Taking life head-on

My mother-in-law asked my husband to tear off my clothes and rape me. And he did.” – Geeta Tandon

Geeta Tandon is one of the most successful Bollywood stunt artistes. She has body-doubled for Kareena Kapoor in ‘Udtaa Punjab’ and ‘Singham Returns’, Deepika Padukone in ‘Chennai Express’, Malaika Arora for India’s Got Talent and many other names. Geeta has two children who are in their adolescent years, owns a cozy flat in Malad, Mumbai and has been on television shows like Khatron Ke Khiladi.

This is Geeta’s present, a life she made for herself and her children. But, this is not her entire story. In one of the most powerful original short films released on the internet, independent filmmaker Joyna M Sequeira brought out Geeta’s story on Culture Machine’s Blush YouTube channel in an inspiring video released early this week.

Having gotten married off at the age of fifteen, Geeta's life at her in-law's place was nothing short of hell. A mother-in-law that despised her, a drunken abuser for a husband who raped and tortured her and a whole lot of mute spectators – this was Geeta’s life in her teen years.

But, Geeta fought on and survived it all – marital rape, poverty, loneliness. She escaped and tried to fend for herself and her children. Speaking to The Hans India, Geeta shares the one thing that kept her going.

“Undoubtedly, it was my kids. It’s only because of them that I am able to do everything I’m doing today. I cannot see them deprived of anything, be it friends, food or anything. I want them to have stability,” she says.

For a poor and young single woman, one of the few means of employment available to her was prostitution in the garb of “massage parlours” or “full time help at a rich bloke’s house”. A survivour of sexual abuse, Geeta took a stand for her to not take the “easy” way out. Instead she cooked and cleaned until one fine day, she got to know about a vacancy for a stuntwoman's job.

“Carrying out stunts is not an easy job. It requires a lot of hard work and many rehearsals. I had no training for this. Being a fighter whole my life, I figured out that the only way to learn things is the hard way; there’s no easy way out,” says Geeta. “It’s because of this attitude only that today, I stand next to my Masterji when he teaches everyone,” she adds proudly.

Adding a note on owning a flat in one of costliest cities in the world, she says, “It was extremely important for me to buy the house, especially for my kids. People don’t respect those on rent much (in Mumbai). It took me about seven years to save money and buy this house. Rohit Sir (Rohit Shetty), who is like a God to me, helped me buy the house. Whatever I could save up, I did. He helped with the remaining amount.”

Geeta's story is inspiring because it’s not only about surviving marital rape and poverty, but mostly it’s about the fire inside her that gave her the strength to “choose” – she chose her self-respect over enduring abuse, an education and future for her children over abandoning them and most importantly, she chose to live in a way that’s an example for the whole world.

By Asra Ghouse