Dubai-based food vlogger raises voice against dowry
A VICTIM HERSELF, VEENA JAN MOTIVATES WOMEN THROUGH HER POPULAR YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Her voice resonates in the kitchens of millions of Malayali homes across the world every day. But this week, instead of sharing a recipe or introducing a new place she visited, Dubai-based celebrity food vlogger Veena Jan raised her voice against the dowry system in India.
Her second husband Jan Joshi, who gave her a new lease of life after Veena got divorced from her abusive first husband, also joined the conversation through Veena’s YouTube channel ‘Veena’s Curryworld’, which has more than 2.16 million subscribers.
Speaking to Gulf News, Veena said she had never thought she would have to speak about the same subject again under such painful circumstances, following recent cases of dowry suicides by young women in Kerala that caused quite an uproar on social and mainstream media.
Shocking
“I couldn’t sleep after watching the news about Vismaya (the 24-year-old Ayurveda student who hanged herself at her husband’s house) and the other girls who died after that,” said Veena. “It was so shocking and saddening to see young women ending their lives like that.”
Veena recollected that she was gifted gold ornaments weighing 2.4kg and a luxury car for her first wedding with a man working at Techno Park in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala. Yet, her former husband later wanted her father to register his transport business (including 20 buses) and other properties in his name.
“It took three years for me to understand his true colours. Things were terrible after the birth of my son. He turned physically abusive when his demands were not met. He even held my baby upside down and told me to cut him into half,” she said.
Speaking up
Veena added: “There is no point in hiding such things from kids. I even shared my story with my subscribers, whom I consider as my family, because I thought
it would help at least one girl to take the right decision in life. I wanted to tell all those girls — who silently bear the torture, fearing shame — to speak up and put their foot down.”
It was a moment of realisation about her power as an influencer when Veena started getting feedback about girls who changed their decisions after knowing her story. “I made the recent video against dowry deaths to motivate girls who continue to be victims of abuse at their spouses’ houses. We need to end this horrible practice. My story has helped at least 100 girls change their decisions. Many who thought divorce was a sin, took the right decision and are now living happily,” she said.