The Dalit Story – An Episode Review

The Dalit Story – An Episode Review

5:23

I recently watched the second season of one of my favorite Hindi series ‘Made in Heaven’. Among all the stories that were shared I was especially moved by the episode with the Dalit-Buddhist wedding. The episode displays discrimination even in families that call themselves “educated” and beautifully portrays how the bride takes a stand and doesn’t shy away from having a Dalit wedding in all its pride. Three scenes in particular, that I absolutely enjoyed watching were:

1. Addressing the issue altogether: Pallavi, the bride for the episode who plays an Ivy League Lawyer and author, is accused of being a hypocrite for believing in equality yet supporting the reservation system in the country. She says, and the dialogue goes

“If equal opportunity is to be given, some people need a head start. My grandmother... (tears up and looks to Paul – the interviewer) Paul, my grandmother, used to manually clean toilets. She had no other choice. Only reservations enabled my father to go to school and it enabled me to go to the college I deserved. This gaping equality needs a correction and that is what we call affirmative action.”

This honestly had me in goosebumps. What so many of us fail to understand is why the whole system even came into existence. What BR Ambedkar’s vision for India was! Wasn’t it equality all along? While we would love to live in a world where equality is second nature to us, we fail to see the number of Dalits denied equal opportunities, let alone the discrimination but the torture they are STILL put through. How many Dalits do you know that even own their identity? Isn’t this a type of discrimination too? Yet how many times does it even come up when discussing discrimination? It is time we talked about Dalits too! And how this was addressed in the episode was all hearts! <3 <3 <3 I have goosebumps even writing about it, it was just that impactful! It HAD to be said! It’s high time content like this existed in our society, wouldn’t you agree? Seeing a statement-making episode such as this revolving around Dalits was truly freeing! Kudos to the whole team especially the writers Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti and the director of the episode Neeraj Ghaywan for making the bold statement they evidently did in the episode.

2. The outside perspective - the conversation between the groom and the bride: when Pallavi tells ger groom his family was discriminating, the groom was certain that his family didn’t buy into the whole caste system. That they weren’t bothered he was getting married to a Dalit, that they weren’t the “shallow” kind. His denial in that scene stole my heart because the number of times “educated” people have failed to not discriminate is unreal. The bride and groom moved to the US (in a way they had the similar understanding about basic human rights) yet the bride is the only one able to identify the subtle discrimination coming from the groom’s family - the denial of her requests, the constant no to having another event, the EXCUSES! while the groom was in complete denial, SURE of the fact that his parents weren’t the “society” until he finds out otherwise later in the episode, and instantly realizes he owes his bride an apology.

Discrimination always works like that somehow where everyone else is able to ignore it as if it were OKAY except the one being discriminated. People ALWAYS know, and I mean A.L.W.A.Y.S. know when they are treated differently. For once instead of judging maybe we try to understand them. For once, we give them the benefit of doubt and think to ourselves, yes, they maybe right, there maybe something we aren’t seeing.

3. And of course, the actual wedding. Such an aesthetically pleasing ending to a fabulous episode. I loved the whole idea of the bride walking in water as if signifying something pure, in that simplistic unmissable saree and that gorgeous minimalistic jewelry. So rich and elegant. The meaning of accepting each other for who they are was truly celebrated in this scene where the bride seeks the blessing of BR Ambedkar, and the groom of the Buddha. This scene tied the whole story together just as in history because both BR Ambedkar and Buddha were great contributors to the Dalit Community. The brilliance in direction was surreal. Truly commendable!

Interestingly, after watching the episode I found out that there was a deeper meaning to the Dalit bride walking in the water to get to the mandap* where she takes the pheras*. In history, Dalits were refused to enter the same water bodies as others. Mahad Satyagraha was the first collective protest by the untouchables (Dalits) led by BR Ambedkar to eradicate the same. This protest that took place on the 20th of March essentially had thousands of Dalits marching to the Mahad Tank to drink water from it. Today, 20th of March is celebrated as Social Empowerment Day in the country.

This is perhaps the first time a Dalit wedding was so beautifully shot making it more desirable than ever! I don’t know about you but I’m definitely ready for this new India! STOP DALIT DISCRIMINATION. My heart definitely skipped a beat watching this whole episode play from start to end <3 <3 <3

September, 2023

Agni – Agni which translates to fire is in the center of a mandap in a wedding setup. The couple getting married completes seven circles around agni within the square mandap exchanging vows after every circle.

Mandap – A mandap is an area, usually a square where a couple gets married; something like an alter.

Pheras (plural) – Pheras which loosely translates to circles is an Indian Hindu tradition, where the bride and groom take 7 circles around agni. With each phera or circle they make a vow to each other.

Photo Credits: https://www.wionews.com/