A modern woman is a beautiful confluence of varying opposites: Pankhuri Awasthi

Rapper Pankhuri Awasthi, explores the definition of a modern woman through her latest track.

Who is a modern woman An enigma A complex hybrid Or an oxymoron After her powerful video #RapagainstRape that went viral last year, young rapper Pankhuri Awasthi, who raps under the moniker Bombaeb, has come up with her latest rap track titled Modern Woman:Version 2016 that aims at unveiling the mystery of who and what a modern woman is all about. In the video, inspired by American stand-up comedian and social critic George Carlin’s ‘I’m a modern man’, Pankhuri explains the very many attributes of a modern age woman: “A modern woman is a tomboy, a killjoy, a jaywalker, a smooth talker, a seductress and yet a damsel in distress. “I’m in sync but outlandish/ I’m a feminist who loves men/ I’m old school yet a modern great/ I’m fragile but strong willed/ I’m no sinner, I’m no saint/ High on life but not on drugs ”

Explaining how the idea came about rapping around a modern woman, Pankhuri explains, “You see them everywhere and they are of all kinds. A modern woman is a melting pot of all virtues. Being a VJ with popular channels and a trained singer, and being associated with the entertainment industry for quite some time, I have come across several accomplished women who suffer in their interpersonal relationships. Hence, a modern woman could be someone high on IQ but low on EQ! For instance, The Devil wears Prada based on Ana Wintour’s life is actually true for most of the working women, who could actually be ruling the roost in their professional space, but maybe they are very coy at home and inept at handling household activities. Modern woman is not one extreme of being an alpha woman. It is a beautiful, complicated hybrid of very many qualities.”

There are multiple virtues that make a modern woman. “It is a beautiful confluence of varying opposites. A new age woman is a hopelessly romantic pragmatist, an intellectual giant, an emotional wreck, a showstopper, a wall flower, a slam dunk hit-maker challenging the predicament, living the low key high life or under nourished and hyper-caffeinated at the same time. She wants to get ahead in her life and try and do the best in managing her work with personal life,” elaborates Pankhuri, who is highly influenced by American rapper Lauryn Hill and Eminem’s powerful rap tracks.

Pankhuri firmly believes that rapping is no longer a male prerogative, and with the rise of the Internet age, the genre has come along a long way. “From being considered as ‘underground music’ in the 90s, today the genre has gone mainstream. Even the themes that rap songs follow are completely relevant in today’s world, and the lyrics mostly revolve around the underlying issues of the society or the teenage problems,” says Pankhuri and adds, “Rappers are like modern-age poets; rapping is an effective way of story-telling, which is more impactful and long-lasting. Personally, I want to utilise the power of spoken words and my lyrical content to spread socially relevant messages.”

Pankhuri has a distinctive approach while talking about gender inequality, women empowerment and likes to spread messages about breaking several social barriers while rapping. “My next video is going to be around the whole debate of intolerance in India. I also want to utilise the medium for talking about the issues that are close to my heart— life of sexual workers and the ill-treatment faced by stray dogs,” concludes Pankhuri, who also appeared on TEDx with a piece that was dedicated to stray animals.