I idolise some women, and here I would mention about Indian women. Through history, in various fields, some women were actually badass and kicked butt of men. Or in some cases, they just melted our hearts and made us feel proud. Here, are few daughters of Mother India I would want to mention. Inspiration about this awesome post, is Kangana Ranaut, from Tanu Weds Manu movie series. P.S. I love Datto.
Indians are told that Mangal Pandey was the first martyr of Indian independence struggle. Which in fact, is debatable. As, in 1857, there was no independence struggle, it was actually a sepoy mutiny and Princess and Kings fighting for their lands, as British East India Company had imposed stringent laws, which were opposed by Indians (also, the revolt took place particularly in northern India, and only in areas controlled by the Company). But I am not to talk about the revolt. All I am saying is, according to me, it was Rani Abakka Chowta to be called as one of the earliest martyrs of Indian independence struggle. She ruled the Chowta Dynasty, having capital at Puttige and Ullal (currently in Karnataka), in mid 16th century. She fought bravely against the Portuguese forces, as those were the first European powers to attack on Indian subcontinent. I respect this woman, as she is among those forgotten warriors of independence struggle, and who fought bravely against a colonial power, all by herself.
If the previous post could be debated as “hey, but India was primarily a British colony, so Mangal Pandey was technically the first martyr against the British rule”, so let me introduce you to Kittur Chennamma. Queen of Kittur (again, in Karnataka), she was the first fighter to fight the British, that too in 1824 (33 years before the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857). If the concept of ‘Indian independence struggle’ in 1857 is true, then probably she was the human who sparked the Indian independence movement.
Of course. Which Indian doesn’t know about her. Rani Lakshmibai or Jhansi ki Rani, as she is popularly known. What was brave in her, that she tied her toddler son on her back, and fought against the English on the battleground in Gwalior. I mean, just imagine, a mother fighting for her mother-land, carrying her toddler baby on her back. What more heroic can anything be than this ? She fought so bravely, and died on the battleground (and lost her kingdom to English East India Company), that even the English officers praised her bravery, and bowed down their head honouring her body.
Now enough of history. I will jump to Bollywood.
चलते चलते, यूँ ही कोई, मिल गया था.
सरे राह चलते चलते
That’s the first thing I recall, while talking about this heavily misunderstood Bollywood actress, Meena Kumari, whose career years were between 1939 to 1972. Alcoholic, troubled relationships, and a painful and sorrowful death because of liver damage in 1972. But what beautiful films she gave to the country. Two of her classics, Sahib, Biwi aur Ghulam (1962, which translates to the master, the wife and the slave) and Pakeezah (1972, translates to ‘pure’). She was known to play tragic and dramatically emotional roles in 1960s-70s. Shortly after completing Pakeezah, she died a sad death. The reason why I respect her, despite her tragic life and deteriorating film career, she gave a hats-off performance in her last film, and bid adieu to the world of Bollywood, and gave an irreplaceable actress.
Usha Uthup, the woman with such an unique voice, that no other vocal quality can be matched to. She gave Bollywood the pop and jazz culture, back in 1980s, with a voice so strong, that she was rejected by almost everyone. While other singers of her era had a ‘sweet-girly’ voice, her (which was literally compared to male baritone) songs changed the trend of singing in India. And if you haven’t seen it yet, watch her two videos about which I will mention now. First, where she sings Skyfall (which was named as Skyfall in Sari, WHAT A BADASS PERFORMANCE) and the second one, where she got a standing ovation (I will cry now) on winning Best Playback Singer Female for Darling (Saat Khoon Maaf) in 2011. I will quote what she said (okay, I am crying now) in her winning speech, which made her and the entire film fraternity shed tears.
“Thank you…..Thank you to Filmfare, the mother of all awards in India. Everybody who come up here said…..six awards, five awards…..this is my first. In forty two years………Forty two years of singing. Unbelievable for me, thank you, to all the wonderful music directors, all the singers. The entire fraternity……I love you Filmfare…”
That…made everyone stand-up and cry with respect. Why wont anyone respect her ?
Okay, I am actually crying now. So I will take a break from Bollywood, and jump to an astronaut.
Okay, I again started crying. Not many people we feel extremely proud of. Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian-American astronaut and the first woman astronaut of India, was one of the seven crew members, who were killed in Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster, in 2003. I will humbly mention all seven crew members’ name here (woman, no-woman, doesn’t matter).
1) David McDowell Brown (USA)
2) Rick Douglas Husband (USA)
3) Laurel Blair Salton Clark (USA)
4) Kalpana Chawla (Indian-American)
5) Micheal Philip Anderson (USA)
6) William Cameron McCool (USA)
7) Ilan Ramon (Israel)
Being the first Indian woman to get into a space shuttle, its much more than just a proud thing to the nation, where women are not respected to that extent. Although she died, but she won millions of heart, and so much so was she respected, that apart from hundreds of memorial dedicated to her name, an asteroid was nomenclatured after her; Asteroid 51826 Kalpanachawla.
Coming back to Bollywood again.
One BIG and IMPORTANT lesson here. NEVER. EVER. make fun of anyone’s appearance. Big or small, skinny or plump, white or i-cant-use-that-word-here, doesn’t matter. You never know when they rise and beat the shit out of you. The emerging tigress of Bollywood, Kangana Ranaut (and, probably you all would have guessed by now what I am going to type) proved that she is the most badass actress of current Bollywood era. Gangster (2006), Fashion (2008), Tanu Weds Manu (2011), Queen (2014) and the most recent one, Tanu Weds Manu Returns (2015). The entire nation, including me, is in love with her recent performance. She was mocked for her unconventional voice and hairstyle, which she took as an armour (like how Tyrion Lannister quoted in Game of Thrones’ first season : Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armour, and it can never be used to hurt you) and proved an iron of her acting skills. She, in a true sense, is an actor. In every sense. And recently, when she turned down a fairness cream advertisement, by saying ‘fair’ is a humiliating word, this line would fit apt to her :
“Banno tera swagger, laage sexy”
And yes. She recently gave a kickass and rebellious move-on song from her last film. Don’t forget to check it out.
So yes. These are the women, I whole-heartedly respect, adore, idolise and have high regards for. Not that I don’t respect others, but among all, these are the preferences.
Image source : Google Images
Abnormally Perfect 