‘NISHAAN’ by Zikra Jumani

Thesis Abstract:

My outcome is to portray the catastrophic repercussion of a revolting act. Women are treated as mere objects in a man defined territory, where male ego is filled to the brim, clogging up the morality of humans, losing humanity in the filthy hands of the bad, what becomes necessary at this stage today is the act of mindfulness. Creating a conversation, awareness, waking up from the trance of always letting go. NO. It’s time to talk. It’s time to spread. It’s time to bring down the abysmal. To make people understand this state of being, I’ll be using literal objects to execute the horrific ideologies that exist in the minds of the Indian society.

On looking onto aspects of the self, society, and how the brain perceives beauty with regards to the human face and form, I was led into exploring stories of women whose visual self has been corroded. Under the gleam of beautiful surma lined eyes and the clinking of delicate glass bangles, lie secrets tucked away in heavy hearts. Everyday, countless women in India, are subject to discrimination, domestic violence, and oppression. While some women find the courage to break though the patriarchy and assert their basic rights, a large share of them are punished for the same. “If she had only agreed, he would not have thrown Acid on her” –Judge of the Bangalore High Court. To disfigure a woman by throwing acid on her face, to me, is one of the basest, crudest acts of subjugation imaginable. A drop of the liquid touches your skin, and an ocean of misfortune floods your life. Skin, melting away. Dreams, corroding. From the outermost layer that wraps you to the innermost sensation, deep within your soul, everything is set on aflame. “Woman is the problem” –Ranganath, Tukkur, attacked his wife Tipamma with Acid.

Credit – Zikra Jumani – Class of 2018