At 18, Zaira Wasim¡¯s Wikipedia page describes her as ¡°former Indian actress of Kashmiri origin¡± who worked in Hindi films. The National Award winning actor announced her decision to quit cinema because it ¡°interfered with her faith.¡±
In an open letter, the Dangal actor took to social media and put up a lengthy post about the past five years and how it changed her life forever.?
¡°Five years ago, I made a decision that changed my life forever. As I stepped my foot in Bollywood, it opened doors of massive popularity for me. I started to become the prime candidate of public attention, I was projected as the gospel of the idea of success and was often identified as a role model for the youth.
¡°As I complete 5 years today, I want to confess that I am not truly happy with this identity i.e. my line of work. For a very long time now it has felt like I have struggle to become someone else,¡± she wrote.
She penned her work led her to a path of ignorance and consistently interfered with her ¡°iman¡± (faith).?
Just like Zaira made a choice, Nusrat Jahan, first-time member of parliament from Trinamool Congress (TMC) recently got married and showed up wearing sindoor and bangles at the Parliament. Her decision offended Islamic clerics to an extent that they issued a fatwa against her.
Their decision opened the Pandora¡¯s box.
The society has always been extremely and irrationally obsessed with controlling women¡¯s choices and their decisions. Suppression of women has occurred throughout history and in most cultures, and is mostly driven by religious beliefs.?
At a time when women empowerment is all about letting women make their own choice, be it about their sexuality, dressing, reproduction, education, career, etc, criticising their decision is what that seems extremely regressive.?
It is understood that the country is currently sitting on a hotbed of conversations and actions around religious freedom. When something of this kind happens, it leaves people divided and free to criticise or appreciate the choice of another person.
When a situation like this gives the audience, in general, a choice to speak out for or against someone¡¯s decision, the choice of a decision-maker merely becomes a punching bag.
And what¡¯s wrong in choosing religion over profession??
When Nusrat was confronted for wearing sindoor and bangles, she responded by saying that she is ¡°a citizen of secular India.¡± Something that has been forgotten, given the cases of communal hatred and mob lynching in ¡°New India.¡±
Zaira¡¯s choice has been labelled ¡°regressive¡± and ¡°moronic¡±. She just quit her job and Indians lost their collective shit over her decision. How can someone who is non-religious or does not feel that closely connected to their religion, decide how religious people should or should not behave? Her six-page resignation letter from her job is comprehensive and gives out a message that she chose what she believes in.?
Aren¡¯t we all are going through a spiritual journey? A journey of self-realisations and choices that we want to stick to. People seek spirituality in decisions that they make. Zaira is seeking spirituality too, just her path goes through religion. The shift is priority allows people to embrace spirituality, the quality of being concerned with human spirit as opposed to material and physical things.
And this very fact of choice that she has made has handed ammo to audience.?
All of us are seeking spirituality, life¡¯s purpose and what¡¯s best for our mental health to become so aware of our choices that we feel content with the decisions we have made. It¡¯s about being true to oneself. Quitting cinema is just one. For some travelling or a weight-loss programme is a way of seeking and attaining spirituality, and for others it is praying and helping others.
In no way, either of the two is wrong.
In 1980, actor Vinod Khanna was at the peak of his career. The Burning Train and Qurbani were a massive success at the box office. But then happened the unexpected. Khanna stopped all his projects and started to return producers¡¯ money.
Amid rumours and confusions, Khanna did a press conference with his then wife Geetanjali and announced his plan to go the United States to be with his ¡°guru¡± Rajnish, popularly known as Osho.?
When Osho established an ashram in Pune, the actor started frequenting it. Under his influence, Khanna started wearing orange robes, normally worn by the spiritual guru¡¯s disciples. Later in Oregon, Khanna took up the responsibility of gardening at the ashram. After returning from US, Khanna¡¯s career witnessed a decline. Many believe he could have become the next Amitabh Bachchan had it not been for Osho.?
With a few ups and down in between, Khanna¡¯s association with Osho lasted till the latter¡¯s death in 1990.
What could have been the scenario if there was internet back then? How much backlash Khanna would have received? Would people have reacted the same way as they did now or not? Back then, was there more religious freedom and freedom of choice than now?
Many still argue that why did Zaira choose to write a long-post on social media? She could have disappeared silently. But isn¡¯t social media the biggest rage of the modern world? When people have the liberty, and are encouraged to come forward and talk about their experiences of sexual trauma, sexual identity, mental health, weight loss journey or coping up with a persona loss, why we, as a society see a problem with someone talking about choosing religion over anything else?
At present, internet has given complete freedom to people to put out their opinion. People now have the liberty to shred someone and their choice into pieces online.?
Can we deny an 18-year-old girl the right to justify her decision and express herself on social media? Nusrat is labelled brave to defy religion and Zaira is tagged regressive to embrace religion. Let¡¯s put it out clearly, the matter here is not about progression or regression. It is about choice and only choice.??
And we are no one to rob someone of their choice.