mAA tERi BhoOMi - mAtRUbhoOMi

Is it what is meant by matrubhoomi ?

Well the very reason I chose this topic, is that I had recently seen a movie named matrubhoomi by manish jha ( a must watch – thanks to Rohit & Ankur for making it possible for me to see it ), another off beat movie, which was splendidly well directed. The actors did a real good job. But the act in the screen was awful. It was all about female feticide or say female infanticide.

A short description of the story:

“The film begins in a rural setting, with the delivery of a baby girl to a village couple. Her disappointed father, who was hoping for a boy, drowns her in vat of milk in a public ceremony. Many years later, this unchecked trend leads to the village being populated solely by males. The now uncouth and aggressive young men of the village are desperate for wives, and release their frustration through group screenings of imported pornographic films, cross -dressed dance performances, and even bestiality. They are shown to be willing to go to the lengths of human trafficking in order to procure spouses for themselves.

The father of five boys finds out about a single young woman, named Kalki, living some distance from the village, and literally buys her from her father. She is then married to all five sons. Each night of the week, she is forced to sleep with one of the sons, and even the father gets his weekly night with her. Of all the men in the boorish lot, only the youngest son treats her with respect and tenderness.

When the youngest son is killed by his jealous brothers, and an escape attempt with a sympathetic domestic servant boy goes lethally awry, she becomes a pawn of revenge in an inter-community conflict and an unwilling object of sexual release for even more men. She is chained to a post in the cow shed and raped mercilessly night after night. The film ends on a violent but hopeful note, as she bears a baby girl while the men of the village kill each other off over rights to her and her child.”

They say:

Female infanticide is prompted by the existence of a dowry system which requires the family to pay out a great deal of money when a female child is married. For a poor family, the birth of a girl child can signal the beginning of financial ruin and extreme hardship.

I would ask:

When your son is married, why do you expect the money to flow in with the new member?

You stop expecting, which you actually never deserve, and then even you don’t have to shed money for your daughter.

They say:

They need boys to carry on the family line, whereas girls leave to join their husband's families.

I would ask:

If everyone starts thinking on the same lines, then where would you get a bride for your son to carry the family line?

They say:

A father needs a son to light his funeral pyre when he dies

I would ask:

What if even after trying for his whole life, a father could not produce a son?

Why does one forget that all the traditions are made by human, and they are made for human?

A few lines i best remember here:

“Raat hindole pe baitha ek,

banda rota jhool gaya.

Padh li aaj quran magar main,

Padh li aaj quran magar main,

Aayeaton ko bhool gaya.” – A famous song from movie Black Friday.

“Instead of cursing the darkness, let's light a candle.”