Child-bearing and Meena (And Bol's overall theme)

One thing that Bol does a good job at is developing intrigue over the relationship between Saqa and Meena. It does this by not showing us any direct interaction between the two and it’s probably for this reason that we’ve debated a great deal, whether Meena is comfortable with her position in the brothel or if her affectatious behavior is a cover for the suffering she’s going through.

 Saqa says: “meena, heera hai heera.” He obviously understands her value or that of women (generally speaking) to this brothel. The way he anticipates the new-born girl and makes arrangements for her birth suggests that he’ll do his best in bringing her up and taking care of her; somewhat like how he’s been protecting or valuing Meena up to this point.

But on the flipside he displays this ruthless tendency to do whatever that’s necessary for the continued flourishing of the brothel. At present he’s working for benefits that he’ll see materializing in some 15 to 20 years. For that he’s willing to pay any cost, even if it means Meena’s wellbeing. After the successful birth of the new girl, he says to Hakim: “Aap bachiyan paida karte jaen. Mien ek ek laakh barhata jaon ga.” He says this without any regard for the toll that this frequent child-bearing would have on Meena. He expects her to perform two duties: being the prostitute at the present and making the prostitutes of the future.

By handing over the child to Hakim’s family, Meena manages to break away from that second duty. I believe that she does enjoy the prostitute part of her but the expectance of bearing children is one she is not willing to fulfill. This refusal to bear children then connects with the overall theme of the film which says: “agar zindagi leyna jurm hai, tou zindagi deyna jurm kyun nhin?” – Bol uses the figure of the prostitute (Meena) as an example to this thesis.