Posted:
@Minnie: This wasn't really the topic of the thread, but since you have asked, yes, I am a feminist, and the first step is understanding that feminism is a movement that fights for equality of genders and sexes. But the jouney doesn't end there. The next step is thinking about what equality actually means because no ideology has meaning if we cannot apply it to real life situations and embedded ideas. Yes, I do expect more from Sona at this juncture in the story, that expectation has nothing to do with the fact that she is a woman. It has to do with the fact that she has enjoyed certain privileges and advantages that have empowered her greatly to deal with the current circumstances, especially with regards to Soha and I expect her to act accordingly.
If you want to compare Sona and Ishwari, do it on an even playing field. When Sona found herself without a husband, she still had her education, her career, her family, and apparently a ready investor in Jatin. Ishwari had nobody but Mamaji, and the help he could provide was severely limited by RR. So I ask, where is the equality here? Sona, throughout her life, was empowered. She was given the tools to face life as a single person if need be, and she did just that. Ishwari was born into a system that severely disempowered her, that makes women completely dependent on men, and then stigmatises them when they make their way without one. Ishwari is, and has always been, a disempowered person, so her manipulations don't surprise me; that is the only safe form of communication women had in a traditional system. I expect more from Sona because she has been given all the tools of empowerment available to women today. Moreover, Ishwari raised her children alone because she had no other choice. Sona made the choice to parent Soha on her own when she chose not to tell Dev about her existence, and even then had her entire family + Jatin + domestic help.
Now for the Dev side of things, Sona has been a parent for six years. Dev has been a parent for three days. So yes, I expect different levels of maturity from them. I expect Sona to be the one in charge and to take more initiative because she is Soha's primary parent, the one who actually knows her daughter well. I do expect maturity from Dev, and I don't condone his impulsive actions, but I also understand where they are coming from. He is being forced to work for a position that should be his right, a right was taken away from him without his say so. So yes, I do expect Sona to take responsibility for her choice, and if she wants to do what is best for her daughter, show a little empathy when it comes to handling Dev, if not because he deserves it, because it helps him toe the line with Soha. It's a matter of equalising the relationships, and facing the consequences of a decision she made. That is the mark of the empowered woman I would like to see in Sona.
