Nazia Andaleeb Preema
“Concept of Modern Radha III” by Nazia Andaleeb Preema.
Our mortifications, fury and vanity are just as intense as our joys, triumphs and sensations. If there is no recognized benchmark of tolerance, why are we so intolerant in cases of vital significance to our nation? It is naive to believe that severing something reduces its influence by any degree. Rather what is required is a just attitude towards it for the sake of the greater good
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Sadly our world is still largely prejudiced. There is a fine line that exists between the exquisite and the grotesque. This line may sometimes be crossed but in most cases it is insurmountable. It is but natural that some should desire to cross this line. Art and culture enable us to do so. Art does not have any obligation towards us; that it should have any obligation is not mandatory. Despite knowing this full well we transform into slaves to our art. Freedom from any form of slavery is the foremost outcome of art. But without being aware of it, our whole existence is influenced into slavery yet again. We become habituated to this slavery: once a slave, always a slave.
There was a time when art permeated all aspects of an artist’s existence. The existence of contemporary art is similar to that of a Bonsai — beautiful, yet confined within limits. The contemporary style of art has restrained art itself. It has inhibited itself to such an extent that there is now a clear rift between the sexes. Freedom in art is now a mere illusion. Oppression has become a perpetual characteristic of art. Even today, we see different types of articles, prose, publications and separate art forms for female artists. That is the precise reason as to why the word “female” is so alluring now. Better to be alluring than insignificant.
The most interesting fact is that the definition of beauty is based on certain standards determined by our society: an attractive girl, then an attractive teenager, afterwards an attractive woman, and finally the exposed female physique. This is how women are perceived largely in our literature and society. An independent woman is therefore considered alluring but noble. She, who blindly follows that which has been determined by society, is considered noble and is adored. This is a strange world indeed, and even stranger is the race that resides upon it. A wayward man may be forgiven, but a woman who has gone astray is unpardonable. Strangely, no one notices that society itself has gone astray.
Indecent is that woman who is stigmatized, because, paradoxically, she has the courage to speak the truth or stay silent, to pursue her goal or to compromise it; she is dignified, and yet mortified; she knows how to love and to feel disgraced; she knows how to respect and to be humiliated; she knows how to make mistakes and to pay the price for it.
There is a saying that offenders and those who do not protest offences are equally corrupt. It seems that the human race has shamelessly mastered the latter trend. If the young can break this “evil spell”, only then will society realise the intolerable misery women have been tolerating. The writer only narrates and the reader just reads, without fully realizing the message and questioning. It does not matter to them who lives or dies.
Despite all the meetings, rallies and protests, women are still the epitome of sacrifice. They’re being deprived to an excruciating degree in spite of their countless contributions.
God will not help cowards overcome their weaknesses. God indeed and not Goddess, for she is busy striking beautiful poses. You may enjoy her beauty and her presence but she is not to be endured. Therefore she is ultimately sacrificed. Only then is she a “diva”. Her battle-cries intensify her beauty and allure, but ultimately lead to her ostracism. Society blames her for misleading them, and till the end she really cannot understand why one moment she’s celebrated and the next discarded. Despite being tremendously powerful, women are either destitute or dependent on others. But it is equally true that women are not aware of their own powers. This complacency ultimately leads to their own misery. Perhaps that is why this banishment and sacrifice is not befitting of women.
