00:00:58.913 --> 00:01:00.310
How is your asthma?

00:01:01.106 --> 00:01:02.473
The same.

00:01:03.635 --> 00:01:06.258
Changing weather makes it flare up.

00:01:11.421 --> 00:01:13.718
My sister-in-law is visiting from America.

00:01:13.995 --> 00:01:17.990
She's ill every time she's here.

00:01:18.675 --> 00:01:22.221
The weather in America is very different.

00:01:22.838 --> 00:01:25.353
There it's cold and here it's so hot.

00:01:27.073 --> 00:01:28.793
My name is Soniya Chaudhary.

00:01:29.193 --> 00:01:31.113
I live in Ghaziabad.

00:01:31.833 --> 00:01:36.353
I run a beauty salon from my home.

00:01:38.353 --> 00:01:45.393
In 2004, I was attacked by two people
who threw acid on me.

00:01:47.833 --> 00:01:49.736
Put your head back...

00:01:50.681 --> 00:01:53.145
And relax.
- OK.

00:01:54.205 --> 00:01:56.938
I went somewhere else,
while you were away,

00:01:57.101 --> 00:01:59.473
and I ended up with pimples all over.

00:01:59.633 --> 00:02:03.033
The one in the front... Neha.
- Neha or Navya?

00:02:03.221 --> 00:02:05.513
Navya, whatever her name is.

00:02:08.235 --> 00:02:11.635
Did you notice how fancy
she always dresses?

00:02:11.865 --> 00:02:13.793
Yes, I've noticed.

00:02:14.153 --> 00:02:17.473
The whole block is talking about her.

00:02:20.555 --> 00:02:21.955
You have lots of pimples.

00:02:22.113 --> 00:02:24.511
I told you.
She gave me some treatment.

00:02:24.671 --> 00:02:26.393
Oh! Is it because of that?
- Yes.

00:02:27.715 --> 00:02:29.995
It must have been some local brand.

00:02:30.153 --> 00:02:32.553
It's burning.
- Yes, it will burn a little.

00:02:32.753 --> 00:02:34.598
Just for 2 minutes.

00:02:38.433 --> 00:02:41.633
It was the 12th of May, 2004.

00:02:42.835 --> 00:02:45.315
All of a sudden two guys
approached on a bike.

00:02:45.473 --> 00:02:50.353
One of them had a muffler over his face,
the other was wearing a helmet.

00:02:51.275 --> 00:02:56.913
As they got nearer, I saw one was holding
a can, but that's not unusual.

00:02:57.273 --> 00:03:02.233
As they drove past me the contents of
the can flew into my face.

00:03:02.633 --> 00:03:06.433
I thought it was a prank and they had
thrown hot water over me.

00:03:07.046 --> 00:03:10.875
But then my skin started to really burn.

00:03:11.033 --> 00:03:15.633
I was in agony and started screaming.

00:03:15.796 --> 00:03:21.020
I was crying so loudly
that I almost lost my voice.

00:03:21.275 --> 00:03:25.195
My mum thought that maybe a child
had fallen and was hurt

00:03:25.356 --> 00:03:27.080
so she hurried through the crowd

00:03:27.696 --> 00:03:33.110
and when she saw me she became
completely hysterical.

00:03:35.033 --> 00:03:40.393
No one helped us, no one offered
to drive me to the hospital in their car.

00:03:48.346 --> 00:03:52.556
This sari looks very nice.
But are you sure it suits me?

00:03:53.006 --> 00:03:54.771
Of course it does.
You look wonderful.

00:03:56.513 --> 00:03:59.633
You know, the dress must be in
harmony with the hairstyle.

00:04:07.156 --> 00:04:09.485
Does curled hair
look good on me, sister?

00:04:09.708 --> 00:04:12.521
Yes, I will make the curls look natural,
don't worry.

00:04:25.593 --> 00:04:29.073
Are you sitting here?
Okay, study.

00:04:29.633 --> 00:04:31.953
I am going to cook.
You keep studying.

00:04:32.111 --> 00:04:33.673
Should I take this with me?

00:04:35.873 --> 00:04:37.473
Finish it fast.

00:05:13.633 --> 00:05:17.713
You know Arti says she won't get married.

00:05:18.323 --> 00:05:24.480
She plans to find a good job and
then adopt a daughter.

00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:27.555
Bharti, it's difficult to
lead a lonely life.

00:05:27.813 --> 00:05:29.256
You need to have a partner.

00:05:29.488 --> 00:05:32.190
Everyone in her family says it
won't be possible.

00:05:32.350 --> 00:05:34.673
Yes, after a certain age
you need a partner.

00:05:36.073 --> 00:05:40.273
How many girls in your family
are old enough to marry?

00:05:40.553 --> 00:05:42.113
First of all, her.
- Yes?

00:05:42.271 --> 00:05:43.073
No!

00:05:43.231 --> 00:05:46.313
Her father wants her
to get married soon.

00:05:46.471 --> 00:05:49.753
But she doesn't study and
only wants to go out.

00:05:50.675 --> 00:05:53.728
People don't like girls going
out on their own.

00:05:54.145 --> 00:05:56.988
As soon as they're old enough
they should get married.

00:05:57.150 --> 00:06:00.153
The best way to stop them is marriage.
- Yes, right.

00:06:02.395 --> 00:06:05.630
Is it the wedding season now?
- Yes, it's the season.

00:06:05.790 --> 00:06:08.611
Yesterday there were many weddings.
- Yes, there were.

00:06:08.833 --> 00:06:11.030
So many people!
Did you see the traffic?

00:06:11.191 --> 00:06:13.633
Stretching all the way to
Gate of the Colony.

00:06:13.793 --> 00:06:16.851
The problem is that the banquet
halls don't have parkings.

00:06:17.625 --> 00:06:21.023
Everyone parks on the streets.
- Exactly, that's the problem.

00:06:22.273 --> 00:06:23.113
Thank you.

00:06:23.913 --> 00:06:25.433
Thank you so much.

00:06:46.593 --> 00:06:48.210
Some time before the attack,

00:06:48.466 --> 00:06:51.351
one of my friends had her
birthday party in Delhi.

00:06:52.513 --> 00:06:58.673
It was my very first time going to Delhi
on my own to meet friends.

00:06:59.433 --> 00:07:01.391
I got delayed returning from Delhi

00:07:01.553 --> 00:07:03.658
and in those days,
I didn't have a mobile phone.

00:07:04.633 --> 00:07:07.978
When I got home my father was crying.

00:07:10.033 --> 00:07:13.873
I realised how important it
was to have a phone.

00:07:14.435 --> 00:07:19.575
One of our neighbours told me
he'd get me a mobile phone for a good price.

00:07:22.536 --> 00:07:27.071
One afternoon, a policeman called
to tell me

00:07:27.233 --> 00:07:29.853
the mobile phone I was using
was a stolen one.

00:07:30.015 --> 00:07:36.421
That made me so nervous.
I told him that I had bought it.

00:07:36.581 --> 00:07:39.630
So he asked me from which shop
I had bought the mobile phone.

00:07:39.790 --> 00:07:43.753
I told him I hadn't bought it from a
shop but from my neighbour.

00:07:45.355 --> 00:07:49.320
When I got back home from work,
I heard the police had taken him away.

00:07:50.393 --> 00:07:53.073
And we heard he was tortured at
the police station.

00:07:54.473 --> 00:07:59.513
The next day, when he was released,
he came to me instead of going home.

00:08:00.193 --> 00:08:03.753
He said he would have his revenge
and do something to really hurt us.

00:08:04.593 --> 00:08:07.793
But we had no idea that
I would be attacked with acid.

00:08:25.353 --> 00:08:26.953
Did you find a maid?
- Yes

00:08:27.313 --> 00:08:29.593
The one you talked about?

00:08:29.793 --> 00:08:31.913
Yes, I found one through Radha Kunj.

00:08:32.071 --> 00:08:35.513
That's good, you being busy all the time.
- Of course.

00:08:35.673 --> 00:08:36.951
Housework is not for me.

00:08:37.151 --> 00:08:39.143
Actually, I've never done housework.

00:08:39.356 --> 00:08:41.086
I've never worked in my house.

00:08:41.671 --> 00:08:44.553
Mom says that she is much
more active than me.

00:08:44.711 --> 00:08:46.353
You've never felt like it?

00:08:48.433 --> 00:08:50.713
Do you know Bhatan?
- Yes.

00:08:51.148 --> 00:08:54.193
She goes out a lot and
doesn't like studying.

00:08:54.713 --> 00:08:57.313
Her father said:

00:08:57.875 --> 00:09:00.113
"What can we do to make you stay at home?"

00:09:00.273 --> 00:09:02.528
"The only way is marriage", he says,

00:09:02.691 --> 00:09:04.981
but she has only just passed 12th class.

00:09:06.275 --> 00:09:08.623
So what does she want to do in life?

00:09:10.673 --> 00:09:12.473
She says she doesn't want to study.

00:09:12.673 --> 00:09:17.233
I get very angry when girls say
they don't want to study.

00:09:19.353 --> 00:09:21.473
It is a big problem.

00:09:21.915 --> 00:09:28.410
There is a lady at Ruby's who has
a bad relationship with her husband.

00:09:28.953 --> 00:09:32.713
The poor woman stays with her husband
even if he beats her up.

00:09:32.873 --> 00:09:39.691
She came by recently and I asked her
why she doesn't leave him?

00:09:40.285 --> 00:09:44.093
She said she has no qualifications
and wouldn't find a job.

00:09:44.431 --> 00:09:47.833
So she knows she will have to
spend her whole life with him.

00:09:51.153 --> 00:09:56.553
We keep saying that there is change but
actually there hasn't been any change.

00:09:57.073 --> 00:09:59.953
Change will not come
only by talking about it.

00:10:01.890 --> 00:10:05.806
Our country is a male-dominated one.

00:10:06.823 --> 00:10:10.683
Men are given priority for everything.

00:10:11.106 --> 00:10:13.990
Women always come in second place.

00:10:14.783 --> 00:10:17.790
That is how it goes, even today.

00:10:18.243 --> 00:10:20.030
I see it at every level.

00:10:20.453 --> 00:10:25.713
Even if a woman manages to get ahead,
she will still be suppressed.

00:10:27.823 --> 00:10:29.866
Men and women are equal.

00:10:30.205 --> 00:10:32.910
Lord Shiva is half man, half woman.

00:10:33.070 --> 00:10:39.113
Today, people say it means women
will always be at their feet.

00:10:40.138 --> 00:10:42.833
It's still in people's mentality.

00:11:25.635 --> 00:11:29.191
We are having a very important
personality in our midst

00:11:29.578 --> 00:11:31.751
and you should give her full opportunity

00:11:32.136 --> 00:11:34.308
and you should listen to her properly.

00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:42.511
Hello, my name is Soniya Choudhary,
like they just said.

00:11:42.873 --> 00:11:46.313
You're probably asking
yourself why I am here?

00:11:46.833 --> 00:11:51.473
I was attacked in 2004,
twelve years ago.

00:11:52.833 --> 00:11:55.433
Many people talked about me at the time.

00:11:55.595 --> 00:11:58.505
"She looks really awful."

00:11:59.071 --> 00:12:02.073
"She's worthless, she's useless."

00:12:02.233 --> 00:12:05.373
They even talked about
getting me killed at the time.

00:12:06.393 --> 00:12:11.595
When a crime is committed on someone,
often, the victim, trying to survive,

00:12:12.186 --> 00:12:14.540
is seen by society as being in the wrong.

00:12:14.803 --> 00:12:15.713
Why?

00:12:16.196 --> 00:12:18.615
I am not the one in the wrong.

00:12:19.513 --> 00:12:23.488
Why is a survivor only seen as
a passive survivor?

00:12:23.650 --> 00:12:25.473
Why are they not seen as fighters?

00:12:28.195 --> 00:12:30.685
Beautiful girls are told from
a very young age:

00:12:31.153 --> 00:12:35.346
"You are very pretty and
anyone will marry you."

00:12:36.553 --> 00:12:38.713
May only a beautiful girl be happy?

00:12:44.153 --> 00:12:48.633
Madam, who gave you the courage
and endurance to continue?

00:12:48.791 --> 00:12:50.113
My mother.

00:12:50.355 --> 00:12:54.243
She said: "We are in debt because of you,
so how will you repay that?"

00:12:54.403 --> 00:12:55.763
"You will find a way".

00:12:55.953 --> 00:13:00.713
So I said: "I will not die
before settling your debt."

00:13:01.193 --> 00:13:07.393
I realised that if my mum had not been
so tough on me at that time

00:13:07.793 --> 00:13:09.555
maybe I would have remained defeated.

00:13:09.716 --> 00:13:12.290
It is my parents who are my main
source of courage.

00:13:12.496 --> 00:13:13.648
Thank you.

00:13:14.633 --> 00:13:22.313
Madam, why is it that all these things,
such as rapes and acid attacks...

00:13:22.471 --> 00:13:24.753
Why are they ever increasing?

00:13:24.913 --> 00:13:27.753
What can we do to stop these things?

00:13:28.153 --> 00:13:33.193
In 2013, a law was passed
to put a ban on open sale of acid.

00:13:33.445 --> 00:13:36.353
And yet it is still sold openly in
corner-shops everywhere.

00:13:36.516 --> 00:13:39.465
It is readily available.
We must raise our voices about this!

00:13:39.685 --> 00:13:43.288
People must know acid is being sold
for 20 Rupees a bottle.

00:13:43.591 --> 00:13:46.793
But it can so easily
destroy someone's life.

00:13:47.531 --> 00:13:48.713
Thank you.

00:13:49.585 --> 00:13:50.985
Thank you.

00:14:23.313 --> 00:14:26.133
Do you want another chapati?

00:14:26.293 --> 00:14:29.833
Make one chapati more for Khushi.
- Okay.

00:14:35.473 --> 00:14:37.793
You need more water in the buttermilk?

00:14:38.915 --> 00:14:39.850
It's OK.

00:14:40.025 --> 00:14:41.071
What?

00:14:41.955 --> 00:14:43.901
Look, this man won the award.
- Who?

00:14:45.473 --> 00:14:47.073
Take some vegetables.

00:14:52.475 --> 00:14:54.926
My daughter's name is Vanshika.

00:14:56.513 --> 00:14:59.273
Vanshika is a very important
part of my life.

00:14:59.673 --> 00:15:00.953
She is everything.

00:15:02.153 --> 00:15:07.233
She came into my life
when I was utterly dejected.

00:15:09.573 --> 00:15:14.153
Around this time my sister got married
and very quickly became pregnant.

00:15:14.593 --> 00:15:18.033
I asked her to give her first baby to me.

00:15:18.193 --> 00:15:20.828
She gave me so much happiness.

00:15:21.513 --> 00:15:24.233
That's why I gave her
the nickname 'Happiness'.

00:15:38.833 --> 00:15:43.433
Hi Sharda ji, welcome.
Come in, carefully.

00:15:43.591 --> 00:15:45.673
How are you?
Any trouble getting here?

00:15:45.833 --> 00:15:48.073
No, no, no trouble.

00:15:48.473 --> 00:15:50.553
I am a bit late.

00:15:51.256 --> 00:15:52.936
Come in, watch out for the stairs.

00:15:56.356 --> 00:15:58.476
I'll bring you some water.
- Okay.

00:16:04.913 --> 00:16:08.153
It's so hot. The more water you drink,
the better. Yes?

00:16:08.311 --> 00:16:09.633
Yes, it's true.

00:16:11.035 --> 00:16:12.523
When did you leave home?

00:16:13.555 --> 00:16:16.170
We left at 12:30 pm
- At 12:30, yes?

00:16:22.033 --> 00:16:24.793
I was attacked in 1989.

00:16:25.676 --> 00:16:27.395
Yours is the oldest case.

00:16:27.558 --> 00:16:30.088
I read about it in the
newspaper at the time.

00:16:31.036 --> 00:16:35.005
The reason behind the attack
was students cheating for an exam.

00:16:35.216 --> 00:16:43.238
When my father put a stop to the cheating
they threatened to ruin our lives.

00:16:49.153 --> 00:16:53.753
Tell me how much I should cut?
- Cut it as much as you like.

00:16:53.913 --> 00:16:56.233
Half an inch, 1 or 2 inches?
- You decide.

00:16:56.398 --> 00:16:58.090
I'll cut it all off.
- No!

00:16:59.601 --> 00:17:01.993
Just not too horrible.

00:17:04.553 --> 00:17:07.713
First, I was treated
at Jeevak Nursing Home for 38 days.

00:17:09.303 --> 00:17:11.740
Later, I was treated
at Sufdarjang Hospital.

00:17:11.900 --> 00:17:13.848
Were you at the surgical ward there?

00:17:14.035 --> 00:17:21.056
No, when I was attacked, I was taken
to Chandrakala Hospital nearby.

00:17:21.271 --> 00:17:23.968
But I was in too bad a state
to be treated there,

00:17:24.130 --> 00:17:27.153
so I was referred
to Sufdarjang Hospital.

00:17:35.793 --> 00:17:39.113
There was darkness all around.

00:17:39.513 --> 00:17:42.120
I couldn't think anymore.

00:17:42.590 --> 00:17:46.381
As if my desire to live had ended.

00:17:46.551 --> 00:17:51.266
I would repeatedly ask to see my father,
my mother, my uncle.

00:17:51.426 --> 00:17:59.753
I kept telling them I didn't want to live
anymore, not without eyes.

00:18:03.393 --> 00:18:08.073
The biggest problem after such an attack
is that you are cut off from society.

00:18:09.953 --> 00:18:17.273
When you lose your beauty,
people start getting frightened of you.

00:18:18.033 --> 00:18:20.193
From children to grown ups.

00:18:20.353 --> 00:18:23.083
Children are innocent.
They don't understand.

00:18:23.245 --> 00:18:24.416
They get scared.

00:18:24.713 --> 00:18:30.673
But older people used to avoid me,
from fear they might become like me.

00:18:31.475 --> 00:18:35.136
People said: "What happened to her?
It would be better if she died."

00:18:36.595 --> 00:18:39.811
When you hear comments like that,

00:18:40.088 --> 00:18:45.513
saying you're not fit to live,
then you lose your desire to live.

00:21:08.633 --> 00:21:09.755
Hello Rubina.

00:21:10.405 --> 00:21:12.605
Do you recognise me?
- Yes, I do.

00:21:12.826 --> 00:21:14.040
Are you OK?

00:21:14.458 --> 00:21:15.791
Yes, and you?

00:21:17.273 --> 00:21:21.073
Have you had surgery?
- Yes.

00:21:21.993 --> 00:21:23.306
What did the doctors say?

00:21:23.468 --> 00:21:25.313
Will treatment start after six months?

00:21:25.471 --> 00:21:28.553
Yes, three months have passed,
so three months to go.

00:21:29.513 --> 00:21:31.953
What else is going on?

00:21:32.193 --> 00:21:35.153
Nothing. I just stay at home.

00:21:35.553 --> 00:21:37.633
I just stay here at home.

00:21:38.353 --> 00:21:40.753
What? Speak with your face towards me.

00:21:41.153 --> 00:21:42.873
Rubina?

00:21:43.333 --> 00:21:44.875
What's wrong?

00:21:46.833 --> 00:21:50.833
You can share things with me,
tell me.

00:21:51.183 --> 00:21:53.168
My face is spoilt.

00:21:53.395 --> 00:21:55.321
My nose has shrunk,
I feel embarrassed.

00:21:55.991 --> 00:21:57.995
Beauty is in the mind.

00:21:58.156 --> 00:22:01.153
You have to find courage within yourself.

00:22:01.398 --> 00:22:03.948
But nobody looks at the
beauty of the mind.

00:22:04.108 --> 00:22:05.351
Says who?

00:22:06.193 --> 00:22:07.491
I am telling you.

00:22:07.756 --> 00:22:09.391
Look at me.

00:22:10.065 --> 00:22:12.993
Today, when I go out,
everybody knows me.

00:22:13.741 --> 00:22:18.511
If I had thought like you,
that I had lost my beauty,

00:22:18.671 --> 00:22:22.033
I would have stayed at home,
just like you, Rubina.

00:22:22.193 --> 00:22:23.980
But I left all that behind me.

00:22:24.913 --> 00:22:28.913
People ask me Sonia ji,
why don't you get more surgery done.

00:22:29.073 --> 00:22:30.393
Because I don't need it.

00:22:30.865 --> 00:22:32.850
Get the surgery done.
- I don't need it.

00:22:33.796 --> 00:22:38.590
I had surgery on my neck,
my eye was outside the socket

00:22:38.875 --> 00:22:42.073
my lips were left hanging,
so I got all those done.

00:22:43.113 --> 00:22:48.233
I just want to say that you can do
anything if you have the courage.

00:22:48.698 --> 00:22:51.536
People won't accept me.
Even if I look fine.

00:22:52.336 --> 00:22:56.180
I want to be accepted thanks to my work.

00:22:57.345 --> 00:23:00.991
You're not thinking right about yourself,
Rubina.

00:23:24.021 --> 00:23:28.076
Every year, around 300 acid attack
cases are reported.

00:23:28.913 --> 00:23:33.793
In most of the cases the survivor is
blamed for everything.

00:23:35.073 --> 00:23:39.993
So victims are afraid to come out
because of this shame.

00:23:40.151 --> 00:23:44.353
That's why most cases remain unreported.

00:23:54.515 --> 00:23:58.333
It's more important to have
courage than strength.

00:23:59.911 --> 00:24:02.035
I scare them with my eyes, you know?

00:24:02.330 --> 00:24:03.873
Oh, are you so scary?

00:24:04.195 --> 00:24:07.755
Once in a rickshaw, a man sat down
right in front of me.

00:24:08.953 --> 00:24:14.073
I was alone in the rikshaw with this
filthy man, sitting opposite me.

00:24:14.231 --> 00:24:17.033
He started making obscene gestures.

00:24:17.191 --> 00:24:22.353
First, I looked for a policeman, then
I just stared him down.

00:24:22.511 --> 00:24:26.673
I kept staring him down for 5 minutes.

00:24:26.833 --> 00:24:32.688
Then he moved over to the side seat
and sat with his face down.

00:24:32.851 --> 00:24:35.303
The most important thing is
not to get scared.

00:24:35.463 --> 00:24:37.710
If you get scared, they
have the upper hand.

00:24:37.871 --> 00:24:42.430
If a boy harasses a girl and she doesn't
stand up to it, he will never stop.

00:24:43.148 --> 00:24:46.773
You need to act straight away.
It's the only way they'll stop.

00:24:47.425 --> 00:24:49.831
Nobody should tolerate it.

00:24:51.033 --> 00:24:55.393
I've seen this so many times.

00:25:00.873 --> 00:25:05.593
Little kids, small boys...
They do it so much...

00:25:05.915 --> 00:25:10.831
Most 'eve-teasers'
are either very young or very old.

00:25:11.275 --> 00:25:13.546
Rikshaw drivers are some of the worst.

00:25:28.913 --> 00:25:30.073
Hello?

00:25:30.266 --> 00:25:33.871
Yes Nidhi Bhabhi, tell me,
Soniya here.

00:25:34.273 --> 00:25:38.273
Yes, I was wondering if your
relatives had arrived?

00:25:38.753 --> 00:25:40.753
Do you want to come tomorrow?

00:25:40.911 --> 00:25:44.113
No, no just come. I was just asking.

00:25:44.271 --> 00:25:45.873
Okay, bye.

00:25:50.833 --> 00:25:52.243
Is someone from the Colony coming?

00:25:52.455 --> 00:25:57.033
Yes, they made a booking for make
up on the 8th and 9th.