ii | PEOPLE 14 DECEMBER 2019

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TALKING POINT
THE WOMEN WHO...

are lending colour to beauty pageants
LAURA M HOLSON
Tunzi, Cheslie Kryst (this year’s
Miss USA), Kaliegh Garris (Miss
a former Miss Angola who was
crowned Miss Universe in 2011.
see my face. And I want them to
see their faces reflected in mine.”
Body type. Curly hair. If you look at
all this year’s winners, they look
like themselves.”
This is a far cry from 1968, when
women protested outside the Miss
America pageant in Atlantic City.
Throwing girdles, bras and false

W
hen Zozibini Tunzi of
South Africa was
named Miss Universe
last Sunday, her crowning signi-
fied a milestone: the first year that
four of the major beauty pageants
SHUMA RAHA
had simultaneously awarded the
top prize to a black woman.
Pageants have long been criti-
Teen USA) and Nia Franklin
(Miss America) — say the recog-
nition sends a powerful message
that today’s beauty standards
are evolving beyond Barbie-lite,
or an era when contestants were
prized solely for smooth hair,
light skin colour and thin lips.
“Finally the universe is giv-
Oprah also praised Tunzi for her
leadership. But perhaps the new
Miss Universe put it best in her
closing address on Sunday night.
“I grew up in a world where a
woman who looks like me, with
my kind of skin and my kind of
hair, was never considered beau-
tiful,” she told the rapt crowd. “I
Hilary Levey Friedman, a visit-
ing professor of education at
Brown University who is writing a
book about beauty pageants, said a
new definition of what it means to
be a pageant winner was being
embraced in this era when ques-
tions of equality and inclusion are
increasingly urgent. “The idea of
eyelashes, they denounced the fact
that the pageant had not had a
black finalist since its inception in
1921. That night, black women par-
ticipated in their own pageant sev-
eral blocks away. Saundra Williams
was crowned Black Miss America
at that event, telling The New York
Times: “With my title, I can show

Surviving cised for their antiquated beauty

standards and, in many cases,
outright racism or gender stereo-
ing value to black skin,” read an
Instagram post from Leila Lopes,
think it is time that stops today.
I want children to look at me and
what we think is beautiful has
expanded,” she said. “Skin colour.
black women that they too are
beautiful, even though they have
large noses and thick lips. There is

rape typing. Last year, the Miss

America Organization announced
it would scrap both the swimsuit
a need to keep saying this over and
over because for so long none of
us believed it.”
and evening gown portions of the Pageant standards have slowly

R
ape and violence against women and girls competition. And while black evolved, even as the events’ pur-
have become everyday stories in India. women have been winners in the pose has increasingly been called
Each day we let our eyes skim over yet past — notably Vanessa Williams, into question. Black women have
another report of sexual assault as if it were part who in 1984 was the first black also continued to remain severely
of our usual diet of news and, hence, not partic- woman to be named Miss underrepresented in corporate
ularly troubling. But every now and then, there is America — they have never been America and Congress.
an act of rape so savage and of such terrifying as successful as this year.
violence towards a woman and her body, that we Supporters of the women — © 2019 The New York Times
Nia Franklin Zozibini Tunzi Cheslie Kryst Kaliegh Garris
feel compelled to holler our protest, demand
answers, and insist on swift justice. The way we
did in the case of the horrific gang-rape of Jyoti
Singh (Nirbhaya) in 2012. The way we did last
year when an eight-year-old girl was gang-raped,
brutalised and murdered in Kathua.
Over the last few weeks, we have seen a fresh
outpouring of anger after a 26-year-old veteri-
narian in Hyderabad was gang-raped, murdered,
and her body burnt to cinders. A few days later,
up in the north of the country, in Unnao, a rape
survivor who was on her way to Rae Bareli for a
court hearing of her case, was attacked by five
men, including her two rapists. They stabbed
her, poured petrol over her and set her on fire. visitor from Hyderabad. Why, he even enacts
Her body in flames, her flesh melting, the girl ran former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan
for a kilometre, shouting for help. She was hos- Singh.TheoneinwhichheplaysaBangladeshi
pitalised with 90 per cent burns and died a few cricketer, who talks about everything but crick-
days later. et through the course of the episode, has had
millions of views — and counting.
The sets are austere, but the effect is in no
way diminished. It’s also a throwback to a
time when one could get away with acts such
as his Bangladeshi turn, where his face is
daubed with a shade of black, which would be
deeply politically incorrect today.

H ow is the development that has so many

Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis
suddenly hooked being received by those clos-
est to the late Moin Akhtar? His son Mansoor
Moin Akhtar tells Business Standard over a
phone call from Karachi that as pleasant a
surprise as it may have been, the barrage of
“have you seen it yet?” memes has been clog-
The fight against Both these mind- ging the phones of his “not-so-tech-savvy”
sexual violence is numbingly brutal crimes family for over a week now.
also about deserved every bit of the “I had gone to attend a condolence meet-
supporting and outrage they evoked. ing this Monday and there too people were
enabling (Whether the four showing these memes to me,” he says. “I don’t
survivors so they accused in the Hyderabad mind watching them over and over again for
can overcome rape case “deserved” to be the many memories they bring back.”
their trauma summarily shot dead by Mansoor would like to believe that the first

Returnofthe
the police without due clip he received originated in India. This is a
process of law is a debate for another day.) video where lines from the “harmonium
However, it is important to remember that there is episode” of Loose Talk were juxtaposed with a
no rape-lite; every act of sexual violence is as scene from the The Dark Knight (2008), with
unconscionable as the next. Whether or not it cul- Akhtar’s voice for the Joker and Anwar’s for
minates in murder and mutilation of the victim’s Batman.
body, it is as much a threat to women’s life and How would a son rate the legacy of a man

impersonator
safety, as much an assault on women’s empower-
ment and advancement in society.
According to the latest figures from the
National Crime Records Bureau, up to 33,658
women were raped in 2017. This means that one
woman was raped every 15 minutes. Each one of
these acts sets us back as a society — for the
physical and psychological toll it takes on the
victims and for the fear it instils. And to that
extent, each one needs to be front and centre of
our conversation about tackling sexual violence
in every which way.
This week, Sayfty Trust, an NGO dedicated to
educating and empowering women and girls
against gender-based violence, launched a “sur-
who effortlessly donned so many hats —
Akhtar was an actor, director, singer, humorist,
and more? Akhtar Jr says that while Loose
Talk was exceptional, he considers Rosy, a TV
show where his father acts as a woman, and
Half Plate, a play where he portrays an elder-
ly man, as his best roles. “I once asked what
made him such a phenomenon. He replied:
‘Beta main mazak karta hoon, mazak udaata
nahin (Son, I crack jokes but not at the expense
of others)’.”
Shubhomoy Sikdar on how a legendary humorist and satirical commentator “For an artist, the biggest critic is his fam-
ily. I remember he would watch many Loose
from Pakistan has risen from his grave to tickle a new generation Talk episodes with us and whenever the feed-
back was positive, he felt more confident

vivors’ toolkit” for survivors of sexual assault. The
toolkit, available online at sayfty.com, and soon to
be translated into Indian languages, is a resource
handbook of sorts, and aimed at helping trau-
matised survivors navigate the maze of medical,
legal, mental health systems available to them. It
tells them about their rights, about preserving
forensic evidence of the crime, and walks them
through the processes of filing a police complaint,
medical examination procedures, getting legal
aid and so on. In short, it acquaints them with a
host of systems and support mechanisms that
they can access and the ways to access them.
The dissemination of such resources is impor-
tant, especially in inner city spaces and rural out-
backs, where women may be particularly vulner-
able and ill-informed about their rights. For the
fight against sexual violence has to be a 360-degree
effort. It is not only about educating the police, so
that no callous station house officer refuses to file
a complaint — as one did when the family of the
Hyderabad vet went to lodge a missing-person
report. It is not only about toning up police work
and ensuring speedy justice. The fight against sex-
ual violence is also about protecting survivors
from their attackers so they do not meet the hor-
rific fate that the girl in Unnao did. It is also about
supporting and enabling them so they can over-
come their trauma, get back to the rhythm of nor-
mal life, and find the strength and emotional equi-
librium to seek justice, if they so wish.
Every rape has an after-story. And the living
matter as much as the dead.
Shuma Raha’s novel, The Swap, will be published on
December 16
I
f you haven’t been living under a rock, Loose Talk, aired between 2005 and 2011 on
there is a good chance that this man Pakistan’s ARY Digital channel, where he
with a set of protruding teeth and a appeared as a different character in each
sardonic expression has made multiple episode. Another popular TV personality,
appearances on your smartphone Anwar Maqsood, played the hapless anchor
screen in the past fortnight. who would often be at his wits’ end, thanks to
Those of a certain vintage might recall how the jibes and caustic remarks of the guests
during his lifetime, the late Pakistani artist impersonated by Akhtar.
Moin Akhtar and his art — TV programmes, Memes have the power to make someone
stage shows and plays — kept finding ways to popular, but this is a rare case of a once-
enter Indian homes: through audio cassettes popular man coming back from the dead
and later pirated video CDs; through televi- and leaving many wanting to know more
sion or radio signals caught by households in about him. “My husband shared the footage,
the border districts of Punjab in the late 1970s which I found really funny. I promptly
and early 1980s; and finally via YouTube. searched for the show online and a Loose Talk
But Akhtar (1950-2011), counted among marathon ensued,” says Delhi-based Kanika
the most iconic performers of the Indian sub- Sood, who works for FM channel Radio
continent, could not have imagined that he Mirchi. “It’s sharp commentary laced with
would appeal to a much younger generation perfectly timed humour and backed by
of Indians — eight years after his death. This nuanced writing and amazing performances
sudden resurrection of the man and his cult is by both, Akhtar in particular.”
thanks to a popular tool of millennial expres- Like her, there are many Indians frantical-
sion — the meme. ly scouring the internet, attracting a fresh
A clip, almost 25 seconds long, that sparked wave of viewership for Loose Talk episodes,
a meme fest is an extract from Akhtar’s show, which remain relevant because of the con-
thefatherplayedthe
THE MEME harmonium,towhichtheguest
replies,“Nahin,Abba
I
nthebriefeditedclipfrom
harmoniumkhatethe(No,he
EpisodeNo241ofLooseTalk,
usedtoeattheharmonium)”
theguest,aharmoniumplayer,
followedbytheexpletive“abe
explainshiscareerchoicesaying
s***le.Thishasbecomea
thathehadinheritedthe
punchlineofsortsforslamming
instrument,ifnotskill,fromhis
thepointlessnessof,well,a
father.Atthis,theanchorasksif
pointlessquestion.
Moin Akhtar (top); with actor Dilip Kumar;
(below) in the “harmonium” episode
tent — from caustic sarcasm to downright
hilarious antics — that Akhtar offers and the
amazing composure the graceful Anwar com-
plements it with.
It’s difficult to encapsulate the versatility on
display, a hallmark of Akhtar’s career of 45
years, in one article. If he’s a Bangladeshi crick-
eter in one episode, in another he is a shayar
from Lucknow, a musician from Chennai or a
Weeksafteritsdramatic
emergence,thememecontinues
totrendasahotfavouritewith
theclipandscreenshots
garneringimpressionsand
commentsinmillions.Ithashad
adominoeffectonLooseTalk
videos,whicharebeingrapidly
sharedacrosssocialmedia
platforms.
about the success of that particular episode,”
he says, clarifying that the family spells its
last name as “Akhtar” (and not “Akhter”, as it
is often spelt).
The late artist’s unexpected comeback
has also rekindled talks in the Akhtar house-
hold about reviving some of his unfinished
projects — something that will help preserve
his legacy.
While the other half of the meme, Anwar
Maqsood, remained unavailable for this arti-
cle despite repeated attempts, the India con-
nection excites Mansoor. “When I see the
YouTube comments, most of them are from
India. They have flattering things to say about
my father and express disappointment when
they learn that he is no more,” he says. “So
many years later, this is surreal for us. Unlike
Pakistan, where he does not need any intro-
duction even for the younger generation, in
India it’s practically newfound fame.”
The conversation expectedly moves to the
political situation prevailing in the neigh-
bouring countries and the impact it has had
on cross-border cultural exchange. “Little can
be done, but I feel good because my forefa-
thers had migrated from India and my father
was friends with or performed with many
Bollywood celebrities — Dilip Kumar, Lata
Mangeshkar, Anil Kapoor, Johnny Lever,
Manisha Koirala,” says Mansoor. “Abbu’s
death snapped that connect, so this twist of
fate is certainly welcome.”
Mansoor remains hopeful that the
situation will change and that the future
will be peaceful for those in India and
Pakistan. Laughing together can be a good
starting point.