DAUGHTER OF THE SKIES
-Wait, let me get some change. -Hurry up, Dad.
HONOR KILLING: FATHER ARRESTED FOR POISONING HIS DAUGHTER
-Has the magazine arrived yet? -Yes.
Anything else?
-I'm late. -Yes, I'm coming.
Keep this.
Listen, we need to leave at 3:00.
-Will you be back by then? -Yes.
An hour's journey, and one hour there. We can't be late.
-I'll be back. -Go. You want this too?
-No, I'm fine. -Keep it. Get going.
Hey, Bharath.
Your phone.
-Make sure you're home by 3:00. -Sure.
Ponnuthaayi, Vaidehi…
Wake up, girls.
I have let you both sleep for ten minutes longer today.
Two more minutes.
Vaidehi, you didn't finish your homework yesterday.
Take a bath and finish your homework.
Don't later tell me the teacher shouted at you because you didn't finish it.
Ponnuthaayi, in the meantime,
why don’t you get up, stretch and be all doll like?
-Mathi! -Yeah?
When are you going to shave your beard, Satya?
What did the beard ever do to you, Mathi?
It’s pokey pokey. I'm not used to it. That's why I'm asking you to shave.
And not just that, you are just 47 years old.
The white beard makes you look 50.
So, that too.
Just 50? That's okay.
I thought it looked good.
-For whom? -For me, who else?
Every morning, I look in the mirror, think you'll like it,
-and put the shaving blade away. -Don't shave, Dad. It's nice.
It's different. Like a new dad.
No point in my saying anything now.
But I will say this, don't come near me.
Get to work, Satya!
Vaidehi, Ponnuthaayi.
Ponnuthaayi
I want my dawn So open your eyes, Ponnuthaayi
Ponnuthaayi
My life is your plaything It's in your hands, Ponnuthaayi
In spite of me saying it repeatedly, we didn't leave at 3:00.
He got back from college on time.
It's you ladies who were late. Very bad, girls.
We are only 15 minutes late.
Drive faster and we can get there on time and return before it's dark.
-A little faster. -It's wrong to drive faster than this.
That's why I insisted that we leave home at 3:00.
I insisted, too, but you didn't remove the plastic seat covers.
It's been six months since we bought the car.
Bharath, you'll buy a car someday, with your money.
Let's see how long you keep the plastic on for.
I'll take it off immediately. All the dust settles into the plastic.
That's not true. It's all neat and tidy.
Did you hear that?
It's your mother who wants to keep the plastic covers on, not me.
-Oh, my God! -Let it go!
Ponnuthaayi
Travel wide as your smile And shine in this world, Ponnuthaayi
Ponnuthaayi
Jingle your ankle And kindle my soul, Ponnuthaayi
-How long have you been married? -Twenty years today.
Congratulations. Bless you.
Mathi, your son says your paayasam is not good.
-He never said that. -Did you have to tell her?
Dad, shall we go to our spot?
Sure.
-Eat this and go. -Later, Mom.
I'll be back.
Come on.
Has Kalpana Chawla come here, Dad?
How could she have come here?
Why not?
I thought maybe this is where she decided she wanted to fly
and reach for the skies.
Just like me.
Maybe there was a similar place where she lived,
where her father would have…
Hop on, hop on. …picked her up and helped her fly.
Just like me!
Let's fly?
My little girl
Shall I break open the clouds Fashion a pair of wings
Just for you to fly?
Be careful, Satya!
Go on, my little girl
Take a peek at the Gods Ask them how they're doing
And come right back to me
-Hurry up, girls. -Coming.
What happened to you? Why do you look so glum?
-Nothing. -Come.
-Are you feeling unwell? -I'm fine.
Bye.
Teacher, Vaidehi.
What happened?
-Hello, Mathi? -Teacher?
Don't worry, Mathi. It's good news.
I called to inform you that Vaidehi has come of age.
I have taken care of it for now.
Don't worry.
I have just sent the girls back with another teacher.
Okay. Thank you very much.
-Mom, my stomach is hurting. -It's nothing, sweetheart.
Go, get your father's blessings.
God bless you, child.
Vaidehi, fall at my feet too.
I won't touch your feet.
It is not your birthday. What is the occasion?
-Come here. -Mom, bathe me also, please?
No more cozying up and cuddling. You are a big girl now.
-I will cuddle my Ponnuthaayi. -Satya, this is for you, too.
Vaidehi, no school for the next three days.
During your period, you need to sit in one place at home.
Don't keep hopping here and there, touching this and that.
Oh, man.
I cannot keep cleaning everything you touch. Come.
-Mom! -She is one strict officer.
Yes, of course.
Bharath, are you doing well?
PUBERTY CEREMONY OF S. VAIDEHI
Welcome.
-Hello. -Sit, Vaidehi.
You look so pretty, Vaidehi.
Mathi!
Is there anything left of what I gave, or has everything been spent?
I was so afraid of your sister's criticism,
that I spent it all.
She still felt that the venue could have been bigger
and the event grander.
She could have said it to me in private,
but she said it out loud for everyone to hear.
You didn't hear her? She will come to you next.
You asked if there's anything left?
I'm all that's left.
What do we do about that now?
Mom.
I want to sit in the same chair as Vaidehi.
I want to wear a saree, too.
I want everyone to shower me with blessings, too.
I'll do all that for you too.
I'll even drape the same saree on you, but when the time comes.
Only then. Do you get it?
Sleep now, little Ponnuthaayi.
Vaidehi…
you have to learn to be a woman from now on. Okay?
When you stand, sit, walk, talk,
and even while you sleep.
Your body is like your own temple.
It belongs only to you from now on.
Many will come yearning for this body.
They'll be desperate, deceivingly friendly,
and even fight amongst each other.
They'll turn into animals too.
But this body belongs only to you. Only you have rights over it.
So learn to respect your body.
Protect it.
Keep your body beautiful and pure.
-Mom! -Hey, hold on to her!
Drive!
Put her down.
Hold on to her!
Hold her down.
Guys, guys…
-Hold her down properly. -You guys…
Who the fuck have you brought here?
I asked for the older girl but you've brought the younger one.
Only this girl walked out.
-I thought-- -You thought?
You must have groped her while bringing her here.
Couldn't you tell it's the younger one?
The older one is the girl who has come of age.
Given a chance, you'd have brought her mother.
That would have been perfect actually.
Have you seen the mother?
She is a broad, a knockout!
If we had her…
we'd be the kings of the world.
Please try again later.
Shall we drop her back?
She is not her sister for sure,
but a lay is a lay.
Turn around.
Hold her down.
It's all right.
Somebody had called from your phone.
They said you are waiting downstairs
and asked for both the girls to be sent down.
That's when Kamala teacher asked Ponnuthaayi to leave.
I lost my phone.
I was late 'cause I was searching for it. Don't you understand?
If you lost your phone, you should've contacted one of us.
Didn't we discuss that they shouldn't walk home alone?
I know, Dad.
Those boys… Is this one of your friends playing a prank?
No, Dad.
For someone to steal my phone, make a call,
and ask Ponnuthaayi to come down…
Who would do that? Why would anyone do that?
Dad, I'm really scared now.
-Where is Ponnuthaayi? -Listen--
I'm sure it's your friends who have done something.
-They are not like you. -Okay…
I've told you so many times not to have anything to do with them.
Mathi, everyone's watching. Keep quiet.
Ponnuthaayi? Ponnuthaayi!
Ponnuthaayi, what happened?
What happened?
-You are hurt? What happened? -Where did you go?
Did you fall down? What happened?
-Let's take her home. -Come, let's go.
Let's go home.
Dear, I am your mirror
When you need to see yourself
All your laughs, all your laughs
Where did you lose them, my girl?
Dear, I am your mirror
When you line kohl in your eyes
All your tears, all your tears
How do I wipe them away?
To make you bloom again Watch you laugh again
I can't find my east, sweet girl
Watching you break down and cry I crumble and crash
I can't find my ground, sweet girl
Dear, I am your mirror
When you need to see yourself
All your laughs, all your laughs
Where did you lose them, my girl?
No water can wash away these tears
No fire can melt away these fears
All these wounds, all these wounds
How will I heal them, my girl?
Don't whisper your secret to the winds
Don't weep about your wounds
This world is a wicked one
It works in wily ways, my little girl
Change will come one day The pain will go away
Learn to forget, dearest child
I am inconsolable Can't find a way out
But I console you, dearest child
Mathi.
Let's file a complaint, Mathi.
-Mathi, we must go to the police. -No.
-We are not going to the police. -Mathi!
No. We are not going to the police.
We need to find out who it was. We must go to the police.
If anybody asks, don't say anything about what happened.
-You don't know anything. -Okay.
Understand?
Okay, let's go.
Come.
Come with me.
Sit.
Why?
Oh, my God!
Mathi!
He doesn't answer his phone and she's locked the door.
How come you're here unannounced, sister-in-law?
What is happening, Mathi? There are rumors all over town.
Was it Vaidehi or Ponnuthaayi? Who went missing?
What happened? Are you going to tell me or not?
Nothing at all. Instead of coming straight home from dance class,
she went and ate ice cream and fainted on her way home.
She was lying on the roadside, and nobody noticed.
She woke up and came home all by herself.
It was Ponnuthaayi.
Vaidehi had her period and did not go to class that day.
What are you saying? It's hardly believable.
Kamala teacher is saying something else, altogether.
I thought it was Vaidehi.
I heard some college friends of Bharath misbehaved with her.
That is what people are saying, too. Why would they say that?
-Isn't that what you said? -Yes, madam. The dance teacher said so.
I heard this and came rushing because I was worried.
-Where is she? I want to talk to her. -It was Ponnuthaayi, not Vaidehi.
She is inside and is unwell.
You don't need to talk to her now. Let her get some rest.
I will make coffee, if you want. Please have some and leave.
You need to file a complaint with the police.
That's the right thing to do.
It's okay if it's late. Such cases are usually reported late.
It's definitely someone we know.
We need to find that out. Let's go to the police.
They are worried it will tarnish our honor,
that everyone will get to know.
Hey, dude…
Don't cry, please.
Everyone's looking, man.
It's all right.
Poor Ponnuthaayi is just a child.
She is just 12 years old.
She knew nothing.
But now she knows everything, doesn't she?
Hey.
How does someone have the heart to do this to a girl?
I'm not saying it's okay to do this to a grown woman, that's wrong, too.
But this?
She's a child.
No police.
But whoever did this,
I'm going to find him and kill him with my bare hands.
Dad…
Go get some rest, child.
Go on, lie down.
Go.
Okay.
I'll go…
get changed and be upstairs.
It's been more than three weeks now. Let's send her to school tomorrow.
-Why aren't you talking to her? -That's not true.
No such thing.
Nothing like that.
I can't bring myself to look at her.
I'm unable to speak to her.
When I think of the things they might've done to her
and what happened to her…
The things she would have seen, felt, and experienced…
As a man, I can't bring myself to stand before her.
I feel naked.
Motherfucker!
Do you understand?
My 12-year-old daughter has become a woman now.
Because of this.
It is not her fault.
But I didn't protect her, and that is killing me from inside.
I'm not even able to cry.
Yes, we did not protect her. It's not her fault.
-But we've lost her. -Don't say that!
The boy is here.
Son, what happened?
Anbu and I suspected this guy.
He is our senior in college.
He lives around here.
You might know him too, Dad.
You'd have seen him riding his bike around.
I looked into his bag in class without his knowledge.
I found my phone there.
Hey.
-Does he have a problem with you? -What's his name?
Dhanesekhar.
His father owns the old theater.
I spoke to Ponnuthaayi now.
She said she heard the sound of a movie playing.
Let's go to the police, Dad.
I put my phone back into his bag.
-Let's not waste time. Let's go now. -No police. It's our honor at stake here.
Bharath.
Let's not send her to school tomorrow.
Let me go talk to him.
Look…
nothing will happen to you, my child.
No harm will come your way again.
Forget what happened, like it was a bad dream.
Okay, Ponnuthaayi?
I won't avoid talking to you from now.
-Who are you guys? -You wanna know who?
Bharath!
It wasn't me.
-Forgive me. -You expect me to forgive you?
They are lecherous.
Only a very few in this world behave like animals.
Not everyone.
You need to walk past them and keep going.
I'll hold your hand and take you forward.
Okay? Okay?
Can we erase what you did to her? Will she ever forget this? No way!
This guy needs to live. You don't get to die.
But you don't get to forget either.
You'll never forget that you stopped thinking with your penis
'cause of what you did to her.
You will fly high.
You will win over everyone.
Give me that!
-Hold him! -No!
-Please, forgive me. -Were you trying to show off?
-Hey, don't do it. -Cut it off, man.
Die, bastard!
Are you okay? My darling.
What's going on?
Always be like this, both of you.
Mathi, let's leave before it gets dark.
-Let's go. Watch your step. -Okay.
Ponnuthaayi.
-I'll bring her. -Okay, hurry up.
A family's honor, its pride and prestige…
are borne by the women at home.
In their bodies.
Between their legs.
In their breasts and faces, and their words.
It is ours alone to bear.
And we can never unburden ourselves, till the end of life.
It's our society and caste that decides what "honor" means to us.
"Honorable as the Kavarimaan breathing its last upon shedding a hair,"
the adage goes.
You were just unfortunate.
You were born to fly high in the sky, Ponnuthaayi.
You were destined to get on a rocket and hop from planet to planet.
Mom!
And because some beast violated you,
should I push my dearest off a cliff, in the name of honor?
If that is honor…
this society and their words…
and my wretched mind that considered it for a moment,
aren't worth shit.
What happened now might appear insurmountable as a mountain now.
Cry. Let it all out.
When you climb onto that rocket and fly into the horizon,
you won't be able to see or remember any of this.
Then, if someone asks me if I ever felt ashamed about you,
has my honor gone to the ground because of you,
I will declare proudly, "No, it's up there in the sky, in Mars."
Fly, Ponnuthaayi. Fly.