It has been awhile since the show “Tu Sooraj Main Sanjh Piyaji” has been released for viewers to see. After the ending of one of Star Plus’s beloved shows, “Diya Aur Bati Hum”, the premise of this show seemed exciting. Watching the legacy of Suraj and Sandhya live on through their three children was making fans excited.
But… what is this show really about?
We see the show though the eyes of Kanak Rathi, who has been placed into a forced marriage with Uma Shankar. Realistically, this calls for Kanak to immediately escape and want the law to protect her. India is a democracy after all and everyone is equal under the law. Or so it’s meant to be.
Over a period of time we see ridiculous after ridiculous trials of “religion being above all”: branding wrists once you’re married, having to drink the water of someone else’s feet, a woman needing to follow various trials to prove that she is a good wife, and recently, women being shown that they should only be kept under control and can’t be trusted. Oh, and there’s also Uma Shankar relentlessly telling Kanak and audiences that no one can come between him and his religion.
One might ask: what sort of religious sect of Hinduism is Uma Shankar following? It seems that Uma Shankar only follows the his own misogynistic view of women that he’s created all on his own. But, many epics such as the Ramayan and Mahabharat have shown that many fierce female characters have an important role in the progression of society. Women who have done so much in their mortal lives that it is said reciting the names of the Panchakanya can relieve one of their past sins.
It is no secret that these women: whether they were fierce fighters, rulers, housewives, or queens, had immense pride. Pride for oneself and their determination: whether it was Draupadi constantly living through the misogynistic views up to where she was gambled off, Sita who was determined to be a good mother and always follow the path of being a good wife due to her immense love for Ram; all of these women, some of them devis, are remarkable and their sheer character breaks beyond the labels society has for women.
We hear Uma Shankar constantly utter ridiculous things: “this is against dharam”, “you must be punished”, “you must prove yourself” and this only goes towards women. Kanak is relentlessly tested as a wife and bahu, much more than any other modern woman would tolerate. Again and again she is fed with the fear of religion and these strict, concrete rules that she must follow.
Since when is God someone to have fear of? Uma Shankar likes to think that God is out to get us and he will not be happy if we do something so we must be punished. Quite odd. Gods are nothing to fear of. Whatever you get, you deserve. Shouldn’t we instead offer gratitude, devotion, and love to God? Do we think God is some human that holds grudges? What about if God even exists (taking into account and respect for other views)? Shouldn’t we make sure to be obeying citizens of society? Did Krishna not say that one must follow the rules of the society that they are in? So what rules is Uma Shankar following? Certainly not society’s rules. This would lead us to think he is following the rules of the shastras that he LOVES to quote.
I think we can all agree that some texts are a bit conservative. But various sects of Hinduism that have existed since the time of the vedas have given more importance to women and other sects have given more importance to men. It is completely ridiculous because saying “shastras” can literally mean any set of texts from Hindu writings INCLUDING Hindu communities that don’t believe in the caste system or the worship of murtis. What about the community in South where Devi Parvati herself manifested as Devi Meenaskshi, a Devi who ruled over the lands INDEPENDENTLY. What shastras is Uma Shankar following? Well this can lead us to believe that he follows Brahamachari Ji. But… where does it say to insult the mother that has brought up and given birth to you? In fact some women don’t prostrate themselves out in front of god because their womb should not touch the ground. That’s the importance given to women.
The writers of this show clearly know nothing of the shastras because (1) under the vedas (assuming that Uma has supposedly studied under the vedas) Uma has married Kanak in the “rakshasi form” by going against her will and no god respects that method of marriage and (2) women have actually had important roles in the construct of many Vedic sections and more epics.
So… what is the problem?
The problem is that Uma’s character buildup isn’t reliable. This show would make a lot more sense if Uma was just a conservative man who was misogynistic towards women. Why use religion to back that up? Also even if religion is being used… shouldn’t it be used CORRECTLY instead of things being uncited? Unfortunately there are some Hindu communities that greatly restricts women. Whether it is actually religion or culture, it is hard to say. But back to the shastras: t’s hard to believe texts these days as there have been theories that they were deliberately translated wrong at one time and that the texts lost meaning overall with translation. How do we know if this is true or not?
I think Uma is much like some Brahmin Rishi who wouldn’t forgive their wife even if Gods themselves would advise or ask them to. But somehow Uma believes that every single thing he does is because God is telling him? That makes no sense.
Hopefully this show does a better job with explaining what religious texts or teachings Uma gets his thinking from, because so far these things seemed to have been grabbed from the sky.
14 Comments
I totally agree.The Vedas and Puranas never lowered the position of women.For example Lord Shiva gave half of his body to Devi Parvati. I support you
Totally agreed that’s why I stopped watching this show kanak is more at fault then Uma how is tolerating all these nonsense
Uma Shankar is following religion to create extremism…Extremism in name of religion is a real problem…Be it Talibans,Khalsa,Gujarat riots and many more…….His maasisaa is a crooked person….For her own selfish motives and to get the entire property of Toshiwals for security of herself and her son Aditya,She did not let Maasa get cured..Since childhood,She poisoned Uma’s mind nd made him do unscrupulous activities….Children are sensitive and vulnerable in many aspects..Uma had d responsibilty of his entire family on himself..He believed what he saw and is living in illusion under all aspects..Uma might not b a bad person by heart but such people unless they realise d root cause of der vulnerabilty and come out of der shell of illusion are dangerous 2 der loved ones..All his life,Uma has discriminated against women but d sad part is he himself has no realization abt it….
Diya aur bati hum was a different story where d fight was against conservative thoughts of Bhabho and entire society….Bhabho and Sandhaya hd a number of clashes but d good part there was that Sooraj was a much flexible character and always had d qualty of adaptabilty of things….TSMSP is a different story…Here Kanak s fighting against no of bad elements as well as she has 2 break d illusion of Uma…..Story s very different and this story has its own depth…It s just not abt religion but abt extemist behavior of people in name of religion…
Sorry its not Khalsa but khalistan
Shows like this , give bad impression about Religion. Umashankar dresses like gigolo. It would have been better, to show the bhabho and kanak’s relationship. How Kanak’s manages the sweet shop and reestablishes the name and fame of his father. Story is going totally on wrong track. Very boring. Even if umashankar reforms, it is still not going to b interesting. He is an adult and should have his own independent thinking. Total boring and senseless
Excellent analysis. Well researched and very informative, especially not having detailed knowledge of the Hindu religion. It all comes back to the eccentric, deluded and insecure character of Uma Shankar who is afraid of any thing new and retreats to the safety of his limited world.
Excellent analysis. I seriously wonder in which shastra or dharam Uma can get rid of his wife by giving divorce.
Directors Have lost sense. Portrayal of woman is either as dripping Evil or forever crying. Or forever proving themselves as innocent without losing patience.
Dis Uma is d only reason ppl hv stopped watching dis show ?
Yes I agree.. but I think we need to wait for some more time for Uma to understand the actual Dharam.. hes been blindly following what ever was thought to him.. and now Kanak is trying to change his views.. and that’s the main essence of the show.. and though it’s a fiction, there are people who are extremists like Uma.. so I feel this serial carries a good social message.. the serial has never portrayed that he’s correct.. hes been doing wrong and Kanak has been opposing him.. its just the matter of time which we need to give to see a completely new Uma following actual Dharam?
Amazing! Though i dnt really watch the show i do know whats the basic ongoing right now…but ur review said exactly what was in my mind…Not only this show..even other shows ..the concept underlying the show ( shown in promos to attract attention) is ultimately contradicted by the show itself just to keep the serial going on and on..losing its essence
This was by mistake typed as reply to u
But why does the girl need to stay with abusive people and take I’ll treatment to try to change them. Why such behavior from a woman is being shown ideal and quality of good Indian wife. That is my biggest problem with this show. Why show a person like Uma Shankar to be the hero of a story rather than a villain?
This is after all a TV serial and it is fictional story like all TV serial. Uma must have been a religious boy at a young age hence this Maisisa took advantage of this and thoroughly brainwashed him to believe in Dharam (Adharam at times ) the way she wanted him to at that young age when there is no father and the mother is bedridden due to Maisisa evil plans Hence it is no fault of Umas Bholenath had repeatedly brought Kanak and Uma together which he took as a sign as that she was the chosen girl for him .Kanak has also said there must be a reason why Shivji sent her to Ladhnu regardless of their background and upbringings She is modern and educated ,though Uma is also educated but from a conservative family & strict rules enforced by Masisa It’s like a child who has to adapt to his adopted or foster parents He doesn’t know what Masisas intentions were so it’s like unconditional love which he doesn’t know Don’t think he even knows what love or loving is as he has only one way of thinking that is Maisisa way . Kanak on the other side never was loved by Bhabho either was always kept at arms length She would have been married off by Bhabho & sent to London,but Shivji had different intentions.Kanak did try to remove the blindfold off Umas eyes for a brief time then that BB guy appeared .Kanak has figured out the situation now in Thoshniwal family & trying to stop this evil plan of Masisa There is another nicer side in Uma which hopefully we will see till the battery runs out of power in Uma Robot created by Maisisa Show is different keeps you guessing what’s going to happen next You can still be a religious person and live a normal life but this is a TV serial so has to spice it up a bit ?
Amazing! Though i dnt really watch the show i do know whats the basic ongoing right now…but ur review said exactly what was in my mind…Not only this show..even other shows ..the concept underlying the show ( shown in promos to attract attention) is ultimately contradicted by the show itself just to keep the serial going on and on..losing its essence