In a viral video of the new trend of making unique mehendi designs, a woman narrates the story of her failed marriage and eventual divorce, through mehendi to help herself gain a closure and say “finally divorced.”
The Instagram reel video posted by Urvashis Mehendi and Makeover has won the internet’s hearts. It depicts how the relationship with her former husband started with love and affection leading to marriage and tragically turned into domestic abuse.
The mehendi shows that she was forced to do household chores, and denied dignity and equality, depicted by a foot pressing down on her, while she is mopping the floor of the house. “Bahu ya naukar” meaning “Daughter-in-law or house help?” she puts her predicament.
She asks herself what was her mistake in thinking and accepting the house of the in-laws as her own, only to be abused by her former husband. The mehendi illustrates her confronting her abusive husband, where her in-laws do not stand by or support her.
The mehendi also shows the period in which she had to live with a broken heart, the phase of legal battle and finally getting the divorce orders from the court.
According to the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), 2019-2021, “29.3 per cent of married Indian women between the ages of 18 and 49 have experienced domestic/sexual violence; 3.1 per cent of pregnant women aged 18 to 49 have suffered physical violence during their pregnancy.
According to the same report, 87 per cent of married women who are victims of marital violence do not seek help in India.
The father of the Indian constitution, BR Ambedkar had said, “I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved,” citing the importance of the safety and well-being of the women in India, for the country to go forward in its nation-building.
Meanwhile, unique henna arts are gaining popularity lately, with other users also taking the help of henna to create ornate designs to express what they love.
In another video posted by another mehendi artist named Suchanda Banerjee, her client wanted her love for tea and dinosaurs as her mehendi design theme for her wedding, with the artist creating a “tea-rex” and making the entire design around it.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Parameswaran Valeri | 
