"This Is What Happens When Determined Women Get Together"

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, this probably isn't a name most people are familiar with, I wasn't either until the Academy Awards of 2012. This brilliant Pakistani film-maker won the Oscar for Best Documentary (Short Subject) in 2012 for her film Saving Face which delves into the issue of acid attacks on women in Pakistan. This is a subject I was made aware of by my mother many years ago and I've researched it however it lay forgotten until Saving Face won that Oscar and I was yet again reminded of this horrific occurrence. I watched the film and needless to say, I was blown away by this film-maker's gutsy move to cover such a topic, something that countries plagued by it strive to keep hidden, and sweep under the carpet.

I did some research on Sharmeen herself and came across her amazing body of work which covers several issues plaguing the world, issues that are considered taboo, issues that people who aren't affected by them pay no mind to. If you do get the chance, you should definitely check some of these amazing films out, they might open your eyes a bit more.

The Academy Awards of 2016 saw Ms. Obaid-Chinoy win her second Oscar award in the same category as before, Best Documentary (Short Subject). According to Kate Dries, "During a night that was infamously lacking in diversity, A Girl in the River was a rare highlight." This time Sharmeen's work focused on another prominent issue of her homeland, honour killings. This is something I've spent a lot of time reading about and examining from my own point of view. Anyway, her film, A Girl In The River: The Price of Forgiveness, is quite possibly one of the most important pieces of film work in today's world.

The tells the story of Saba, an 18-year-old girl whose father and uncle attempt to kill her as a result of her marrying a man from a poorer family. This is what is defined as an "honor killing." In a twist to the tale, of course the main character can't just die, so Saba miraculously survives the shooting, and makes a vow to bring her father and uncle to justice. The laws in Pakistan prove to be a hindrance to her goal however,they state that if a victim decides to forgive the perpetrators of the crime, those disgusting individuals can walk free.

Many people may not know about it but, this particular film has made waves in Pakistan, reaching the highest of people, namely the Prime Minister. In her acceptance speech, Sharmeen said, "The Pakistani Prime Minister said he will change the law on honour killings after watching this film," she added. “That is the power of film.” Right you are Sharmeen. The Pakistani Prime Minister himself, Nawaz Sharif praised the film highly, he is quoted as saying, "We are striving to give women their rightful place in the society, both economically and politically and end all sorts of violence against them and bring the perpetrators of attacks on them to justice." These words may not seem like much to a lot of people, because they are after all, just words. But these words gave me so much hope in world tormented by so much injustice, I will hold on to them.

Saba's story is presented in an incredibly inspiring light, hopefully one that many take heed of. Apart from surviving the attack, her supporters included those male members of institutions that usually fail us as women in these circumstances, lawyers, doctors, and police officers. Unfortunately, the thing that fails her most remarkably is society itself. The pressures of society for her to forgive her father and uncle so they can keep providing for the family and community (now, I'm not even going to attempt to say how much easier any of this would've been if women weren't treated as second class citizens and allowed a chance to work etc. because that's a whole other story). We are also exposed to something that we see far too often today: the way people misinterpret Islam and the teachings of the Quran in a way that justifies some of their despicable, immoral actions. This is something that irks me to no end, but it is still quite prevalent in today's "modern" society. Also it must be noted that Saba’s acceptance of her situation (something that was incredibly difficult to do), along with her hope that it will get better for the baby she is carrying was so incredibly poignant. I'm so happy to hear that maybe Saba’s dream of a Pakistan that is safer and better for women is not so far off, and a step closer to reality thanks to this movie.

xoxo, Shantilly.

The Human Condition

"I see humans but no humanity."

That's a phrase I've come to identify with way too often in my short lifetime. It makes me feel sick to my stomach when I think about the things that make me identify with it. Humans, human cruelty, there's none quite like it. I think about the wars, the suffering people all over the world, the unspeakable cruelty some are subjected to at the hands of others, the depraved and wounded, and I feel for them, all of them. 

I've come to realize quite early on that I feel things quite deeply compared to other people, things that aren't even remotely related to me, I find that connection and I relate to it and feel it like if it were me or someone I knew and loved. That's the mark of the creative people isn't it? More like a curse, but it is what propels us to write, paint, draw, sculpt, cook, sew, design, CREATE. 

"Perhaps it's good for one to suffer. Can an artist do anything if he's happy? Would he ever want to do anything? What is art, after all, but a protest against the horrible inclemency of life?" -Aldous Huxley

I was randomly scrolling through the books I had on my kindle a couple days ago and I just picked one to read, no synopsis or anything was read beforehand. "Revolution" by Jennifer Donnelly, I was blown away. I can't even put into words how I felt at some points during this book. The fact that even 200 years ago people were still this cruel and they haven't changed a bit. The book covers the relationship between a girl in modern day Brooklyn and another girl in revolutionary France, Paris to be exact. Paris is one of the my favourite cities in the world. It is the absolute dream for me and yes I see it as it is now in our present time, cloaked in the glitz and glamour of the opulence, and high end fashion so expensive and ostentatious that just hearing the prices is enough to make you cry. The place where the literary greats like Hemingway and Fitzgerald found inspiration, La Belle Époque. 

The Paris in this novel however was much different and I'm glad, I'm glad the author chose not to sugarcoat the horror that was the French Revolution. Her depictions of the revolution showed both sides of the coin and very rarely do you ever see that in accounts of any revolution, they always highlight the plight of the people and why they were justified in their revolt, however this time the story was riveting for a whole other reason. The royals, their plight. Now we all know the story of how the French monarchy fell, how Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette lived lavishly while their people suffered for even the littlest of grain to eat. A phrase that MA is famous for is "let them eat cake!" Now I'm not sure if she's ever actually said this but yes it was pretty dense and bitchy of her if she did.

This story focused on the short life and death of Louis XVI and MA's young son, Louis Charles. Now, this is where the emotional roller-coaster begins, we all know that it is popular opinion that the Royals deserved their punishment in the end, after all, beheading was the normal form of extreme punishment in that time. Where though, was the fault of this innocent child? Being born into the wrong family? How is it okay to torture a 7 year old? Of course the novel had a whole story but this is not a book review so I won't be covering that. This is the telling of how much this unsettled me. This child was royalty, supposedly privileged more so than many others yet, this is how the last few years of his short life was spent, locked away in a tower in isolation from everyone. Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not sympathetic because of who he was, no, I am sympathetic and deeply saddened by the fact that this was a child, a child who had no idea why he was made to suffer, that too for something he had no part in. They say the cobbler, Antoine Simon and his wife who were left in charge of him did not treat him badly, despite the many accusations of barbarous cruelty the child endured at their hands. Of course we'll never know, history has a way of phasing out a lot of things and changing many others, as a History student I can attest to this.

This bothered me so immensely, just reading the account of it in Donnelly's words has left a permanent imprint on me. I don't know why. I just imagine everything so vividly that it makes my heart hurt. I know at that point in time the life expectancy of a lot of children was very low, Louis Charles' elder brother also perished at a very young age. I just feel like if he was cared for properly then he would've lived a lot longer. Firstly, isolation in itself is not an easy thing for anyone to deal with, much less a child. Secondly, being ripped away from one's parents is a traumatic experience that one is not likely to forget. Finally, it is known that he was abused, and several accounts convey that his living conditions were far from humane. I just can't be okay with that, and it wounded me so deeply, I know these things happen every single moment of every single day somewhere in the world and it is so incredibly damaging to think about.

There are so many things that are not okay, so much evil and intolerable cruelty in this world and we turn a blind eye to all of it. We hear of it then shrug it off, once it doesn't affect us directly it shouldn't be our problem right? This is the very same reason a lot of these things even happen, because people ignore it. I can tolerate a lot of things but cruelty against children (or animals) is not one of them. Animals and small children share a lot of the same traits, mainly the fact that they are completely innocent. They are unaware of quite a lot and most of the time when you decide to hurt them, they have absolutely no clue why they're being hurt, and I can't think of a more unfair and cruel thing than that. Of course the same happens to a lot of adults, but as adults you are more than aware of the way the world works and how many things occur without explanation but these children and animals have no idea about the world's cruelty until it is inflicted upon them. It's an experience they're not likely to ever forget, if they survive it.

I won't by any means consider myself an activist of any kind, mainly because I've never actively fought for any of these causes apart from internet petitions, but it is something I am incredibly passionate about (along with women's rights, but that's a whole other story for another time). I do hope to one day participate in bringing about positive changes in these sectors. Since starting my law degree last year, one of my favourite topics that I've come across is that of Human Rights and I've realized since then just how passionate I really am about it. I think just this topic alone has made me find my place in studying law, it's something I actually want to learn more about, it doesn't even feel like studying when I'm going over this topic.

Becoming a Human Rights Attorney is probably the most appealing job to me right now, despite the fact that the road to actually becoming one is far from smooth. Also, becoming a human rights attorney in Trinidad is probably, actually, it's quite pointless. We don't have the developments in that field quite yet, hopefully that changes in the future. Either way, my interests have definitely been captured by this subject matter and it has become so close to my heart that I feel it as if all of it were happening to me and I want to help and make a difference.

This year has put a lot of things into perspective for me, it's made me lay bare and put my trust in the unknown, something I have an incredibly hard time doing, and now I realize that you encounter everything when it's just right. Timing is everything. 

You know what really amazes me, and not in the good way? The fact that we claim to be a "modern" society, breaking free of all the restraints and embracing the new age...yet the abuse of basic human rights is still so blatant and happening right now. The war torn Middle East, the refugee crisis, Ferguson, #BlackLivesMatter, school shootings, FGM, inequality, homophobia, racism, facism (and so much more, way too many to list off the top of my head)...all of it is sickening, maddeningly sickening. It all makes me feel so helpless to be alive today and not be able to help in any small way. There is so much, SO MUCH more I can write about this but I don't think it's the right time, nor do I have the capacity to do so right now with so many other things on my mind. Eventually, it'll all come to pass.

At the end of the day I've realized that that's all I want, I want to have survived this life and say I helped, even if it's just one person. I need to be able to help at least one person come out of this better than they were. It's not something for self-praise or fame, it's about doing something for someone else, to make someone else's life better, to give them a chance they probably wouldn't have had before. I've realized that that's one of the few things that makes me genuinely happy and I will strive to do it for as many people as I can, for as long as I live.

xoxo, Shantilly.