Why Heeramandi Matters (Spoilers Alert!)

Like many of you, I tend to get embroiled into the hype of a new Netflix release. Although, I must admit I was not prepared for what Heeramandi had in store. In all honesty, I was bored and needed some dopamine. Yet, having completed the series in a record 9 hours, I found myself feeling rather confused. The themes presented in the plot are, dare I say, still relevant today. 

Heeramandi also known as The Dimond Bazaar, is a story of the lives of courtesans in the red-light district of Heeramandi Lahore, during the struggle of independence against the British Raj.

The Generational Gap: 

In the opening episode, we see the brief confrontation between Tajdar and his father on whether the Indians could rule without the British.While Tajdar is adamant that they can in fact rule without, his father, like most of the elder generation strongly disagrees. This reminded me of present day University Students who are protesting for Palestine, or the infamous Brexit, in which most elderly people voted to leave, a stark contrast to the young who voted to remain. This reoccurring battle between generations seems to span from the beginning of time. 😐

Sexual exploitation and prejudice:

While the courtesans in this story were adamant that they had freedom and did what they did out of freedom of choice, I find it somewhat disagreeable since all of them were either born or bought into the life. I would say this aligns directly with Weinstein and the entertainment industry as a whole. Courtesans were entertainers of their time who were often abused similarly to our modern day actresses, models and the likes. Many of whom have come out either openly or anonymously to express how brutal the industry is in regard to sexual exploitation from powerful men.

On another note, I was extremely disappointed with the scene where Zorawar says that Lajjo should be “grateful” that he allowed her into his bed. There seems to be a running theme in history where women are shamed for being sex workers, yet the men who participate are somehow not shamed. Why the double standard? Yes, it’s cliche but after all it does take two to tango. In my opinion, if we are gong to shame then we must shame both parties, because surely the man purchasing a service is just as guilty as the woman providing the service. Remember a service is only available if there is a demand and there clearly was a demand. In fact, it can be argued that the demand is still present. I mean why is ‘Magic Mike’ much more glamorised than ‘Pretty Woman’? Fact: women still statistically get paid lower than men. So have we really evolved with the whole gender discrimination issue?

Revolution & Fighting for independent and revolution

Palestine: Enough said. 🤐 The British appear to not have great exit strategies for their former colonies. 😅

I find myself asking, has society really evolved as much as we had thought? Do you think we just delude ourselves into thinking it has? Having a black president didn’t change George Floyd’s fate. News flash: Racism still exists.

As you know, sadly Tajdar dies fighting against the British Raj. This lead me to question how many real life faces have died for a cause that we benefit from today. I have been inspired by this series to research into those who have died fighting for a cause throughout history.

Everyone has a story and a struggle. They deserve to be known and remembered. Thus, I call this the hidden lives series. So tune in to uncover a hidden face of history.