Oxfam India and Agents of Ishq have teamed up to produce a track titled ‘#SorryThankYouTataByeBye’ to discuss the government’s push to delay the age of marriage for women. While raising the minimum age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 seems like a progressive step on the outset, the track — which is produced as a part of the #EmpowermentNotAge campaign – advocates for a holistic approach focusing on better education, employment opportunities and agency, among a host of other factors that would equip women to make choices pertaining to their marriages, rather than a legislation mandating minimum age of marriage for women to be increased from 18 to 21 years.
The song has also been released in the backdrop of the United Nations’ 16 days of activism against gender-based violence that is held between November 25 to 10 December. In the six-minute-long video, we see women across different age groups questioning whether the discussions centered around increasing the age of marriage included opinions and suggestions from women.
Taking a jibe at popular politicians and media personalities, lines from the Hindi track highlight how TV debates, speeches, campaigns and discussions are never-ending but fail to factor in the choices made by women and ignore their opinions.
“Can we imagine a girl’s life in any terms other than marriage? Why do plans for women’s lives (whether your papa makes it or a policy-maker) always end at Shaadi (marriage)? Humse poocha? (Did you ask us?) Sing #SorryThankYouTataByeBye to the patriarchy and its boring plans and say Hi to a whole new world of dreams and possibilities for their lives! Oxfam India and Agents of Ishq bring you a new feminist video song to push for creating enabling environment for girls through better education, healthcare, and livelihoods than a reductive measure like increasing the age of marriage. #EmpowermentNotAge #16Days,” the YouTube description posted by Oxfam read.
Watch the video of ‘#SorryThankYouTataByeBye’ here:
The song is directed by filmmaker and writer Paromita Vohra who is the founder of Agents of Ishq. It has music by Rohit Sharma, while the lyrics are penned by Vidha Saumya.