Dear Internet Here’s Why Our Anguish Against A Little Boy Married To An Older Woman Shows Our Double Standards!

    Dear Internet Here’s Why Our Anguish Against A Little Boy Married To An Older Woman Shows Our Double Standards!

    Recently, my timeline was flooded with the picture of a little boy and a woman and I could see my friends and news sites carrying a series of opinions about a TV show called Pehredaar Piya Ki.

     I read a lot of opinions that raise several concerns. While there are several daily soaps still running on Indian television that do nothing to help overcome the rigid cultural values, Pehredaar Piya Ki seems to be taking it to another level by depicting the marriage between a small boy and a woman who’s much elder to him.

    Yes, I agree with their take. Knowing the plot and watching the promo of this show evoked similar questions in my mind. I actually can’t wait to watch it because I want to see the treatment that the makers give it. I want to know if they’re going to tell me something that’s happened in ancient Indian history (since child marriages were regularly practiced back then) or are they going to go the regressive way?

    Dear Internet Here’s Why Our Anguish Against A Little Boy Married To An Older Woman Shows Our Double Standards!

    So what could possibly go wrong?

    Going by the promos, the worst that I can imagine is that the woman will really behave like a wife who’ll run around her little husband and perform all duties for him. She’ll take orders from a kid half her size, and she’ll not utter a word of protest to make her already miserable situation slightly better. She could apparently be forced into this marriage and she’ll eventually start loving her husband in the name of being the savior of his life. And at the end of the day, it might just be like just another TV show. People will watch the first two episodes out of curiosity and later forget their angst about the show.

    But, what if they go right?

    But, if millennials and uncomfortable housewives give this show a chance, a lot could go right, or many new things might come to light, to say the least.

    Since the show is based on a Royal family in Rajasthan, I’d not be surprised if this serial will be an extension of what we’ve seen about child marriages on TV so far. We’ve seen girl child marriage; this could be huge if they throw light on a male child’s marriage. Moreover, this show clearly states in the promos that the woman is more of a protector than a wife to the kid.

    Since we as a society are not accustomed to welcoming changes, it might be difficult to digest for the quintessential TV watching audience in India.  When it’s difficult for viewers to see their favourite character die or get replaced in the show, this too shall take the time to get acceptance. Indians have never seen something based on this concept so the reactions could be extreme.

    Also, do we have double standards?

    I think we as a generation have become blissfully ignorant to things that make us uncomfortable. It’s not that child marriages never happened in India ever! All of us at some point in time in our lives have met or seen or heard of someone who was married as a child, but when we’re getting to see it on a larger platform, it’s making us uncomfortable? But then again, you don’t mind loving GOT which shows a relationship between a sister and her brother.

    Is it time to accept that we have double standards?

    I think we can give this show a chance and see the fate of our assumptions or is this really just another show with debate generating promos but a rather dull storyline?