15 Years Of Jab We Met: Geet's Chase To Her Dream Life Should Encourage Every Women

“Main apni favourite hoon!” this dialogue from the film Jab We Met, starring Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan in lead, gave me goals of self-love. Geet's free spirit and happy-go-lucky nature stayed with me for a long time as an inspiration to be self-sufficient.

Today when the film (released in 2007) is celebrating its 15^th anniversary, the dialogue still resounds with every woman who wants to live on her own terms. The goofy, enthusiastic and determined Geet is a prototype of women who want to follow their dreams no matter how many obstacles come their way.

Catching a train while it is already on the move, befriending and cheering up an unknown man, eloping from her own wedding, loving her own company, and deciding whom she wants to marry, Geet is a woman who does what she thinks is best for her. She never gives in to the strict rules of her family where women are supposed to behave and dress in a particular manner. Geet has her own style and her own definition of life that doesn’t conform to any rules set up by society. But does Geet’s enthusiasm find a way out from the screens to the real world? Does Geet’s determination encourage women in our society to follow their dreams? Does Geet’s self-love help women to accept themselves the way they are?

It is undeniable that in our society women are not allowed to follow their dreams. They are enclosed within social norms that decide how their life is supposed to be. Women are refrained from having dreams and ambitions; they are criticised for how they look and are restricted from speaking their minds. The constant criticism of society forces women to look at themselves from society’s perspective and undermine their capabilities.

We live in a society where every second woman is shamed for her looks and behaviour. Women are not allowed to seek an education because of the pressure of &t=6s">marriage, male-child preference, and housework and this is why female literacy rate is less than the average literacy rate of the world. The workforce participation of women is one of the lowest on the global level. As far as safety is concerned, 86 cases of rape are lodged every day in our country. 96.5 per cent of rape cases are committed by men who are known to women. These situations make it difficult for a woman in our society to freely live on her own terms.

But on the 15^th anniversary of Geet becoming our favourite character, shouldn’t we try and rewrite the discourse around womanhood in our society? Shouldn’t we seek inspiration from Geet’s character and try to turn the fictitious freedom of women into reality? Shouldn’t we keep Geet’s determination to live on her own terms alive by giving women in our society the freedom to do the same? Shouldn't we keep encouraging women to chase the train to their dreamlife? Shouldn’t we again let our favourite character’s goofiness rule our hearts?

Let us not just watch the characters on the screen but also seek inspiration from them to grow in real life. If we really love a character, we should imbibe values from them that will help us rebuild our personality. The purpose of depicting different characters on screen is to show the diversity among humans and find the difference between right and wrong. So let us make good characters our idols and bad characters our lessons for life. To be precise, let every Geet chase and board the train to her dreamland and don’t let any Anshuman or Dadaji put a pause on their journey.

Views expressed are the author's own.