India is a magnificently large and diverse country with people from all kinds of religions, social classes and castes calling it home. But with all of this diversity also comes a problem — discrimination. There is no doubt that we treat people who are unlike us or less fortunate than us very differently.
But somehow people still seem to believe that either discrimination in India is a thing of the past or that it only happens in rural India. Deep down, though, we know these things are not true. We see different kinds of discrimination in our everyday life and knowingly or unknowingly even take part in it. Like the fact that people have different standards of beauty for darker skinned people. Or that landlords will not rent out their apartments to unmarried couples. Or just the way that the LGBTQ+ community is treated in everyday life. These little manners of discrimination pile up and create even more barriers and divides in our country.
To challenge this thinking, &pictures has started a movement called #BurnTheBhedBhaav — showing everyone how we should be more accepting and loving to others.
The thought behind it is to urge people to be more inclusive, to imbibe the spirit of our constitution and stand against discrimination in all forms. As a part of this movement, they have curated a series of videos to show us the little ways we are a part of discrimination. And all of these videos really hit home.
It makes us ask questions like, have we ever kept separate utensils for our household help?
Or judged someone for being a part of an inter-religious marriage?
Or haven’t let our caretakers’ children mingle with our own?
Answering these questions bring us face to face with some hard truths. But the kind of little gestures shown in these videos do go a long way in making the world around us a better, more loving place. Share your own stories with the hashtag #BurnTheBhedBhaav.
The movement is also about celebrating the World Television Premiere of Article 15 on &pictures.
Released earlier this year, Article 15 garnered rave reviews for its gritty story telling, fantastic acting and courageous portrayal of the way caste discrimination is prevalent in the country today. Ayushmann Khurana plays Ayan Ranjan, a cop who is investigating the murder of two ‘lower caste’ girls in a village with a very strict caste divide.
This movie’s portrayal of the kind of discrimination some of our citizens face every day shows us exactly why we need to #BurnTheBhedBhaav. So don’t forget to tune into the World Television Premiere of Article 15 on the 19th of October, Saturday, at 8 pm only on &pictures.
