Be Careful

Caution is central to a woman’s experience of life in India. It is prescribed, imbibed and practiced with rigour, so that women can be “safe.” Thoda Dhyaan Se (Be Careful) is a satirical piece that challenges this notion of safety. Rooted in a widespread anger against the everyday violence against women, the performance confronts the unfortunate conflation between the manner in which women dress and the atorocities committed against them — as if the former begets the latter. Stripping down a culture hiding behind its ignorant, prudish mores, Mallika Taneja exposes the contradictions at the heart of India’s stunted social progress.