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How a new ad puts a bindi on Goddess Durga

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Charumathi Sankaran
Charumathi SankaranJun 22, 2015 | 13:29

How a new ad puts a bindi on Goddess Durga

It is an ad ostensibly directed at women consumers, and uses everything from a bindi to a bathtub to make a woman cop look gorgeous even after a hard day at work. As she braves her way through what looks like a crime scene on the dusty streets in her uniform, the heroine of this commercial is an Indian cop who saves the day. Barring the obvious focus (read panning of the camera) on the woman's attractive physique, this ad could well be mistaken as one that celebrates women's individuality.

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However, ten seconds into the commercial, the cop is seen as admiring her reflection in the rear view mirror of a police van, as she puts on a bindi while her subordinates look on, approvingly. Another five seconds later, the lady in the uniform becomes the biddable wife as she engages in some after-work romance with her husband. "Saare pareshaniyon ko nigal jaaye, lekin chuo to pighal jaaye (she swallows all worries, but melts when touched)," we are told.

Finally, we see her using a soap that makes sure that even women of substance with trying jobs look good while they are at the chores. She must have it all.The brand, Venus, is relatively unpopular and the theme of the ad a desperate attempt to target a section of women who must keep their looks as well as their jobs. It has successfully made it to the league of women-centric creative failures like Airtel's The Boss ad, Deepika Padukone's My Choice video and Kangana Ranaut's Tanu Weds Manu Returns. In this new found feminism on celluloid, women celebrate themselves, or decide not to, with the predominantly patriarchal bharatiya sanskar as their yardstick.

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Deepika gets to decide if she wants to wear a bindi or have sex before marriage. Good girl Datto has a right to tell off bad girl Tanu that she can be a biddable wife, an ace athlete and raise kids - all at the same time. All this at a time when Twitterati take offence to Prime Minister Modi's #DespiteBeingAWoman compliment for his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, an accomplished woman head of state.

Should we endorse an ideal to make ourselves count? Why should cops fail to take breathalyser tests for women at the wheel till their SUVs run over people?

After decades of women's rights movements and calls for equal opportunity and equal pay, we are now being told that the only way to be heard is to do better than the opposite sex, and have it all. Be an Indira Nooyi or a Kalpana Chawla, or nothing at all.

You can't just have a career and a boyfriend, you need the cradle too. Even seasoned politicians like Jayalalithaa and Mamata Banerjee, both unmarried, must assume the roles of Amma and Didi to lead successfully.

The only constant in all these narratives is that "she" should mould herself into a superwoman or cease to exist. Why must she be the Rani of Jhansi and goddess Durga? May be it's time she went on a holiday and wrote poetry that no one would read. It is okay to be the aam aurat, for once.

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Last updated: June 22, 2015 | 13:29
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