Introducing Shiro Kumo

Transcript

In every story, there’s usually a protagonist and a setting. And a series of conflicts. Strong conflicts usually make good stories. But what about life?

I’m Adhita and I’ll be your host for the podcast. And this is Shiro Kumo, an anthology on everyday conflicts in people’s lives.

First season is titled “Systemic Oppression of Women”. The first episode “Institutionalised Sexism”. And will be out shortly in all your favourite platforms.

Now before you start rolling your eyes and thinking “Oh, just what we need. Another cis-het man talking about shit he has no business talking about.” This podcast is not an opinion piece but rather a platform for voices and individual experiences.

Let’s introduce the protagonists in the story. Our first protagonist is a Tamil girl who’s almost 25 years old. She has just started working as a Surgeon at a prestigious hospital with a well-renowned doctor and his team. Her boss didn’t want a “lady” doctor, because in his opinion women aren’t cut out for the demands of the discipline. And there you have the conflict. Our protagonist being a woman.

Now, let’s pan right and look at another protagonist. She’s a 28 year old mom of two boys. She’s a housewife and takes care of her kids and husband full-time. She quit her engineering job when she got married because her husband said he’ll get her a job at the same company he works at. And then her husband only wanted hand-washed clothes because they feel better against his skin. Her husband only wanted fresh meals because he had digestive issues. And there you go, another source of conflict.

Anywhoo, moving on. Now we look at an 18 year old fresh out of high school, first year engineering student. She’s just got off her college bus. She’s super excited to finally get to college, start a fresh new chapter in her life. She walks past the gate. And she feels a dozen eyes zone in on her. Half a dozen men staring at her, making her skin crawl inward. “Hey, you!” comes the call. She turns around and a man yells at her “Are you coming to the college to study or show off your body?”. And another source of conflict.

In the full episode, we’ll meet our protagonists delve deeper into their experiences and how they deal with the conflicts in their everyday lives.