…. believe it or not, is a Hindi film from the 1960’s (or was it the late 50’s). A channel that i had consulted for had it as part of their library, and that is the first time ever that i had heard of the film. But, obviously for the guys who set the curriculum and write the text books in Rajasthan, the film has some sort of sacred symbolism. This from the ToI

"A donkey is like a housewife. It has to toil all day and, like her, may even have to give up food and water. In fact, the donkey is a shade better, for while the housewife may sometimes complain and walk off to her parents’ home, you’ll never catch the donkey being disloyal to his master,"

Ouch! incidentally Rajasthan ranks 5th in the country in terms of violence against women. Well, maybe to reach the top of the table - they should start such lessons at a slightly lower class! Charu in the mean time has looked at the other side of this kind of socialisation- a skewed (and screwed) male female ratio - caused by female foeticide. With female population in some villages (co-incidentally in the state of Rajasthan) dipping as low as 50% of the male population, families only get their daughters married if her prospective husband has a sister who can marry the son!. And dowry of course is disappearing. I can almost hear a chorus saying - man, this is the ultimate proof of the efficacy of the free market, as supply decreases - value increases!! And, the market? rectifies it self. And, i suppose that too is a point of view. Finally, i guess that in a societyfemale foeticide is the norm and not the exception, and where both urban and rural societies, north and south india are united in their preference not to have a girl child - there needs to be some sort of mass social reformation movement to ensure that balance is restored.

Tags: Diiscrimination, Female Foeticide, Gender Issues, India, Society