A lot has been said and written about the movie Thapad, a movie essentially about domestic violence. Well, I am neither a movie critic nor an activist.
I am just your girl-next-door who you will often find fighting with the pani puri wala for that extra puri.
Just a girl waiting till midnight to get the best deals on flipkart sale.
Just a girl who is almost 30 but still cries while watching DDLJ.
Just a 90's girl who is sure her Hogwarts letter got lost somewhere.
But, like every other regular girl I know I am extraordinary because my father told me so.
And so is Amu, the protagonist of the movie. A normal girl married to an extremely ambitious and a career driven man.
Amu quietly adapts herself in her new home. Right from picking up the morning newspaper from the doorstep to sleeping only after the whole family is in deep slumber, she is constantly trying to be the best homemaker there is!!!
She tries to cook the best food possible for her family, even though she never really enjoys cooking...
Everyday she checks her mother-in-law's blood pressure, she has memorized all there is to know about different fluctuating blood levels so much so that she does not even need to check the book of instructions that came with the machine...
She packs her husband's lunch box, makes his coffee and then prepares for a hectic day ahead...
She does everything what is expected of a good homemaker...
And then the unimaginable happens...her husband slaps her...
Her life that seemed so perfect a moment ago was dissolving slowly...
With that one slap everything became clear, she was living under an umbrella of illusion...
She goes on about her routine like always but somehow it made no sense now...
She had lost the feeling of belonging...
While Amu is battling her own churned feelings her father...a regular father is dying a hundred deaths inside!!!
How can anyone hit his little baby....he never gave that permission to anyone.
Does her husband not know how precious she is?
Does he not know she was raised with utmost love and care.
Why is he breaking her little girl....can't he see she is so angelic!
But, like every regular father he must stay quiet. Although why he should stay quiet, he does not know !!
He is somehow managing to get through days, picking up what remains of him.
Until the day his little girl comes at his doorstep with her bags.
Seeing his little girl all his broken heart pieces instinctively glue themselves in the right places... He is whole again!!!
His baby is back in his home and he knows he can keep her safe here... He will take care of his child...He will tell her that she is loved here...
Everyone wants Amu to forget that one incident and move on.... because that is what is expected of a regular girl...move on even if it means you are hurt and melting with every passing moment...
Her father on the other hand gets busy in feeding her...
He wakes up early to make her favorite cup of tea...just the way Amu likes...
Some tea leaves with freshly cut lemon grass in boiling water and her daughter will be ready to take on the day...
He supports her daughter's decision...shuts off anyone who speaks against her...
He guards her while not influencing her decision in anyway... He knows it's not his place to speak...but he will stand as her pillar no matter what...
He knows his child is hurt but this is her journey she has to heal herself...
But he will shield her from society....
The wife in Amu is silently weeping everyday, it is hard to get off bed sometimes....
However, the daughter in her is getting stronger...
Not that the daughter in her was ever any weak but she was so busy in being someone's wife that she forgot what it felt like to be loved selflessly...
She forgot what it felt like to be served a hot cup of tea...
She forgot how it felt like to be properly nurtured...
She forgot how it felt like to be constantly "not trying"...
She forgot the protective feeling she felt in her father's drooping shoulders...
He may be old for the world but for Amu he was her single source of strength...
As the girl in Amu was restoring her lost confidence, she knew she could not stay in an abusive relationship...
Because if she did she would be letting down the daughter her father has raised...
She gives no right to anyone to hurt his daughter...and that will stay the way it is!!!
If she stays she would break again and her father will see right through her... and he will die a hundred deaths...again...
My dear regular girl who was beaten up last night, if your reading this and if you are loved or have been ever loved by a father get out of that barbaric relationship...
Just remember, my dear, your father raised a strong woman...don't let him down...
Don't hurt yourself because you are too precious...too precious for your old man...
Don't worry about what will happen...there is nothing in this world you can't do!!
Don't let anyone clip your wings because, my dear regular girl, remember that your father taught you to fly!!
If you stay in that relation...he will die a hundred deaths...forever!!!
"When my father didn't have my hand, he had my back"
-Linda Poindexter