You Should Have Taken My Name: Advocate Mala On Being Introduced By Husband's Name

As a journalist, one is given the important task of telling stories of the people, highlighting the issues of a society and its political structure, amongst other responsibilities.  In crucial to properly addresses an individual and use their designation. In a viral video on the internet, Advocate Mala teaches a journalist to refer to a person by their name and not their husband's. She politely asks a flustered journalist to correct himself.

While introducing Advocate Mala, a journalist quaintly introduces the woman sitting opposite him as the wife of a professor. Advocate Mala gave an unexpected reply which was followed by awkward and stammering mutters by the journalist.

She coolly says, "Aapko mera name lena chaiye tha (You should have taken my name)." Caught off-guard, the journalist points the microphone again towards her and she repeats herself, "naam lena chaiye na, jisse baat kar rahe hai (You should take the name of the person with whom you are talking."

Suggested Reading: Priyanka Chopra Lashes Out At A Media Report For Calling Her Nick Jonas’ Wife

Red-faced, the journalist said, "Maine naam bata du madam ka (I will let you know madam's name)," to which she promptly says, "Mala keh dijiye (you can say Mala)." To save his grace, which is hanging by a thread, he says, "Nahi, kafi saare logo ne aapko dekha nahi hoga (Not many people have seen you)."

She then said that if people have not seen her then the journalist must introduce her. She continues to say, "Baas yeh kehna ki woh ladki uski ma hai, kaafi nahi hota hai (Just to say that this girl is someone's mother is not enough). Uska naam bhi hai na kuch (She has a name too)." Then she warmly tells him that she is not angry with him.

After the journalist asks her about her whereabouts since she is not much in publicity, Advocate Mala said, "I am a journalist and an advocate. I have fought 600 cases and won each one of them, you may check at the library in Supreme Court. I do not like publicity. I am a journalist, so I know how things said are twisted."

It is a one minute and 27 seconds long video, which has introduced netizens to Advocate Mala. Uploaded by Mohsin Dar, who is a legal correspondent at Bar and Bench, the video has garnered more than 90,000 views and thousands of retweets.

This is not the first time that a journalist has referred to a woman using the name of the husband and their designation. If one is to go through headlines, most of the achievements by a woman are credited to the male member of their family and thus reducing their identity.

Even Priyanka Chopra in one of her Instagram posts had slammed news media for continuously referring to her as the wife of Nick Jonas. On social media, she asked these journalists to check out her IMDb profile and filmography.

To refer a woman by the name of her husband or any other family member is extremely demeaning as the woman has too worked hard to build a name for herself and is more than somebody's wife, sister, daughter, amongst others. This golden rule of using the name of the person while referring to a person needs to be followed by everyone. Moreover, the media which is the fourth pillar of democracy and a beacon of truth needs to start addressing the stereotypical ideas that exist within the system.

(Feature Image Credit: Mohsin Dar)