The Curious Case of Losing izzat

I was born in the 80s, watching Madhuri Dixit and Sridevi (God bless her soul) running pillar to post saving their izzat (read: honour). Bollywood has taught me that a woman’s honour could be stolen, grabbed, snatched and most often looted. The custodians of the said izzat are anyone except the vessel in which it resides. The pre ‘I know what sex is’ have often wondered what this revered izzat is… only to know it resided in places like how a woman behaved, how much skin she showed and most importantly her vagina.

I was asked, very recently, during a stage show I did, whether I wore suitable under clothes under a not-so-short dress I was dancing in. To everybody’s izzat’s relief, most importantly mine, I was wearing appropriate underclothes. Believe me the matron would have sighed a breath of relief.

Anyhow, moving on, I am glad Swara Bhaskar (her previous publicity blunder notwithstanding) did what she did in Veere di wedding. She showed that a woman’s izzat can be rocked without a man’s glorious presence. And so did Neha Dhupia in the latest Netflix’s Lust Stories (I love you for that woman!). The stories would definitely ruffle some people, cause taking one’s own izzat in one’s own hands (pun unintended) isn’t something we are ready for yet. Or are we?

Women must assert that the curious case of one’s izzat does not lie in her choice of words, clothes or particularly the vagina. The honour is in being a confident human being who believes in progress… of the mind and soul… the body as well (lest the fitness brigade feels left out!). That is where the true izzat is. Shift your gaze men and women!