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The Bygone Era where Mani Ratnam's Gangster Movies Dignified Women

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  One of the reasons I respect Mani Ratnam's filmmaking is how he portrays women in his films, even in gangster films. In the former decade, however, Mani steadily succumbed to gangster movies where he normalizes gangsters having mistresses. I know that men will come and say that having affairs are a part of life for gangsters - Mani Ratnam is just showing "realism." But I grew up watching Nayagan and Thalapathy. In fact, I used Thalapathy for plenty of feministic referrals. Mani Ratnam proved previously that gangsters needn't use women as side chicks and have wives who tolerate their cheating to prove their "Thug Life" status. And quite frankly, the honoring of women in Mani's Nayagan and Thalapathy is what elevated the films to a whole new level. I do have a bone with the "item" songs in Nayagan and Thalapathy. Nonetheless, the movies hold women in a league where they needn't be a gangster's notoriety enhancers. They exist, as they ar...
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Of Indian Men and Kolam

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  I said that putting rice flour kolam every morning is just extra work for Indian women—if the purpose of kolam is just feeding the birds, then we can just scatter raw rice for them. We can keep kolam as a cultural art rather than a cultural imposition for Indian women—one they must do daily as though they don’t have enough work. Then came the comment about me being Malaysian and how no one is forcing Indian women to put kolam daily, unlike my dad who is a “lusu ku,” forcing me to put kolam daily. Apparently, Malaysian Indians are the people who force women to put kolam daily unlike Indians. So, I should take my advice to the kuthiyans in Malaysia, it seems.  The frequency of kolam in some Malaysian Indian households is every Saturday. That too, only if someone in the house is interested in the artform. Men do it too and we use chalk. The kolam lasts a whole week and is put within the house's wall compound. For the birds, we still scatter raw rice.    Rare pic of a ...
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The Troubles Mature Bodied Teenage Girls Face

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Everything female, every act of a female, every female relation has been sexualized. But there's one sexualization that doesn't get enough spotlight; the growing bodies of pubescent and teenage girls. Andha vedhana irke, andha vedhana! (The torture... that torture!) Oh, the shame and confusion, unspeakable. The damage, irreversible! I've experienced it first-hand.  That was me during menarche when I was 11 years old. As you can see, my body was mature for my age - because of that, I was mercilessly sexualized ever since I started growing breasts. A molester squeezed my sprouting breasts when I was 10. I had gone into the school toilet alone to change into sports attire. A heavily bearded stranger who hung about tailed me into the bathroom... that's another story for another day. It didn't help that I was a leggy lass. My mom and me - I was 11. Everywhere I went - to school, to the library, even at home, I was troubled by men and boys alike. Truly, I don't know h...
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I Didn't Enjoy Dragon: Here's Why

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It'd be weird to hear that I watched Dragon in tears. But that's the truth.  Let's explore the injustices and hypocrisies that I couldn't stand in this movie, one that everyone is praising. My mom was like, "Adhepdi ivanuku poiyi ivlo azhagana ponnunga kidaikuthu?" (How come a lowlife like him gets the "most beautiful" ladies? The only constant in Dragon's life is "pretty girls." I am following conventional beauty standards and age old Tamil cinema pairing of men who are "not good-looking" with "good-looking" women. He got and wanted only the "hottest" women when he was studious, useless brat, successful cheater, and a human with bare minimum qualities.  What's so great about realizing one's mistakes, coming clean, and not ruining another person's life? It's the bare minimum! Basic quality! Why do we keep glorifying men who only pass the bare minimum? Women have to turn men around for the be...
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