I often feel that no matter how much we progress as a country, we are decades behind in terms of attitude. I find the so-called culture we are so proud of to be superficial at times. We brag about how our country’s culture and traditions are the greatest in the world, yet we overlook the fact that our culture’s history is tainted with blood and mud.
Recently Radhika Apte is trending on Twitter under #BoycottRadhikaApte. Why? because of the leaked pictures from her last film, Parched. Radhika is seen in the photos exposing her entire body during the lovemaking moments with Adil Hussain and Tannishtha Chatterjee. People are accusing and abusing her of destroying Indian culture. It’s a habit of Bollywood to defame our culture especially Hindu culture, said another user.
Well, this is where the hypocrisy comes in, we all love watching Hollywood movies and more than half of us are fans of Game of Thrones and loved Scared Games. So, why when a woman does something out of the blue, society turns misogynistic. The same happened when Kareena Kapoor Khan asked for a huge amount to star as Sita in Ramayan.
The issue occurs when we transform Rama into a modern-day role model. Or when we hold Sita up as the model of femininity and demand that women devote their lives to their husbands until the end of the world. If their purity is questioned, they may be set on fire.
If we talk about IndraDev – Lord of Thunder, the King of Heaven and all Gods, was the biggest womaniser. The best example is Ahalya, Valmiki’s Wife with whom Indra slept. The temples of India have over-sexualized statues of females.
The list doesn’t end here, Lord Vishnu have tried to stop Jalandhar by getting close to his wife Vrinda. Although, he didn’t have any sexual relations with her. When he appeared in the guise of Jalandhar in Vrinda, she was overjoyed to find him alive and well after the battle and hugged him. Her prayer and purity shielded Jalandhar broke down the minute she touched him with love in her heart.
Within the boundaries of mythology and religious metaphor, the gods — whether Indra cheating to sleep with another man’s wife, Rama employing cunning to vanquish Bali, or Krishna watching Gopiya bathing in the river or Narada spreading malicious rumour — operate well, but when people seek to mimic these personalities in real life, the results are disastrous.
Using myths to establish false moral equivalences now, when progressive thought has produced vastly more equitable societies, is unethical. It’s as absurd as citing the Quran to support triple talaq to use Manusmriti to explain the caste system. For example, droning on and on about Ram Rajya, which is sure to be a nightmare for women.
Why are people so quick to troll anyone who they believe is insulting their gods so silent when a fraudster commits rape in their god’s name?