Two Women, Two Stories and Two Different Treatments

Two different stories about two different women hit the news recently. One is Nigella Lawson and the other is Yukta Mookhey. While one is a celebrated chef, the other is a former Miss World. While both their stories are about abuse in marriage, they have been treated differently by the media of respective countries.

Nigella Lawson’s story was treated with the utmost respect in the UK. She is now a champion of the cause. On the other hand the Indian media handled Yukta Mookhey’s story most shamefully. Instead of writing about her plight and making her a postive example for many women who are in exactly the same situation, the media choose to write about her clothes and make up at various public events after she announced her divorce.

It is such a shame. Indian media prides itself on being free and a champion of many causes then why couldn’t they show what they could do by citing Yukta Mookhey as an example and using her story to help other women fight their battles instead of demeaning a very strong woman who had the courage to face her demons and come out victorious?

This reflects our psyche. This clearly states in bold letters how backward we are and how every kind of violence is acceptable. I was describing the difference between how the media in the UK and in India handled the same kind of story to my little sister and her only reply was that there is no line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in our society. I believe she is right.

Yukta Mookhey deserves all our respect for being able to achieve what she has. She has the courage to make public statements despite having gone through a harrowing time physically, mentally and emotionally. She is a brave woman who is able to make public appearnces in spite of wagging tongues. We should actually be looking up to her and learning from her but instead we chose to comment on her clothes. Who cares what she is wearing? She was a Miss World once, she still is a million times more beautiful than the plain hypocritical faces we see everyday and will look beautiful no matter what she wears!

It is sad to see the ‘oh so what’ couldn’t care less expression loudly displayed by the Indian media. When will we give up our ‘oh so what’ attitude towards things that happen around us? When will the media set an example and contribute towards eradicating this attitude from our psyche. There is not going to be another Satyameva Jayate to keep waking us up. Why can’t we as people and media as an agent work towards redefining what it means to be an Indian? I wonder if there will ever come a time when we truly wake up.