couples struggle to receive support from their families to the point of breaking up or being disowned.

“I have a cousin who marries outside of their caste … her family disowned her … “ (OVERCASTE)

Dating apps and biodatas continue to request specific caste matches, lower castes such as Chamar or Chura are used as synonyms for unkempt or dark skinned appearances (a feat that is incredibly problematic on its own with the pervasiveness of colourism in South Asian culture) and rappers touting their higher caste status as Jatts continue to hit the top of the charts.

At the end of the day, the caste system in its form today continues to oppress all of us. Whichever rung of the ladder you may be, you’re still being stepped on while someone else climbs to the top.

“In 1906, my great-grandfather Maya Ram Mahmi became the first recorded Dalit immigrant to Canada, seeking a brighter future and escape from the social and economic oppressions he faced in India. Yet, he and his descendants, including myself, have faced ongoing caste discrimination, an issue that persists over a century later. Through the OVERCASTE exhibit, we aim to highlight the often-ignored problem of caste bias in Canada. This initiative seeks to amplify the Dalit Canadian narrative, which has been historically sidelined and ignored”

— Anita Lal, Co-Curator of the exhibit and Co-Founder of the Poetic Justice Foundation.

And you may look at the top of this article and think, “well, she’s got her last name on there.” You’re right, I do, but that wasn’t my choice. Not to say it was my parents’ choice either, their parents made that decision for them. And as many did before them they followed what their ancestors had done without thinking about the implications of a something as simple as naming your child. But it takes one person to change that cycle, and I for one, will not be passing this onto my children.

“I was dating this guy, and he asked me my caste and when I said I’m a Chamaar, he’s like “that’s going to be an issue.” (OVERCASTE)

Final reflections

At the end of the day I’m asking you to think. This exhibit is asking you to think. How did we become so complacent? How can we change this? How can we make our community more equitable by changing behaviour in our day to day life? How can we look at the exhibit and examine the ways it asks us to reflect on how we separate ourselves from each other through harmful modalities like social heirarchies? How do we get to decide we are better than others?

The OVERCASTE Exhibit is currently travelling internationally and returns to Burnaby Village Museum on May 4th, 2024.

Learn more at overcaste.com.

Images provided by the Poetic Justice Foundation, taken by Behind the Lens Photography

Anjali Appadurai's Disqualification Symbolises Everything Deeply Wrong within BC's Provincial Politics

Image credit: Anjali Appadurai via Twitter

To start, this article is not based on personal feelings or personal facts. Albeit, it blends the narrative format of social commentary with research, fact checking, and reporting on a range of public opinions, it speaks to information that is crucial for us, as global citizens as a whole, to reflect upon.

On Wednesday, October 19 2022, BC NDP Party Candidate and climate justice activist Anjali Appadurai was disqualified from the leadership race. Her contender, David Eby, MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey, is now automatically the sole candidate representing the BC NDP – and is on his way to becoming the next premier of British Columbia once current NDP Premier John Horgan steps down.

Eby, himself, is a human rights lawyer and former Executive Director of the BC Liberties Association – a provincial organisation that holds those in decision-making positions accountable to do so with the public’s civil liberties and wellbeing in mind.

Appadurai, who in her own right, has been powerfully campaigning for months to run fairly and justly to, at the bottom line, build a stronger foundation for the BC NDP Party, which has grossly been failing at creating effective policies around climate change, and has, instead, had its pockets lined with corporate money from exploiting the environment. The BC NDP’s Chief Electoral Officer, Elizabeth Cull, is also a well-known LNG lobbyist. So, of course it makes sense that the BC NDP has done virtually nothing to reduce carbon emissions and complicitly sits in refusal of acknowledgement of climate change, let alone effectively strategizing against the climate emergency.

Yet, despite this glaringly concerning conflict of interest, the BC NDP has also ignorantly supported the cutting of old-growth trees, which has exponentially increased the amount of carbon emissions being let into the atmosphere due to the wiping out of trees that convert this carbon into oxygen – instrumental and fundamental in combating the effects of climate change. Combine this with the BC NDP’s absolute neglect of First Nation's peoples and land – and you see a party that is already blatantly unfit, inadequate and incapable of leading the province.

Image of old growth forest in British Columbia via the Squamish Chief

In contrast, Appadurai’s campaign and policies included real action around problems the current NDP government has grossly neglected and outright abused – affordable housing, climate change, and better healthcare infrastructure. And she did it in a way that challenged the status quo while also modeling how a political party can recoup, reflect, and realign itself to reflect the best interests of the citizens it serves.

Appadurai’s political organising and messaging have been extremely effective – bringing in an influx of new NDP members, yet, she did not get the chance to run against Eby during the scheduled NDP leadership vote in December. 

In fact, as soon as Appadurai’s campaign gained significant momentum and traction through grassroots organisation, the NDP, as her very party, launched a malignant campaign against her – creating false narratives of dishonesty and claiming Appadurai was involved with the BC Green Party despite fully registering as a BC NDP member and political contender long before these false accusations. During her own campaign to encourage the general public to join the BC NDP Party by September 4th, she was under fire for allegedly breaching the Elections Act. The BC NDP disqualified Appadurai due to her email list sign up, which promoted signing up for the BC NDP party to British Columbians to be able to participate in the voting process to determine the Party’s next leader. And yet, despite Appadurai’s apparent violations, throughout her campaign, the BC NDP Party allegedly suppressed votes of members who were in support of Appadurai.

We at HIMMAT MEDIA, up until yesterday, didn’t write on politics. This is largely because we have worked on multiple campaigns to some form or extent and have had our eyes and ears peeled on the election process for all forms of government as a result. We are aware of the extent to which candidates will lie to receive votes – we are already seeing the result of this no more than 4 days after multiple candidates have been voted into positions of power within the municipal elections in Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey on October 15, 2022. Unrealistic plans, empty promises and pledges rooted in exploiting emotions and growing desperations instead of concrete action and integrity. We’re a marketing company, after all. That includes PR. We know what sells. And we see right through it.

We don’t do neutrality among social disasters like racism and sexism that have been going far too long without consequence for racialised women on all fronts, leadership and politics included. The narrative against Appadurai by many leading Canadian media companies are a separate article and conversation all together, but largely complicit with the narrative the BC NDP has created. In consequence, the treatment Appadurai has received throughout her campaign from British Columbians and the BC NDP Party has been starkly different from the blinding support David Eby has achieved through major media publications. Because alongside grossly neglecting the future of our planet, Canadian media also works hard to mask the racism embedded into its very social fabric.

We don’t engage in blind objectivity when it is so evidently clear – through our collective experiences living with climate catastrophes like flooding, wildfires, droughts, smog and unnatural temperatures and scientifically proven evidence that indeed, we are at a breaking point that requires fierce, pragmatic, organised leadership. Not racism. Not sexism. Not disgusting corporatocracy for selfish reasons. Not manipulating positions of power. Real people who will challenge notions of complacency and create innovative, actionable solutions. Stuff, we as taxpayers, pay politicians to do. A job that’s supposed to have our best interests in mind. 

It shouldn’t be this easy for Eby to hold office. Not only have Party members had no say in the matter, but his own involvement in civil liberties begs the question of whether it is even ethical for him to take this spot so easily and eerily undemocratically.

Image of 2021 Abbotsford-Sumas Floods via Global News

Yes, we can totally spread fear-mongering, and call Appadurai a dreamer unrooted in the realities of the current world. There is a risk that public opinion will bring the Liberal Party back provincially. Yet, there is a larger risk of exposing internal corruption and completely turning off the public to the NDP Party – something it achieved with this disqualification decision.

The fact of the matter is, the world is changing and politics need a new approach. Political candidates need to take a firm stance against the very companies that are direct, large perpetrators of climate change as opposed to individualising climate action and setting the onus on the people, who, in comparison, are not doing major damage to the planet. It’s well known that “100 companies are responsible for 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions,” so by default, this narrative that the BC NDP is putting out strategically now, as it concurrently bullies activist and key power players like Appadurai is illogical rhetoric and does not work.

We must challenge the ways the current system works. Because it’s not working. The fact that Appadurai was not given this chance and was undemocratically disqualified speaks volumes about the current interests of political parties and how we, as citizens, need to reevaluate how we participate in this rigged system that has us perpetually convinced of nihilism and doom.

So, we ask you to think about these policies and how they are breached. Who are they really serving? How are they gatekeeping politics?

British Columbians aren’t just headed to a point of no return. We are already there. And amongst a glaringly blatant, critical problem that jeopardises not just the future of the next generations, but our direct present on this planet, we are still dealing with high level corruption in democratic politics. It makes sense that provincial election voter turnout is so low. According to Elections BC, 2020’s Provincial election saw a 28.8% voter turnout as compared to 60.8% in 2017. It is clear that the interest in provincial politics is drastically decreasing. Corruption makes people meek, disinterested and renders us feeling powerless.

BC Wildfires which have extended through the fall into October 2022. Image Credit: DW

If you are a supporter of Appadurai, or if she inspired you to shake off apathy towards provincial politics, this is NOT the time to feel this way. This is not the time to give up hope. Leaders like Anjali Appadurai deserve the backing of the people. We, as a province of people, are just as complicit in accelerating environmental calamity as the NDP Party, who have surrendered democracy and jeopardised the future of Canadians, and the entire world, to selfish companies who profit off marginalisation and blatant disregard for the wellbeing of the planet, when we are apathetic. When we do not stay up to date or take interest in politics. When this happens, anyone can make anyone king. And those in power no longer work with or for the people.

Whatever Anjali Appadurai does next, we are watching and following her actively. We support her unwavering stance and commitment to practical policymaking that goes beyond empty promises. Right now, every single climate action plan makes sense solely on a superficial level due the overuse of climate buzz words and “good PR”. Realistically, no party is equipped to truly deal with climate change, and is not rooted in the reality of the disastrous effects of it – something we urge you, as a BC citizen or someone who may know a BC citizen, to prioritise.

So, whether you support Anjali or not, we encourage you to stay informed, refuse to tune out those who haven’t been cheated into the system, and hold those in power accountable – be it by voting them out of power, educating yourself and getting involved in more grassroots organisation, or utilising your own personal power to stand up against the glaring corruption we are seeing within the politics of this province. The time for change is now – and corrupt politics won’t change that.

This is an independent publication that is not affiliated with Anjali Appadurai or any political movement in any way. For more information on this and the subject matter we choose to write on, view our community policy.

ਦਿਲ ਦਾ ਨੀ ਮਾੜਾ Legends Never Die: REMEMBERING SIDHU MOOSE WALA

The world is mourning Sidhu Moose Wala’s death. From Drake in Canada to Burna Boy in Nigeria, many rappers and international artists have come together with the rest of the globe to mourn the gunned down rapper who had his own unique take on eliminating apathy within Panjabi youth.

Image from Sidhu Moose Wala’s Moosetape

Sidhu Moose Wala, also known as Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, arrived in Brampton, Canada as an international student from an almost remote village in Mansa, Panjab called Moosa. In 2016, he wrote the lyrics for a song for another artist. He quickly rose in fame due to the recognition he was receiving as a lyricist, and in 2017, released his first single, “G Wagon.” After that, he produced hit after hit, with various albums and mixtapes released under 5911 Records and his own label.

Turning Stigma on its Head

Sidhu embodied the dream of coming up. Like many newly arrived in Canada, Sidhu was an international student, and marginalized community member, coming from a land riddled with intergenerational trauma, lack of opportunities for growth and political tension.

Sidhu’s coming up story is integral to the morale of many. In Canada, rampant mistreatment of international students still exists today, where, they not only face racism and discrimination, but are often exploited as migrant labourers and, as Baaz News reports, “cash cows for post-secondary institutions and governments.” International students also fill integral labour jobs, and also are subjected to discrimination and exploitation with housing within the Panjabi communities scattered throughout the country.

Baapu, Yes I Am Student – Sidhu Moose Wala, Tarnvir Jagpal, Intense – Tips Punjabi via YouTube

ਮੁਸੀਬਤ ਤਾਂ ਮਰਦਾ ਤੇ ਪੈਂਦੀ ਰਿਹੰਦੀ ਏ

ਦਬੀ ਨਾ ਤੂ ਦੁਨਿਯਾ ਸਵਾਦ ਲੈਂਦੀ ਏ

“If you progress, you’ll be met with hate,

Trouble dies and falls, SO don’t let the world GET A taste OF you”

Expressing the struggle with his own twist

In the 1980s and 1990s, history documented a counter-movement of the Black American community through gangster rap, which was utilised as a medium to express communal frustration over a lack of personal and community agency, racism, exploitation and labelling, poverty, as well as an overall lack of institutional resources supporting the success, life and liberty of Black Americans.

Sidhu Moose Wala, although known as a rapper internationally, was also an extremely talented Panjabi folk singer. He authentically brought our roots to the genre. Panjabi’s and Sikhs have been heavily influenced by gangster rap even though we are outside of the Black community due to our community’s marginalisation as a minority community in and outside of India. A lot of our collective trauma as a community also stems from racism throughout our immigration journeys post colonisation, the 1947 Partition and mistreatment onwards. We are also a heavily displaced people with often, roots forcefully ripped from our own homelands time and time again. The struggles arguably have their immense differences and unique hardships, but the fundamentals of uprising against struggle and being authentic to one’s self expression remain the same.

Sidhu’s messaging relays something integral: that we are more concerned as a society about banning those with a message of truth and autonomy than creating avenues for misled youth engaging in violence to step into their own power and build meaningfully for themselves and their communities. Still, today, we shoot the messenger – we don’t tackle the conditions, traumas, and cultures that bring people towards such violence and chaos.

Today, Panjabi is in scarcity even in Panjab. Sidhu was not only a talented rapper and singer, but he was a maestro of the Panjabi language, communicating it and teaching more of it to diaspora kids through rap and folk songs. He was a powerful force encouraging us to sing and rap in our mother tongues and learn what the words mean. Through our mother tongue, he motivated youth to step into their power and be authentic to themselves. 

Yet, despite the fact that he is arguably the greatest youth icon of this generation, his method of being and relaying his messages were constantly deemed notorious. His subject matter and bluntness in expressing his thoughts and feelings brought out something deeply suppressed in all of us who listened to his music. He and his image bore the brunt of it when youth got violent at his international shows. The 0.1% that overglorified the violence in his branding and messaging quickly brought upon public safety concerns for his shows – further creating notoriety in his messaging. In my own experience in the industry, I have personally seen how various institutions have manipulated his image instead of working with music festivals and concert producers to create concrete safety plans, messaging condemning violence at prospective shows, and overall, tackling Vancouver’s gang problem ways that are effective and preventative.

Yet, Sidhu’s messaging relays something integral: that we are more concerned as a society about banning those with a message of truth and autonomy than creating avenues for misled youth engaging in violence to step into their own power and build meaningfully for themselves and their communities. Still, today, we shoot the messenger – we don’t tackle the conditions, traumas, and cultures that bring people towards such violence and chaos.

295 – Sidhu Moose Wala & The Kidd from Moosetape tells youth to keep their heads up and not fall into anything that compromises their integrity.

ਐਥੇ ਬਦ੍ਨਾਮੀ high rate ਮਿਲੂਗੀ

ਨਿਤ Controversy Create ਮਿਲੂਗੀ

ਧਰ੍ਮਾ ਦੇ ਨਾਮ ਤੇ Debate ਮਿਲੂਗੀ

ਸਚ ਬੋਲੇਗਾ ਤਾਂ ਮਿਲੂ 295

“There will be a high rate of notoriety

Daily Controversy Create

Debate in the name of religion

Speak the truth then meet 295”

Shubhpreet Singh with his Mom in Panjab.

The Media We Consume Is Doing Exactly What Sidhu, And So Many Before Him Called Out

The first thing most of the world woke up to with the news of Sidhu’s death includes grotesque imagery in circulating videos and photos. We clearly see people taking videos of Sidhu’s (almost) lifeless body rather than helping him out of the jeep. A mother and father lost their only child, and the media’s job is to honour him and them – parents who lost their only child.

Media maligns those who speak the truth, advocate for their communities, unabashedly speak their own language. We’ve seen this happen plenty of times with American gangster rappers. The push to notoriety is misleading, as, in many interviews with those who watched Sidhu grow up, come to Canada, and move back to his pindh (village) have seen the contributions he made to its progress. This includes encouraging girls to go to school and often, waiting for them to return from school at the bus stop to avoid rampant eveteasing, female inferiority and rape culture that is so prevalent in India. And that’s one thing that’s consistent throughout Sidhu’s music – he never disrespected women in his lyrics to be a bad ass. Frequently, he honoured his mother and created lyrics similar to late Panjabi legend Surjit Bindrakhia, who spoke of women in relation to men with jest and joy, bringing the toughness ultimately back to himself, not through the abuse of women.

Rumours of whodunit also interweave political complexity in a region riddled with corruption and the continued suppression of youth well after protests. Ultimately, the media circus cannot take away from the heavy, personal loss fans feel. The rest is truly noise.

Image via MistaClix on SoundCloud

Heavily Influenced by Makiaveli

Sidhu was a big follower of Tupac Shakur, ofen citing his imagery through fashion the Makiaveli mindset in a lot of his lyrics. As a marginalised, minority community, our own icon’s parallels to Tupac’s life and death are uncanny: his fight for self-sovereign thought, liberation of self, and standing up for the rights of his community rose with him during his fame, something that also continued to exist with Tupac during his rise to fame. We take solace in knowing that he is resting with his icon – the imprint of his work on the world is mighty, and it’s enough.

Sidhu’s impact on the Panjabi music industry, in educating youth about our ongoing struggles as a community, advocating for international students, standing up for the truth, and stating things as they are no matter who intimidates us into silence can be seen in the celebration of his life. Panjabis are coming together; whether it's in the diaspora, or in Panjab across borders that divide us, too. 

It’s hard not to be dazed and jaded, but we know that legends never die. Sidhu Moose Wala’s work will be immortalised – and the movement of speaking our truth that his existence sparked will continue to emerge from his embers.

The Last Ride – Sidhu Moose Wala & Wazir Patar immortalises the artist.

ਦਿਲ ਦਾ ਨੀ ਮਾੜਾ, ਸਿੱਧੂ ਮੂਸੇਵਾਲਾ

DIL DA NI MADA, SIDHU MOOSE WALA

Roses and Women Are Anything But Delicate

A Critical Commentary on Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Gangubai Kathiawadi

Image Courtesy of Scroll In

Disclaimer: If you haven’t watched Gangubai Kathiawadi, and don’t want the plot of the film to be revealed to you, bookmark this article and don’t come back until you’ve watched it.

Before you begin reading, I want you to know that this article on Gangabai Kathiwadi isn’t about how well anyone has acted or how beautiful the sets are. Neither is it a commentary on how the plot line interweaves with the cinematography. 

Rather, this is a reflection of all the ways in which the film positions itself, ditching the evergreen hero and villain archetype format to refreshingly explore its characters as people. Here, all fronts are dropped to show the inner lives of women deemed disgraceful by society. Their constant challenges are ingrained in who they are, and within their every day interactions with each other. 

With this approach, our inner worlds are able to mirror one another’s more deeply.

How do we interact with each other? How do we perceive each other? How do we grieve? How do we use and abuse? How do we stifle and suppress the feminine in every which way in our micro and macro cultures? Why do we do what we do?

For me, it’s most chilling to note that so many of the situations, emotions, and interactions within the film are still relevant today – 60 years after the film was set.

Jhume Re Gori from Gangubai Kathiawadi introduces Gangubai as a dreamy eyed storm of a young woman. She is free, she is happy, and she has big dreams.

Well before the end of the film, you’re quick to realise that the once timid, dreamy-eyed Gangubhai is perhaps the strongest female character to come out of India in a long time. In an age of fast plots and female characters that lack being fleshed out, she is well rounded – her sexuality is realistic against India’s long standing trend of hypersexualising women. 

Gangubai is not villianised or made into an overglorified, sappy and sentimental hero. Rather, she displays astonishing spirit against the media norm for how someone who has been betrayed, and traumatised by someone she dearly trusted, as well as the ways society so easily allows women to be coerced into the flesh trade, would behave. The way she handles being sex trafficked and tortured is defiant to her circumstances. She doesn’t just fight for herself to be in better conditions despite her situation. She also fights for her fellow sisters in the brothel she is trafficked into, branded by, and forced to work in.

How she quickly gets voted in as the Madame to take care of the women who work with her underlines a very important realisation: their everyday agency and lack thereof are blended to put forth a genuine expression of the human condition. These are not just glammed up women doing a job they were forced into. Their flesh being traded also transacted their invalidity in general society. Yet, they defy being outcasts; they’re a community in this together.

Gangubai is not villianised or made into an overglorified, sappy and sentimental hero. Rather, she displays astonishing spirit against the media norm for how someone who has been betrayed, and traumatised by someone she dearly trusted, as well as the ways society so easily allows women to be coerced into the flesh trade, would behave.

Image Courtesy of The Guardian

The film’s plot refreshingly doesn’t pit women and society against one another – but rather, weaves a very apt, accurate narrative that women are a functioning, integral part of our society, no matter the trade we are in.

Instead, the relationships we observe and experience as an audience are unique juxtapositions which explore the many burdens women take on due to patriarchy. Included in this, and perhaps the most critical relationship to note is between Gangubai and Raziabai, the President of the brothel locality, Kamathipura, and a self-identifying eunuch.

Raziabai, not fitting any of society’s gender norms, laments about how she is a hardened woman who uses weapons and bullying as her ways of communicating because she had to defy all odds to even get to where she is. We see a marginalised woman scorned who does not wish to give up her power in risk of being subjected to abuse and violence that she fought so hard to rise above through harnessing political power – and we only experience this glimpse into Raziabai’s inner world and experiences as a woman after she fiercely battles Gangubai in locality politics to ultimately lose.

The film’s relational dynamics between women is a direct mirror of how our relationships with each other as women exist today. Even in the most gruelling, heartbreaking and mind-altering circumstances, the notion of sisterhood can prevail – but it is fragile, it can also crumble easily. Women often still mistaken competition as sisterhood – misidentifying harming one another for abundance and support. Decades after the film’s setting, the film prompts us to explore how we as women continue to pit ourselves against each other.

How do we recycle our traumas onto one another? How do we build relationships only to become against one another and use each other?

We are further consumed past a life cycle stolen from us – as if the only thing that should come from us is solely the benefit and satisfaction of others.

Image Courtesy of Hindustan Times

Now is a time, more than ever, that we must come together.

Dozens of horrific, high profile rape and suicide cases of women have been gouged through the media cycle. In these cases, the perpetrators have often been given the opportunity to publicly share that they have zero remorse for their actions. Even after facing terrifying, torturous death, the existence of women is torn apart, shredded by media news. 

We are further consumed past a life cycle stolen from us – as if the only thing that should come from us is solely the benefit and satisfaction of others.

My settled home of Turtle Island, under the name of Canada is no different. Indigenous women are continuing to go missing, often sex trafficked and horrendously murdered to be met with the apathy of the RCMP and public. Indigenous women’s lives are continually threatened well past the periods of colonisation and genocide in our history textbooks – it’s still occurring today.

How do we come out of the mentality that we own other women? That, even as women, we can attack, spread rumours, gossip about, malign and steal from other women? What makes us think we can have ownership over one another too?

Image Courtesy of FilmiBeat

We don’t have to face the battles in our lives alone. But sometimes, we force each other to.

Gangubai’s outward, public persona of a tireless advocate for her community is starkly different from the loneliness and pain she feels, as well as the trauma and isolation she constantly works through on all fronts. The battles never end for her. And before she can process and grieve all she has lost, she is plunged into a new heartbreaking situation that life throws at her. And yet, she proudly, authentically and responsibly shows face every time she needs to. Even if she does cry alone, behind a veil.

This hasn’t changed. In my own experience of interviewing women about their trials and tribulations, they’ve often had to put on a brave face for the world as they plunged into violence and uncertainty within their own lives – a common theme for women everywhere throughout time.

Ultimately, the film sees Gangubai lobby for the rights of sex workers all the way until she meets the Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru to continue her advocacy work. Well before the time countries such as the Netherlands and Canada adopted an abolitionist approach to sex work, Gangubai fought for the same cause – for buying sex from a sex worker to be illegal, not sex work in and of itself, so women in the flesh trade are not criminalised for their bread and butter.

Nehru doesn’t allow Kamathipura to be run down – because Gangubai doesn’t.

Image Courtesy of Media9 Tollywood

The male characters within the film allow the audience to explore the film in more than just a gender or occupational binary, but rather, based off their own values. Rahim Lal’s role is more than just Gangubhai’s brother – his relationship with her is formed based on his values of justice and equality, even though he himself is a part of the underworld. Afsaan, Gangubai’s companion and friend is a raw, innocent young man exploring the fine lines between love and lust while also caring for and seeing Ganguhai as a person with her own traumas. Mr. Fezi is a stark contrast of a male who mercilessly brutalised Gangubai under the guise of a client, Shaukhat Khan – Fezi is clear headed, fair, just, and provides Gangubai with opportunities to amplify her story through his trade. Indeed — the writing profession is powerful. Just as powerful as access to education.

But, you also see that women are not free of men even after death. Specifically, we see this when Gangubai’s best friend Kamli dies post childbirth, and her body is lovingly taken care of by her housemates in the brothel. Here, we see the women she lived with doting her body with a mother’s caress and a father’s protection while surrounding her body and decorating it. They reminisce while doing so, but are abruptly stopped by Gangubai, who tells them to tie Kamli’s legs tightly together “because there is no telling of the nature of men, they will desecrate a woman’s dead body to fulfill their sexual urges.” This dialogue, and the coldness in Gangubai’s eyes as she says it reminds me of Mukesh Singh, the man who stole the life of Jyoti, internationally known as India’s daughter. “While being raped, they shouldn’t fight back,” he said. Closed legs, a subject of endless discussion to blame women for being sexually assaulted. Today, in this context, they are a symbol of defiance.

As I explore the different personalities of the male characters, in this film, something dawns on me. Values define who we are. No matter our trade, no matter our gender. If our principles do not reflect respecting one another’s bodies, intellect, intelligence, emotions and life experiences, we cannot truly be allies of one another. It always starts with self.

Image Courtesy of Filmi Beat

The main takeaway?

Women are powerful. Despite being censored, policed, undervalued, overworked, overburdened, and subjected to fixing the world’s problems, we are anything but weak or meek. We have been fighting an uphill battle for millenia – with glimpses of light before being plunged back into darkness. But, we have work to do. We cannot claim to be part of a larger sisterhood when we are also hurting one another – yes, patriarchy has hurt us, but if we are unable to be true to ourselves around each other, to harness strength in one another’s vulnerability, respect each other’s boundaries, we cannot truly advocate for each other or ourselves.

And to those who work against us

You can try to censor us while you worship us. You can try to control us while we nurture you. You can try to take control of our bodies through unjust abortion law overturns (I’m looking at your mistakes overturning Roe v. Wade, America – and your recent decision to disqualify sexual assault under the influence of alcohol, Canada). You can do all you can to dim our voices.

We will roar louder. We will survive against all of the ways in which you try to box us in. Somewhere, we may be crying or laughing behind veils. One day, I pray we will be laughing and crying in meadows together – as sisters walking this life. But, today – everyday and always – we will not let ourselves exist in the shadows of society.

If you haven’t caught Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi yet, you can stream it on Netflix. If you don’t understand Hindi, there is an English dub option, as well as subtitles in English. It stars Alia Bhatt, Shantanu Maheshwari, Vijay Raaz, Jim Sarbh, Varun Kapoor, Seema Pahwa, Indira Tiwari, Ajay Devgn and Huma Qureshi.

A Glitch in the Matrix: When Ambition Overpowers Humanity

My name is Jyotika Khosla and I’m a mixed-media artist who is passionate about exploring narratives and working with materials. In terms of life and the artistic process, I genuinely believe that learning never ends and every experience, good or bad, has the power to lead to inner growth, stability, and lessons to offer in exchange. 

Everyone has a story when it comes to mental health challenges. AND ALL ARTISTS THESE DAYS ARE USING SOCIAL MEDIA AS A WAY TO ADVANCE OUR CAREERS IN SOME FORM OR WAY. Today, I’d like to share mY STORY.

The mind is more complex than it’s given credit for. My experiences with the complexities of it include hallucinations and voices which began to interfere with my daily process of doing basic tasks. Voices ripped my confidence and paranoia would follow me everywhere I went. I would hear people clearly say something to me only to realize that they had not. There would be a constant, unsettling and funny feeling in the pit of my stomach causing very inappropriate laughter. It was complex, with even more complicated origins. And I was being medicated for this. 

Any form of media, whether it was my phone or a tv channel, was causing delusion and confusion. As I lost my peace of mind, I also lost my dreams, desires, and direction. As beautiful as the world is, internally it arose no interest. No matter what advice people would give me, it would not process well. The experience of a fulfilling life is dependent on the mind and inner peace. It’s also influenced by the quality of your inner circle and support system, which unfortunately revealed themselves and failed me when I needed them most. After much reflection, I can confidently say that a lot of this happening is due to our generation’s obsession with social media.

As I lost my peace of mind, I also lost my dreams, desires, and direction. As beautiful as the world is, internally it arose no interest. No matter what advice people would give me, it would not process well.

Jyotika Khosla, mixed-media artist from Vancouver, BC.

Social media apps put people on an illusory pedestal and hijack their ability to have basic human concerns for what’s taking place right in front of them. And to say that social media doesn't affect people’s mental and emotional health with its constant bombarding, even subtly, would be the world’s biggest illusion.

During this disturbing phase, the socially adept friends [with growing Instagram follower counts that I cheered on] whom I genuinely cherished not only disappeared but did not think twice to spread misinformation and rumours about me to the curious local artistic community. As I was being unfollowed and blocked for reasons that were beyond confusing for my sick mind at the time, I also became socially paranoid on top of already very scary and uncontrollable hallucinations for about three months. During this time, I was advised to stay away from my phone and media of all kinds.

Yet at the same time, due to the misinformation that was spread about me by the same people who I thought were my friends, I was being blocked and maligned by colleagues, potential commissions customers & acquaintances for having severe mental episodes.

I also learned that these friends were now attending mental health seminars, speaking as experts of victimization for marginalized groups within the diaspora and forging new connections with my friends in the arts community – bonding with them through the misinformation they spread about me for the sole purposes of being “instafamous.” Instead of showing empathy, or, at the very least, checking in on my health, they instead chose to villainize me for something I was unable to control – and was not blaming them in any way for. 

“Lakshmi – You Are Enough” by Jyotika Khosla

The anxiety from this only added to my paranoia and hallucinations. My brain was not processing any information as reality. It was a disturbing and uncomfortable few months of audio-visual hallucinations, excluding the recovery process. I am extremely lucky that my parents and other friends understood the seriousness of the situation and I got the help I needed.

From this experience, I learned the hard way that social media is not real life and online profiles don’t always reflect a person’s character. I never expected that the friends who were at my house almost every single day would disappear during a severe phase only to malign me online as well as in a community that I was naively excited to be a part of and work in. Yes, I cared a lot and went out of my way to ensure we were all thriving with opportunities but why was that a bad thing? Situations like mine create a genuine fear of failing in front of our friends and trusting people who are part of the same community as us.

Instead of showing empathy, or, at the very least, checking in on my health, [these friends] instead chose to villainize me for something I was unable to control – and was not blaming them in any way for. 

It is why becoming genuine friends with plants and animals is a way of life for so many of us. For me today, starting over is scary – especially in terms of using social media. We fail to realize that toxicity is a trait that goes ignored when ambition overpowers humanity.

I know how common psychosis is in our community and as a grown woman, I not only felt ashamed but also feel that whatever happened to me is underwhelming. Because of the loneliness and isolation I experienced after being avoided by so many members of the arts community due to the stories that were circulating about me, I felt there was no point in sharing a story. Yet, I know I am not the only individual that has experienced something severely traumatic.

Mural of Kobe Bryant by Jyotika Khosla

I condemn the idea that anyone’s merit and importance comes from a bad character with big numbers. Social media is not real life.

This means that the profiles of people with lots of followers and exciting posts are not always reflective of reality. I never expected that the friends I loved deeply would leave for a few insta claps. I began to understand why grown people are led to feeling mentally distant and bitter about social happenings when they begin to feel let down socially, thus internally. 

Today, it’s a difficult process opening up to people and putting myself back out there on the same screens that appear as nothing more than pixels. In a lot of ways, I still feel like a glitch in the matrix. When the insatiable drive and ambition of gaining some online merit comes at the cost of tossing and stepping on the throats of the same society and its people, the “rise” to success reveals as a mirage. You cannot succeed by hurting people, no matter how much you justify your wrongdoings as your truth and ambitions.

I know I have all the love and support I need. Although the world feels like an illusory circus, being there for other people in any way you can is the most fulfilling thing you can do. I promise it does not go unnoticed, especially in times like these when mental health crises are on the rise.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Jyotika would like to share a song that outlines her experience pretty well. It’s called Arcade Fire by Reflektor. Listen to it at the YouTube video embedded below to visualize her headspace.