With episode two of Shameless Proposals, we see the subject of harassment being tackled.
Appropriately titled ‘Tharki‘, we get insights into the mind of ‘desperate desi male with a fragile ego‘. This time around, the rishta-seeking guy doesn’t bring his parents with him, and we are interested in seeing how that plays out.
Tharki-ness is No Joke
It is no secret that many Pakistani women have you been at the receiving end of this ‘Tharak‘ (lewd behavior). Many women are subjected to eyeballing, inappropriate selfies, stalking (not just the online kind), and even straight-up groping.
This kind of pest is present no matter where you go. You can find them on the streets, in the workplace, or even at home, when some potential rishta-seekers turn out to be nothing more than lewd individuals.
A Tharki out to get a Rishta, is basically him shamelessly hitting on all women in sight married or single.
Unfortunately for all conscientious souls out there, these low-lives can’t exhibit or learn basic human decency. Call it a personality defect or a matter of upbringing, some folks do not care how inappropriate their conduct can be.
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Like this guy pointed out a Tharki‘s insecurities and this desperate attempt for attention is to protect their fragile egos (yes, that need for women’s attention comes from lack of parents’ love)
“tharki ko kabhi jawab mat daina, hamara boht bara hota……foran hurt ho jatay, chotay se dil k hotay.”
The way parents often silence their daughters on the issue of harassment is a bitter subject. Sadia Jabbar’s direction focuses on it with a tinge of humor.
In the episode, we see how the father tells his daughter that ‘we can’t do anything,’ a step that is lauded by the Tharki. It’s this attitude that ends up promoting rampant harassment, even if the parents of the girl don’t realize it.
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The Cure to This Cancer?
Most women are deterred from putting these pests in their place. Perhaps parents ask them not to, or just society in general.
Shameless Proposal’s protagonist ‘Mashriqi‘ teaches us to deal with this bug the right way – just squash it.
She really gives him a piece of her mind (talk about tharki kryptonite).
The girl took care of the issue in her own way despite her family condoning Tharki behavior as ‘boys will be boys.’
There was even a point when the mother suggests that harassment will subside after marriage and that Mashriqi can fix the Tharki.
Social Stalking
Harassment is not limited to our real lives, but also our virtual lives on the internet. Many folks tend to restrict women from voicing their views online because of this underlying concern.
Rather than prohibit women from adopting technology and a presence on social media, we just need to teach them about cybersecurity and laws. Yes, even unsolicited messages are harassment and there are laws against it.
The web episode captures this dilemma all too well. When the daughter is asked to introduce herself, the Tharki confesses to knowing everything about her courtesy social media. He then goes on to blame women for his behavior.
That’s when Mashriqi points out his flawed logic. The idea of restricting women’s freedom of movement is not the solution to any issue.
The way we treat people is a reflection of our character. So when you reduce women to physical objects, how do you think that reflects?
Dadi’s Performance Steals the Day
The character of Dadi definitely stole the show with her dialogues and the stereotype of ‘women love attention, all kinds of it’.
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The dialogue delivery of the Tharki was too localized and at times the street lingo was difficult to understand. However, since we all know the Tharki routine, we got the general idea of what direction Shameless Proposals was taking here.
The writing by Saji Gul and Atlas encourages women to speak up, no matter what your parents think. We often don’t, fearing that they won’t come around.
You can watch the whole thing here:
