Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh: India's Lonely Young Women and the Search for Intimacy and Independence

by Shrayana Bhattacharya

It’s impossible to grow up as a woman in India without knowing what it is like to have to always seek permission to be yourself. Each of us, in our own way, often magnified by caste and class, encounters resistance in finding self-acceptance, achievement and affection. If your experience as a straight woman in this country has been one of bliss, without heartache and self-loathing, I reckon you’ve inherited an Ambani-esque fortune. Or that you’ve lived a very protected life. Setting snark aside, let me acknowledge that the fortunate few who’ve found love and self-contentment without much friction may find limited connection to the stories I’ve tried to tell. Let me also acknowledge that my stories do not capture the struggles and fandom of women who are not straight, or those who reject gender binaries. The fans I encountered remain trapped by heterosexuality. For now, I hope that you’ll digest these everyday stories of women struggling to become themselves. That you’ll try to understand why so many women find emotional comfort in an actor as they seek to realize their ambitions for a life of love and dignity.