Menstrual movie magic: Chayilyam

On 26th May, I watched a movie on menstruation , Chayilyam in Malayalam, on Google meet with 52 people. This was organized by an NGO named Safe Active Periods.
It was such a well made movie
As some one commented it depicts strong bonds that make a family in a village special. The determination of the main characters, a recently widowed woman, and her father in law to not buckle under society pressure is inspiring. The movie theme is early menopause,  mental disorder and how religion tries to abuse mental problems
The spotlight also falls on the scary patriarchy that tries to force the mentally afflicted women with a divine status and use her for their own rituals. But the woman and her father in law insist that she is normal. Even the girls parents, who had ostracized her after her marriage, and neglected her following the loss of her husband, are ready to worship her as a Devi, when she is mentally afflicted and feels uncontrollably angry. So the father inlaw coaxes her to go along with the charade till she gets her period, which would convince people around her that she is a woman and not a goddess.

As he is a doctor of traditional medicine, he medicates her to so that her premature menopause is reversed and she gets her periods again. But the end comes abruptly, with the woman destroying all evidence of her period and leaving the village, which was tormenting her in many ways.

Continuous learning: A logical step to magical experience

I wanted to identify the values that mattered to me and that should be the basis of the society that I am trying to form.

I looked into the values of other organizations and felt that they did not resonate with me. For instance: Trust

Sure, I am trustworthy and yet I trust no one. I probably never will. Like in superficial, conversational stuff I trust people and take them at face value. For instance, someone tells me he has planted thousands of trees on all sides of a mountain, I think that he is a little boastful, but not that he is lying. Yet, I would not trust him on important matters.

I would trust no one beyond a certain level, and I don't expect anyone to be trustworthy.

I say this with calm and confidence because not trusting others has not stopped me from trying anything.

In my opinion, human behaviour is capricious, and it is our duty to navigate through all kinds of situations and people. Anyone can break your trust, could be because he is schmuck, is depressed, is sick, has changed, is being blackmailed, is cowardly, or is a fraud. Doesn't matter. I can still find my way around life doing what I want to a large extent.

Anyway, my previous post is about community engagement.  I learnt this value from my observation of the work done in Khamir and Shrujan,  them being organizations which have understood the needs and capabilities of tribal communities by engaging with them over a period of several years. The first value on which my society should function would therefore be/ Community Engagement

Another great experience came my way when I applied for a fellowship with Orikalankini The sharing of learning materials such as articles, speeches and conversations on social issues has made me understand the second important value that would make my society very effective: Continuous Learning