Is it just those dancing liquid amber eyes? The wide, open smile? The glossy thick hair? God knows! But Monalisa Bhonsle, 16, from Indore, selling simple handmade bead necklaces on the crowded ghats of the Mahakumbh Mela at Prayagraj, became an internet sensation overnight when her video went viral. Suddenly, social media content creators were rampaging along the sandbanks in search of the teenager, whose fame had captured fans across the world.
Dubbed the ‘brown beauty’ by gushing admirers who went into raptures over her eyes, the disarmingly unaffected young girl remained unfazed by the attention, occasionally expressing frustration at selfie seekers cutting into her time and affecting business. Unsurprisingly, it was creepy men who were mobbing Monalisa, offering her money and marigold garlands as enticement.
Relentlessly stalked and chased by undesirables badgering her, Monalisa, according to reports, was sent back to the village by her enraged family. “I will only marry a man chosen by my parents,’’ Monalisa declared as she rebuffed ardent suitors.
Monalisa Bhonsle
So many threads about Monalisa’s life intrigued me—starting with her name! Did her folks realise the weighty significance of their daughter’s name? Did she herself know the importance of being ‘Mona Lisa’? Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, painted on a wood panel between 1503 and 1519, is now considered an ‘object of pilgrimage’ by visitors to the Louvre in Paris, where millions of awestruck art lovers gaze at the lady’s mysterious smile. Our desi Monalisa may soon be forgotten by the very people who are posting reels as she coyly averts her eyes and dodges questions. Obviously nobody cares about her right to privacy!
Her unique journey to instant fame reminds me of Arshad Khan, the blue-eyed Pakistani tea seller, whose image went viral in 2016. He shrewdly leveraged his fame, and converted his extraordinary branding into a business opportunity by establishing ‘Chaiwala & Co’, even opening a flagship tea shop in London after receiving Rs1 crore in Shark Tank Pakistan.
This was possible because of his gender—he didn’t have to seek his parents’ permission before taking advantage of his unique looks to create a brand with high recall. Our Monalisa lives in a parallel universe, a patriarchal social system, with very little agency over her personal life. She did say she was open to modelling offers, but before anything concrete could materialise, she was hastily whisked off by concerned family members.
Such are the perils of living in the age of aggressive social media. A single viral video can transform a person’s life in a blink. Monalisa had nothing to do with the first video which garnered 15 million views, just like that. These are the sort of impressive numbers manipulative influencers crave for, and go the extra mile to generate, frequently manufacturing fake narratives, sensationalising their own lives to get the eyeballs.
My concern for Monalisa stems from a different place. It is clear she knows boundaries and respects them—her inoffensive but firm handling of assorted intruders into her space was remarkable and admirable. For someone denied schooling, she was an absolute pro when it came to firmly rebuffing ill-mannered men edging a bit too close to her. Some of our film stars should learn from Monalisa. When asked how she feels about the excessive male attention, the myriad proposals, she smiled and said, “All of them are my brothers….’’ Touche!
Let’s see what happens to Monalisa once the Mahakumbh winds up and the multitudes go back to their mundane lives. My guess is that she will soon be married off and confined to her marital home, before ‘fancy’ ideas go to her head. It is in this archaic way our society ‘protects’ young women from the outside world. Ideally, Monalisa should go back to school, educate herself and show the world there’s more to her than those amber eyes.
X@DeShobhaa Instagram@shobhaade