An empowered Delhi girl ....

Okay! This is relatively everyday compared to the other stories I have shared. The Mardaani woman out here is my closest friend Nikita Oberoi. 

Picture all this together: Delhi, Night, Auto-rickshaw, Girl, Argument! This is exactly what happened when Nikita went for a walk in the park near to her house around 9 in the night. No, she wasn't travelling in the aforementioned auto-rickshaw. As she was strolling around the park, she spotted this autowallah having a scheming argument with an elderly couple. It was the same old story of overcharging. The elderly couple didn't mind paying but they didn't have the necessary change for Rs. 500 to pay him an extra 50 as opposed to the fixed metre charge. This is when Ms. Oberoi came into picture! The conversation ensued as:

Nikita: "Uncle, what's the problem?"

The elderly gentleman: "Beta, this guy ... "

Auto guy: "Girl, you stay out of this... this is our issue" 

Nikita: "No. I need to know why you are misbehaving with them"

Auto guy: "It's none of your business. Get lost you %@#$%"

Nikita: Mind your language, Mister.

* The auto guy raises his hand to touch Ms. Oberoi *

* She gets hold of his hands, twitches it and gives him one tight slap *

The elderly couple gets really worried and try paying his Rs. 500 and leave the scene. Ms. Oberoi snatched the note from the auto-wallah and calls out to the traffic policeman whom she spotted nearby. She explains the scene and so do the couple. 

The rest, as they say, is all what little everyday heroic tales are all about! Ain't she Mardaani enough? ;) I say it's all there in her Punjabi genes. :D

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Tale of a Mardaani starlet !

Here I go again writing about a celebrity. Come to think of it, Manju Warrier is not merely an actress for us Keralites. She is a part of every household with every single person in a family adoring her. Manju is easily Malayalam cinema's most successful and widely followed female actor of all times. She reached this stature in a very short notice (of less than a decade), acted in a bunch of memorable films of all genres and clinched accolades left, right and centre including a National Award. But the actor's dream run came to a grinding halt at the age of 21, when she tied the knot with one of the leading male superstars of Malayalam cinema whom she had fallen in love with.

Filmdom without Manju was quite difficult for Malayalis initially as there wasn't any other actress who could possibly replace her. Later as any family would happily do 'bidaai' of their daughter, we were glad that Manju found happiness in the marriage. But can you really tie-up such a talented artiste and danseuse to domesticity? Not really.

A decade and half after her wedding, their ensued rumours about misunderstanding between the couple. Later in the year, Manju announced her grand comeback and we learnt from the media that the couple lived apart. In May 2014, her comeback film 'How Old Are You?' which was ironically about a housewife discovering herself, amidst a difficult family. The film did exceptionally well (predictably!) and Manju later admitted on social media that the film carries the essence of her own life. Immediately did media broke the news about her husband filing a divorce which was followed by another piece which reported that she was not taking any alimony from him. All of this could be the actors' PR at work but what makes her Mardaani enough is the decision! Her grit to have come out to what she always loved doing.. entertaining people! It was not easy for someone who had wasted all of her youth as a wife and a mother to think of a comeback like this but she had the courage and she ultimately found her way through it .... and most importantly her individuality.



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Kicking b*lls off racism ... like a boss!

This is about one of my special friends from childhood with whom I have shared few of the best moments of my life. With a name as atypically Malayali as Malu, she carried the scent of Kerala. Quite literally as she regularly oiled her long tresses with coconut oil, visited temples every morning, could perform our traditional dances like Thiruvathira and Mohiniyattam, wore mostly salwaar-kameezes, applied sandalwood paste on her forehead and what not. 

So imagine what could possibly happen to such a girl when her family suddenly plans to relocate to UK! Yes, you read it right.. The United Kingdom (popularly known as England). Culture shock is one of the after-effects of such a shift but in her case it didn't stop there. Be the drastic change in climate, cultures, etiquettes and the lifestyle, she took to everything like a fish to water. But something was inevitable: Racial discrimination.

Well, Malu didn't live in the upmarket London, Birmingham or Nottingham but in Derby where the Indian population was comparatively less. All of 16, she was enrolled in a common school with mostly British students. No, she didn't turn up to the school decked up as a Malayali doll but she certainly looked different from the others. One fine evening, post the sessions, a gang of youngsters landed up in the classroom where she was making a painting. For no reason, they started abusing her on racial lines with inappropriate words towards Asians. She tried to be polite and make them understand that Asians in no way are inferior. That was when one of the guys came forward and tried to man-handle her. Instinctively she slapped him right-away. When the guy turned back, another one approached even more fiercely! One tight kick on his b*lls was all what she needed to resolve the issue. The guy fell down in pain and his entourage sped from the scene.

Later when I heard about the incident, I urged her to go complain to the authorities. Her retort was, "Not really... I know how to handle this." Hmmm... this was just the start. Later her school saw her topping the class and excelling to be the most talented and popular student out there. Well, if she isn't Mardaani then no one else is!



This is written as a part of I am Mardaani activity exclusively at BlogAdda.com for Indian Bloggers.

She endured a tough life, with grit!

Well, I am not sure whether this is a quintessentially Mardaani story. But I certainly feel so. This is about someone whom I have come across during my childhood in Kerala. We had this lady, Shyamla, who worked as a domestic help in my home. Once I came to know about her story from my mother, which goes like this ....

Shyamla's day started roughly around 4 am in the morning. It started with cooking for her girls, the elder one (Shalini) being physically and mentally challenged. Having separated (not divorced, it's Kerala in early 90s) from her abusive and alcoholic husband years ago, the children were her responsibility. She set out to help my family by 6 and stayed until 10. By the time her younger daughter (Sanju) must've gotten ready for school, she'd reach home to be with Shalini. No, she didn't sit idle until Sanju returned. She had enrolled herself in a candle-making factory which enabled her to make them at home and later sell them herself. Post 5 pm, she worked in one of the busiest restaurants in our town and worked until 10 pm. After returning home, she'd listen to Sanju's gossip from school and what not!

The reason why I feel her to be Mardaani is because she never complained or cursed her life for whatever she was doing to make ends meet. She was a fighter and was determined that she'll provide the best possible education for Sanju and proper medication for Shalini. Plus, she didn't miss the presence of a man in her life. Recently when I met her after a gap of 17 years, I learnt that she was pretty much living a similar life. Just that Sanju is now happily married and their jovial son-in-law has brought the much-required smiles to their lives.

This is written as a part of I am Mardaani activity exclusively at BlogAdda.com for Indian Bloggers.

One helluva Mardaani decision!

Okay! I’m yet to meet her but I have been a huge fan since the day I watched Saathiya, back in 2002. The person is none other than our leading lady Rani Mukerji. Although there have been several instances where she had put on a man’s shoes, I would like to specify her stint with this movie called “Dil Bole Hadippa”. Oh no… I am NOT AT ALL pointing towards her “masquerading as a men” element in the film. What I want to highlight is her grit and willpower to accomplish expertise in a game (cricket) that is predominantly viewed as a man’s domain. The first barrier she broke was to take up this project where she was required to undergo rigorous training to reach the levels of expertise well enough to make her (“him” in the film) to appear like a skilled batsman in the film. Which other A-list Bollywood leading lady would have taken up a challenge like this, even if the offer came from the biggest of filmmakers? While I watched the film, I could see months of practice that had gone to deliver what she ultimately did. Irrespective of the film’s box office returns, I would like to salute this Mardaani lady for showing courage to take up a character like that. That was one moment when I truly felt pride in being one of the biggest admirers of Rani Mukerji alive.

I should be telling this to all other leading ladies in Bollywood. It’s easy to appear in a drag, or prance around as a damsel in distress, to act coy, to sway to item numbers. But to rigorously train yourself in a man’s sport and later play it in a film with panache is something that only Ms. Mukerji can do LIKE A BOSS!

This is written as a part of I am Mardaani activity exclusively at BlogAdda.com for Indian Bloggers.