Keeping mum

Calling out patriarchy in the Indian society, a new series of ads has put the focus on a segment of society that doesn’t always get thier due: mothers. In the ads, cricketing stars such as Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane wear jerseys with their mothers’ names on the back.

In the ad featuring Dhoni, a reporter asks him why he has his mother, Devki’s name on his jersey. Dhoni questions him back, saying up until now, no one has ever asked him why he wears his father’s name on the jersey. The ad aims to show how we’re accustomed to forgetting mothers while crediting success or recognising a star.

Virat, too, has his mother’s name, Saroj, on his jersey. He says that whatever he is today is also because of his mother.  “I am as much Saroj as I am Kohli,” he says in the ad, while Rahane adds that during his childhood, his mother, Sujata, helped him carry his cricketing kit.

Cricketer Pragyan Ojha says, “I really don’t know how, having one’s mother’s name on the jersey is going to sound in reality. I think it’s up to an individual. Personally, I am what I am today because of my parents. My mother is a housewife but she has been working as hard as my father. The stereotype has to change and women must be appreciated for what they do.”

Former cricketer V.V.S. Laxman adds, “I think we don’t need an ad to bring about a change because mothers have always been important and they will always be. Personally, too, I have at all times used both my parents’ names.”

The upcoming movie Gautamiputra Satakarni is also taking the legacy forward. In the movie, Gautamiputra means ‘son of Gautami’. The director of the movie, Krish Jagarlamudi, says, “In a patriarchal society, he was the first king who used his mother’s name. So, the entire team behind the movie, including Balakrishna, Hema Malini and Shriya Saran, are also using their mother’s name in the credits and on the posters. I think it’s a welcome change because a man can be greater than his father, but never greater than his mother.”

Educational institutions now use a students’ mother’s name on their graduation certificate. Vandana, of Badruka College in Hyderabad, says that at her college, too, the norm is followed. “It’s time that mothers are acknowledged. My kids are proud of my achievements and I feel happy about it,” she says.

Sociologist Shiv Visvanathan, however, says that wearing a T-shirt is not going to help. “Wearing a T-shirt is one thing, and actually bringing about a change another. One shouldn’t get too facetious about it,” he says.