Caste System and Gender: “Gainda” & Salaam Bombay

Salaam Bombay

Migrant populations flock to the outskirts of citiesto find work. (source)

India (2)

OutlineI. General Background & Questions II. “Gainda”III. Salaam Bombay Background (1): Mira Nair and the Children Background (2):

Bombay & Bollywood Colonial Influences Religion

Questions Salaam Bombay

Related News & Documentaries Caste and Language (last week) Slum 世界那麼大 :達拉維 Dharavi 2010 11:52;

18:00; 36:12

Bollywood: Lonely Planet-Six Degrees 4:33; 11:19

「消失」的女孩 印度重男輕女的可怕 (2015年05月31日) http://hottopic.chinatimes.com/20150531001229-260804 Reason: prejudice, expensive dowry Consequence: foetus/infant killing (losing 10 million

female), selling (female orphan), and serious gender imbalance ( one school w/ boys 3 times that of girls). Next slide

Gender Imbalance

Girl in an OrphanageGood Sheperd學校，有133名男子和45名女孩上學。（圖／取自光明網）

http://hottopic.chinatimes.com/20150531001229-260804

Lahore

Locations of “Gainda,” Salaam Bombay and Earth.

Ismat Chughtai (1911-1991)

” Born to a "liberal" Muslim family of comfortable affluence, Chughtai was a child of modernity, or to borrow from Minault, a "daughter" of reform.”

A very controversial writer and filmmaker Writing in Urdu

source

Hindi words associated with women and wedding Dulhan = bride

Sindoor/bindi, attar (perfume) Lehnga (long skirt) vs. salwar

(baggy trousers) Ghunghat (veil), razai (quilt) Ghungroos (43) 串鈴

Dupatta: shawl Burqua 一種遮住身體和臉的

印度婦女服裝

“Gainda”: Plot

The story in 5 parts: 1. The narrator plays with Gainda before her

marriage; 2. The narrator plays with her after G is a widow; 3. The narrator is distanced from G, who gets

closer to Bhaiyya; she asks Mewa to marry her. 4. Turning point. The narrator tries to attract

Mewa’s attention again.5. The narrator gets rebellious. After leaving for

two years, she came back to find G with a baby.

Discussion Questions ❶: General

Compare & Contrast: differences and similarities, and what do you make of them? What different childhood desires are

expressed respectively in “Gainda” (by the narrator) and in Salaam Bombay (by Krishna, Manju and the other kids)?

How do they grow beyond these desires, and why?

Discussion Questions ❷: “Gainda”: Class & Gender1) The narrator & Gainda: Ivy, Milla

-- How do the narrator relate to Gainda differently at different stages of their lives? Why does Gainda, who is actually a servant, “hold [the narrator] in contempt” after she is married? p. 43, 46.

-- How do we tell the class difference between the narrator and Gainda? p. 46

-- What is revealed in their game of “Dulhan-Dulhan”and the make-up ritual? pp. 42; 44.

Discussion Questions ❷: Gainda’sand the narrator’s growth2) “Society” (Bhayiyya, Bahu, Mewa) – CarolWhat role does Bhaiyya play in distancing G and the narrator? And Mewa? pp. 43; 45 (Franny: Is he simply a character that is opposite to the narrator? [Married])3) Growth? Ginger How does Gainda adjust to the changes in her life?

Will Bhaiyya go back to her? Does the narrator grow up? Does she remain

envious of Gainda at the end? Ginger: Does she accept the baby out of sympathy or was it because she finally felt that she is, in some ways, more superior than Gainda?

“Gainda”: Gainda’s and the narrator’s growthGainda – Though not getting a lot of respect or resources, she is active in life and her desire, playing the roles of wife, widow, mistress and mother. The narrator’s growing process: Feeling envious; p. 43 Still treated a kid; p. 44; In need of attention. 48 Revengeful; p. 46; 49 Different from the social judgment of Gainda, she

accepts Gainda’s baby.

Mira Nair and Salaam Bombay

Context ❶: Mira Nair Born in Bhubaneshwar,

Orissa in 1957 (middle class family)

Attended the University of New Delhi (Sociology and Theater)

Went to Harvard in 1976 (Sociology) (source)

Salaam Bombay (1988) Mississippi Masala (1991) –

Indian immigrants in relations to Afro-Americans

Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love(1997) based on an Indian classic

Monsoon Wedding (2001) Indians and immigrants

[Vanity Fair (2004) ] The Namesake (2006) Indian

immigrants The Reluctant Fundamentalist

(2012)

Salaam Bombay!

Awards: the New Director's Award at the Cannes Film

Festival in 1988 an Academy Award nomination for best foreign film in 1989

Neo-Realism; A departure from Bollywood Musical.

Salaam Bombay! History of Production

1. Interviews of street kids in Bombay.2. Out of these interviews emerged a screenplay

that was a composite of several lives. 3. “Then many [24 out of 150] of the children were

enlisted for weeks in a daily workshop, not to teach them "acting" (for that they already knew from hundreds of overacted Indian film melodramas), but to teach them how to behave naturally in front of the camera.” (source)

What happened to the children? 1. "Our whole attitude was to meet them halfway and

help them realize their own self-worth and dignity," said Nair in a … interview with The Christian Science Monitor (12 Oct 1988, p.19). "[We] wanted to help them create opportunities they want for themselves." Responding to this respectful approach, some children entered school, some returned home to their villages, some got jobs, and some have stayed on the streets.

2. Nair uses proceeds from the film to open learning centers for street children in both Bombay and Delhi. (source)

3. The film’s interviews

The Kids after Salaam Bombay

What Will Happen to Slumdog's Child Stars? Hansa Vithal – married Shafiq Syed – jobless, 3 suicidal attempts,

until trying a new direction as auto-rickshaw driver or camera man. (ref: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkIb1xdGW18 )

One contracting AIDS, and died of car accident.

Context ❷: The Role of Bollywood“come back a movie star.”

Context ❸: Traces of Colonial Influences

Traces of Colonial Influencesbackground

Tourist & journalist

Context ❹: Traces of Religion?

Traces of Religion? Parade of Ganesh

Questions

A. migrant kids in a city: Christopher, Evelyn What is Krishna’s first experience of Bombay? (clip 1)

Is there a pattern in his life there? Does he “grow” in the film?

Money, drugs vs. Friends: [Why do Chillum & Krishna go to Bombay? What do they each want? Are they real friends? How about the other kids (Manju, the other kids) 1) Gateway of India & Graveyard scene

Street kids and migrants in a city: How does Krishna relate to the people he meets in Bombay? (e.g. Manju, Sweet 16, Manju’s mother, Chillum & the other street kids.) e.g. Why does Krishna fall in love with Sweet Sixteen?

Questions Riley, Sharon, Eunice, Simon Language, the Government, Religion, Culture : --[Annie]Neither Sweet Sixteen nor the foreign

reporter can understand Hindi. What does this suggest?

-- government (the chiller room): [Sun] Why did Murtaza run away when he had the chance to get out of the detention center? [Harris] Why does Keera (Baba's daughter) remain silent ever since she is taken to the children center?

-- How do Bollywood musical, religion and the government influence the kids in the film?

Cinematography & Symbols e.g. [Franny] The train station appears many times in the film, do you think that it has any special meaning or symbol?

Ending: Growth?

[Vivienne] Does the final scene suggest that Krishna finally "understands" Chillum? Will the hope of returning home still inspires Krishna to live, or he will lose his faith and commit suicide?

Major Themes

Major Theme 1: Migrants in the city Major Theme 2: comradeship and betrayal Major Theme 3: Other Social factors

(Language Differences and Illiteracy; slums in Bombay, government inefficiency; Colonialism/tourism -- in the background)

(1) Migrant identity in Salaam Bombay Migrant identity: people drifted to the

metropolis, lost in the crowd, e.g. shots of the train station-- Chaipau: his name (Krishna); no home address-- Chillum: completely lost Mixture of language

& illterate -- the sweet 16: no name, no language

Krishna vs. Sweet 16: as mother, sister, lover?

Salaam Bombay: survival

How do Krishna and the other kids survive? clean chicken coops; skin chicken, keeps a

sense of beauty and love (after being fired) rob an old man, (after losing his money) serve in a rich man’swedding party

Major Themes in Salaam BombayDesire for home –Lost Family

e.g. Krishna-- tries to write home-- needs 500 rupees so that he can go home-- forms a “family” in Bombay (Chillum, the

other children). What about Manju’s

family?

Salaam Bombay: The migrants in a city (2)

Manju’s family— Baba – child-abuser and pimp (chaps 12, 15 ) Mother –loving but cannot help (happy moments

when the father is not around—very short) Manju– lonely and in desperate need of love. (e.g.

chap 13, 14)

Happy Moments

Manju – reaching out in her own ways

Krishna’s Happy Moments: With Chillum

Salaam Bombay: a series of betrays

Chillum

Baba His wife & Manju

Krishna

The Sweet Sixteen The circus

boss

The other street kids

Sweet 16

Major Themes (2): Vicious Circle? Comradeship, betrayal and rebellion/survival-- Pattern

of Repetition: Drug-dealing: the death of the previous drug dealer, Chillum

and then another Chillum. Cheating: Manju’s mother cheated, The Sweet Sixteen

Some are self-destructive and some, surviving Chillum – has no friend; cheats Krishna with his “bank.” Krishna’s setting fire as a way of rebellion against his

brother, and then against the whorehouse

Major Themes 3: Social Factors

Why are Baba and his wife not named? Why do people call Krishna “Chaipau”? What roles do Ganesh and cricket game

play in this film? And the “Chiller room”? (clip 20, 22)

Who sends the two kids to Chiller room? How is the chiller room presented?

Bollywood & Mixture

hybrid culture and identity (e.g. Chillum, Manju’s dance—clip 3; Ms. Hawaii in the movie clip 6/chap 4, 6 21:00 )

Salaam Bombay: social factors

State intervention: Chiller Room (Children’s Home)

drug, prostitution and Bollywood traces of colonial influence: cricket, tourists, statues, movies

Religion: helpless. E.g. Ganesh (ending)

The Role of the Government

Disciplines only to lead to violence, indifference of the guards and endless procrastination in bureaucracies

Self-righteous intervention of Manju’s family.

Patterns in Krishna’s Life: survival, fun, betrayal.

Fun with the Spinning Top

Left Behind …

The Street

Chulum vs. Krishna

The Ending?

Left alone, running Weeping Spinning top Looking up at the

camera --calm

References:

Roger Elbert. SALAAM BOMBAY!

Next week: stories of 3 girls and a young woman During the time of partition -- in Earth; Over the issue of marriage in “Gainda”