Emancipating "Hijras"

The term “hijra” is very widely used term in Hindi (and a few other languages). But when it comes to finding an equivalent term in English, it is a tad bit more complex. Terms like transgender, transexual and asexual all refer to a set of people with a non-specific sexual identity but are not exactly equivalents of “hijra”. A simpler way of defining them would be to say that they are a set of people who do not fit into either of the two genders that are officially accepted in most countries, male and female. 

People with Klinefelter’s Syndrome (XXY sex chromosome) or Turner’s Syndrome (X0 sex chromosomes) fall into the category who due to chromosomal mutations in the fetal stage  are born with a genetic defect which affects their reproductive systems, rendering them sexless and hence, infertile.

What is important to know is the widespread ignorance about this category of people and the derogatory use of the term to signify the class of people belonging to the category. Often have I come across a group of “hijras” being invited to dance on the birth of a newborn in a house and provide them with blessings for which they get paid a meager amount. Also, a group of them roaming about inside train compartments and buses asking people for alms is another very common sight. 

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Overuse of the Macguffin plot device in HIMYM

What exactly is the Macguffin plot device?

It is a plot vehicle adopted by several writers to advance or propel a story forward, a fulcrum in certain cases but which is of secondary importance to the developments in the main story. The use of this plot device was mainly popularized by the famous filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, who used it in multiple creations of his. This device is mostly used in thrillers, detective fiction and suspense stories where the Macguffin is revealed at a critical moment. The same device has been used in several TV seriates where usually the Macguffins are restricted to one episode or to one season. But there are shows like HIMYM who use the Macguffin for the entire set of seasons as a single thread.

How does the TV series How I Met Your Mother overuse this plot device?

The entire set up of the show is based on Ted Moseby searching for his perfect soul mate, the mother of his two kids to whom he is shown to be telling stories in every single episode about how he met their mother. The show is a sitcom and is amongst the very few in the genre which use the Macguffin plot device for the entire stretch of its origin, from the very first episode to almost the last.

The show has reached it’s ninth (and hopefully final) season and it is only in the final episode of the eighth season that the eagerly waiting audience and perhaps the very bored Moseby kids get to actually know about their real mother after hearing hundreds of tales about Ted and his awesome friends. The thrill of waiting to know how Ted meets his soul mate has slowly faded with time as viewers slowly have started to get frustrated by hopelessly waiting for the mystery woman to be unveiled.

 

Continued here....

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On a different note, Subho Mohalaya to all our readers, it is pujo time again!!

Till next,