Deepika Padukone is in the eye of yet another digital storm. She has lent her (gorgeous) face & (mellifluous) voice to a new Vogue Empower video. One that offers a range of choices that go beyond the confused consciousness of a middle class girl like me who always thought she is empowered; and mostly never made any of those choices. At the onset, some smart critiques on this video are already out there. One on FirstPost (which can safely be renamed FirstCynic) and a second on TheLadiesFinger make entertaining reads with valid arguments. I prefer to call my piece an observation (that question and contrast the ‘choice’ observations) of this video. And my core argument is that at the heart of this Vogue Empower video is the deep set sociological difference between the privileged makers & women who feature in Gloworm, black velvet beauty in this video; and the average middle class working women of this country. I don’t write about the poor here, that’s a wholly different ...
Stories of our lives, lived realities, urban motherhood and unmet ambition. Hope to connect to more people like me who can never find someone like themselves in mainstream discourses. Born cynic with a touch of optimism.