Finally, a woman can ask for divorce unapologetically yet in a dignified manner on TV! The scene in Neem was heavy on the heart yet Zimal’s words were calm & decisive. Divorce is never a preferred option but if asked for, after clear deliberation, it must be given.
Responsible Storyline
We appreciate the makers and cast of drama Neem for giving us a responsible storyline, one that showed a woman taking a decision she never really wanted to, but had to, if for no other reason than to maintain her own self-respect. Zimal’s character struggled through maintaining a positive relationship with husband Shazil after medical tests revealed she could never give birth to a child of her own. Her suggestions for adoption were cast aside by Shazil who wanted a biological child of his own.
Exploring All Options
Zimal then went on to arrange her husband’s second marriage to ensure he gets a chance to fulfill his need to father children of his own. But through all this, did Zimal seem to have lose herself respect along the way? She became practically invisible to the man she had loved, and despite thinking she could, having another woman in the house was overwhelming emotional pressure for her mental wellbeing. In attempting to set things right, and keep her marriage intact, had she perhaps, asked too much from herself?
Distance & Deliberation Before Impulsive Actions
Zimal’s decision to leave home and return to her village where she tended to the local inhabitants’ problems as well as her educational app for children helped clear her mind and allowed her to think more freely on what she really wanted out of life… to continue with the marriage or not? They say, absence makes the heart grow fonder but sometimes, it also allows us to see what we couldn’t see clearly when our judgement was clouded.
Zimal realised that going back to the life she had with the man who wasn’t there for her when she needed him most, in her darkest days, struggling with the truth of infertility, was not a future she needed now.
A Calm, Decisive Mind
The high point of her decision was that she managed to make it without any show of bitterness or resentment towards Shazil or the life he would lead now as a father – the father of a child with his second wife.
Not the Ending We’d Hoped For?
Zimal’s journey might feel heavy on the heart. We sometimes wish it could be the ending we wanted, where Shazil would have come around, not remarried, agreed to adopt a child and Zimal and him live happily ever after. But to show this route, where Zimal had to consciously break free from a bond that no longer existed; decisively, calmly, without any outward show of resentment, was perhaps, a message to many young people who might relate to similar circumstances in life and need sane guidance in how to proceed, that although divorce is not a preferred alternative, it is the right of every human being if things don’t go the way they had planned.
Neem showed the way in a responsible narrative, through Zimal’s character. We hope that the message sticks and is taken in the spirit that it has been sent out – divorce is an option, only when all else fails, when one feels that we are compromising on our self respect, or when we are not valued for who we are. Our worth does not lie in circumstances we cannot control, e.g. the ability to bear children or not, but in the life partner we can be for a lifetime ahead.
For all this, Neem has delivered a refreshingly simple, heartfelt message. Let’s take a moment to applaud that.
