Urdhava Mula: Root Upwards - An Interdisciplinary Peer Reviewed Women's Studies Journal, Vol 8 & 9 2015 & 2016 PDF

Urdhva Mula 2015 vol.
Urdhva Mula
(Roots Upwards)
An Interdisciplinary Women’s Studies Journal
Editors Dr. (Sr.) Ananda Amritmahal

Dr. Vibhuti Patel
Editorial Advisor Dr. (Sr.) Anila Verghese
Editorial Assistance Ms. Deepti Anil
Layout and Design Ms Lata Pujari
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Urdhva Mula 2015 vol. 8
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL 5
ARTICLES
Lady sings the Blues When Women retell the Ramayana 7

- Nabaneeta Dev Sen
Reflections of Gender Concerns in Election

Manifestos of Political Parties for the 16th Loksabha Election 29
- Vibhuti Patel
Radical Discourse: A Consideration of Hildegard of 41

Bingen and Mirabai
- Dr. Ananda Amritmahal
Histories from the Borderlands 49

- Sharmila Rege
Mahatma Phule and Women’s Liberation 63

- Lalitha Dhara
Socio Cultural & Gender Barriers to Health Access 78

of Paharias: a Primitive Tribal Group in Odisha
- Padma Lochan Barma
A Study of Influence of Stress on Physical and 85

Mental Health of Female Secondary School Teachers
of Pune City
- Dr. Sunita Malkothe
Intervention for Combating Gender Violence 95

- Dr. R.V. Singh, Neha Mishra & Shilpa Mishra
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Women’s Movement and Crimes concerning ‘Honour’ 101

An Indian Experience
- Vibhuti Patel
The Role of Indian Government in Socio-Economic 135

Development of women
- Dr. Mohd Furqan, Dr. Mohd Nayim & Naghma Rizwan
Gender and Reproductive Health of the Women 142

Workers in the Cotton Textile Mills of
the Bombay Presidency (1921-1935)
- Dr. Meherjyoti Sangle
STATEMENTS
All India Democratic Women’s Association 158
Sex-Selective Abortion Myths Debunked in New Report 160
WHISTLEBLOWERS
Radical Socialist Statement on Starvation Death of 163

Tea Garden Workers
REFLECTION
One People, united in our plurality? 165
REVIEWS
Towards Politics of the (Im) Possible – The Body in Third 168

- Vibhuti Patel
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I am Malala: The girl who stood up for Education and 171

Changed the World
- Laura Eggertson
Dynamics of Women’s Studies and Women’s Movement 173

in India
- Vibhuti Patel
OBITUARY
Pravinaben Natubhai Patel (6-8-1935 to 1-1-2015) 180
Prof. Jasodhara Bagchi (17-8-1937 to 9-1-2015) 189
ABOUT AUTHORS 191
List of Publications of Sophia Centre for Women’s

Studies and Development
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EDITORIAL
The year is 2015 – and we are confronted again with the Millenium
Development Goals that we had set ourselves in the year 2000. The
limitations of the earlier framework that was perceived as gender-blind, donor-
oriented and oblivious of the fact of inequalities based on caste, class, gender,
race and ethnicity have been debated and discussed threadbare and the world
community has arrived at the consensus that sustainable development should
be the overarching concern. This discourse has taken into consideration
human development, human right, intertemporal and interpersonal individual
rights and gender equality as an integral part of all efforts under the MDGs
Phase II. This insight has been universally accepted, at least in theory, in all
domains of human endeavour.
As a signatory to the MDG, India is faced with the mind-boggling issue of

being faced with onslaughts of market fundamentalism (grabbing of forest,
farm and tribal land, massive displacement of the toiling poor in the name of
mega-development, feminisation of poverty and the informal work force,
increase in intensity and brutality of violence against girls and women and
religious fundamentalism taking a heavy toll on minorities especially in
Muzaffarpur, Badayun, parts of West Bengal, etc.) in terms of destruction of
places of worship, rape and murder of women from minority communities,
deliberately keeping them out of dignified jobs, and stigmatisation of
minorities through aggressive rumour-mongering and ‘honour’ crimes by
sectarian vested interests.
In this issue of Urdhva Mula, rigorously researched articles by Nabaneeta Dev

Sen, Sharmila Rege and Lalitha Dhara remind us that such relegation of
women to a secondary status is nothing new, and flows from the structures of
patriarchy deeply rooted in our civilisation over the last five thousand years.
Meherjyoti Sangle gives a profile of women textile workers in Bombay
Presidency during the colonial rule. Feminist role-models across the centuries
are highlighted in Ananda Amritmahal’s examination of the radical discourse
of women mystic poets.
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Padma Lochan Barma, in her article, discusses how deprivation of the health
rights of the tribal community, specifically access to health services in Odissa,
becomes more pronounced in the case of women due socio-cultural and
gender barriers. Sunita Malkothe discusses the stress level of female school
teachers in Pune city and its implications on the physical and mental
wellbeing. A mind-boggling problem of combating gender violence has been
discussed in an article by Singh, Mishra and Mishra. In twenty-first century
India, Vibhuti Patel reminds us that thousands of young lives are sacrificed at
the altars of identity, ‘honour’, custom, and tradition, with the collusion of the
criminal justice system and community patriarchs.
Vibhuti Patel scrutinises, with a gender lens, the election manifestos of all the
mainstream political parties in the latest Lok Sabha election. Furqan, Nayim
and Riwan give an overview of state intervention for the empowerment of
women.
We would like to end this editorial by raising the issues touched upon in
Reflection by Ananda Amritmahal. The same questions are raised by Laura
Eggertson in her book-review of I am Malala. These are questions that we are
forced to confront on a daily basis today, and we cannot afford the luxury of
complacency or take refuge in an ‘apolitical’ stance.
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ARTICLES
LADY SINGS THE BLUES

WHEN WOMEN RETELL THE RAMAYANA
- Nabaneeta Dev Sen
Epic poets the world over are men singing the glory of other men, armed men,
to be precise. In a study I did a couple of years ago, I noticed that out of the
thirty-eight basic things upon which most epic narratives of the world are
based, only nine are associated with women. The ideals of the epic world
obviously do not have much to share with women, nor do the women enjoy
the heroic values. There is little they can do there - other then get abducted or
rescued, or pawned, or molested, or humiliated in some way or the other. So,
what happpens when women choose to retell an epic? There are many
alternatives. 1) You could tell it like it is, by borrowing the traditional eyes of
the male epic poet, as Molla does in her 16th century Telugu Ramayana. Or
2) you could tell it like it is, looking at it with your own woman's eyes, as
Chandrabati does in her 16th century Bengali Ramayana. Or 3) you could tell
it like it is by borrowing an ideological viewpoint as Ranganayakamma does
in Ramayana Vishabriksham, rewriting the Rama tale from the Marxist point
of view. Or 4) you could tell your own story through the story of Sita, as the
village women of India have been doing for hundreds of years.
For me it all started in 1989 with an accidental re-reading of the text of

Chandrabati Ramayana. That is where I discovered that a women's Ramayana
tells a different story. Since then, I have been fascinated by women's
retellings of the Rama tale. My studies on Chandrabati's, Molla's and
Ranganayakamma's Ramayanas have been published.
Chandrabati and Molla are the very first women to retell the Ramayana in
their regional language, and they have amazing similarities. Both remained
unmarried out of choice in order to become professional poets, both
worshipped Shiva, yet wrote a Ramayana. But here they took different routes.
Molla, a woman and a shudra, threw a challenge to the Brahmin court poets by
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writing a perfect classical Ramayana. Chandrabati, on the other hand,

composed a Ramayana which told only the story of Sita and critiqued Rama
from a woman's point of view. The Brahmins did not allow Molla's work to
be read in the royal court. And critics have rejected Chandra's as a weak and
incomplete text. Ranganayakamma suffered a great deal of social
ostracization for her attack on the 'Holy Book'.
The village women care neither for the court nor for the critic - and they are
not out to change the world. They continue to sing for themselves. I am
grateful to the late A. K. Ramanujan for his encouragement of this work. He
was vastly enthusiastic after reading my paper on Chandrabati Ramayana in
February 1991, and told me about Professor Narayana Rao's unpublished work
on Telugu women's Ramayana. Ramanujan felt that a lot of Chandrabati's
perceptions were shared by these Telugu women. Chandrabati also supported
Ramanujan's view that women's traditions held an alternative perception of
Indian civilization. Thus the connection was made in my mind. With
references from Professor Rao, I went to Andhra Pradesh looking for more
material. Then to Bangladesh and to Chandrabati's village. Gradually my
interest spread its wings wider. Here I focus on contemporary rural women's
Ramayana songs in Bengali, Marathi, Maithili and Telugu.
Just as the Rama myth has been exploited by the patriarchal Brahminical
system to construct an ideal Hindu male, Sita too has been built up as an ideal
Hindu female to help serve the system. The impact is far-reaching. Several
years ago, Sally Sutherland showed that for ninety per cent of the Indians she
interviewed, Sita was their favourite (mythical) woman. No one blesses a
bride by saying, "Be like Draupadi". It is always Sita and Savitri. They are
the saviours. Savitri saved her husband from death, Sita saved him from
disgrace. Although Sita's life can hardly be called a happy one, she remains
the ideal woman through whom patriarchal values may be spread far and wide
through whom women may be taught to bear all injustice silently.
But there are always alternative ways of using a myth. If patriarchy has used
the Sita myth to silence women, the village women have picked up the Sita
myth to give themselves a voice. They have found a suitable mask in the myth
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of Sita, a persona through which they can express themselves, speak of their
day-to-day problems, and critique patriarchy in their own fashion.
In the women's retellings, the Brahminical Rama myth is blasted automatically

though, probably, unwittingly. Here, Rama comes through as a harsh,
uncaring and weak-willed husband, a far cry from the ideal man. The women
do not mind calling him names such as pashanda or papisthi or directly
attacking him by saying, "Rama, you've lost your mind" ("Ram, tomar buddhi
hoilo nash"). This is possible because the women's songs are outside the
canon. Women's Sita myth where Sita is a woman, flourishes only on the
periphery. The male Sita myth, where she is a Devi (goddess), continues in
the mainstream. In the women's retelling, Sita is no rebel; she is still the
yielding, suffering wife, but she speaks of her sufferings, of injustice, of
loneliness and sorrow.
In the women's folk tradition in India, never mind where you are, which
century you belong to or what language you speak, you are all sisters in
sorrow. Though the singers may live in different parts of the subcontinent,
wear different clothes, cook very different food and vote for totally different
political parties, when they sing the story of Rama, they are astonishingly
close to one another. In their feelings, their perceptions, their expressions,
their choices of events and their responses, they echo one another. So much so
that it took a good deal of careful screening and categorizing of the songs to
keep their identities clearly separated in my mind.
These work songs and ritual songs have opened up a rich world of women's
Ramayanas. While weeding or sowing in the field or husking or grinding in
the courtyard, or preparing for religious ceremonies, the women all across the
country sing these songs. These are connected with different moments of a
woman's life, and here Sita is the name of the woman who attains puberty,
gets married, gets pregnant, is abandoned and gives birth. They call it the
Ramayana but it is of Sita that they sing.
It is natural in women's retellings of the Ramayana for them to pick and

choose their episodes; they are not interested in the heroic epic cycle, which
has no relevance to their lives. If what they create is fragmentary, it is because
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their lives are fragmentary. For them, it is the whole story. It reflects a
woman's world in its entirety. These are the four languages of my present area
of interest: Bengali in the East (Bangladesh), Marathi in the West, Telugu in
the South and Maithili in the northern Hindi belt.
The favourite episodes of the women singers seem to come mostly from the
Balakanda and the Uttarkanda, the two so-called spurious books, excluded by
strictly classical Ramayana scholars. The Balakanda deals with the birth and
marriage of Sita and what happened before Rama's coronation plans were
made. And the Uttarkanda tells us what happened after the war, after Rama-
Sita's return to Ayodhya. Uttarkanda is not a flattering book for Rama. The
topics that interest men do not seem to interest the women. They leave out the
details of war, Rama's glory, the details of Brahminical rituals, etc. The
women seem to sing mostly of abandonment and injustice, and of romance,
weddings, pregnancy and childbirth. Naturally, the songs centre around Sita,
rather than Rama. The areas where Rama usually shines brilliantly, those of
moral strength (like father worshipping) and of physical prowess (like demon
killing), do not seem to interest the women at all. One area of Rama's moral
judgement does bother them though – his wife-testing and wife-abandoning.
Incidentally, the man who seems to appear most in the songs is Lakshmana,
the brother-in-law and forest companion of Sita (the other slave of Rama). He
appears to be the only man whom the rural women of India and Bangladesh
care for, with whom Sita can communicate.
The six major themes in these songs are: Sita's birth; her wedding (with a
touch of pre-marital romance); her abduction; pregnancy; abandonment; and
childbearing.
The rural women in India and Bangladesh have shared the same historical
experience, the same socio-economic situations, and their response to an elitist
patriarchal text naturally shows a great deal of commonality. Their values are
not very different from each other's, but are very different from those of their
ruling males which are the concerns of an epic. Hence, the Ramayana sung by
the mainstream bards have little in common with the women's songs. Women
sing for themselves, the male bard sings for the public. Their approaches to the
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epic and to the act of singing are totally different. The professional bard sings
of Ram. The village woman sings of Sita.
Ten common sub-themes may be derived from these songs which are highly
relevant to women's lives in India today, especially rural women.
1. Sita, the foundling - The girl child as the essential orphan.

2. The worry of the parents over getting their daughter married.
3. Child marriage and its concerns.
4. The giving-away songs.
5. The in-laws and the bride, the nature of domestic abuse.
6. The golden deer - Blaming the victim. The 'she asked for it' mentality.
7. The Woman's desperate need to bear a son to keep her place in a patriarchal
society and the value of male life.
8. Pregnancy - the cravings, the desire to be spoilt a bit.
9. Childbirth under dire conditions.
10. Abandonment - Facing rejection and dispossession of one's social identity.
It is not hard to see what purpose the Sita myth serves in the life of rural
women. It offers them a persona and a voice.
These themes, obviously, have no religious significance, and do not concern

men very much. These are songs that deal with the most difficult or
dangerous areas of a woman's life, the intense moments of insecurity or
physical risk. They do not complain about hard work or poverty; all the songs
complain about neglect and denial of their rights. The songs show us that a
woman has no social identity of her own; her husband lends her his identity
and defines hers by it. The Sita songs are the songs through which we can
hear the voice of the silent majority, whereas the epics sing the glory of the
powerful few. Let us see how these songs deal with the topics we have just
indicated.
Each language seems to have its own special touch while dealing with Sita's
travails. For example, Marathi seems to be the only one of these four
languages which has the detailed accounts of Sita's sufferings at the hands of
the in-laws and the useless husband who plays into their hands. And songs
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depicting Janaka's desperation in seeking a husband for Sita recur the most in
Maithili. The support that Sita receives from all the women of the household
when she is being sent off to the forest is to be found only in Telugu songs.
The Bengali songs probably use the most harsh words about Rama, although
practically every woman worth her salt in the other languages criticises him
too. In Bengali he is portrayed as not only jealous and suspicious, but termed
'stone-hearted' and a 'sinner'. Chandrabati calls Rama a deranged wimp and to
make the picture clearer, describes him in a way that makes him appear closer
to a dragon than a king. She also holds him responsible for the fall of
Ayodhya. Ironically, this did come true 400 years later in 1992, with the
destruction of the Babri Masjid by Rama-worshipping fanatics. Across the
country, village women have incredible identification with Sita, and though
they have affection for Rama the child, or Rama the lover, they do see him as
a tyrant and an unjust husband. Never mind that Rama is a god and is
presently on a comeback trail, to save the world. In these women's folk songs,
he will always be a less than perfect man, and a far cry from a hero.
The foundling: the girl child as the essential orphan
Moving on to the songs we begin with the theme of Sita as the essential
orphan. There is a Marathi work song - Sita, in forest exile, talking to the birds
and trees as she has no one else to talk to:
Sitabai says,
"What kind of a woman am I?
I was given away to Rama when I was five years old.
What sort of mother's love have I got?
...Dear Plum tree, dear Babul tree,
Sita is telling you the story of her life.
Please listen... I was found at the tip of a plough.
How can I have parents?
I was found in a box, in the open field."
One can feel the eagerness of an isolated woman to communicate. This

feeling of being utterly alone and unloved is echoed in other languages. I
quote from Chandrabati's Bengali poem, where Sita tells Lakshman:
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"I have no father, no mother.

I was found at the tip of a plough.
I don't know who my parents are
Or who my brother is.
Like moss in a stream
I float from shore to shore..."
In a contemporary Marathi work song, Sita echoes her 400-year-old Bengali

self:
"I have no father, no mother.
I have lived my life in forests, eating wild fruits.
I have no sister, no brother
My soul has become an exile
Living in the wilderness."
And now as we consider this Munda tribal song from Chhotanagpur (very
close to Mithila), we hear Sita's sigh again:
"On the grassy uplands, the ploughmen found me / They took me to the
King's palace... / I grew up like an edible fruit / Though Janaka gave me in
marriage to Rama / I didn't forget my sufferings... / Never have I known
happiness...".
Why is it that all these women choose to sing of Sita as an orphan, rather than
a princess? The commonest epithet for Sita in Bengali (also found in Maithili)
is "Janam-dukhini" (born to suffer). In the fundamental insecurity underlining
life, all of these songs see the universal woman as an essential orphan, as a
being without an identity, an ever-alienated self in exile.
Finding a groom
Even though these women empathise with Sita as an orphan, they still show
great sympathy for Sita's foster parents who had the responsibility of finding a
suitable match for their girl child, which to this day is seen as a terrible burden
all over India.
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Here is one song about looking for a groom.
"Princess Sita is scrubbing the floor/ Her sari slips off her shoulders/ and her
mother the queen tells the father/ Up, up, King Janaka! What are you doing
here?/ Go, get a groom for Sita,/ She is ready for a husband./ So Janaka gets
up, puts on a clean dhoti,/ ties his pagdi on his head/ and takes his peasant's
staff in his hand/ and sets out towards Mungher and Magadha." (No.508).
Clearly, here we have a Bihari peasant father looking for a groom for his
daughter, not preparations for a royal matchmaking.
In another song, young Sita, while cleaning the courtyard, comes across a
hefty bow and lifts it with her left hand while sweeping with her right. Janaka
faints on seeing this as he had never been able to move it himself. Later, he
bursts out into a loud lament - "Ab Sita rahali kumari, yo!" (Now Sita will
remain unmarried, woe!). Since a woman needs a husband stronger than
herself and Sita has such extraordinary power, would she ever meet her
match? Sita's suitor must be able to string that bow! Swayamvar Sabha is
called, and suitors arrive from all over. The same story appears in Maithili,
Bengali, Telugu and Marathi, with variations. In Maithili, Sita plays an active
part. This episode is not found elsewhere. For example, when one after
another, suitors fail to string the bow, Sita's parents are in a panic--"Ab Sita
rahala kumari, dhanusha na tootala he!" (Now Sita will remain a spinster, the
bow remains unbroken!). But a broken-hearted Sita climbs to the rooftop and
shouts: "Oh, mother, is there no one strong enough in this world who can
string the bow and keep my father's vow?" (Unchi jharokhe chadi Siya
Chahundishi Chitvathi he/ Mai he, nai koi duniya me bir pita-pran rakhata
he?") A naturally bad-tempered Lakshman is most annoyed when he hears
this--"Why is she so desperate? Rama will come in his own sweet time and
string the bow." Well, Sita obviously didn't want to take a chance.
Another Maithili song begins without any preliminaries: Sita herself goes to
her father and says--"Sunu Baba araji hamari yo, kumari katek din rakhava?
Iho ne uchit vyavahar yo! (Listen father, I have something to tell you. How
much longer do you plan to keep me unmarried? This is not right
behaviour!"). Thank God, Lakshmana didn't get to hear this conversation!
Janaka of course reacted promptly and got the astrologers over.
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In almost all these songs, Ravana comes to the gathering of princes as a suitor,
and falls on his face, unable to lift the bow. Sita cannot help laughing, and a
humiliated Ravana takes an oath to get Sita by force some day. The women
take great pleasure in describing how the ten-headed demon failed miserably-
in Telugu, in Marathi, in Bengali, in Maithili, it is the same. As opposed to
Ravana, there is Rama, a tender teenager, tall, dark and handsome. Sita is
worried that this lean and dreamy-looking sadhu may never be able to lift the
bow. She even expresses her anger toward her father for taking such a harsh
vow. But lo and behold! The tender boy does it. He breaks the bow.
Child bride
Now let us come to the theme of child bride. Getting Sita ready for the
wedding, getting her ready for the in-laws. In these songs we can hear the
heart of the Indian woman. The lament for a very young girl, not yet ready to
start an adult life, being sent away in marriage into an alien environment.
Take this Telugu song: "The tiny girl is only as tall as seven jasmine flowers. /
She can stand neither the heat nor the rain... Such a lovely child is being given
away in marriage, to Rama."
Then, this Bengali song, from Bangladesh: "Little by little pour the water, let's
dry her hair with a towel, or Sita might catch a cold" (alpo alpo dhailo re ja /
Sitar hoibo sardi jar/ gamchha diya tuilo kesher jal go"). Sita's aunts are
bathing her -- the basic paradox of child marriage is exposed in this song. A
mere child, who is not yet even physically capable of taking care of herself, is
being forced to take up the social responsibility of wifehood.
Giving away
From the child bride, we move to the theme of giving away the bride. Here,
the anxiety of the parents comes out sharply. In a Telugu song, King Janaka
takes Dasaratha, Rama's father, to the wedding hall and shows a small child,
Sita, sleeping in a huge wedding bed. "Look, how helpless she looks in that
flower-bed, --she is still an innocent child." There is a clear hint of the
possibility of marital rape, and the bride's father is gently trying to make the
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groom aware of the cruelty involved in such an act. In all the songs about the
child bride, the parental tension comes out strongly.
In another Telugu song, Sita's mother, Bhudevi, has a woman to woman talk
with Rama's mother -- "From today Sitamma is truly your daughter/ She
knows nothing/ --teach her to boil milk/ to make ghee from butter/ ...she has
not yet been taught the household chores." And here is the advice she gives
Sita when she leaves--making it clear that the time has come for the girl to act
like a woman:
"Don't visit your neighbours after sunset.

Don't go to the washerman in the evenings.
Never leave your hair open in the street.
Don't laugh, showing all your teeth.
Don't look around when you are in a crowd.
Keep you eyes downcast in public.
Never step upon the rice husks
Strewn on the kitchen floor."
And the most important advice of all-"Never offer flowers to any man other
than your husband." The song has its place in Andhra weddings even today,
since the mother's advice is still the same. It reads more like a book of
etiquette for middle-class housewives than the wedding song for a future
queen.
Sasurbas
But in spite of all the advice, the child bride has a tough time at her in-laws. In
Marathi, the sasurbas songs of Sita give a clear picture of the torture
perpetrated on the bride by her mother-in-law. Sasurbas is an important
category of Marathi women's songs. When the Ramayana is retold by women,
it is the story of a girl who was born with a crooked fateline. "Brahma was in
a hurry/ Drawing the line of fate/ On Sita's forehead/ The line became
crooked..."
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Here is a taste of Sita's sasurbas:
"Rama gave Sita his love

On a tiny tamarind leaf.
Kaikeyi poured poison in Rama's ears.
So he chews his paan all alone,
All by himself
While Kaikeyi waits behind the door
Like a scorpion."
Tamarind leaves are minute -- Rama clearly didn't have much to offer Sita.
“Chewing his paan all alone" means Sita doesn't enjoy Rama's company even
when he is relaxing his step – mother doesn't allow it.
The description gets pretty graphic from time to time:

"Sita was tortured by one and all.
They fed her only bitter neem leaves for twelve years
They didn't let her wear Kumkum for twelve years.
Her hair is all tangled up
For twelve years they didn't let her wash it."
A clear picture of domestic abuse, both physical and mental. She is not
allowed to eat, nor to groom herself. She is not allowed sexual pleasure either.
"Sita has been in exile
right inside her bedroom.
Rama didn't share her bed
For twelve years.
She was locked up behind seven doors.
Rama is absorbed in his own business.
Poor Sita's youth is wasted away."
Not only does Sita not share her husband's bed, she is not allowed to step out
and makes friends. While her husband is busy with his professional work, she
leads a life of total imprisonment. A very common picture, quite a familiar
scene, in fact; only slightly exaggerated. As the singer says, "Sita's exile was
right in her bedroom." This kind of torture may sound unrealistic but it is not
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unknown to Indian women even in the cities today. Torturing, even killing the
wife, usually for dowry, is not uncommon among the educated urban middle
class. Quite often it is not dowry but plain jealousy that leads to the torture of
the bride by women. As the suffering of the Indian wife at the hands of the in-
laws is as real as it was centuries ago, these songs are not relics but a part of
women's condition today. When the women cry for Sita, they cry for
themselves. Like Sita, they too have been conditioned to emulate the ideal
Indian woman who suffers in silence and doesn't complain. Sharing the pain
among friends is the only source of relief.
Pregnancy cravings
To come to a lighter note, women singers pay a great deal of attention to Sita's
desires during her pregnancy. They ask a question that neither Sita's husband
Rama nor the epic poet Valmiki ever concern themselves with – what does
Sita, the individual, desire for herself? In this Telugu song, Sita is three
months pregnant. "What does Sitamma's heart desire?" Well, it is nothing less
than tiger's milk, and Lakshman, her dear brother-in-law, gets it for her from
the forest. "But, brother Lakshman, I have one more desire in my heart." –
"What is it now?" -- "In the middle of the blue ocean lies a distant sandbank. /
In the middle of the sandbank/ Stands a single teakwood tree. / From that
teakwood tree hangs a special honeycomb. / With that honey I wish to eat sada
dosas!"-- Sita's exotic taste doesn't please her mother-in- law. She comments:
"Hmph! I too was pregnant once, and delivered Rama and Lakshman alright./
But did I ever ask for such outlandish stuff? All I craved for was green
mangoes and coconut..." In a Marathi song, Sita craves for various fruits and
vegetables, including something very exotic, viz., carrots-for which Rama has
to go to the market. Clearly, these are wish – fulfilling songs. Lakshman
appears frequently in these songs but Rama rarely does.
Exile
What happened to Rama after he sent his wife away to the forest? Women
have their answers. In this Marathi song, we find Rama lamenting for Sita
after he has exiled her. But what is his lamentation? Rama wipes the corner of
his eyes with the end of his shawl and wails -- “Where can I find a queen like
18
Sita now? Who can sprinkle the floor with water as well as she can? Who
will give me my dhotis? And who can serve me good meals as Sita can? Sita
is in exile, who will make a fine royal bed for me now? And make the sandal
paste? Brother Lakshman, let us shut down the pleasure palace." And he
stands his cot up on its side with his foot while tears gush down his cheek
"like water from rain water pipes". Now that Sita has been driven out, Rama
has lost a maid, a cook, a bedmaker, a housekeeper, and a pleasure-giver. A
terrible loss, no doubt. In a wish-fulfilling Bangladeshi song, Rama's lament
reaches the point where he repents for sending Sita into exile and begs
Lakshman to bring her back as she is the breath of his life. (Sita amar jaaner
jaan/ Sita amar praner pran/ Sita bina banche na jiban/ Bhaire Lakshman, paye
pari Sita aina de/ Ki kariya dilam bisarjan). Oh, how could I send her off to
the forest?
Let us examine now how Sita prepares for the exile. In a Marathi song, the
chariot has to wait, there are a few errands that she must get done first. She
tells the maid to pick Rama's shawl from the clothesline; wait on him at his
meals; gives her a cake of soap to wash Rama's clothes with; orders the grocer
what to send; tells the water carrier to fill Rama's bathtub daily; asks the
oilman to fill Rama's lamp with oil every day; and just before the chariot
leaves, she turns back and checks once more -- "Are my Rama's fresh clothes
kept in his bathroom?" Before we get too exasperated with Sita's obsession
with her wifely duties, we consider the end of this long song. The singer turns
around and tells us, her women companions:
"Sita is going to the forest.

She is pouring out her heart
only to you and me (saying),
'Rama has no compassion
I am five months pregnant.'
Sita is leaving home.
She is sharing her sorrow with you and me (saying),
'No one felt any pity for me here.
I am carrying a little baby in my belly'."
We can hear the voice of disenchantment and criticism, which only the women
can share with Sita or Sita with the women.
19
The golden deer: the value of male life
There are many variations in the story of the golden deer and the abduction of
Sita. In Bengali, Sita wants the beautiful animal as a pet to keep her company
in the desolate forest. In Marathi, Sita wants a golden blouse made of the
golden deer's skin. In a tribal song, Sita wants to cook venison for a change,
after long years of fruit and roots. In a Telugu song, Sita has been taking care
of a small plant that a deer comes and chews up every day. She wants the deer
caught and the plant saved. Whatever the reason, Sita wanted her husband to
chase the golden deer, and sent her brother-in-law after her husband, although
he had been specifically requested by Rama not to leave Sita alone. So she
breaks the female code of behaviour more than once. One, at the swayamvar
sabha, when she had laughed at Ravana – a strict 'no, no' for a woman; two,
again by forcing her brother-in-law to disobey his elder brother; and three,
when she crosses the magic circles, the boundary line drawn by Lakshman on
the ground (not to be found in Valmiki, like the vow of Ravana). In most
songs, Sita steps out in order to give alms to the monk-mendicant as it is sinful
to refuse a sadhu his alms. In Bengali, it is just a single line, while in Telugu
and Marathi it involves crossing three or seven protective circles. In this
Telugu song that women sing while sowing seeds, Sita asks Lakshman what
will happen if she steps out of the magic circles. "You will be abducted," he
says. When Ravana comes in the disguise of a sadhu and asks her to step out,
she puts the same question to him. Ravana says:"If you cross one circle, you
get one son, if you cross two, you get two sons, if you cross three...," and so
forth. Sita takes no chances and greedily crosses all seven circles. Because
she wants sons. But she also knows of the abduction. So, what do we make of
it?
In India, producing a 'son' is an essential duty of the wife. Failing that, women
suffer tremendous physical and mental abuse and most often, abandonment.
The social and familial persecution also leads to frequent suicides. The rate of
female infanticide after birth, and now even before, with the help of
amniocentesis, is alarmingly high. It is not surprising, then, that Sita took the
risk.
20
An alternative reasoning is found in a Bengali women's song. Ravana

blackmails Sita into crossing the lakshmanrekha, by threatening to kill himself
at Sita's door if she does not come forward and hand him some food and
water. Sita is afraid - "Purush-hatya maha paap" -- of the great sin of taking a
male life. So she steps across the line to save a male life at the risk of her
own. It shows how male life is valued and female life is not, as seen in the
practice of female infanticide.
In both cases, the value of a male life, be it a son, seven sons, or a begging
sadhu, is considered greater than her own life by Sita. Women provide many
reasons for Sita's transgression but the general consensus is against her.
Because Sita broke the codes of behavior -- She had asked for the deer against
her husband's advice, stepped across the line, sent her guardian away, laughed
publicly at a man – she was punished. This is what I call the "she deserved it"
mentality that surfaces in society when a woman is molested. She had
engineered her abduction.
Similarly, she had deserved her abandonment. The fact that Sita was in fact
not raped is a mere technicality; in the eyes of society, she has lost her honour.
As it happens all over the world to this day, the victim is blamed and the
injustice is thus doubled. The rape victim must suffer not only the pain and
humiliation of violation but the pain of social and even familial rejection. In
India, this frequently leads to suicide; so too in the case of Sita. Forced to
undergo the chastity test a second time, an exasperated Sita decides to
disappear from the earth forever, and does so.
It is a lone struggle for the woman. Even her nearest ones choose to remain
outside her painful experience, as expressed so well in this Marathi song:
"How did they do it??

It melts our blood into tears...
Who is fighting so bravely in the forest?
Who is all alone?
Rama is reading about Sita's exile
In a book..."
21
The alienation of Rama's reality from Sita's hits us directly. Rama is totally
detached from Sita's suffering. He reads about it in a book. He is not part of
the book but outside it, when women sing the Ramayana.
Child birth in exile
The exile songs are probably the ones which touch the very core of a woman's
heart, as the Marathi and Telugu songs seem to indicate. In Maithili, exile is
mentioned as a part of the birth songs. Take this one:
"Sita leaves the palace, opening the golden gates.

Sita walks to her forest exile.
Girls, exile is written for Sita.
Sita goes one mile, she goes two miles, girls,
In the third mile the pain arises.
Now life wishes to be born, girls,
Call the midwife, quick!
The tree came out of the forest.
So, you are my friend, my well-wisher?
You take my golden bangle then,
And cut the cord of the baby...
Alas! If only Rama would understand!"
This song brings out the terrible loneliness of a pregnant woman thrown out of
her secure home who has no one to help her in a moment of distress.
The loneliness of a woman giving birth alone in the jungle haunts women's
folk Ramayanas. Let's take another example, this one from Marathi:
"Where is the smoke coming from, in the dense forest?

In the dense forest, Sitabai has given birth.
Water is being boiled
Sitabai has given birth.
Where will Sitabai find a bed?
Dark beauty Sitabai,
You better make a bed of rocks
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And sleep on it.

Sitabai has given birth
Where will Sita find nourishment?
There is no one to cook her a meal.
Sita is in exile, there is no cradle for her babies.
Sita made a bed of flowers
And placed her twins in it.
Sitabai has given birth.
The hills and the forests are rejoicing.
She has no one else to call her own.
Sita says, 'I have lived a life of rejection.'
All her life she has been neglected by Rama,
Yes, all her life."
This is how women sing themselves into their Ramayana. The wretched
condition in which women in rural India give birth to their babies, the
insecurities, the lack of help, lack of comfort, lack of a healthy environment,
all come out in Sita's birthing songs. The only sign of any care is in the
heating of the water, found in Telugu, Marathi and Maithili. The infant
mortality rate and the death rate of mothers at childbirth in India are still quite
alarming: 88 per cent of pregnant women are anaemic. Post-partum care is
very poor. Even today 67 per cent of women in India give birth by
themselves, without the help of a doctor or nurse. The maternal mortality rate
is 570 per 100,000 live births. Is it surprising then that these village women
sing about the pain and fear for a lonely childbirth? Or About the lack of
nourishment of the mother? Sita is their voice, for they like Sita have been
programmed not to rebel.
"For twelve years she has been alone in the forest.

Sita is hunting for roots.
She must eat something.
She has given birth.
For five days Sitabai has had nothing to eat."(Marathi)
No one to brew a tonic, no one to cook special confinement food for her.
23
"Rama has given me this gift of exile

Like a sudden gust of wind..."(Marathi)
Sita complains to the trees and the birds and then asks the crucial question
about the kingdom of Rama, (Ramrajya): "Where is my Rama reigning now?"
We must note the juxtaposition of Rama's public responsibilities with his
familial responsibilities. "Rama, how could you do this to me?" Sita exclaims
in the next line.
The blackberry bush does have an answer for Sita's question. In another
Marathi song:
"Sita is nine months pregnant and in forest exile.

Because Sita is a woman
She had to face such rejection, such neglect
And so much pain,
Because Sita is a woman...
Rama, just because some wild people talked
You have sent virtuous Sita into the forest!"
The wilderness' sympathies are with Sita, the child of nature. In Bengali too,
the exile songs are heart-rending, but not necessarily softly-worded. Bengali
women freely use very harsh words, including expletives in Sanskrit, for
Rama. Example: "Panchamasher garbha Sitar Chhilo Rajdhame/Pashanda
hoiya Ram Sita dilo bane!" (Five months pregnant, Sita was in the royal
palace, a heartless Rama sent her off to the forest!). In another song, we find
princess Sita going off into exile like a 'golden idol immersed before its time'.
"Kichhu kichhu jayre Sita, pichhu pichhu chay/ Tathaapi papishthi Ramer/
Puri dekha jayre puri dekha jay!" (Sita takes a few steps and looks back a few
times/ But oh! the palace of that sinner Rama still rises high). To call
someone who is commonly known as Karunasindhu or the ocean of kindness,
'ruthless' (pashanda) takes a great deal of accumulated anger. But to brand the
Patitapavan, one who redeems the sinners, as a sinner (papishthi) himself, goes
that unbelievable step further.
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Identity
In a Marathi song too, Sita looks back at every step as she leaves home. She
keeps stopping Lakshmana for things she has left behind. Wait! Her blouse is
on Rama's bed. And oh, her saree is there too. Then her box of sindoor.
Finally, she says: "I have forgotten my face on Rama's bed." Presumably, the
'face' is her mirror. And most certainly it is her identity that she has left
behind. For in an Indian society, even today, it is believed that the wife's
identity is derived from her husband. And when he throws her out, she does
have reason for an existential crisis.
That a woman's identity is defined by her husband is beautifully stated in a

Telugu song: Sita walks into Rama's bedroom and finds a lovely girl. She is
shocked and hurt and complains to Rama till he comes up and embraces her.
Sita sees the pretty girl in Rama's embrace now, and recognises herself in the
mirror. She is a woman without an identity till Rama affixes it for her. To
send her into exile, away from her husband, is to deprive her of that borrowed
identity. What remains is the foundling. From the Mahabharata to Moby
Dick, exile has always been a symbol of disempowerment – of dispossession
of rights, of exclusion from society.
The forest for Sita – or the desert for Sarah – serves the same purpose.
Wilderness is the opposite of society, exile is the annihilation of all social
relations. For Sarah, as for Sita, it shows the fragility of women's status. In
epics, exile and abandonment are not exactly the same thing. There can be
heroism and dignity in exile – it can be a male experience. Rama himself is
sent into exile, but there is no question, of course, of his being abandoned. For
Sita, as for Sarah, exile equals abandonment. Not just being dispossessed, but
being rejected and driven out of home forever. There is nothing heroic in
being abandoned; it can only bring shame. Abandonment happens to women,
to those who are weak. Deserted wives are a common concept but how often
do we hear of a deserted husband? A man's identity belongs to himself, but a
woman's identity is lent to her by a man – with abandonment that identity is
snatched away from her.
It is a humiliation experienced by all women.
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"Sita's exile,
Let us share it among ourselves.
Sita's exile,
How many times will it happen?
Sita's exile,
Is happening every moment, everywhere
When leaving for the forest
Sita distributed it amongst us all
Bit by bit."
In this Marathi song, women see Sita as a symbol of the suffering that is
inextricably linked with womanhood. Sita, for them, is the universal woman.
Through her songs, the women sketch out the stark reality of their own lives.
("Sitecha dukkha bayen tumhi batun ghiya".)
The good housewife
Sita, then, offers a voice to the silenced women of the subcontinent. Through
her, women express their fears and sorrows, their hopes and wishes. Sita is
just any other hardworking woman, ill-treated by in-laws, neglected by her
husband, with nobody to fall back on, punished for no fault of hers. But till
the end, Sita remains a good housewife. Take this Telugu song: the war is
over, Ravana is dead and Sita has just been rescued and is being gently led to
Rama. On the way she points to a stone lying half-buried in the ground and
says shyly to Hanuman: "What a lovely grinding stone that will make! I
would like to take it back to Ayodhya." So Hanuman starts digging. But then
Jambuban finds out and quickly stops Operation Grindstone, since such greed
was below the dignity of a queen. An embarrassed Sita hangs her head in
shame. It s a song in which women laugh at themselves.
Whether it is a comic greed for domestic appliances or the fear and agony of
giving birth alone and unattended, the women's songs reveal genuine
concerns.
One can understand why Sita is the favourite mythical woman in India, the
ideal woman. Sita has lent dignity, even glamour, to suffering. When there is
26
no escape from suffering, one prefers to accept it with grace. Sita helps one
do just that. She is a victim who suffers in grandeur, without being vengeful.
She is the prey who never turns into a predator. Usually in epics, preys turn
into predators and vice versa. And when a woman turns from prey to predator,
out of anger or vengeance, she doesn't win. Even if she does on the surface,
her victory leads to total disaster. Those who remained victims, like
Andromache or Helen, pose no threat. Draupadi, a victim who turns
aggressive and urges her five husbands to avenge her humiliation, wins the
battle of nerves but loses all her five sons.
No, a revengeful woman cannot win. An angry Dido killed herself in the
Aeneid, leaving her dream city of Carthage incomplete. Nothing happens,
however, to the hero Aeneas, who abandoned her. He fulfils his mission to
start his own dynasty and build his own city. The anger of Amata is looked
upon as madness, and derided. In Nibelungenlied Part I, Kriemhild is clearly
by the prey. But in Part II, a revengeful Kriemhild is portrayed as a near
demon and her whole family is wiped out, just as Draupadi's is. Sita remains a
prey, and her sons live on to become heroes.
Draupadi is too dramatic to be a role model for the weak and the exploited.
Women cannot identify with Draupadi, with all her five husbands, and with
Lord Krishna for a personal friend. With her unconventional lifestyle and
thirst for vengeance, Draupadi inspires awe. Sita is a figure closer home, the
girl next door, a person they know too well, a woman whose pain they can
share. She is not part of the elite, and never rebels. Sita symbolises sacrifice,
a woman's greatest virtue according to patriarchal traditions. She laments but
does not challenge Rama in the songs. Other women speak for her just as they
expect others to speak up for them. So even in Chandrabati's poem, where
Rama is severely criticised, Sita remains a docile wife while Chandrabati, the
narrator, lashes her whip under her name. Sita is the one with infinite
forbearance and thus a winner even when she loses. She lends dignity to
suffering, makes forbearance a heroic quality. This is what makes her a role
model for Indian women. For, in spite of the sweeping changes across the
sub-continent in the last decades, for the silent majority of Indian women,
justice remains a dream, equality an absurdity and suffering an everyday
reality. When women retell the Ramayana, Sita is the name they give
27
themselves: the homeless female, the foundling, unloved, rejected and

insecure.
----------------
28
REFLECTIONS OF GENDER CONCERNS IN

ELECTION MANIFESTOS OF POLITICAL PARTIES
FOR THE 16TH LOKSABHA ELECTION
- Dr. Vibhuti Patel
Introduction
For the 16th Lok Sabha election, the women’s rights organizations in India
focused on 33% reservation of seats for women in the parliament and
legislature, safety of girls and women in the family – community and society,
universalisation of education, land and housing rights, implementation of laws
concerning women, code of conduct with regard to use misogynistic language
from public platforms, gender sensitive police administration, emotional and
economic support to women survivors of violence, safety of women in the
streets, bus stations, railways and support services such as night shelters, toilet
blocks at all public places, day care centres for children, special provision of
housing and livelihood for single women, widows and divorcees, deserted
women and women with disabilities.
We have also noticed that all political parties accepted invitations from
women’s groups to discuss a wide range of issues from migration to the
declining child sex ratio, from violence against women to problems of women
farmers. Not only this, the younger generation of politicians are also seriously
talking about women’s concerns such as gender budgeting, safe cities and
support to women survivors of sexual violence in their speeches and also
making promises to push the recommendations of women’s organizations in
the mainstream political discourse. The Aam Admi party has endorsed the
Womanifesto released by feminist groups.
Getting a Foothold in Politics:
There is a long history of women’s issues getting a foothold in the mainstream

political agenda. It was in 1972 when Maharashtra experienced massive
29
drought, the tribal women of the Shramik Sangathana who were demanding
the employment guarantee scheme (EGS) gave an élan in their song,
“……..Let us enter politics,
Continue our struggle
And take leadership.
Can’t put up with patriarchal power any more,
O, Venubai, why do you remain repressed?
Come out and join our rally.”
This song composed by the Shramik Sanghathan, Dhulia, and sung by

thousands of women was extremely popular in the seventies. In the state
politics, EGS became a crucial issue during the election.
But it was during the 1980 Loksabha election that coincided with the nation-
wide anti rape movement that women became constituency for the political
parties. Rape as an issue was perceived by them as a ‘law and order’ problem
(Patel, 1988).
Women as Constituency:
The major political parties such as Congress, Janata Party, Communist Party
of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) included ‘reduction in crimes
against women’ and ‘improving law and order machinery to ensure safety of
women’ in their manifestoes. During the 1989 Loksabha election, the Telugu
Desam Pary of Andhra Pradesh promised land rights to women in its election
manifesto (Patel, 1993).
Women’s groups who were busy with street fighting and the politics of
petitioning started realizing the limitation of acting as pressure groups. Many
of them decided to enter electoral politics but were defeated as they did not
have muscle and money power. (Patel, 1986)
Women’s Reservation as an Affirmative Action:
The demand for affirmative action in terms of women’s reservation in

electoral seats due to a historical neglect of women became prominent. Then
30
the question was ‘what percentage? 15? 25? 33? Or 50% (proportionate to
population?). A decade long debate ended with the consensus that it should be
a ‘critical minimum’ of 33% representation of women in the electoral bodies
and Local Self-Government institutions (LSG) that cannot be ignored in the
decision-making process.
And in 1993, as per the 73rd and 74th Amendments in the Constitution of India,
Indian women managed to get 33% reservation of seats in the rural and urban
LSGs. All political parties enthusiastically put up women candidates in the
Panchayat elections in the urban and rural areas. (Jain, 2000)
By the mid-nineties, women’s groups pressed for 33% reservation for women
in the legislature and parliament too. All the major national level political
parties were pressurized to incorporate reservation of women in the Loksabha,
Rajyasabha, Vidhan Parishad and Vidhan Sabha in manifestos for the 1996
elections. The Common Minimum Programme of coalition of political parties
led by the Janata Dal, declared women’s reservation as a priority concern. But
in reality hardly 10% candidates in their parties managed to get tickets to
contest parliamentary elections. The women’s reservation bill was introduced
in Parliament in September 1996.
It is interesting, that the same national level male politicians who support 33 %
reserved seats for women in the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) have
expressed their outrage against the reservation of 33% seats for women in the
Legislative Assemblies and in the Parliament. They are using the same
arguments as our colonial masters used against the native then, i.e. women
will not be able to govern, as they are inexperienced. (Heredia, 2012)
But one thing is crystal clear that, with women’s reservation in PRIs, over 1
million women crossed the threshold of the domestic arena and entered public
life (ICRW, 2012). In the election of local self-government bodies, the
manifestos of all the mainstream national and regional political parties and
local candidates included women’s demands such as save the girl child,
women’s education, and conditional cash transfer schemes for empowerment
of girls. Not only this, women’s issues have been increasingly included in the
speeches of leaders of political parties of right, centrist and left varieties.
31
Gender Awareness:
Lack of gender perspective is a marked feature of the Party Manifestos of

major political parties. For the past two decades, while every National Level
Party has been offering lip service to promote women’s agenda due to
pressure from the National Alliance of Women’s Organisations and the united
efforts of the listed eight all India Women’s organizations (such as All India
Women’s Conference (AIWC), National Federation of Women (NFIW), All
India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), Mahila Daxata Samiti
(MDS), Joint Women’s Programmes (JWP), Forum for Child Care Services
(FORCES), Centre for Women’s Development Studies (CWDS) and Young
Women Christian Association (YWCA)) in actual reality all of them have
betrayed the women’s cause. A glaring example is the absence of any
concerted effort to pass the bill for 33% reservation for women in Parliament
that got introduced in the Parliament of India after 14 failed attempts between
1996 and 2011.
Since the year 2000, women’s groups have been giving memorandums to all
political parties to fulfill their charter of demands and not to issue tickets to
men with criminal records and a past history of violence against women in
their personal or public life. But none of them have included this demand in
their election manifesto or political practice (IAWS Newsletter, 2002).
Memorandums by women’s groups to politicians included gender budgeting,

declining sex ratio and judicious implementation of PCPNDT Act, incentives
for education for girls, 33% reservation for women in the upper and lower
houses of the parliament, prevention of domestic violence, special provision
for women- headed households. This resulted in political parties including
several of these demands in the 14th Loksabha Election in 2004 and 2009 Lok
Sabha election. During the 15th Loksabha election, BJP and Congress asked
citizens and women’s groups to contribute to their manifesto and also started a
web portal for the same.
The Lok Sabha Election 2009 Manifesto of the Indian National Congress
stated ‘The Indian National Congress will introduce special incentives for the
girl child to correct the adverse sex ratio and to ensure education of girl
32
children. In districts that have an adverse sex ratio and/or low enrolment of
girls, monetary incentives will be given to the girl child to be credited to the
girl child’s account on her completing primary school, middle school,
secondary school and higher secondary school.’
AAP Influence: Women Role Models:
All political parties conducted special campaigns to establish a rapport with

the newly eligible (18+) electors and to register them in the electoral roll.
Young voters are being wooed. The Aam Admi Party has raised the
benchmark by getting 3 young women elected in the Delhi Assembly Election
in 2013. None of the other political parties managed to have even a single
woman candidate win the Delhi Assembly election, 2013.
The AAP manifesto gives special emphasis to Women’s Security and

promises that ‘Citizens’ Security Forces would be formed with a branch in
each ward, who would provide security to anyone in distress, but with special
focus on the security of women, children and senior citizens. CSF would be
ensuring swift dispensing of justice in case of crimes against women by
establishing special fast track courts; implementation of recommendations of
Justice Varma Committee, ensuring lighting and security provisions on roads,
parks, buses and all public spaces.”
This has brought tremendous change in the psyche of the younger generation
about their ability to change the system. The Aam Aadmi Party has attracted
thousands of youngsters armed with IT-enabled communication strategies to
change the political power equations. They are making donations through
applications like Twitter to AAP. They are more concerned about current
issues such as corruption, inflation, nepotism, safety of women and girls rather
than ideologically determined agendas.
Safety Audit as a Central Concern in this Election:
Protest actions by young women and men after the gang rape of a young
physiotherapist in the moving bus on 16-12-2012 have brought issue of ‘safety
of women and girls’ to centre stage. Women’s issues have become a hot topic
33
at all public fora – political gatherings, business meetings, professional

gatherings, youth get-togethers, educational activities, government
programmes, public events of civil society and official conferences, symposia,
consultations. Safety of children, girls and women and senior citizens has
occupied centre state in the political discourse.
Three laws have brought about a great difference: Protection of Children from
Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO), amendments in the Rape Laws and 10
key proposals of the Justice Varma Committee report and recommendation
that India should institute a "Bill of Rights" for women, along the lines of
similar bills in South Africa and New Zealand that would guarantee the right
to life, security, bodily integrity, democratic and civil rights and equality, and
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and
Redressal) Act, 2013.
Women Power Connect:
For the past few months, WomenPowerConnect (WPC), a decade old coalition
of national level organizations with a membership base of 1000 NGOs and
individuals in 28 states made consistent efforts to get gender concerns
reflected in the manifestoes of different political parties for the 16th Lok Sabha
Election. WPC serves as the largest advocacy body for women in India as
women's groups and individuals are working together for formalizing the
process of legislative coordination by holding meetings, workshops and focus
group/ guided discussions with top politicians of all political parties and
sensitizing them on burning issues of women and girls such as declining sex
ratio, child marriage, migration and trafficking, child sexual abuse, domestic
violence, safety of women, social security for women farmers, 33% for
women in the Parliament and Legislature, facilities for urban working women,
land and housing rights of women. WPC also alerts them about responsibilities
of political parties for forming legislations for women’s safety and
empowerment, need for affirmative action in economic services, welfare
services and social defense as well as translation of gender commitments to
financial commitment with the help of gender budgeting. Between November
2013 and April 2014, WPC organized innumerable issue-based workshops in
Delhi and the rest of India involving women activists, elected representatives
34
and office-bearers of the Indian National Congress (INC), Bharatiya Janata

Party (BJP), Janata Dal (JD), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Socialist Party(SP),
Communist Party of India(CPI) so on and so forth.
WOMANIFESTO released in English and Hindi on 8th March, 2014 was

translated by women’s rights groups into Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, and
Kannada. Womanifesto has been endorsed by thousands of women’s groups
throughout India and it has provided a rallying point for ‘Know Thy
Candidate’ Programmes across the country. The Aam Admi Party was the
first political party to endorse it. All national and a majority of regional
political parties included 6 points of womanifesto – Educate for equality,
Make laws count, Put women in power, Police for the people, Swift certain
justice and Support to survivors of violence – in their declaration for the
Loksabha Election and election speeches.
Women’s Coalition for Change (WCC), a network of grassroots women’s

organisations in Tamilnadu headed by Fatima Natesan of Rural Women’s
Liberation Organisation has been actively lobbying for its manifesto with the
most important concerns of women from marginalized communities –
washerwomen, dalit and tribal women, transgender people, the differently
abled, commercial sex workers and agricultural laborers. WCC has acted as a
catalyst for women voters in the neighbouring states – Karnataka, Kerala and
Andhra Pradesh.
We can see its impact in terms of incorporation of gender concerns in the

election manifesto of most of the mainstream political parties and regional
political parties.
Empowerment of girls:
In the 16th Lok Sabha Election Manifesto BJP has promised to launch a
national campaign to save the girl child and promote education of girls. INC
and AAP manifestos have demanded strict implementation of PCPNDT Act to
stop sex-selective abortions of female fetuses. The Trinamool Congress
manifesto declares, “A special thrust will be given on empowering the ‘girl
child’.”
35
Women Workers:
The Election Manifesto of the Communist Party India Marxist Leninist

(CPIML) has promised secure, dignified, remunerative employment for
women and has given great emphasis on the regularisation of contract labour
and increase in minimum wages. CPIML has also stressed the long-standing
demand of the women’s movement that women workers employed in work of
perennial nature must be regularised, the principle of equal pay for equal work
must be upheld in every field, ASHA, Anganwadi, mid-day meal workers
must be treated as regular employees with proper pay scales, and minimum
wages must be raised to Rs 15000 per month.
Social Security for women has been promised by a veteran feminist and
founder of Women's Voice (WV), National Federation of Dalit Women
(NFDW) and president of National Alliance of Women (NAWO) Ms. Ruth
Manorama, who contested the Lok Sabha election on Janata Dal (Secular) seat
of Bangalore.
Implementation of Legislations Concerning Women:
INC, BJP, AAP and CPIM have proclaimed that they will implement women
related laws to stop sex selective abortions, Pre Conception and Pre Natal
diagnostic Techniques Act, 2002, Prevention of Domestic Violence Act- 2005,
Sexual Harassment of women at work-place (Prevention, Prohibition and
Redressal) Act in April, 2013, Rape laws- the Criminal Law (Amendment)
Act, 2013 that makes stalking and cyber stalking (Section 354 D), voyeurism
(Section 354 C) and sexual harassment a crime and also provides for the death
penalty for repeat offenders or for rape attacks that lead to the victim's death,
and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 which covers
offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography. INC has
promised strict implementation of the Prohibition of Child Labour Act.
The election manifesto of the Socialist Party (India) for the 16th Loksabha
Election promised to strive “to eliminate gender discrimination and will
support affirmative action in favour of women in all legislative and other
institutions.”
36
Basic Amenities for Women:
CPIML has highlighted the need for access to clean toilets for all women, in
homes as well as in public spaces, and access to regular, safe public transport.
Janata Dal (Secular) has also promised to stop manual scavenging in which
women are predominantly employed. INC had made an élan of eradication of
open defecation.
Women’s Reservation:
INC has declared women’s reservation as a top priority. While BJP, CPI (M),
CPI (ML) have all demanded 33% reservation for women in the Parliament
and assemblies, Trinammol Congress has given a generalised statement of
empowering women in every walk of society, economy and polity. Bahujan
Samaj Party (BSP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) have asked for reservation
within reservation for ST, SC and OBC women. In its agenda for immediate
action, the Socialist Party has demanded the passing of Women’s Reservation
Bill.
Safety of Women:
The INC has promised to pass Citizens’ Charter for safety of women, special
protection for Dalit women and fast track courts to deal with crimes against
women. Both, INC and CPIML have supported One-stop Crisis centres to be
established in the government hospitals, and 24-hour crisis centres. CPI (ML)
has stated in its manifesto that safe shelters must be instituted in each police
district for women survivors of violence, speedy justice, compensation and
rehabilitation be ensured for survivors of rape and acid attacks, gender-
sensitive police and prosecutorial procedures must be strictly followed, and
the number of judges and courts expanded to ensure speedy justice in every
case. BJP has demanded strict implementation of laws related to violence
against women. CPI (M) has emphasized enactment of laws against honour
crimes and trafficking of girls and women, laws for joint matrimonial property
rights and strengthening of the maintenance Act to ensure safe survival of
women and children.
37
Janata Dal (Secular) candidate Ruth Manorama focused in her election

campaign on the stringent implementation of laws for a safe and secure city
for women, violence free homes and a violence free community. The INC
manifesto asks for all police stations to have at least 25% women staffers. The
Socialist party has asked for Special Tribunals to be set up to ensure justice in
long-pending cases of custodial rapes.
LGBT:
For the democratic rights of Lesbians, Gays, Bi-sexual and Transgender

communities only the INC, Trinamool Congress, CPIM and CPIML political
parties have come forward. The INC supported gay rights and demanded that
consensual sexual relations between adults of the same sex cannot be
criminalized. They have criticized Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code
which states, ‘Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of
nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment
for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may
extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to a fine.’ CPM in its manifesto
has promised decriminalization of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that
deals with adult consensual relationships. The CPIML manifesto also demands
revoking of Section 377.
Earlier, at the time of the election of the Delhi Legislative Assembly, AAP had
declared Section 377 as ‘an infringement of basic human right’. For the Lok
Sabha Election, however, the AAP manifesto was silent on decriminalizing
sexual relations between consenting adults of the same sex.
Most of the regional parties are silent on LGBT rights while the BJP supports
Section 377 of IPC and it also favoured the Supreme Court verdict on
December 11, 2013, that termed acts of homosexuality a criminal offense
under Section 377.
Controversy about Uniform Civil Code (UCC):
BJP is the only mainstream political party which has demanded UCC that has
a history of bitter identity politics. Women’s organizations support gender just
38
family laws governing marriage, divorce, property rights, maintenance,

alimony, right to stay in matrimonial or parental homes, guardianship of
children. At the same time they believe that the demand of UCC does not
ensure gender justice; it only creates polarisation on religious grounds and
divides women of different religious belief.
Insensitivity of AAP on Moral Policing and Crimes in the name of

Honour:
AAP’s declaration of Khap Panchayats in Haryana as ‘informal social groups’

has angered women’s rights activists who are asking, how can AAP turn a
blind eye to crimes in the name of honour committed by KHAP that have
resulted in the painful deaths of so many young couples who opted for a love
marriage and their relatives. They have also highlighted the terrorization,
humiliation and intimidation inflicted by the KHAP Panchayat on the
surviving victims.
Proclamation and Praxis of Politicos:
While talking about gender concerns in the election manifesto of the national
and regional political parties, we must remember that none of them have a
Code of Conduct to disqualify electoral candidates who have committed
crimes of gender-violence, have induleged in misogynistic comments and
behaviour in the Lok Sabha, or to ensure zero tolerance of moral policing by
candidates associated with their party. The Association of Democratic
Reforms (ADR) based in Delhi has revealed that hundreds of men accused of
sexual violence towards women have been allowed to stand in the elections,
including more than 32 charged with rape. Only after a massive public outcry
was the candidature for Lok Sabha Election of Pramod Muthalik of Sri Ram
Sene in Mangalore (who had indulged in act of 'moral policing' against pub
culture and organized a violent attack on young women visiting a pub in
Mangalore withdrawn by BJP).
The 16th Lok Sabha Election recorded the winning of women candidates in 62
parliamentary constituencies. Still, it is a matter of deep regret that in the
manifesto, none of the political parties demanded a ‘code of conduct’ of
39
decent behaviour from their candidates and activists in their personal lives,
while dealing with their women colleagues and in rallies and political
gatherings. Even while allocating seats to contest the election, they have not
promoted veteran women political activists of their own party. Most of the
political parties have used their women workers only as foot soldiers. All of
them have succumbed to money and muscle power.
References:
1. Devaki Jain (2000) The Vocabulary of Women’s Politics, Fredrich Ebert
Stiftung, Delhi.
2. Heredia, Rudi (2012) “Holding up Half the Sky: Reservations for Women in
India”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XLVII, No. 9, March 3, 2012,
pp. 51-60.
3. ICRW (2012); a. Local Governance for Gender Equality-A study in Select
Districts of India, discussion Paper Series on Women’s Political Leadership.;
b. Opportunities and Challenges of Women’s Political Participation in India:
A Synthesis of Research Findings from Select Districts in India, International
Centre for Research on Women, where insight and action connect and UN
Women, United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of
Women, Delhi.
4. IAWS Newsletter: Indian Association for Women’s Studies (2002) “Indian
Women in Political Process”, Special issue, Women’s Studies Centre, Dr.
Babasaheb Ambedkar Bhavan, University of Pune, January, 2002.
5. Patel, Vibhuti (1986) “Getting a foothold in Politics”, Reading in Women’s
Studies Series, Mumbai: Research Centre for Women’s Studies (RCWS),
SNDT Women’s University.
6. Vibhuti Patel (1988) “Emergence and Proliferation of Autonomous Women’s
Groups (1974-1984) in Neera Desai (ed) A Decade of Women’s Movement in
India, Himalaya Publishing House, 1988
7. Vibhuti Patel (1993) “Ideological Debates Among Autonomous Women’s
Groups in India” in Susheela Kaushik (ed.) Women’s Participation in
Politics, Indian Association for Women’s Studies, Vikas Publishing House.
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40
RADICAL DISCOURSE: A CONSIDERATION OF

HILDEGARD OF BINGEN AND MIRABAI
Mysticism has always held a tremendous fascination for me for three reasons.
The mystical experience is often articulated in poetry that is exceptionally
powerful. Further, it frequently empowers the mystic to address, if not always
to achieve, social transformation. And finally, it is something that I find
tremendously energising and inspiring, given the options I have made in my
own life.
In this paper, I wish to look at the lives and work of two women mystic saint-
poets from very different traditions, inhabiting very different worlds. One of
these women in Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th century German abbess; the other
is the iconic person of Mirabai, a 16th century Rajput princess. Both of these
women had mystical experiences which radically shaped their lives and from
which sprang their poetry. Both also had a profound effect on the
environment in which they moved, and they also appear to have some
relevance for our world today.
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was born the tenth child of noble parents. A
frail delicate child, she began to see visions early in life. Perhaps because of
this, perhaps as a tithe, her parents consecrated her to the service of God at a
young age, entrusting her to the care of a holy woman, Jutta, who was living
an eremetical life adjacent to the Benedictine monastery at Mainz. Soon, not
only was Hildegard her pupil, but other women had joined them to form a
small community. On Jutta’s death in 1136, Hildegard was elected to lead the
community. In 1141, she received her call to prophecy, in the form of the
vision of a fiery light that permeated all the world around her, and in the midst
of which there would at times appear an even more intense light from which
the Word of God would be manifested to her.
41
Her most controversial decision, taken in 1147, was to move away from the
Disibode monastery with all of her sisters and all of the dowries (since most of
the nuns were from noble families, this would have been a considerable sum).
There were a number of reasons for this – there was friction between the local
nobility and the bishop, and given her own roots in that nobility, she would
have been torn by conflicting loyalties; the monks appeared to be growing in
wealth and privilege, and certain corruptions were creeping in; her own first
book, Scivias (in which she recorded the visions calling her to prophecy) was
attracting a number of women to her community and the monks were reluctant
to give them additional space. It was not an easy decision: it met with much
opposition from the monks and the local nobility, and even some of her own
community who were loth to leave the comfortable convent for a wilderness of
desolation. But she persevered, and in 1151, they moved into a new convent,
built for them near Bingen. There she lived as abbess, wrote poems and
hymns, was one of the rare women who was allowed to preach, and her letters,
still extant, to various important personages of the day (including the Pope and
the Emperor!) stand witness to her concern for and involvement with the
secular world, so closely entwined in the Middle Ages, with the spiritual.
Her life during the 1150s reflects this interweaving. She worked to establish
monastic discipline by teaching and preaching, strove to make her community
secure, constructing new buildings, seeking ways to achieve financial stability.
She wrote a commentary on the Athanasian creed, enriched liturgical life with
the songs that were eventually gathered into the Symphonia, wrote a musical
drama, Ordo Virtutum (The Play of Virtues) and created a mysterious secret
language, the lingua ignota, to instil a sense of mystical solidarity among her
nuns.
At the same time, her growing fame brought an increasing number of pilgrims
and seekers to her gates. Many other abbesses, abbots, bishops and priests, as
well as a number of lay people – exalted and humble – corresponded with her,
and she unhesitatingly replied in the most direct and uncompromising of
terms, taking considerable risks for the sake of her principles.
This was also the period during which she composed two scientific works.
The Book of Simple Medicine (also known as Nine Books on the Subtleties of
42
Different Kinds of Creatures) summarised the natural science of her age in an

encyclopaedic format, offering a wealth of empirical observation with medical
notes on the wholesome and poisonous properties of creatures, moral
symbolism linked to the genre of bestiary lore, and magical charms for
healing. The other book, Causes and Cures (The Book of Composite
Medicine), dealt with more or less systematic material on diseases and their
treatment, and included a fascinating compendium of traditional lore,
observations on sexuality and even astrological observations and beliefs.
Hildegard also travelled much during the latter part of this period, undertaking
tours to preach at many monasteries, giving fiery apocalyptic sermons in
Cologne and Trier. Another visionary book, the second of her visionary
trilogy, Liber Vitae Meritorium (The Book of Life’s Merits) dates back to this
period, and deals with moral psychology and penance in the context of an
overarching Christological vision. The third book of the trilogy, Liber
Divinorum Operum (Book of Divine Works) or De Operatione Dei (On the
Activity of God), followed in the 1170s, the final period of her life.
In the 1160s, there is evidence of a number of serious conflicts plaguing

Hildegard. The most celebrated of these was with the emperor, Frederick
Barbarossa. Initially, the two were on excellent terms, with the emperor
granting the prophet an imperial charter of protection that guaranteed certain
valuable liberties. But when, in 1159, Frederick supported Victor IV as an
anti-pope in opposition to Alexander III, the rift began. In 1164, Victor died,
and the emperor appointed a successor, and then another in 1168. Hildegard
opposed this vehemently, even calling her royal patron a madman, and
refusing to let her loyalties be dictated by political self-interest. The last
decade of her life was also the period during which she suffered the intense
humiliation and spiritual anguish of having the interdict invoked against her
convent in 1178. The occasion was the burial of a nobleman, once
excommunicated, in the monastic churchyard. Hildegard was firmly
convinced that the man had repented and had died in a state of grace, and
refused to submit to demands that the body be exhumed. She held fast to her
stand, for several months, continuing to fight for what she believed was right.
The interdict was finally lifted only a few months before her death in the
following year.
43
We now turn to another mystic poet saint, Mira Bai, a Rajput princess from
the 16th century. Mira’s history is inextricably linked to the ruling families of
Rajasthan, the Mertia Rathors and the Sisodiyas of Mewar. Tradition and
legend dance in and out of the known facts, creating a composite picture that
has undergone various kinds of hermeneutical transformations through the
ages. Let us begin with a look at Mira’s life and times as they have been
“historically” recorded.
Born in c. 1498 near Merta, Mira lost her mother at an early age. She was
subsequently brought up by her grandfather, the ruler of Merta, Rao Dudha,
together with her cousin, Jai (t) mall. During those turbulent times, queens
and princesses enjoyed a fair amount of freedom, and Mira would have learnt
to ride, hunt, even fight, should the need arise. They were literate and were
familiar with the scriptures and the epics. Side by side with her training as a
woman – sewing, cooking, dressing well, court etiquette, religious rituals,
dancing, singing, playing an instrument (albeit as an amateur) – Mira would
also have been acquainted with the principles of politics and of public affairs.
Her exceptional beauty and accomplishments led to her being chosen as bride
to the heir of Mewar – Prince Bhojraj, the son of Rana Sanga. Here again, we
see political exigencies at work. Repeated invasions had forced the Rajput
chieftains into an alliance against the “foreigners” and Rana Sanga, though the
first among equals, would have sought to consolidate his position with an
alliance with Merta. The delicate balance of power, the need to protect the
kingdom from vulnerability, together with Mira’s own personal qualities,
would have determined the Rana’s choice.
However, at an early age, Mira had considered herself wedded to the murthi of
Lord Krishna that she had been given by, according to some legends, Raidas,
whom she later venerated as her guru, and according to others, by a passing
sadhu. Most of the legends claim that at the wedding ceremony, she
circumambulated the figure of Krishna rather than her husband, and refused to
consummate the marriage, since she considered herself the bride of God.
Further, when required to worship according to the Shaiva tradition, she
refused, thus outraging the sensibilities of her in-laws. She suffered much
persecution, but her grandmother-in-law supported her, and her own deep
44
devotion and unswerving commitment saved her. At the same time, since in
every other way she fulfilled the role of daughter-in-law, the alliance with
Merta was not affected, and the practice of polygamy made it possible for her
marital family to accept her resolute chastity. (It is important to note here that
there is one tradition among the Rajputs that claims that she lived a married
life and only turned to “fakiri” after widowhood. This is borne out by a
number of popular representations of a Mira clad in the white garb of widows,
lost in an ecstatic trance. Was this an attempt to domesticate and vitiate the
potency of the iconic figure that Mira had become? Perhaps)
Within a few years, about 1521, Bhojraj died and Mira was left a widow.
Since the marriage had not been consummated, she was not expected to
become a sati. A few years after that, in 1528, Rana Sanga also died;
wounded severely and thoroughly routed at the battle of Khanua (1527), he
was poisoned in 1528. The new Rana, Ratan Singh, was Mira’s bitterest
enemy, seeing her as a conspirator who had warned Rana Sanga during an
early attempt to dethrone him in 1522, and who continually associated with
“mendicants and beggars” who might well be spies in disguise. A number of
attempts were made on her life and she suffered greatly, but somehow
managed to escape all such attempts. Finally, just before 1532, Mira left
Chittorgarh, and went to Merta and then, the complete jogan, travelled to
Mathura, Brindaban and finally, Dwarka. In 1546, the then rana of Mewar,
Uday Singh, invited her to return to Chittor, seeing it as a way of legitimising
his rule in the eyes of the populace, as well as of ending the long spell of ill-
luck that had haunted the Sisodiyas since the persecution of Mira had begun
with Ratan Singh and continued in the reign of Bikramjit. However, Mira had
no desire to do so: in order to escape the urgent entreaties (including a fast
unto death) of a deputation of Brahmins, Mira entered the temple of
Ranchhodji and vanished.
No discussion of the work of either of these two women would be complete

without an understanding that while the mystical experience is essentially and
deeply spiritual, it poses a tremendous challenge to organised and
institutionalised religion. The central fact of mysticism is an overwhelming
consciousness of God and of the devotee’s own soul: a consciousness which
absorbs, permeates or eclipses all other centres of interest. The devotee
45
circumvents, transcends or ignores conventional forms and practices of

religious belief, seeing them as secondary to her fundamental goal: the
intimate union of God which is primary to mystical experience. Little wonder
then that initially a mystic is perceived as a threat, and even later, when the
sanctity of the mystic in the popular mind is undeniable and religious
authorities are forced to accept this sanctity, efforts are made to fit the mystic
within the religious tradition, even at times morphing the original very radical
stance into one that is more appropriate to accepted forms of devotion.
It is also necessary to consider briefly the theoretical frameworks of the

religious traditions from which our two mystics sprang. Both Christianity, and
Hinduism as practised in the 16th century, were heavily patriarchal. The
religions had become extremely rigid and priestly mediation was considered
imperative for any kind of religious ritual or experience. Various forms of
corrupt practices and abuses of privilege had crept in to the priestly ranks, and
both Hildegard and Mira, each in her own way, oppose these, the first by
challenging them directly, the second by ignoring them and advocating a
direct and unmediated relationship with the Divine.
Further, both the traditions had fractured visions of reality. Christianity has
been plagued by the polarisation of flesh and spirit, while the caste system of
Hinduism imposes its own disjunctions upon humanity. Hildegard counters
this polarisation with a holistic view of the world that is startlingly in contrast
to the beliefs of her time. A theme that she touches upon time and again is
that the goal of God’s world is a harmonic, inter-related web of life which
unites all that is in a fullness of life and purpose. A relationship and a
dialogue thus needs to be established within which the spiritual senses are
awakened, the aridity of the isolated soul is watered, and we listen to the word
of God not only in scripture but in all of life. Our relationship to the body, to
nature, to others and to God can only be healed by our own deep desire for
God and our capacity to make free and conscious choices for and in this
world: only thus can we access God’s healing and forgiveness set free in and
through Christ. Hildegard’s image of a cosmic egg includes a number of
concentric circles that speak of the essential inter-relatedness of all creation.
Outermost is a ring of bright flame, followed by a layer of dark, violent fire.
A star-filled region of pure ether surrounds a circle of moisture. At the centre
46
sits a globe within which is a great mountain. As a whole, the egg represents
both the majesty and mystery of the Creator and of creation. At the same
time, the different layers serve as a kind of paradigm for relationships – at the
centre is the yolk, the source of life, and this stands for the relationship with
the Creator, the essential spiritual source of existence. Other illuminations of
her work also represent the same holistic weltanschauung.
At the same time, the visions which filled her world with the Living Light
commanded her to arise therefore, cry out and tell… and she obeyed this
behest to the letter. Here the vital connection between the spiritual insights
she received and her active engagement with the secular world of the time
with all its inherent contradictions and injustices is apparent. The courage and
forthright candour of her writing are clearly evident in her letters and her
sermons.
I must also point out here, that Hildegard, in radical opposition to the
patriarchal cast of Christian discourse, repeatedly points to a distinct
feminisation of the Divine. She not only speaks of both Wisdom and Holy
Spirit as feminine, but also write “ Therefore the faithful…thirst for the justice
of God and suck holiness from his breasts….” and “Through the fountain-
fullness of the Word came the embrace of God’s maternal love, which
nourished us into life…”
Mira was a part of the Bhakti tradition, which broke through barriers of caste,
class and gender, offering a space and a voice to each bhakta and direct
unmediated access to God. She not only found herself in opposition to the
Brahminical practices of the time, but in direct contravention of the Rajput
dharma instilled into every member of the clan. Parita Mukta in her book,
Upholding the Common Life: the Community of Mirabai, shows how Mira, by
flouting the constraints and prescriptions of Rajput dharma, earned the most
bitter invective they could find: she was termed a kul-nasi, a destroyer of the
clan. She also shows how Mira’s songs continue to function as a subterranean
call to identity and meaning for the lower casts, the artisans, the Dalits,
communities of widows and other marginalised and subjugated groups.
Valorising, as Mira’s songs do, the individual experience of call and
47
commitment above societal impositions and roles, they offer an opening for
the articulation of desired and unfulfilled aspirations.
The imagery of Mira’s poetry is charged with the energy of desire – a desire
that employs the analogy of physical, even erotic longing for the Beloved.
The metaphor of the mystical marriage, the one-ing of soul and God, runs
through the entire discourse. At the same time, her words catch the
imagination with a startling potency. Her poetry and music is alive and well,
forming part of a vibrant oral tradition even today. It is important, however,
that we note the ways in which the more fundamentalist forces have sought to
co-opt the iconic power of this radically different woman saint. Visual
representations of this woman from earliest miniatures, through calendar art,
film and comic books (Amar Chitra Katha) make this very evident.
Both Hildegard and Mira serve as role-models for women who seek to
integrate the spiritual dimension into their feminism today. Their lives and
work stand for the energy and power of spiritual energy, a call to freedom and
personal search that has vital consequences in terms of involvement with
shared liberation as part of the human community and engagement with
serious issues ranging from ecology to injustices of gender, caste and class,
that speak to us with an urgency and a persuasion across the centuries. Their
radical discourse offers us a path to relational healing and wholeness even
today.
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48
HISTORIES FROM THE BORDERLANDS

- Sharmila Rege
THE intellectual beginnings of this essay can be found in an autobiographical

account of my engagement with feminism and sociology as a student, a
lecturer and an activist.
As a sociologist located in a UGC-sponsored Women’s Studies Centre,

seeking to include/incorporate/integrate feminism in sociology, one found
oneself on the margins, along with those who experienced the academy as an
alien terrain. In academic life, Women’s Studies organisationally exists as a
semi-separate space, only in relation to ideas and research and not in relation
to any convincing inter-disciplinarity. One thus travels between Women’s
Studies, the zone of exclusion, which allows greater expression of feminist
ideas and practices, and the zones of inclusion within sociology, in relation to
which one stands as an outsider.
Location as a feminist (outsider) in the academy gives one a vantage point that
binds epistemology and ontology such that all knowledge (even the insiders’)
emerges as located, grounded and limited. What follows is an account of some
of the contemporary practices of Indian sociology as perceived from one such
location on the margins.
At the end of the 20th century, sociology, like most other social sciences,
faced an impasse. Globalizing tendencies on one hand, and the resurgence of
the Hindutva brigade in the last two decades on the other, have made the
presence of sociologies from the margins more critical to the forging of
political agendas and public policies. The number of women, dalit and
bahujan students in the social sciences has registered a sharp increase, in many
ways bringing a renewed vitality to the margins.
The increased scope and pace of social transformations, the spectre of

privatisation of higher education, and the furious race for shrinking resources
49
are rendering the margins more vulnerable to challenges within and without
the university. In such contexts, the concentration of research facilities in a
few ‘national’ centres of excellence or a greater guarding of disciplinary
boundaries and a retreat behind seemingly protective disciplinary barriers is
often sought to be legitimised as a way out of a disciplinary crisis.
However, a heightened sensitivity to disciplinary histories need not necessarily

mean increased sensitivity to the margins. In times of crisis, issues of
institutional and intellectual marginality may in fact be pushed under the
carpet of university formats and pragmatic constraints. An intellectual past of
first generation sociologists whose works defied discursive boundaries, and an
institutional past of being a ‘residual category’ discipline,1 may not guarantee
sustained dialogues with the margins.
There have been, across generations of practitioners, sustained debates on the

development, institutionalisation and indigenisation of the discipline. More
recently, there have been inquiries into the ‘crisis’ in the discipline, on the
constitution of the disciplinary field and its core, and on practical aspects of
curriculum development and pedagogies.2 These guarantee a commitment to
self-reflexivity and dialogue across borders. The present inquiry locates itself
in this tradition of self-reflexivity, while positioning itself on the site of
‘borderlands’.3
Academic borderlands are the territories that lie between the academy and
activism, sociology and gender studies, metropolitanism and regionalism,
disciplinary boundaries and identities and interdisciplinary capacities. The
‘borderlands’ are themselves no doubt a contested zone, co-inhabited as they
are by people of different castes, classes, languages, ethnicities, sexualities and
politics. More importantly, in the academy, these socially contested
borderlands are epistemological borderlands constituting the interface between
different claims to knowledge.
Many of us who came to sociology in the late 1980s via university

departments outside the metropolitan centres found little trace of the feminist
and dalit student radicalism associated with these social movements. The
curriculum could be best described as apolitical, distanced from history, with
50
courses neatly packaged into dichotomies of structure and change, modernity

and tradition, rural and urban. The setting up of women’s studies centres by
the UGC in the borderlands of established departments in the social sciences
opened the possibilities of contesting these dichotomies and of doing
politically engaged and personally relevant sociologies. It is important to note
that the residual character of sociology and the absence of discursive unity has
made it a space for Marxist, Dalit and feminist scholars to intervene.
For the feminists in these newly constituted academic borderlands, the

institutions and their practices were most obviously masculinist – in two
closely related senses. The founders, the knowledge-makers, were
predominantly male; also only that which was scientific and rational was
defined as knowledge. The feminists were, therefore, ontologically
‘strangers’,4 functioning as ‘marginal intellectuals’5 in the academy. There
was much intellectual excitement as feminist critiques of the discipline
challenged the absence and distortion of women’s experiences in sociological
knowledge. The history of the discipline was read more as a sociology of
absences, constituting thereby a ‘sociology of lack of knowledge.’
It was a period marked by the labelling and denouncing of the mainstream as

‘malestream’ and, at the institutional level, by a mushrooming of courses on
‘women and society’ in departments of sociology. It seemed as if sociology
had opened its boundaries to processes and developments beyond the
discipline initiated by the women’s movement. Some on the borderlands even
anticipated a feminist revolution.
Yet, as is apparent today, not only is a feminist revolution missing in

sociology,6 but also that sociology has seen far less transformation in
conceptual frameworks than other disciplines. The disciplinary assumptions
and boundaries have not been as deeply questioned and reworked in sociology
as, for instance, they have been in history, English or economics.7
The central importance accorded to the study of family, marriage and kinship
meant that women were not invisible in sociology the way they were in history
or economics. Such a presence of women in the disciplinary core has given
sociology the label of a ‘soft’ and ‘general’ discipline and, to that extent; there
51
have been relatively less resistance to women practitioners in the field. Most
women practitioners have sought to contest the discrimination in the
profession, though very few have been concerned with the sexism of the
discipline; even fewer see feminist sociology as a way of doing radical
sociology. Consequently, there has been little transformation in the
overarching brahmanical conceptualisations of caste in the academy.
As a feminist on the borderlands, one finds that the selective incorporation of

feminist ideas has come at the cost of assimilation and, more importantly, less
dialogue across boundaries. The feminist challenge is as if locked into a
framework of ‘successor science’ versus ‘sociological revenge’. The feminist
borderlands have themselves come under sharp scrutiny as the unified notions
of female subordination have come to be challenged. Feminist critics of
sociology find themselves turning to the discipline with a new-found sense of
belonging. The mission is still to explore, from the margins, what sociology
can be and should not be, but with a more discerning sensitivity to the history
of the discipline.
On the borderlands this means that several things need to be done. The
varying conceptions of woman/feminism in the biographies of professional
organisations, journals, academic departments, curricular and pedagogic
practices need to be mapped, and the biographies of women and feminist
practitioners and their careers need to be structuralised.
This essay limits itself to a review of changing conceptions in a professional

journal, viz. Sociological Bulletin, the official journal of the Indian
Sociological Society. To that extent, it gives a partial picture of contemporary
disciplinary practices.8 Obviously, it is not a complete history, for no one
journal can be the sole indicator. Nonetheless, a map of the conceptual and
theoretical paradigms helps tease out the dialectical relationships between
sociological conceptions and the historical and social processes. Omissions,
issues that were not debated or debated elsewhere, also provide important
clues.
None of the articles that appeared in the Sociological Bulletin (SB) during the
period 1952-70 were thematically concerned with women. Most obviously
52
one begins to trace the presence of women in the area of marriage and family.
In the first decade after the inception of the journal in 1952, there were
interesting presences of women in writings on ‘the return of bourgeois family
in socialist Russia’ (Vol. 2, March 1953), polyandry in Malabar (Vol. 7,
March 1958), role of women in the family in early Christianity (Vol. 13,
September 1964). Most of the writings on the family were concerned with the
transition from ‘institutional’ to ‘companionship’ marriage, the changes in sex
roles, and the impact of female education on familial interpersonal relations
(Vol. 4, September 1955; Vol. 9, March 1960; Vol. 7, March 1958).
It is important to note that in all the opinion surveys on attitudinal changes

towards the family, the samples appeared to be male. Categories such as
‘graduate teachers’ and ‘students’ were classified by class and caste but
treated as gender-neutral (Vol. 4, September 1955; Vol. 9, 1961). Checklists
in these surveys reiterated gender stereotypes such as ‘women do not adjust,
there is bickering amongst them’ (Vol. 5, 1955, p. 170). There were two
articles on matrimonial advertisements (Vol. 14, March, 1965 and Vol. 15,
March 1966) which highlighted ‘personal appearance’ and ‘efficiency in
domestic chores’ as ranking high on a list of expectations from brides.
While one expected the presence of women in articles in the area of marriage
and family, what came as a surprise was the presence of women in articles on
urbanisation and urban social problems. In assessing the social effects of
urbanisation on industrial workers, women migrants were treated as a specific
category (Vol. 6, March 1957). The studies on urban ecology (Vol. 9, March
1960), traced the relations between the social character of the ecological area
and the age/sex structure. In studying urban social problems (Vol. 8, March
1959), especially beggary and prostitution, the stereotypes about ‘female vices
and immoral practices’ were reiterated (Vol. 9, September 1960).
But there was a near complete absence of women in articles on community

development programmes (Vol. 7, September 1958). Studies on knowledge of
political personages in villages were based on all male samples (Vol. 10,
September 1961). A similar invisibility of women could be noted in articles
on caste/class patterns, social mobility, and in the increasing number of
articles on panchayat raj and trade unions in the post-1965 period.
53
The ‘voices of women’ could be heard most in opinion surveys on fertility and
family planning (Vol. 10, September 1961; Vol. 12, September 1963). A
sociological analysis of the family planning programme (Vol. 15, September
1966) was explicitly done from a woman’s perspective and drew conclusions
that feminists were to later highlight in the early eighties. It argued that
women were reduced to unpaid workers, handmaids and bedfellows.
Women’s opinions on sexual satisfaction and their inability to refuse their
husbands were noted as serious factors to reckon with if the family planning
programme were to succeed. There was also a note of protest against women
being held solely responsible for family planning.
In the first decade not more than five women life members of the Indian
Sociological Society were listed, but by 1970 at least 20 more had joined.
Most women contributors (a total of about 10) in the period (1952-1970) wrote
mainly on fertility, marriage, divorce and changes in familial relationships.
Sunanda Patwardhan and Parvathamma, however, contributed in the ‘male’
domain of studies on about landholding patterns and power relations and caste
in crisis.
The presidential addresses of the period, save the address by K.M. Kapadia at
the Rajasthan Sociological Conference (where the issue of social change was
addressed via an inquiry into the impact of the Widow Remarriage Act, 1956),
were silent on women. However, none were overtly sexist in language and
content. The panels at the All India Sociological Conferences (AISC) held in
1967, 1968, and 1969 reiterated the same story.
The presidential addresses in the 1970s were primarily concerned with issues
of modernisation, development and planning (1970, 1971), the intellectual
traditions in Indian sociology (1976) and the sociologist’s quest for a better
society (1978). The addresses and the panels at the conferences outlined the
role of the sociologist – as an observer, analyst, or interventionist. There were
debates on Marxian methods as value-loaded (1970), on the sociology of
social movements (1976) and on whether the sociologist’s participation in
social movements made him/her more integrated (1978). Most addresses were
‘outward looking’ and in some ways took note of political happenings and the
social movements of the period.
54
The publication of the Report of the Committee on Status of Women in India

(1975), and the resurgence of the second wave in the women’s movement in
India were, however, missing, even as passing references. The report of the
CSWI was listed in the books received but not reviewed in the pages of the
journal.
A panel on ‘Changing Status of Women in India: Policies and Problems’ was

organised by Tara Patel, probably for the first time in the history of the All
India Sociological Conference. It focused on the invisibility of rural and
working class women in sociological research and the decreasing political
participation of women in the post-independence period. There was some
discussion on how the ‘non-militant’ Indian women performed dual roles in
contrast to their western counterparts. Popular cinema was held responsible for
giving a setback to the liberation of women in India (1978).
The debate on sociology of sociologists in India (Vol. 27, September 1978),

concluded that sociology was an overwhelmingly male profession.
Interestingly, the long list of professional research areas made no reference to
sociology of women, feminism or even ‘status of women’. Nevertheless,
despite being an overwhelmingly male profession, women have been office-
bearers of the Indian Sociological Society and have served as editorial
advisors of the Bulletin since 1975.
A thematic review of the articles published in the Sociological Bulletin in the

1970s showed sustained interest in issues of social class and educational-
occupational aspirations. Agrarian relations and electoral processes emerged
as new areas of concern, though research in many of these areas became
overtly sexist. In one study on social class and occupational prestige in India
(Vol. 21, March 1972), the sample was reduced from 2091 to 1908 as female
heads of house-holds and those who gave inadequate information were
excluded. A study on caste, class and sex variations in social distance among
college students, found girls to be more ‘liberal in their attitudes’, but
‘idiosyncrasy’ was stated as an explanatory factor! (Vol. 24, September 1975).
In research on the electoral process, the only reference to women was in the
form of ‘dislike of Indira Gandhi’ in the region under study because of her
being a woman and a widow (Vol. 20, September 1971).
55
Social movements and theoretical frameworks to study them became a major

area of concern in this decade (Vol. 26, March 77) with the peasant and dalit
movements included along with the earlier interests in reform and religious
movements. Only one passing reference to women’s movements was,
however, found in this volume on social movements, and that too as an
example of how party-based activities may be misconceived as national
movements. During this period articles on marriage and family marked a
sharp decrease (there were only three). Women became relatively more
invisible in the pages of the Bulletin as compared to the 1950s and 1960s,
especially as the analyses of social movements and political processes
outnumbered those of the family.
In the post 1975 period, there were some references to role of women in sex
being a result of socialisation (Vol. 28, March and September 1979) and to
processes of women’s decision making in the family (Vol. 26, September
1977). Though it was claimed that the most conspicuous social change in
Indian society was in the area of status of women (Vol. 25, March 1976), there
were no takers for studying this conspicuous change. The impact of feminism
and early women’s studies in India was best seen in two articles of the period.
While one underlined female participation in farm work (Vol. 25, September
1976), the other highlighted women’s membership in a women’s club as a
factor in family status and production work (Vol. 24, September 1980).
Nevertheless, the decade was significant for the increased sensitivity to the
history of the discipline, its teaching and research programmes. There was
more discussion on ideology and social sciences, involvement and detachment
of social scientists, radical sociologies, and even some critiques of the
divorcing of human experience from knowledge. The ground was being
prepared for integrating knowledge, experience and politics.
The growth towards interpretative and reflexive sociological knowledge

continued in the 1980s. There were pleas for contextualisation, discussions on
phenomenological sociology and reflexive reviews of paradigms and
discourses. This opening up to the social construction of knowledge was
accompanied by a flood of studies from a Marxist perspective, especially on
agrarian structures in India. While neither of the above mentioned trends
56
showed any direct influence of feminism or feminist studies, by contesting the

positivist abstract ‘objectivity’ they made way for feminist analyses of the
social construction of knowledge.
The 1980s were marked by a combination of studies that gave visibility to

women as well as those that posed paradigmatic challenges. It is interesting to
note that while the former were dispersed across several volumes, the
conceptual and epistemological challenges appeared as an exception in a
single volume. If you miss this volume, you miss the voices of the feminist
revolution in the discipline!
The impact of feminist research and the proliferation of women’s studies were
developments seen in several articles of the period. One directly addressed the
limitations of the survey method and highlighted the importance of everyday
living contexts to understand the conflicts in women’s working and
occupational lives (Vol. 33, March/September 1984). A more direct challenge
to the dominant paradigms was posed in a critique of the biologistic
assumptions of the structural-functionalist approach to explaining the
inequalities between the sexes. A case was made for setting aside male-
centred categories in Marxist analysis for a more ‘gender-sensitive’ frame of
socialist feminism (Vol. 36, March 1987).
‘Gender’ as a theoretical category came to be employed, probably for the first

time, in the study of change in family structures (Vol. 37, March, September
1988) and in drawing up of a profile of women as actual agricultural
producers. The relationship between the segregation and seclusion of women
and the invisibility of their work came to be underlined. Life histories and
statistical profiles were combined to underline the processes of permeation of
gender ideology in societal perception of women’s education, sharply
challenging the assumed link between education and modernisation in case of
women (Vol. 39, March-September 1990).
Equally underlined was the failure of conventional approaches to social

stratification to explain gender differences in education and occupational
attainment, advancing a case for a feminist-materialist approach to
interrogating the education system as a mediator of caste, class and gender
57
inequalities. The dangers of ‘cultural relevance’ in education in a gender-

based society were delineated by teasing out the gender relativism in
educational policies and practices (Vol. 39 March-September 1990). The
books reviewed in the issues of the Bulletin of this period included at least five
works by feminist scholars; also the workshops conducted before and after the
World Congress of Sociology had specific panels on ‘women’ issues: wife-
battering, women’s struggles and gender as a basis of social stratification (Vol.
35, September 1986).
In his inaugural speech at the XI World Congress of Sociology, M.N. Srinivas

underlined the significance of women’s studies in highlighting the
androcentric bias in the social sciences. Significantly, he viewed women’s
studies as one more trend in Indian sociology, among other trends that sought
to comprehend Indian society from the point of view of the oppressed. The
working paper for a panel on ‘Gender and Society’ organised at the XXth
AISC underlined the ways in which gender perspectives could reorganise and
reconstitute sociological discourse.9 This was a significant development in
that it was probably the first time that the feminist challenge to received
theoretical and epistemological notions was put so directly.
However, the abstracts of the 43 listed papers in the panel reflected the
carryover of an obsession with roles and role conflict, and a series of
confusions emerged from the rather loose use of the concepts of sex and
gender. By this time, courses on ‘women and society’ had made their
appearance in the postgraduate sociology syllabi. However, the conceptual
confusions in the abstracts suggest that the increasing visibility of ‘women’
had not meant any significant reworking of sociological discourse.
The last decade (1990-96) witnessed a greater presence of feminist scholarship

in the journal. Matriliny (Vol. 42, March-September 1993), nude worship
(Vol. 41, March-September 1992), political patriliny (Vol. 43, March 1994),
and the social history of the Age of Consent Bill (Vol. 45, March 1996) were
discussed. The larger part of the discursive space was occupied by Dalit
movements, Dalit resistance (Vol. 45, September 1996), social mobility, and
ethnicity (Vol. 41, March-September 1992). Gender as an analytical category
58
was usually missing in these, the exceptions being two of the three articles on
the social impact of the new economic policy (Vol. 44, March 1955).
Discussions on feminist pedagogies and the sociology of emancipation,

conceptual issues in theorising patriarchy, feminist social theories and
women’s narratives of pain were all packed into a single issue (Vol. 44,
September 1995). In his Presidential Address at the XXIIth AISC, Yogendra
Singh highlighted the importance of gender sociology as a form of doing
‘activist sociology’.
Yet, there seems to have been little organisational initiative to develop the
sub-field in a manner that would establish ‘gender’ as a category of analysis
just as crucial as caste and class. If anything, the questions of ‘class or caste’,
‘class or gender’ and more recently ‘caste or gender’, were debated more
outside the pages of the Sociological Bulletin. The debates on ‘status of
women in India’, the women’s movement in India, violence against women,
work inside and outside the home, and the structures of patriarchy remained
significant omissions.
More questions than conclusions emerge from this review of the articles
published in the Sociological Bulletin (1952-1996), the presidential addresses
of the AISC, and reports of the AISC conferences. Sexism was apparent in the
formulation of the research questions, in the methods used, the data collected
and interpretations made. Nevertheless, dominant assumptions within the
disciplines started being challenged from 1975 and the possibilities and
potential of interpretative, politically engaged, radical sociologies came to be
discussed. That this created a ground for feminist interventions is reflected in
the absence of any direct refutations or backlash to feminist scholarship.
The impact of these interventions has been most marked in substantive

sociology (family, education), with empirical work on questions raised by the
women’s movement, but the conceptual framework and dominant paradigms
have continued relatively unchanged. ‘Women’ as subject matter were never
completely absent in the sociological discourse of the Bulletin, since in the
important sub-fields of family and demography, for instance, they could not be
ignored. However, sociologists of politics, religion, formal organisations, and
59
social movements virtually ignored women. For those working in quantitative

research traditions, gender (understood as division between men and women)
has been easily included as one more variable. Feminist scholarship and
theorisation on gender has been included as one more kind of scholarship.
Overall, the impact of feminism or other engaged sociologies like Marxist

sociology on the discipline (at least as it appears in the Sociological Bulletin)
has been negligible. The ‘origins’ of the sociological study of gender in
sociological studies of family and marriage (largely within a functionalist
frame) have left an imprint in terms of basic conceptualisations and
assumptions. The conceptualisations invariably fall into a frame of ‘sex
roles’, and there is a lasting assumption that ‘gender’ operates primarily in the
private sphere. This had a very depoliticising effect for all those striving
towards a feminist sociology. (As someone put it, ‘Imagine talking of "class
roles" or "caste roles" and you’ll know how depoliticising "roles" have been!’)
In feminist scholarship, it has been customary to speak of ‘paradigm

replacements’. It is assumed that feminist interventions would gradually move
from making women visible to documentation of inequality, conceptualising
gender as social structure, and finally to a stage of conceptualisation of the
complex matrices of gender and other structural inequalities. As is apparent
from the pages of the Bulletin, such a ‘stages approach’ is much too neat to be
real. The varieties of assimilations and co-options have meant the loss of an
erstwhile oppositional epistemological frame and a weakening of the voices on
the borderlands. Organised and organisational efforts, research committees,
and pressure groups within professional bodies are needed to tackle these
issues, and more.
The tensions and dialogues between the ‘many worlds’ of women/gender in

sociology suggest that several dichotomies need to be addressed. History and
sociology, regionalism and metropolitanism, the intellectual and institutional,
appear as dichotomies in institutional practices, as do objectivism and
subjectivism and brahmanical and non-brahmanical perspectives in the
disciplinary core. Without these, reflexive reconstructions of theoretical
frameworks, conceptual systems and epistemological positions are likely to be
60
postponed. As also the feminist revolution in sociology and probably a

feminist presidential address at the AISC!
Footnotes:
1. D.N. Dhanagare, Indian Sociology: Themes and Perspectives, Jaipur, Rawat, 1993.
2. See, e.g., T.K.N. Unnithan et al., For a Sociology of India, New Delhi, Prentice
Hall, 1965; R. Mukherjee, Sociology of Indian Sociology, Bombay, Allied, 1980; T.K.
Oommen and P.N. Mukherjee (eds.), Indian Sociology: Reflections and
Introspections, Bombay, Popular Prakashan, 1986; D.N. Dhanagare, Themes and
Perspectives; and N.K. Singhi (ed.), Theory and Ideology in Indian Sociology, Jaipur,
Rawat, 1996. Also relevant are: P. Uberoi, ‘Some Reflections on Teaching the
Sociology of Gender’, Samyashakti 4 & 5, 1989-90 and ‘Reciprocity in Social
Science: Gender Issues’, Indian Journal of Social Science 6(3), 1993, pp. 243-58; M.
Thapan, ‘Sociology in India: A View from Within’, Economic and Political Weekly
26(19), 11 May 1991, pp. 1229-34; S. Hedge, ‘On Sociology in/of India: Towards a
Discursive Deviation’, Social Scientist 17(5-6), 1989, pp. 93-108; V. Das,
‘Sociological Research in India: The State of Crisis’, Economic and Political Weekly
28(23), 1993, pp. 1159-61; A. Beteille, ‘Sociology and Common Sense’, Economic
and Political Weekly 31(35-37), September 1996, pp. 2361-65; S. Deshpande, ‘Crisis
in Sociology: A Tired Discipline’, Economic and Political Weekly 29(10), 5 March
1994, pp. 575-76; A. Giri, ‘Creating a Community of Discourse in Sociology in India’,
Economic and Political Weekly 28(29-30), 17-24 July 1993, pp. 1538-39; G.B.V.
Murthy, ‘Crisis in Sociological Research’, Economic and Political Weekly 28(45), 6
November 1993; and S. Rege, ‘If this is Tuesday – it must be Social Roles: Sociology
and the Challenge of Gender Studies’, Economic and Political Weekly 29(19) 7 May
1994, pp. 1155-56.
3. The notion of ‘Borderlands’ derives from Gloria Anzaldua’s concept of La frontera,
and from the notion of Gavkusa Baheril (outside the margins of the village, the
settlement of the dalits) as it appears in the autobiographies of dalit writers. La
frontera and Gavkusa Baheril are literal borders that create people whose everyday
ontological condition is one of liminality (see Borderlands/La Frontera: The New
Mestiza, San Francisco, Aunt Lute Books, 1987.
4. See G. Simmel, ‘The Sociological Significance of the Stranger’, in R. Park and
E.W. Burgess (eds.), Introduction to the Science of Sociology. Chicago, Chicago
University Press, 1921.
5. K. Mannheim, Ideology and Utopia, London, Routledge, 1936.
6. J. Stacey and B. Thorne, ‘The Missing Feminist Revolution in Sociology’, Social
Problems 32, 1985, pp. 301-16.
61
7. Mary John, ‘The Encounter of Sociology and Women’s Studies: Questions from the
Border.’ Paper presented at a national seminar on ‘Recasting Indian Sociology: The
Changing Contours of the Discipline’, JNU, 20-21 March 1997.
8. A UGC minor project to review woman/feminism in the Sociological Bulletin(the
official journal of the Indian Sociological Society), Samajshastra Samshodhan Patrika
(the official publication of the regional Marathi Samajshastra Parishad), as also in the
biographies of women and feminist practioners, sociology syllabi and pedagogical
practices in universities in Maharashtra is presently under way at the Women’s Studies
Centre, University of Pune. The present essay, however, is largely based on a review
of issues of Sociological Bulletin in the period 1952-1996.
9. Sujata Patel, ‘Gender and Society: Contemporary Theoretical Challenges’. Working
Paper, XX AISC, Mangalore, 1993.
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62
MAHATMA PHULE AND WOMEN’S LIBERATION

- Lalitha Dhara
Introduction
Mahatma Phule (1827 - 1890) is hailed as the Father of Social Revolution in

India but not many know that he is the original architect of the Gender
Revolution as well. This article will attempt to highlight the gender dimension
of Mahatma Phule’s contribution. But since it is impossible to divorce Phule’s
theory from practice, his work from that of Savitribai’s, their work from their
life, we will discuss the life and work of the Phules in an integrated manner, as
it panned out.
Early influences
Jotirao Govindrao Phule (1827 – 1890) belonged to the Mali caste whose
members were traditionally gardeners and were considered as ‘low caste’ or
Shudras in the Brahmanical caste hierarchy of Hindu society. This community
was not expected to receive education but be subservient to the ‘higher castes’.
Despite these odds Jotirao was exposed to English education, thanks to his
enlightened aunt Sagunabai, a child widow, who came to live with him when
his own mother died in his infancy.
To earn a living, she took up a job as a domestic help and baby-sitter in the
house of a dedicated missionary, Mr. John, who ran an orphanage for children.
She picked up some English at her job. She also absorbed some of the western
notions of equality, liberty, fraternity that were part and parcel of the many
discussions at her work place and later infused Jotirao with these values. It
was on her insistence that he was put in a Scottish Mission school (Mani,
Sardar, 2008).
This exposed Jotirao to western reformist literature. A significant input came

from the criticism of religion in the French Enlightenment. Thomas Paine’s
63
Rights of Man and Age of Reason with its emphasis on the natural rights of
individuals and the need to subject traditional institutions including religion to
free discussion and criticism made a deep impact on him (Chakravarti, 1998).
Being a bright, sensitive boy, the young Jotirao not only did well academically
but started reflecting critically about the ground realities of the vast majority
of the rural masses, of which he was a part. His personal experience of
humiliation during the marriage of his ‘high caste’ friend only added to his
resolve to oppose social stratifications, whatever form they might assume.
As Jotirao got educated, he began to teach his aunt Sagunabai and wife
Savitribai to read and write. Significantly, Sagunabai had started a school for
the ‘untouchables’ in 1846 which had to be closed down in six months due to
lack of support. Thus, the Phules already had a role model and a precedent in
Sagunabai and her work (Mani, Sardar, 2008).
The young Phule had many diverse influences acting upon him - Christian
missionaries with their liberal ideas and compassionate outlook; Western
literature with its ideas of individual rights; exposure to Islamic tenets as a
result of living in a Muslim neighbourhood which enabled him to compare and
contrast the tenets of Hinduism with that of Islam. This is attested to by Phule
himself when; at the end of his seminal essay - Cultivator’s Whipchord; he
refers to the early influences in his life:
I first remember with gratitude my childhood Mussalmanneighbours and
playmates in whose company I began to have true thoughts about the falsities
of the selfish Hindu religion and its false ideas of caste distinctions etc.
Second, I express my gratitude to the Scottish Mission in Pune and the
government institution – through whom I acquired some education and
understanding of what a human being’s rights are…. Then I thank the
independent rule of the British government because of which I could express
my views without fear….. (Deshpande, 2002, pg183).
Along with these, the thoughts and writings of Gautam Buddha, Kabir,
Tukaram, Ashwaghosh (author of the book Vajrasuchi) as also the teachings
of Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammad had a great influence on Jotirao
(Narke, 2007).
64
The historical context
The turn of the 19th century saw a spurt of social reforms ushered in by men,
beginning in Bengal and spreading to other parts of India, including
Maharashtra. The British had taken over Poona in 1818 marking the end of the
Peshwa rule of the Brahmans. The latter were stripped of political power but
still had the advantage of lineage, patronage, caste status and clout. This
gradually led to the re-fashioning of the Brahmana class, as it were, under
colonial rule. The changing political economy saw the emergence of an
English-educated middle class who began to examine their socio-cultural
practices with the newly acquired lens of western sensibilities. The reforms
that were demanded during this period reflected the changes that were
sweeping across India (Dhara ed., 2012).
An important aspect of the reforms was the upliftment of women. The

abysmally low status of Indian women and the cruel practices like sati,
enforced widowhood, infant marriage, purdah grabbed their attention.
Around the time that young Jotirao was growing up, the social reform
movement was gathering tempo. Gopal Hari Deshmukh (1823 - 1892) alias
Lokhitwadi’s ‘Shatpatre’ started getting published in Bhau Mahajan’s
‘Prabhakar’ in 1848 in which he vehemently criticized the cruel practices in
Hindu society, specially those pertaining to women. He also sent an
application to the governor of Bombay in 1848 about the miseries of widows.
Other vocal voices on the issue of widow remarriage were Balashastri
Jambekar (1812-1846) who spoke out against enforced widowhood, female
infanticide in his newspaper Darpan in 1832;DadobaPandurang (1814-1882)
who was a rationalist; Krishna Shastri Chiplunkar(1824 - 1878); Vishnu
Shastri Pandit (1827- 1876) who started the Punar Vivahotejak Mandal in
1866 (Dhara, Urdhva Mula, 2012)
The reform movement was largely an upper-caste phenomenon and the subject
of their concern, however limited, was the upper-caste woman. Nevertheless
it had the potential to go beyond its immediate class\ caste interests and it did,
ushering in the entry of non-Brahman reformers led by Jotirao Phule.
65
Jotirao’s critical enquiry was thus supported by the turbulent times he lived in.
This, together with the cultural and educational impact of British rule and
British education, shaped his radical praxis. He began to apply the principles
of the human rights discourse to caste and gender stratified Hindu
Brahmanical social order. His analysis led him to realize that education was
the key to the liberation of what he termed as the Shudras, ati-Shudras and
women as these sections had been deliberately and forcibly kept away from
education by the Brahmanical caste order (Deshpande, 2002).
Phules’ gender praxis
The first gender-sensitive act of Jotirao was to encourage his young wife
Savitri to read and write. He personally coached her and his aunt Sagunabai.
Savitri was a bright and eager student who went on to acquire a teacher’s
training certificate.
The Phules started their first school for girls on 15th May, 1848 at Bhidewada
in Pune. Savitribai was its headmistress. The school brought together girls of
all castes under one roof. The first batch consisted of 25 girls. In the same
year they also set up a school for untouchable girls. Savitribai along with
Sagunabai, Fatima Sheikh and some male colleagues taught in these schools.
The Phules went on to start no less than 18 schools for women in the next four
years.
On the occasion of one of the annual examinations of his Institution, Phule

expressed the following thoughts on women’s education “To educate women
and to cultivate their intelligence, to give them respect that they deserve and to
take responsibility of their well-being is against the religious beliefs of Hindu
people…..” (Phule,1991). Here Phule links education with respect and dignity
and squarely blames Hindu religion for suppressing women’s right to
education.
In a letter dated 5th February, 1852 to Lord Vicecount Faulkland, the then
Governor of Mumbai, he says, “We are deeply impressed with the necessity
and importance of ameliorating the condition of the Natives and enlightening
minds through the means of female education and under this conviction have
66
instituted a seminary with a view of promoting this beneficent object” (Phule,

1991). Phule is convinced that the overall improvement of society is hinged
on the education of women. He thus accords a huge weightage for women’s
education in contrast to the fellow reformers of his time who wanted, at best,
limited gendered education for women to enable them to be better wives and
mothers. For Phule, it was an inalienable part of women’s human rights.
Elsewhere he says, “……..If men do not come in the way of basic human
rights of women, a free world would come into being and all men and women
would be contented and happy.” (Phule,1991). He rightly saw women’s
human rights as a necessary part of a healthy, happy society.
After a spate of schools, the Phules turned their attention to other social evils.
Child marriage was the norm in society, particularly among the ‘upper’ castes.
Young girls were married to old men and more often than not became child
widows. Widowhood spelt the death of their social and sexual life but
ironically increased their sexual vulnerability and exploitation by the males in
the family. They faced further disgrace if they happened to become pregnant
as a result. This often left them with no choice but to take their own life, their
infant’s life or both.
Their sexual exploitation moved the Phules into opening up their home to the
pregnant child widows in 1863. Here too their approach was different from
their fellow reformers who would tend to keep the issue under wraps. None
came forward to address the issue squarely. The Phules were, in contrast,
quite upfront about their objectives. They put up huge posters at the
Brahmanwada, directly appealing to the young widows not to lose heart if they
found themselves pregnant. They were invited to the Phules’ residence where
they could deliver their child and stay back or walk away. In this Home,
Savitribai personally helped in delivering babies of more than 35 Brahmin
women. The Phules not only took concrete steps to address the social evil of
child marriages leading to child widows with its consequences but also wrote
about it extensively in every platform available to them, then and later.
Consider excerpts from Phule’s response to a note by Mr. B.M. Malabari on

enforced widowhood dated 4th December, 1884:
67
I request your enlightened English Government to remove the tyranny of

enforced widowhood, exercised upon the helpless women, by the relentless
system of Aryan religious institution. I propose that no barbers be allowed to
shave the unfortunate Brahmin widows. When it prohibits the widows from
remarrying, why the widowers should be allowed to remarry? If the favour be
shown to the latter then the poor widows must of necessity be permitted to
remarry. There is no doubt that the selfish and wicked law-givers must have
added such unjust and nonsensical clauses into their shastras with malice
towards the female sex.
Here Phule lashes out at the cruelty meted out to the Brahmin widows while
letting the widowers remarry and traces the roots of this patriarchal
discrimination to the Hindu religious texts. The Brahmana reformers who
discussed and debated enforced widowhood offered peculiar arguments
against it, none of which had anything to do with the victim’s trauma. They
seemed more concerned about the ‘disastrous’ effects that the repressed
sexuality of the widows would have on the moral fabric of society if it was
randomly vented or about widows being deprived of the very purpose of their
womanly existence – motherhood or the anxiety of the parents and parents-in-
law to keep them ‘pure’. It was only the non-Brahmin reformers who could
see it for what it was – a blatant abuse of human rights in a caste and gender
ridden society. This was probably because the latter were looking at these
hierarchies from the bottom up.
Phule took a firm stand against gender atrocities, particularly sati. According
to him, “The woman has to suffer a lot of hardships and pain when her
husband dies. She has to carry her widowhood till her death. Often she used
to burn herself in her husband’s funeral pyre. But have you ever heard of a
man doing the same in grief over his wife’s death? Despite having a
worshipping wife at home men marry two to three women, but women once
married to a man do not marry other men and bring them home” (Phule,
1991). Here again, Phule minced no words in attacking the patriarchal order
that grants privileges to men over women.
Savitribai and Jotirao were childless. There was immense pressure on Jotirao
to remarry. Jotirao refused. His argument was, if I am responsible for the state
68
of childlessness, will Savitri be allowed to remarry? This made Phule one of

the very few reformers who actually practiced gender equality in his personal
life. Instead, they chose to adopt an abandoned child of one of the Brahmin
widows from their Home. They named him Yashwant and educated him to be
a doctor. By their unusual and unconventional act, the Phules threw an open
challenge to many pre-conceived notions of caste, lineage, motherhood,
paternity etc. (Stephen, 2011).
In 1873, Phule set up the SatyashodhakSamaj, a socio-spiritual non-Brahmin

movement which critiqued caste and gender. Satyashodhaks supported the
struggle of women workers in Mumbai against their oppression as workers as
also women. On 25th March 1893, four hundred women from Jacob Mills
agitated against their male bosses. According to Narke, (2007) this was
probably the first self-motivated struggle of Indian women workers for their
rights.
The Samaj took the lead in breaking the priestly hold over society by
conducting marriages sans Brahman priests or religious rituals. The couple
would merely exchange vows.
These vows were written by Phule in 1887, replacing the traditional, Hindu
religious marriage mantras. It goes as follows:
Groom: Maintain the customs of your family
Truth is supreme, honour it;
Teach all the ignorant equally,
I take you in marriage with love, seeing all your deeds
Shubhamangalasavadhan.
Bride: Even though you give respect daily, and your conduct is satisfactory,
All us women are exploited, how will you take me?
We know the experience of freedom and have become self-respecting,
For that will you give rights to women? Take on oath-
Groom: I will fight to win these rights for all women
I honour all women as sisters and you as the only love
For fear of my duty I will take care of you: Shubhamangalasavadhan.
Bride: with brotherhood all around, I take you
69
Laying aside all burdens let us struggle for the welfare of the people,
Holding your hand I vow before all now, Shubhmangalasavadhan.
Audience: Honour always your parents and keep love for your friends,
Give support to the old, the crippled and children, teach them knowledge,
Joyfully throw flowers everywhere and now clap your hands:
The vows are a demand from the bride to be treated with respect and an
assurance from the groom to fulfil his bride’s demand and a joint pledge to
dedicate their lives to the cause of the needy and the oppressed.
The first Satyashodhak marriage took place between Sitaram Jabaji Alhat and
Manjubai Gyanoba Nimbankar and was conducted sans priests, on 25th
December, 1873. The Brahmin priests approached the court against the
Satyashodhak marriage system on the grounds that it deprived them of their
fees and was an encroachment on their religious rights. Every such marriage
resulted in a new legal suit. Jotirao did not lose courage. He fought all the
cases with great tenacity. Though judgements in local and district courts went
against him, he won the cases in the High Court (Narke, 2007).
The Satyashodhaks, led by the Phules, firmly believed in inter-caste marriages

as one of the means to break down the caste system. They personally
supported people who chose to inter-marry. They also got several widows
remarried, braving terrible opposition.
Satsar was a journal that Phule published in 1885 which was a platform for the
debates and discussions of the Satyashodhak members. It reflected the
ideological stand taken by the members on a range of caste and gender issues.
In Satsar number 2, Phule publicly supported Pandita Ramabai’s conversion to
Christianity. He did so for two reasons. One, he saw it as an escape from an
oppressive religion. Two, he saw in it an act of rebellion and assertion by a
woman (Deshpande, 2002). In the same issue, he raises his voice against the
near-hysterical reaction to Tarabai Shinde’s Stree Purush Tulana, published in
1882, which is a stringent critique of male double standards and hypocrisy in
sexual relations (Deshpande, 2002). Not just that, he defends her stand and
whole-heartedly endorses it.
70
In both these cases, Phule had strongly come out in support of these two
women, going against public opinion, clearly revealing his feminist
consciousness.
In the same issue Phule also lambasts men on various counts like polygamous
conduct, promiscuity, aggression, cruelty, double standards. Here Phule is
clearly attacking the privileges and immunity enjoyed by men in a patriarchal
set-up.
Phule wrote the Sarvajanik Satya Dharma Pustak in 1890 (which was
published posthumously in 1891) to provide the philosophical base to the
Satyashodhaks, as an alternative to the classic Hindu texts. Phule has
critiqued patriarchal ideology in this seminal work.
He says, “Our Creator has made us independent beings capable of enjoying

equal rights among ourselves. Every human being has a right to every
position of authority in a village or a country” (Phule, 1991) meaning that
women can aspire to the highest office. According to Narke (2007),
Liberation of women and equality between men and women is natural for
Phule.
Equality between men and women was specially emphasised in the rules laid
down by Jotirao for those who wanted to follow the path of Truth, namely the
Satyashodhaks. This was a part of the truth tenets encoded in the Book:
…..All men and women are by birth independent, and are entitled to enjoy all
due human rights. Those who accept this view are the votaries or followers of
the Truth.
Phule does not use the common word ‘manus’ (human being), but insists on
using ‘stree-purush’. He is the first to do so in India, asserts G. P. Deshpande
(2002). Phule’s use of the phrase ‘sarvaekandarstreepurush’ - all men and
women - reveals his gender consciousness and gender sensitivity. He does not
subsume ‘women’ under ‘men’.
Excerpts from ‘Woman and man’ taken from Sarvajanik Satya Dharma Pustak
is revealing:
71
The Creator has created in the world sources of pleasure for both man and
woman. They also enjoy each other’s company. Both men and women are
equally qualified to enjoy all human rights in equal measure. How can
anyone then have one standard for women and quite another for lustful,
adventurous men? It amounts to saying what belongs to women must naturally
belong to men; the reverse, however, will not apply! Some of them have
codified these kinds of selfish formulations about women in their pseudo
religious book (Deshpande, 2002).
Phule traces the ideological roots of women’s oppression to Hindu religion.

Not content with that, Phule traces women’s secondary position worldwide to
Religion.
All religious texts have been written by holy men. If a holy woman had written
a religious book, men would not have advocated their own rights and ignored
those of women. (Phule, 1991)
In India, the religion of the wife is assumed to be the same as that of her
husband. Jotirao makes it clear in his ‘Sarvajanik Satya Dharma’ that women
and girls have freedom to choose their own religion.
“A woman from any family may read a book on Buddhist religion and if she
wishes, she may accept that religion. Her husband may read the Old and the
New Testaments and if he wishes he may convert himself to Christianity.
Their daughter may read Quran and if she likes it, she may choose to follow
Islam and their son may read ‘Sarvajanik Satyadharma’ and choose to
become a SarvajanikSatyadharmi. Nobody should envy or hate other’s
religion. They should behave with each other with love and affection” (Narke,
2007). Phule treats women as individuals in their own rightand not as
someone’s daughter, wife or mother.
In Sarvajanik Satya Dharma Pustak, he offers arguments as to why women are

mentally and morally superior to men. He writes: a) Even though both enjoy
sexual pleasure, she is left holding the baby, literally and she does this with
grace. b) Unlike man, she supports the entire family of siblings and parents. c)
She is more loving and loyal towards her husband than he is towards her as
72
she remains a widow after his death while he hurriedly remarries (Deshpande,
2002).
According to Phule, men “push themselves and their desires on to women

without their consent, deprive them of education so as to prevent them from
being conscious of their human rights and subject them to oppression.”
(Deshpande, 2002). He believes, like a radical feminist, that all men oppress
women, even though it may have originated among the Brahmins. He
condemns this behavior and finds their source and justification in the pseudo-
religious books of the Hindus (Deshpande, 2002).
Thus for Phule, Indian women are deprived of education, human rights and
human dignity and the culprit behind this is the Hindu texts that advocate both
caste and gender hierarchy, keeping Shudras, ati-Shudras and women in a state
of perpetual backwardness.
Phule’s creative output includes plays, poems. In all of his creative writing,
one can glimpse his gender sensitivity. In 1855, Jotirao wrote the first modern
Marathi play, ‘TrutiyaRatna’ (The third jewel) to highlight the joys of
education and learning. In this play Jotirao has shown a very meaningful
scene wherein at the end of the play, the farmer and his wife are seen going
together to a night school. In this play, the husband says to his wife, “Take
your plate and let us have our meals together. The plot of the Brahmins to
cheat Mali, Kunbi and other lower castes like us in the name of God and
Religion is now known to all. Besides we have realised the importance of
learning and education so let us finish our meals early and go to the night
school started by Jotirao and Savitribai” (Phule, 1991). All the ideas
expressed in this scene are revolutionary. The farmer and his wife partake of
food together, discuss ideas as equal partners and go together to study. Each
of these ideas is gender subversive and was particularly so in his time.
In a poem of Phule’s, Kulambin, that is available for posterity, he waxes

eloquent on the labour and productivity of the peasant woman both within the
family (domestic sphere) and on the farm (public domain) and contrasts it with
the relatively easy life of the Brahmin woman. (Sonalkar in Dhara, ed, 2011).
The caste dimension of women’s oppression is brought out, rather poignantly
73
in this poem. The poem also points to the longer working hours of the peasant
woman as compared to her husband. She wakes up before everyone and is the
last to go to sleep. Herein lies the gender dimension of her oppression.
Phule believes that all women are oppressed by gender but their suffering is
mediated by caste. While he recognizes the pitiable condition of the Brahmin
child widows, he is not blind to their caste privileges viz-a-viz the peasant
women who have to slog in the home and the field. He expresses this thought
in ShetkaryachaAsud (1883). To quote him, “…Do the women in their
(Brahmins’) houses ever work like the women in the farmers’ houses?
Walking behind the plough, sowing grain, weeding grain along with the
husband, lifting up heavy loads of ash, cow-dung, waste matter, or, when in
summer there is not much work, laboring as stone-breakers on roads? Instead
of helping their bhat-bhikshuk husbands, the moment they wake up, they make
themselves up, finish the daily chores and sit listening to scriptures or
mythological stories. At the time of marriages, they do not even touch the
grinder and, wearing expensive clothes, generally parade around making
Shudra women carry things and Shudra men carry umbrellas over their heads.”
Thus Phule’s understanding of gender is nuanced. He is perhaps the first
reformer who consistently applied the human rights perspective to both the
caste and gender question.
The final testimony to Phule’s gender consciousness lies in the fact that he not
only made Savitribai literate but also encouraged her to be a poet. Savitribai
published her first poetry collection, Kavya Phule, in 1854, much before Phule
himself was out in print. Her poetry reflects the angst of the newly emerging
educated woman whose modern sensibilities and aspirations are in conflict
with the existing conditions. Savitribai addresses many issues in her poems
like caste, lack of education, dignity of labour, and environmental awareness
besides penning some nature poems. But her poem to Jotiba is the most
touching in that it demonstrates her deep love, respect and admiration for her
‘guru’. From her poems, it is possible to gauge the extent of freedom and
security Savitribai derived from him. Indeed, Savitribai is considered the first
modern, radical Marathi poet, (Wamburkar, 2011). This could not have been
achieved without Phule’s encouragement and support.
74
Phule’s maiden act of gender justice was to educate his wife, Savitri and
thereby turn her into a partner in his forthcoming projects. This partnership
lasted life-long and resulted in many joint endeavours. In fact, many of
Phule’s projects would not have got off the ground had it not been for
Savitribai’s cooperation. The Phules were constantly experimenting with their
ideas. There is ample evidence to prove that they discussed and debated their
work and their ideas. The three letters (dated 1856, 1868, 1877) that Savitribai
wrote to her husband when she was away at her natal home stands testimony
to this. In these letters, she addresses her husband by name and discusses a
range of issues such as educating ‘low-caste’ women, inter-caste marriage, the
1877 famine (Mani, Sardar, 2008). In those times, writing letters to one’s
husband was taboo as it was supposed to shorten his life. Savitri writes and
engages her husband in issues of social importance so it would be right to
surmise that they constantly exchanged views. Indeed they are acknowledged
as the first modern Indian couple and rightfully so!
Another reason for believing that the Phule couple constantly engaged in
polemics arises from the discovery that many ideas that appear in Phule’s
magnum opus, Gulamgiri (1873) and Shetkaryacha Asud (1883) have
appeared in Savitribai’s poems, Kavya Phule (1854). This clearly reveals that
the Phules discussed these ideas even as they were being formulated by Jotiba.
On her part, she was receptive to these intellectual inputs and was the first to
understand Phule’s genius. In a poem in KavyaPhule, she hails him as the
“Rising sun on the untouchables’ horizon”, at least twenty years before the
world does so! The big question is, is she predicting or projecting his genius?
She couldn’t have done either without being in constant dialogue with him!
Mahatma Phule passed away on November 28, 1890, leaving behind a rich
legacy of ideas and action towards women’s emancipation. After his death,
Savitribai continued his legacy of social and political work until her death in
1897. In the work of the Phules, there was harmony between ideas and action,
theory and practice. In their life, there was much love and mutual respect.
75
Mahatma Phule’s relevance today
Phule has showed us that gender equality begins at home, it begins with the
individual. It includes the use of non-sexist and inclusive language, not
subsuming ‘women’ under ‘men’. It consists of asking simple, rational
questions to oneself and others such as:
If I am found responsible for our state of childlessness, will you let Savitri
remarry?
If there are examples of sati, why aren’t there examples of a sata?
If widows are not permitted to remarry, why should widowers be?
Phule’s feminist praxis lay in the consistency between his feminist thoughts,
words – both critical and creative - and deeds. It is therefore just and right to
hail him as the father of the Gender Revolution!
References
1. Chakravarti Uma (1998), The life and Times of PanditaRamabai, Zubaan,
Delhi
2. Deshpande G.P. (2002), Selected Writings of JotiraoPhule, Left Word Books,
Delhi
3. Dhara Lalitha, (ed) (2011), Phules& Women’s Question, Dr. Ambedkar
College, Mumbai
4. Dhara Lalitha, (ed) (2012), KavyaPhule (English translation), Dr. Ambedkar
College, Mumbai
5. Dhara Lalitha (2012), ‘Early Twentieth Century Women’s Movement in
India’ inUrdhvaMula, vol.6
6. Mani BrajRanjan, Sardar Pamela(2008), A Forgotten Liberator: the life and
struggle of SavitribaiPhule, ,Mountain Peak, New Delhi
7. NarkeHari, (2007), ‘Thoughts of Mahatma Phule on Gender Equality’ in
Breaking the moulds, Books for change, Bangalore
8. NarkeHari, (2010), ‘Dnyanjyoti Savitribai Phule’ in SavitribaiPhule Third
Memorial Lecture, NCERT, Delhi
9. Phule,Jotirao,(1991), Mahatma PhuleSamagraVangmaya(Collected writings
of Mahatma Phule) Maharashtra State Literary and Cultural Board, Mumbai,
1991, 5th Edition,
10. Stephen Cynthia, (2011), ‘Locating the gender-related work of the Phules
within women’s reform movement of nineteenth century Maharashtra’, in
76
Phules and Women’s Question, (ed.), Lalitha Dhara, Dr. Ambedkar College
of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai
11. Wamburkar Jaswandi, (2011), ‘Locating the gender-related work of the
Phules within women’s reform movement of nineteenth century
Maharashtra’, in Phules and Women’s Question, (ed.), Lalitha Dhara, Dr.
Ambedkar College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai
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77
SOCIO CULTURAL & GENDER BARRIERS TO

HEALTH ACCESS OF PAHARIAS: A PRIMITIVE
TRIBAL GROUP IN ODISHA
- Padma Lochan Barma
Paharia or kamar is one of the tribal groups of India. To be more correct, they
are the Primitive Tribal Group (PTG) in the scheduled list of the Government
of India. They are found in the state of M.P., Chattisgarh, Bihar and Odisha.
We witness more than 500 tribal entities all over India. In Odisha as many as
62 such groups are there. The presence of the Paharias is felt in the West
Odisha districts of Bargarh, Balangir, Kalhandi and Nuapada. In those
districts around 1500 families are found. Out of those 1500, 16 families are in
Bargarh, 150 are in Balangir, 300 are in Kalhandi & 1079 families are in the
district of Nuapada, making their population 4241(2001Census).
Ethnologically, the Paharia people are a tribal society having all the
characteristics of a Primitive Tribal Group (PTG). But the irony is that, 62 yrs
after independence they are yet to figure in the schedule tribe list of Odisha.
Such a criminal omission has been made due faulty translation as the
enumerators were from the coastal district of Odisha who understood Kamar
as the ironsmith in Odiya (Dr. F. Deo seminar paper on the “Threatened
Jungle Adhibasi Identity of the Paharias, 22-23rd January 2010, Bhubaneswar),
whereas their counterparts in the border region of Odisha-Chhatisgarh enjoy
all the benefits of a PTG by the Chhatisgarh Government, as an endangered
human species. To bring them into the mainstream development process both
the State and Central Govt. have launched a special development scheme
called Kamar Vikash Manch. In Odisha as they are numerically few and
politically insignificant they are far from being the voting strength. Hence the
‘don’t care’ attitude by the various political parties towards the Paharia
community. Living in inaccessible hilly pockets of the district (2000ft to 3000
ft above the sea level), they are not able to exert pressure on the Government
to secure a scheduled official status for themselves. A vast majority of them
78
live by hunting and gathering foods till date. They claim themselves to be the
true autochthones of the state and are able to maintain their tribal solidarity
and distinctive culture, in spite of the fact that aggressive consumerism and
ultra modernism has paved their way to every nook and corner of the world.
Agriculturally speaking, theirs is the ‘Dahi (otherwise called ‘Podu’ also)

cultivation i.e. cut and burn patches of a forest land and sow the seeds. They
start it in the month of March by cutting the trees and end the process in the
month of July. In April, they burn the trees and sow paddy seeds during June-
July. After the harvest, they abandon it only to have another patch of forest
land in the coming year to recycle the same. The important point to be
mentioned here is that the said harvested crops provide them food for only
three months and the rest of the year they are to depend on food gathering (of
various roots, tubers etc) and hunting and have mobile way of life for nearly
eight months though the much-talked about MNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) is in operation since February
2007 in the Boden block of Nuapada district.
They live in small groups, as theirs is a semi- permanent way of life unsuitable
for large population clusters. This is why some of them who are settling down
prefer bamboo weaving (inherited from their fore-fathers) than ‘Dahi
cultivation’ due to drastic forest laws that came into force when their habitat
was declared as the Tiger sanctuary. Wherever they have settled down their
mud thatched huts are found dispersed in the forest in groups of 2 or 3
separated from one another by a furlong or so. They live not more than 5 to 6
families at a place and within this cluster; they are a closely-knit society. The
strange thing is that at places where they do live with other caste or tribal
groups, they do not socialize with them and prefer to build their huts outside
the village boundary. In each cluster, they own and cultivate a patch of land
jointly, collect food jointly and hunt jointly. Thus, theirs is based on
equalitarian rights where the elder member serves them as the leader and the
concept of private property is hardly found among them.
When we come to gender issues one asks the following questions. What is the
role of women folk in the Paharia society? What is their status vis-à-vis men
folk on education, on health and sanitation, on household economy, household
79
chores, on enjoying relative freedom and on community resources? Are the

things smooth and fair for women? Or are there any impediments to it.
When we compare tribal people to other castes and classes, they are always
found to be on the lowest rung of the social ladder. The following social-
economic indicators of the Paharia community of the Nuapada district provide
such a dismal picture.
1. Literacy Rate Total –5.37%
Male – 8.25%
Female – 2.5%
2. Educational standard from 5th to 10th

Male – 26
Female – 00
Above 10th standard
Male – 04
Female – 01
3. Life expectancy (district scenario in years)
Male – 58
Female – 55
In case of Paharia females, this figure may go lower as most of them are
malnourished due to various reasons mentioned elsewhere.
4. Percentage of early marriage (for the KBK) 60%. In this community,

this may go up as they are most backward in every front.
5. Infant Mortality Rate (under 5) – 128 as per the field study carried
out by an independent agency.
6. Male – Female Ratio – 1000: 1024
7. Deliveries – 90% through midwives at home
8. Total awareness to HIV/AIDS – Nil
9. Numbers of Landless-914 families
10. Marginal landholders -165 families
11. Homestead Landless-929 families
12. No rights over natural resources
80
Given the problem and predicament the women are caught in the following
major impediments.
Sexualized Division of Labour:
As in other society, women in Paharia community face the same problem of

gender- based division of labour. Overall household chores are carried out by
the women only along with child rearing which is perhaps compulsory. These
roles have been assigned to women throughout the ages in India.
Additionally, women in this community have to carry out wood and bamboo
collection which consume much of the energy making them physically feeble
and easy prey to diseases.
Superstitions:
Crores of rupees are spent in India on health schemes for medical treatment.
However this society is still at the other end of the spectrum. It is learnt from
the field study that a disease has to pass through three stages of treatment.
First through the ‘dissari’ system of treatment i.e. diseased has to go to the
village worshiper to please the God and Goddesses. If not cured, stage two is
to be followed i.e. to go for herbal treatment, learnt from their fore-fathers. If
unsuccessful they go to local quacks at last and the field study says that a
majority of them die in their hands.
A case study of a Paharia village is being presented here of the first stage.In
the local language the first stage is referred to as the “THUA SYSTEM”. It is
a system to diagnose a disease by a dogmatic way and prescribe in the similar
manner to please the local spirit by sacrificing birds or animals. A few years
ago, I was sitting with the village worshipper on a certain work in a certain
village in the Boden Block. It was afternoon when a middle aged woman
came, bow down to the village priest by touching his feet and complained of
severe chest pain since the last few days. After carefully listening to her
complaint, the village priest advised her to follow the Thua System of
diagnosis and treatment. The priest instructed the lady to dig little holes
around the four corners (directions) of her home and put a little amount of
white colored raw ricegrains in those four corners and cover it with soil. On
81
the next morning she had to open all the holes and observe if there were any
broken rice grains in any corner. If rice grains were found broken in any
direction, then the spirit of that direction might have been displeased and
thereby caused her chest pain. In all earnesty, the lady further asked, what
could be the probable treatment or remedy. The priest replied it depended on
the degree of displeasure she may have caused to the spirit. The spirit would
need a black hen for appeasement if the extent of displeasure was little. In
case the wrath was higher than it would require a sheep with other necessary
things.
The lady listened attentively and carefully noted down the things mentally and
left. I immediately interrupted and questioned why he was suggesting this
superstitious practice instead of advising modern allopathy. The priest replied
this is the only way whereupon they could bestow faith on the community.
Nomadic way of life:
It is an accepted truth that a settled life provides more securities in life than the
unsettled one where the women folk especially receive greater protection.
Paharias as is known lead a semi-permanent way of life where women folk
have to adjust often to new socio-cultural environments which may suit or
may not suit them and carry out traditional household chores and load bearing.
Male members always have a lion’s share:
Nutritional food is a must for proper healthy growth and development. Male
members after hunting in groups often consume the bigger share of the hunt.
Of the leftovers a little is consumed by the children and at times nothing is left
for the mother. Paharia women thus get deprived of nutritional food which
she supposed to share for her healthy growth.
Unhealthy and Unhygienic living practices:
Odisha has the notorious distinction of having the highest rate of infant
mortality in India. For this, the Indian Government has initiated a number of
programmes to provide prenatal and post natal services and to a certain extent
82
it has succeeded to bring it down to 64% from 87% (1991-2001) which are
often termed as white lies by the critics. But among the tribal it is at a record
time high of 128 deaths in every thousands under the age of five. It is a
herculean task and challenge for the Governmental and Non-Governmental
developmental practitioners. The reason is extremely unhygienic practice i.e.
cutting of umbilical cord of the newly born babies with unsterilized arrows.
Coupled with this the use of Kerosene lamp during whole night with little
ventilation in hut deepens the vulnerability of the babies to have pneumonic
kind of disease, thus causing greater risk of infant death.
Use of unsanitary Napkins:
Whenever a Paharia women passes through her menstrual cycle process she
uses a cut up piece of old torn unsanitized saree cloth. It is a rampant and
pervasive practice among the women section of the Paharias. This increases
the possibility of viral and venereal infection. Reports of such cases are often
heard in their community.
Poor sanitation, poor hygiene:
Survey reports reveal the general sanitation scenario in the village and more
particularly in their homes are precarious. The garbage is not cleaned properly
and the clothes they wear are not washed regularly. Many a times they manage
without taking a proper bath and eat half cooked food. These are the regular
feature among women and men folk in the Paharia community till today. TB,
Malaria and nutritional deficiency diseases are very common especially
among the women folk who are easy prey. Due to superstitions practices with
social evils, their average annual growth rate in 2001 is just at 1.20% much,
much less than their Bhunjia tribe counter-part whose is 24.22% and for the
district it is 13.04% and for Odisha state it is 16.25%.
After an overall study of the Paharia community was made, it can be

concluded that they are a backward community i.e. low literacy and
educational standard, poor access to health services, primitive way of
agriculture, hunting and food gathering, social taboos, superstitional practices
and a gender biased society. This short profile on the Paharias speaks volume
83
about them. The active onset of the globalization, privatization and the ever-
rising food prices, hopefully will have a far-reaching effect on their daily life
especially on the nutritional status of the women of the Paharias.
Resources:
1.Dube S.C.- The Kamar,OUP,New Delhi-2004

2.Sainath P.-Everybodt Loves a Good Drought-1996
3.Deo F.-Threatened Jungle Adivasi Identity of the Paharias, A Seminar Paper, 22-
23rd Jan, 2010
4.Tribes of Odisha, by SC & ST Development Corporation, SC& ST Deppt.,
Government of Odisha.
5.Plight of the Kamar Tribals of Odisha- A Report of the House to House Survey,
SAJAG & SVA, Komna, Nuapada Distt. -2000
6 Bhandari L & Kale Sumita- Indian States at a Glance- Performance,Facts & Figures.
7. Sunani KR- Paharianka Prati Udasinata Kahinki? Paryabekshyak, Odia News Daily,
Dt. 16.03.2003.
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84
A STUDY ON THE INFLUENCE OF STRESS ON THE

PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OF FEMALE
SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS OF PUNE CITY
- Dr. Sunita Malkothe
Introduction
As a profession, teaching has very high level of stress. The word stress is
defined by the Oxford Dictionary as ‘A state of affairs involving demand on
physical or mental energy. Stress is also defined as ‘Our reaction to events,
environmental or internal that challenge or exceed our adaptive resources.
Job stress is a chronic disease caused by conditions in the work place that
negatively affects an individual’s performance or overall well being of her/his
body and mind. One or more of a host of physical and mental illnesses
manifest due to job stress. In chronic cases a psychiatric consultation is
usually required to validate the reason and degree of work related stress.
Stressors are agents that cause stress.
Stressors can be divided into two broad categories namely External and
Internal. External stressors are the source of stress that we are aware of
around us. These stressors are thing that create a situation of perceived threat
in our minds and bodies. In the work place our expectations of our work our
employers, our colleagues & our own commitments, if unfulfilled, create a
situation that our mind perceives as a threat, we find ourselves helpless &
unable to change the situation. Our free spirit is stilted. We feel the pressure.
Internal stressors are the stressors inside us. These are stressors that have been
in our minds and bodies for many years of our lives. These stressors exist in
the form of our genetic loading. There are also restrictions that have been
imposed on us by our parents, our teachers and various authority figures that
have taught us what to do and more importantly what not to do. Such internal
stressors remain in our bodies, unknown to us in the form of emotions.
According to recent researches done in the United States, such emotions exist
in our bodies in the form of Neurochemicals called neuropeptide. The
85
negative emotions or neuropeptides are organized in such a way as to affect

our perception, our thinking and our behavior. When stressors become
chronic, the interaction of the internal and external stressors creates arousal in
our body system. Job stress may be caused by a complex set of reasons, some
of the most visible causes of workplace stress are physical, psychological,
familial, financial, spiritual, academic etc.
Stress and Health are closely linked. It is well known that stress either quick or
constant can induce risky body-mind disorders. There are two main reactions
to stress. One is psychological and another is physiological. Some stress
related psychological disorders are – depression and anxiety, absenteeism,
aggression and frustration, substance abuse etc. While stress related
physiological disorders include cardiovascular ailments, immune related
disorders, asthma, ulcer and digestive disorders, cancer, neuron degenerative
disorder, vocal disorder, musculoskeletal disorder etc.
The main purpose of the study was to determine the overall level of stress
among 50 female secondary school teachers in the Pune city and across the
sub dimensions of physical health and mental health.
Statement of Research problem:

“A study on the influence of stress on physical and mental health of
female secondary school teachers of Pune city.”
Objectives:
1) To identify stressors influencing female secondary school teachers.
2) To find out the influence of stressors on mental health of female
secondary school teachers.
3) To find out the influence of stressors on physical health of female
secondary school teachers.
Assumption:
The signs of stress vary from teacher to teacher depending upon the particular
situation, how long the teacher has been subjected to the stressors and the
intensity of the stress itself.
86
Hypothesis:
The following null hypothesis
1) There is no significant difference between the effect of stress on mental
health of the female secondary school teacher of residential and public
secondary school.
2) There is no significant difference between the effect of stress on physical
health of the female secondary school teacher of residential and public
secondary school.
Scope and limitation: -

Scope:
1)The present study comprises female secondary school teachers.
2) The present study is associated with content tool developed.
Limitation:
1) The present study is limited to only 50 female secondary school teachers.
The major limitation of this study revolves around sampling issue; as the
study has rallied primarily on a small sample drawn from a limited
geographical area. Further all the schools were residential English
medium school and public English medium schools. Therefore,
generalizing the finding to other types of school may be difficult.
However, the small sample size coupled with the significant result
reported does suggest that the present findings are reliable.
2) The present study is limited to data collected in the year 2008-09
3) The present study is limited to mental and physical health.
4) The present study is limited to residential and public school of Pune city.
Methodology:
The casual comparative method was used for the present study.
Population:
The population for the present study comprised female secondary school
teachers.
87
Sample:
For the present study five residential secondary schools and five public
secondary school were selected. Five female teachers from each school were
selected randomly. Total number of subjects selected was 50 (n=50)
Table-1. Distribution of the sample
Sr. School type No. of teacher

No.
1 Residential 25
2 Public 25
Total =2 Total=50
Tools: - An interview schedule and questionnaires namely general health

questionnaires (GNS) and a psychosocial stress scale developed by the
researcher were simultaneously used in the present study.
1) Interview schedule-
An Interview schedule was prepared to collect detailed information from the

subject related with the objectives of the present study. The schedule had a
questionnaire related to stressors covering different aspects of a teacher’s
professional life. Therefore, work-related stressors can for example be related
to the content of the work, the working conditions, the social environment and
relation between colleagues, job intensity etc.
2) Psychosocial stress scale
The psychosocial stress scale developed by the researcher was used in the
present study. The scale was designed as a Likert scale with three alternative
responses. The alternatives were marked as follows
1) Occasionally stressful=5
2) Stressful=10
3) Very stressful=15
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For both (general health question and psychosocial stress scale) a test - retest
method was used to ensure reliability. The reliability coefficient was 0.78
with regard to validity, the content validity was adopted. For this purpose, the
questionnaire and the scale was administrated to two expertise and four female
secondary school teacher of whom two were from a residential school and
two were from a public school. The questionnaire and scale were rewritten on
the basis of these expertise and the teacher’s proposed suggestions and
comments.
3) General Health Questionnaire:
The General Health Questionnaire developed by the researcher was used in the
present study. The final form of the questionnaire comprised seven major
body systems. Each system had been given 30 marks.
Procedures: To speed up and ease administration of questionnaire and scale

to teachers who were distributed over various schools in Pune city, two co-
researchers were chosen to help the researcher. Within ten days the
questionnaire and scale were distributed and collected.
Analysis of data and interpretation: -

As the data collected through different statements in the tools from different
subjects are specific aspects, item wise analysis was carried out to identify
stressors and its effect on mental and physical health. Statistics such as
frequencies, standard deviation and ‘t’ test were employed to make the
description more precise.
The data was carefully analyzed employing the appropriate statistical

techniques. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the distribution of
scores. The inferential statistical technique such as t- test is employed to test
different hypotheses. The numerical results are discussed and presented as
under.
Identification and ranking of stressors influencing females secondary

school teacher: A teacher was asked to score 14 stressors for its impact from
5(Smallest impact) to 15 (Biggest impact)
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Table-2. Ranking of stressors as assessed by teacher
Stressors Average Average

Sr. score of score of
No. Residential public
school school
teacher teacher
1 Workload/work intensity 15 15
2 Lack of job stability and security. 14 10
3 Bad school management/lack of 12.4 10.4
support from management
4 Increase class size per teacher 11.4 14.6
5 Evaluation apprehension 12.8 9.4
Lack of facilities within school
6 (heating, cooling, lighting, noise, room 10 11.8
structure)
7 Low salaries 10 11.8
8 Fear of conflict 9.8 10
9 Conflict between amount of time to 10.2 9.8
teach and curriculum
10 Bad social climate/ atmosphere in the 9.2 7.2
school
11 Lack of opportunity for promotion 6.6 5.6
12 Interruption during teaching time 6.4 6.2
13 Forcing to learn new technology all the 5.6 5.4
time
14 Physical and mental abuse by student 5.4 7
Total 138.8 121.4
As seen in the above table-2, “Workload/working intensity is ranked

as the most important stress by both residential and public school teacher. It
can be noticed that the second average stressor “Lack of job stability and
security” is ranked second by residential school teacher while it is ranked fifth
by public school teacher.
90
Table -3: Influence of stress on mental health of female teacher:
Sr. Teacher N mean S.D ‘t’

No.
1 Residential 25 142 11.92
school 3.17
2 Public school 25 133 7.75
The table -3 shows that the ‘t’ value 3.17 is found to be significant at 0.01
level. It is finally concluded that there is difference in the intensity of the
effect of stress on mental health of the female secondary school teachers of
residential and public school.
Influence of stress on physical health:

Table-4: Influence of stress on physical health of female teacher
Sr. Body System Teacher N Mean S.D. ‘t’

No.
1 Nervous System Residential school 25 20.1 8.138
Public School 25 11.4 3.746 3.11
2 Respiratory Residential school 25 8 6.228
system Public School 25 3.2 4.665 2.87
3 Cardiovascular Residential school 25 3.2 3.709 1.58
system Public School 25 1.8 2.4
4 Gastrointestinal Residential school 25 3.4 4.409 2.98
5 Endocrine system Residential school 25 18.3 7.372 3.12
Public School 25 12.9 4.507
6 Musculoskeeleton Residential school 25 16.56 5.441 4.92
7 Vocal system Residential school 25 9.6 6.271 0.18
Public School 25 9.3 5.316
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In the present study, an attempt an attempt has been made to know the
influence of stress on the physical health of female secondary school teachers.
On the basis of residential and public school type teacher are divided in to two
groups, namely, those who teach in Residential secondary school and those
who teach in Public secondary school. Their mean and ‘S.D.’ (standard
deviation) of influence stress on different body systems along with ‘t’ values
are presented in table – 4.
The ‘t’ value 3.11,2.87,2.98,3.12,4.92, of nervous system, respiratory system

gastrointestinal System, endocrine system, muscoskeletorn Sytem respectivity
are all found to be significant at 0.01 level for df (degree of freedom)48. The
‘t’ values 1.58 and 0.18 of cardiovascular system and vocal systems
respectively are found to be significant at 0.01 level for df 48.
It is finally concluded that the null hypothesis that ‘there is no significant

difference between the effect of stress on physical health of female secondary
teacher of residential and public secondary schools is rejected for nervous
system, respiratory system, gastrointestinal system, endocrine system and
muscoskeletorn system where as the null hyphothesis is accepted for
cardiovascular system and vocal system.
Conclusion:
1) Teachers of residential school have a lot of responsibilities with a feeling
that their work is not valued.
2) Most of them felt stressors like job stability, and security, bad school
management and increased class size per teacher, affect physical and
mental health.
3) It has been also found that effect of stress on body systems like nervous
gastrointestinal, respiratory, musculoskeletal, endocrine system is larger
on residential school teacher than public school teacher.
4) It has been also found that body systems like vocal system and
cardiovascular system were influenced with near about similar intensity by
both residential and public school teacher. Voice disorders are frequent
among teachers.
92
Recommendations: -
I) In order to minimize the effect of stress on physical and mental health of
teacher the investigator has proposed a few recommendations that can be
implemented by the educational managements of schools and educational
authorities.
II) Stressors related to school facilities have a direct effect on the physical
health of teacher. Hence it is recommended that adequate facilities,
infrastructure be provided to all schools especially to those schools where the
number of female teachers is large.
III) To build a positive mental attitude, teacher could be provided with
guidance and counseling with the help of experts in psychology.
IV) In order to improve physical and mental health of teacher it is
recommended that a good organizational climate be created in all the
educational institutions by the management of the school.
V) Since a woman teacher’s ego dominates their responses, organizational
climate in the institution should take cognizance of this and treat them in a
sympathetic way.
VI) Residential school teacher are under high pressure, so to minimize
pressure it is recommended that pupils allotted per teacher should be
minimized.
References:
1. Cherryl J. Travers, Cary L. Cooper (2006).Teacher under pressure:stress in the

teaching profession.
2. NCERT (2007) Indian Educational Review..
3. NCTE (2005) ANWESHIKA, Indian Journal Of Teacher Education.
4. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology.Jan2007.vo1.33 No 1
5. Report on the ETUCE Survey on Teachers’ work related stress- Henrik Billehoj.
WEB-SITES:
1. http://www.texmed.org/Template.aspx?id=4983
2. http://www .books google.co.in
3. http://www.tag teacher.net/stress
4. http;//en.wikipedia .org/teacher#stress-
93
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/workpless-stress-
6. http://www.lifepositive.com/mind/psychology/stress/stress-at-work-asp
7. http://www.inispub.com
8. http://www.helpgude.org/work_stres_management.htm
9. http://www.WHO.int/occupational-/health/topics/stressatwp/en/
10. http://www.biomedcentral.com
11. http://relaxation-stress-rediction.suite101.com/articale.cfm/
12. stressphysicaleffects
13. http://www.arc.sbs.edu/stressqstressquiz.htm/
14. http://sites.google.com/a/forbidden-donut.co.uk/www/stress.
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94
INTERVENTION FOR COMBATING GENDER

VIOLENCE
- Dr. R.V. Singh, Neha Mishra & Shilpa Mishra
The issue is gender based violence, a manifestation of the social,

psychological, and economic subordination of women that remains largely
hidden from view. Whether trafficking in girls, sexual intimidation at work,
or rape, gender based violence cuts across social and economic strata. The
problem breeds in silence and finds legitimacy through cultural norms.
Social justice and human rights are equal to all people regardless of their sex,
race, caste, class, religion and such social differentiations. But women do not
have the opportunity for exercising their rights on account of disempowerment
in our male-dominated society. The manifestation of gender violence may
differ in different socio-economic and cultural settings but its impact, intensity
and consequences on women remains the same. Gender violence makes a
mockery of the fundamental rights of women.
Violence against women
In the last decade, the issue of violence against women has moved from the
shadow to the fire ground of accountability. Women’s rights advocates have
mobilized within and across countries and regions to secure significant
changes in national, regional, and international standards and policies
addressing gender based violence. Gender based violence involves men and
women with usually, but not always being the victims. It stems from unequal
power relationship within families, communities and states. Violence is
generally directed specifically against women for diverse reasons, and affects
them disproportionately.
Gender Discrimination in Families and Communities
In countries with patrilineal family systems, daughters are perceived as a

liability by their families, who are obliged to marry them off well, ensure their
95
pre-marital sexual purity, provide substantial marriage expenses and continue

to offer material resources to the daughter’s marital family on auspicious
occasions. Poor households, in particular, find it difficult to cope with such
material demands. If an opportunity presents itself, families are willing to
trade unwanted women and girls with little thought for their rights or future
well-being. Examples include the sale of women and girls into marriage;
willingness to marry off young girls to strangers who make no monetary
demands, thus predisposing them to trafficking, and the sale of women and
girls into prostitution when sexuality acquires an attractive market value.
Women are manipulated by consumerism and perversion of family values to
fulfil family needs and consumption in the name of cultural tradition – duty,
care, and gratitude.
This is known to occur in some matrilineal and bilateral contexts, where a

daughter’s role and status is more or equally valued as a son’s, and where a
daughter provides economic and social security to ageing parents. In contexts
where sexual purity is the insignia of ideal womanhood, rape and sexual
abuse, or non-conformity to prescribed sexual codes result in stigmatization
and often a complete loss of self-worth, which leaves women and girls
vulnerable to trafficking. Vulnerability caused by marital infidelity,
alcoholism, domestic violence, desertion by husbands and divorce increases
the risk of women being trafficked.
Many young women are vulnerable to trafficking not only because they lack
economic opportunities, but also because they want to escape from the burden
of long labour hours.
Despite laws against trafficking, rape and illegal property seizure, women are
disproportionately affected by these crimes and often find little support in the
devastating aftermath. However, when women can rely on their local justice
systems for protection of the law, their vulnerability to gender-based violence
is dramatically reduced.
Gender-based violence is the term used to encompass a whole category of

crimes that are often committed against women and girls. Sexual violence is
the most important category of these crimes, but these crimes are not limited
96
to sexual violence. For example, property expropriation from widows in

countries where women’s right to inherit is not secure is a crime based on
their powerlessness because of their gender. There is also a huge need for
enhanced police training, prosecutor training, and, very importantly, growth in
forensic capacity, so that you have trained medical doctors, nurses and
technicians as well as police doctors who have the information and the
supplies needed to get a proper forensic diagnosis of sexual violence against
women and children.
Combating Violence against Women and Girls
The UN commission on the status of women defines violence against women

as “any act of gender based violence that results in or is likely to result in
physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women including threat
of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty whether in public or
private life.
Millions of girls and women are victims of oppressive violence: Worldwide,

one in five women becomes a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime
(U.N.).
80% of transnational human trafficking victims are women and girls (U.S.
Department of State).
To bring about the structural changes that will protect girls and women from
future abuse. Training sessions have educated thousands of individuals about
sexual violence and illegal property seizure. These sessions serve to train
vulnerable populations in their rights under local law, as well as increase
social demand for responsive law enforcement. Police training also supports
local authorities in their work to ensure that girls and women are protected
from oppressive violence through capacity building and education.
Issues and Challenges facing women
Limited decision making power: Women have limited decision making

powers with the household. In most of the parts of rural areas, women are
97
responsible for bringing income into the family and petty trading but possess
limited control over how those resources are spent.
Increased exposures to risk: Poor women and girls can be exposed to sexual
violence on a daily basis due to unsafe working conditions. They must travel
long distances to fetch water and fire wood, and perform farm work. These
tasks all involve walking or working in relatively isolated areas where they are
vulnerable to sexual assault.
Multiple and excessive demands on time: The excessive demand on poor

women’s time and the multiple chores they perform, creates tensions in
households that lead to domestic violence with its subsequent social,
psychological, and economic impact on families.
Lack of access to resources: Resource use and allocation is the domain of the
males in the community. Land is considered the most fundamental reason for
living conditions, economic empowerment, equity and equality but in some
cases women have no inheritance rights.
Unacknowledged violence: The community overlooks the occurrence of

violence. Some cultures do not consider wife beating to be a form of
violence. Sexual harassment of girls by male members of the community is
the norm in some places, rape is not talked about in the community and is
generally unpunished.
Areas for action
Enforce → Zero tolerance of all forms of violence against women and girls.
Advocate → Advocate for equal representation of women and men in all

activities in the public sphere to create public awareness of women’s
contribution to society and ensure women’s input in decision making.
Campaign → Women’s equal political participation at the national and local

levels is essential for future development of the nations.
98
Create public awareness campaigns directed towards both men and women to
enable greater awareness of their legal and human rights. The legal
consequences of abusive behaviour, as well as the impact of gender based
violence on future generations.
Partnership → Initiatives for collaboration – collaboration between

community leaders, elders, local authorities and schools to create greater
understanding of the link between gender based violence and poverty.
Develop procedures to systematically share information → on issues of

legislation and policies connecting women’s economic empowerment and
men’s burden sharing within the house hold.
The role of NGO’s and Women’s Organizations:
Non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) voluntary organization, women’s

organization, women’s groups and activist groups can play the role of a
catalyst for gender development in a country. They occupy a very significant
and striking position in the Indian women’s movement.
In spite of the efforts made by several organizations the problems of women

are not controlled. Therefore, the organization must focus on the trickledown
effect of their interventions and further extend their area of operations for
effective results. Apart from this they must maintain linkages with State
Policy and International women’s organization in the field relating to
women’s emancipation, collaboration and networking from the micro level to
state and central government organisations for arresting such evil doers in our
society.
Combating the ideology of patriarchy as well as fighting the oppression and

suppression of women in the country is a felt need to advance women’s
development and empowerment. Therefore a holistic approach for combating
gender violence through active commitment and cooperation with personnel
like the judiciary, police and medicos is needed. NGO’s and public will arrest
that violation of human right in the country and usher in women’s
empowerment.
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References:
1. Gender Equality to Combat Trafficking in Women and in Children,
UNIFEM, Bangkok, October 2002.
2. D'Cunha, Jean, "Gender Equality, Human Rights and Trafficking: A
framework of analysis and action," paper presented to a seminar on
Promoting Gender Equality to
3. Combat Trafficking in Women and in Children, UNIFEM, Bangkok, October
2002.
4. Activities, Indicators and Evaluation Methodologies: Summary Report of a
Technical
5. Consultative Meeting," Population Council, New Delhi, March 2002
6. Gibson-Howell, Joan C. (1996) Domestic violence identification and referral.
Journal of Dental Hygiene, March 1, 1996.
7. Bandura, A. (1973). Aggression: A social learning analysis. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Cited in Danis, Fran S. (2003) The criminalization
of domestic violence: What social workers need to know. Social Work, April
1, 2003.
8. Contemporary Women’s Issues Database (1996) Domestic and sexual
violence data collection [Part 3 of 9], July 1, 1996.
9. Contemporary Women’s Issues Database (1996) Measuring the costs of
domestic violence against women and the cost-effectiveness of interventions
[Part 1 of 6], May 1, 1996.
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100
WOMEN’S MOVEMENT AND CRIMES

CONCERNING ‘HONOUR’ AN INDIAN EXPERIENCE
A REVIEW PAPER
- Dr. Vibhuti Patel
Crimes in the name of ‘honour’ are on the rise in our country. Both rural as
well as urban areas are gripped with instances of horrific crimes where young
citizens of our country are being killed for exercising their democratic right of
choosing their life partners. The democratic minded people of our country are
both shocked and distressed by these incidents. During the last three decades,
women’s movement in India has provided institutional support to young lovers
and newly married couples faced with life-threatening consequences. The
murders of young women and men, who have married by choice or across
caste barriers, often go unnoticed. There are no statistics on the loss of lives
due to honour related crimes. Many are not investigated because the
community closes ranks, apparently making it impossible to find out what
really happened.
A spate of violence against love marriages involving couples from same Gotra
and same village at the behest of caste panchayats (councils) meting Kangaroo
justice, has forced women’s rights organizations to demand laws deciding
parameters within which caste councils can exercise their rights in the name of
‘identity’. Though the mainstream media, politicians and community leaders
call such barbaric acts of lynching, burning, stoning, brutally murdering young
lovers ‘honour killing’, feminists refuse this term and declare it as ‘custodial
killing’. (Chakravarty, Uma, 2005).
Political Economy of ‘Honour killing’
In a patriarchal society, there is prevalence of a pattern of social evaluation

based on the performance of the ‘prescribed roles’ by women in particular.
The notion of ‘honour’ as the apex of social values and the embodiment of
social ideals establishes the framework for a woman’s social worth as it is
continuously evaluated and sanctioned by family, neighbours, clan, caste,
101
community, colleagues at workplace etc. One’s conformity to normative roles

guarantees societal approval by conceding honour, while deviance leads to
isolation, social boycott, ostracisation, even killing. Patriarchy also imposes a
double standard of morality for men and women. With respect to women,
honour may be synonymous with ‘chastity’ or ‘virginity’, or in case of a
married woman, ‘fidelity’ (Kanchan, 2007).
Normative social assumptions even today understand women mostly in terms

of domesticity and reproduction and therefore reinforce women’s traditional
powerlessness. Family pressures also often cause enormous disadvantage to
women. More than 47.4 % of marriages in India are child marriages (NFHS,
2006). Many women are married off early in life to men chosen by their
parents, often against their will. They do not have the liberty to get higher
education or choose a career of their choice, and the liberty to decide whom
and when to marry remains inaccessible to them. Women are considered to be
a repository of custom, tradition and identity of the community (Narayan,
2003). Violence against women among South Asians is in some way or the
other connected to ‘honour’ of the family built on control of sexuality, fertility
and labour of the women. In many regions of South Asia, it leads to the
heinous crime called ‘Honour Killings’. Despite legal provisions, government
efforts and social activism to eradicate such crimes, defended by perpetrators
as a necessary measure taken to protect ‘tradition’ and preserve caste, religious
and ethnic lines, the autonomy of women takes a beating (Puniani 2005).
Medieval thinking and retrograde practices are still very much present in
South Asia. Caste, religion or ethnic identities in many parts of South Asia
still trigger undemocratic divisions between citizens and gendered crimes such
as ‘honour killing’ have come to dissolve women’s right to choose. Identity
politics have posed a major challenge to the women’s movement (Sen, 2005).
For instance, today many women in India are at the receiving end of socio-
cultural distortions that work to the detriment of their interests, in particular,
the right to exercise freedom of choice. The many rights which have been
granted to women by the Constitution of India since independence such as the
right to marry a person of one’s individual choice, right to claim property and
(Mathur, 2007).
102
With changing economic and political contexts inter-mixing of boys and girls
has increased in schools, colleges, clubs, workplaces and while long distance
regular travelling in local buses and trains. Liberal education also makes them
question inequalities based on gender, social and caste status.
Material basis of Andocentric Practices
Tackling the complexities governing women’s lack of autonomy within the

cultural settings of androcentric practices are based on multiple aspects. There
is a need to identify the socio-cultural, economic and political factors within
the South Asian cultural framework that come in the way of women’s
autonomy and force women to live a controlled existence with the primary
identity based on the biologic i.e. sex. There is a need to analyse and critique
the deeply held gendered identities and androcentric practices grounded in
caste, class and religious consciousness.
Agrarian economy is strongly linked to feudal set-ups. Material basis though is

changing its forms with changing modes of production; the pertinent question
here is how it affects women’s autonomy in South Asia. Though forces of
production are moving towards capitalism but relations of production have
strong pre-capitalist elements that determine socio-economic and cultural
hierarchy.
India is undergoing a U shape phenomenon as far as women’s work

participation is concerned. During 1950s, mass of women worked in the
subsistence economy that involved household based labour-intensive manual
work. With industrial modernization- mechanization, automation,
rationalisation and agricultural mechanization- tractorisation, HYV- High
Yielding Varieties, use of chemical fertilizers i.e. Green Revolution, White
Revolution in the late sixties; households that prospered pulled out their
women from menial chores. Young girls from these households were enrolled
in schools/ colleges and 20 years down the line they entered the white collar
work force. During the 1990s, economically independent women started
challenging andocentric matrimonial practices and women’s subjugation and
began exercising choices in selection of their ‘dress-code’, ‘hair-style’,
‘friends’ and ‘life-partners’. Since late 1970s, women’s rights groups
103
providing support to women in social distress have been inundated by requests

for help from survivors of domestic violence who happened to be young
unmarried daughters who refused to fit into the ‘norms of the household’ as
they wore ‘western clothes’, ‘cut their hair’ and chose ‘close friends’ or
‘lover’ from different ‘caste’, ‘cultural’ or religious’ backgrounds (Patel,
2009). Added to this, was brutal and murderous attacks on couples involved
in same sex intimate relations. (Deswal, 2011).1
Elite set the standards
In the era of capitalist expansion, among the upper stratum of society,

marriages are determined to enhance capital accumulation, facilitate mergers
and business collaborations, increase property and develop joint businesses.
Marriage for capital accumulation makes women and children of the

propertied class, pawns in power games of the patriarchal class interest.
Concentration of property, land, wealth, business, prestige, power and political
mileage has become the mantra for upward mobility. Thus the elite set the
benchmark for marriage practices. Cultural nationalism coupled with neo-
liberalism has provided material basis for forcible endogamous marriages.
Those who rebel, lose property, prestige, plum position and at times, their
lives.
The Structures of Power that Make Such Violence Possible
Neoliberal macroeconomic policies have attacked the social security provided

by the state in terms of health care, old age support and shelter to the needy.
Commercialisation of human relations has resulted into erosion of kinship-
sponsored social security. Thus market fundamentalism and cultural
fundamentalism create vested interest among parents over children’s lives.
Arranged marriage ensures greater control by parents and kinship networks
over young couples. One can see this in most of the current TV serials in
Hindi and other regional languages that portray joint family as a norm and
1
Deswal, Deepender, “Man Kills Two Widows over ‘Lesbian Affair’, The Times of
India, 19-4-2011.
104
show strongly misogynist family dramas. In the middle class, couples with
one or two children tend to be too possessive about their children. Small
family norms adopted by the middle class educated families make housewives
unduly demanding of their children. In recent cases of ‘honour killing’
educated mothers who are housewives have played key role in killing their
daughters who opted for love marriages.2
Revivalist tendencies boosted by identity politics in the context of market

fundamentalism and religious fundamentalism replace multicultural ethos and
plural life-styles with moral policing and violence in the name of ‘family
honour’, ‘caste honour’ and ‘community’s honour’. Due to complicities of the
criminal justice system, most of the cases do not even get reported.
Inter Caste Marriages
Inter-Caste marriages fall in broadly two categories: inter-caste marriages

within the ‘pure’ Castes (from Brahman to Shudras). In other words, before,
most of the inter-Caste marriages took place within the four Varnas- Brahman,
Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra — all touchable amongst themselves. In the pre-
independence period, the marriages between the ‘pure’ and ‘impure’ or
between ‘Touchable’ and the ‘Untouchable’ were the rarest (Shah, 2001).
In many parts of the Indian countryside even now, tea shops maintain a three
tumbler system - one for non-Dalits, one for Dalits and one for the
anonymous. In some parts of India, barbers don’t serve Dalit customers, and
in many parts of India, non-Dalit children refuse to eat mid-day meals
prepared by Dalits.(Gupta, 2004)
Despite this terrible contempt for Dalits, there are a number of non-Dalit
women risking their lives and marrying Dalits. This only symbolises that
India’s greatest social revolution is underway.
2
www.hindustantimes.com/Daughter...kills-mother...honour/Article1-602708,
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Honour-killing...daughter-mother,2010
www.ndtv.com/.../India/was-this-journalists-death-an-honour-killing,
www.stophonourkillings.com/?q=taxonomy/term/42&page=31)
105
After the elite boys, it is girls from upper castes and classes and boys from
aspiring lower castes who begin to join educational institutions and work
centers. The Dalit and other poor or lower caste girls are still relatively
unexposed to modern public life or move less confidently within it. In upper
classes boys are admitted in English medium schools and girls are admitted in
regional language medium school where neo-literate boys from lower castes
are also admitted. This makes interaction between higher caste girls and lower
caste boys’ common and mutual attraction possible. The traditional prejudice
against lower caste status and patriarchal control of women’s sexuality is
reflected in the taboo against pratilom marriages among Hindus in which the
bride is of a higher Varna or caste. This is also true of status within the caste
such as hierarchy of kula or ancient bloodline among Rajputs and groups of
villages among Patels or Anavils of Gujarat.
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar focused on the role of marriage in social

construction of caste system and provided an important understanding of the
issue of women's emancipation in the Indian context. As Babasaheb said,
“Caste is endogamy and endogamy is caste.” He also brought out how the
origin and reproduction of caste rested on gendered violence (Rege,2010).
Now, there are a number of cases involving Dalit professionals/Civil

Servants/business persons who bring their brides home with little resistance in
Maharashtra. Educated and self-respecting upper caste girls find arranged
marriages based on dowry and ferocious patriarchal conditionalities
(confinement, suspicion on character, lack of autonomy, double standard of
sexual morality, greed to extract money and goodies from her parents by in
laws) extremely insulting. They opt for love marriages based on mutual
respect with lower caste boys whose power needs are relatively limited. But,
that’s mostly a metropolitan phenomenon involving the Dalit upper and
middle classes. The problems begin in the countryside, small towns, and
villages next to metropolitan cities. Those risking their lives and marrying
outside their castes in general, and marrying Dalits in particular, are India’s
new heroes and heroines. In Delhi, U.P., Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,
even in Gujarat (in Western India) such marriages meet with a tragic end.
106
A widely-held belief about modernization and globalization is that these

processes lessen/blur the private/public divide, promote higher levels of
interaction between people of different ethno-religious groups and lead to the
emancipation of women. At the same time, recent evidence from around the
world point to the resurgence of ethno-religious movements which lead to the
'hardening' of boundaries between groups and which often use 'woman's
conduct' as the primary mechanism of upholding 'tradition'.
History of Inter-caste and Inter-religious Marriages in India
In the 16th century, iconic figures such as King Akbar and Queen Jodha had an
inter-religious marriage. In the pre-independence period, Dr. Ambedkar, born
dalit married a Brahmin lady doctor, now highly respected as Mai Ambedkar.
Mrs. Indira Gandhi, late Prime Minister of India from Kashmiri Brahmin caste
background had married Shri. Feroz Gandhi, a Parsee gentleman and an
activist of Indian National Congress. Several Gandhian workers in the pre and
post independence period had inter-caste and inter-religious marriages. In
some cases, their parents robbed them of their inheritance rights and severed
relations but there were no physical attacks on them. George Fernandez, a
trade union leader married a Muslim lady Laila Kabeer, but continued to
remain a popular leader for millions of industrial workers during the 1970s. In
the post-independence period, left parties/groups and socialists provided
support to ostracized couples who opted for inter-caste and inter-religious love
marriages.
Radicalisation of Indian Youth in the 1970s
During the radicalisation of youth in the 1970s which resulted in student

uprisings, rise of dalit movements, tribal struggles, trade union movements,
agricultural workers unrest, farmers’ movement, democratic rights and civil
liberties movement, women’s movement; hundreds of young men and women
chose to have inter-caste, inter-religious along with inter-class love marriages
but community/ society did not react violently against them. These marriages
became successful due to an alternative secular, democratic community
created by these movements. Children of social activists grew up with the
ethos of social movements and they married sons/daughters of progressive
107
couples who believed in social justice. Currently, in their fifties, many of

them are at the forefront of contemporary social movements (Desai, 2006). In
all progressive movements, the incidence of love marriages is quite common.
In a metropolitan city such as Mumbai, there is more liberal attitude towards

love marriages. Rohit Chopra and Jyoti Punwani (2005) examined over 50
cases of Hindu-Muslim inter-religious marriages in Mumbai, India's most
populous city with a fairly sizeable Muslim population. The Muslims of
Mumbai, they write, “consist of a number of different sectarian, linguistic and
caste communities. In a country where caste endogamy is the general rule,
these various Muslim communities rarely marry among themselves, and
marriages between Muslims and other communities are even rarer.”
In 2007, Rizwanur, a Muslim teacher and Priyanka, his Hindu student, both
residents of Kolkata got married in August under the Special Marriage Act,
1954. Priyanka's family found out about the marriage only after she moved
into her husband's house. After that the police had been harassing them, thrice
summoning Rizwanur and Priyanka to the police headquarters, 'advising'
Priyanka to return home, and even registering a case of abduction against
Rizwanur. Ultimately, Priyanka went back to her father's house, after her
uncle gave a written guarantee that she would return to the Rehman household
in a week's time. Before that happened, Rizwanur was found dead (Bhaduri,
2010).
In the current political climate in India, where right-wing Hindu organizations

are particularly strong and have been responsible, often with the collusion of
agencies of the state, for organized massacres of Muslims, Hindu-Muslim
relations have come under increasing strain.
Progressive Social Movements
In Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, due to strong social reform and anti-
Brahmanism movements, since 19th century, progressive groups considered
that inter-caste and inter-religious marriages were in the national interest as
they facilitate integration of different cultures. During the freedom movement
108
and immediately after independence many leaders in public life had inter-caste
marriages in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
In Maharashtra, late Appa Redij was working tirelessly till the last days of his
life for the promotion of ‘inter-caste marriages’. He used to organise poster
exhibitions, public lectures and gatherings of young people of marriageable
age for spreading the thought of inter-caste marriage. He never got much
support or appreciation from the fellow progressive social movements of
Maharashtra. But he carried on, spending his own money and arranging
matches for youth from different caste groups. The work he did for this
unusual life-mission and worthy social cause was just remarkable. In
Maharashtra, we find a lot young couples marrying out of caste today. But 30
years ago, the inter-caste and inter-religious married couples used to be lone,
helpless and without any support because of the rejection by their parents and
community who were obsessed about racial purity. Even today, caste plays a
fundamental role in marriage while other important aspects are ignored,
matchmaking today is still caste-matching even when it is advertised in the
newspapers or assisted by marriage bureaus or the internet.
Appa Redij used to move all around inspite of his old age. He used to arrange
programmes and get-togethers; meet families of those who were married, take
help of renowned social activists and ask them to write letters of support. He
started an organization of all those who got married through Sugava Mishra
Vivah Mandal (Sugava Mixed Marriages Association), their families and
named it as ‘Sugava Parivar’ i.e. Sugava Family. All those who believed in
this social cause and wished that caste should not be the main criteria in
match-making, were also part of this Sugava Parivar. He was the head of this
big group of young families and well-wishers. Sugava Parivar was
instrumental in many unique initiatives in progressive social movements in
Maharashtra. One of them is Pratibimb (i.e. Mirror).
Pratibimb Mishra Vivah Mandal is one of the marriage bureaus in India

dedicated to a cause of promoting marriages beyond the barriers of caste and
religion. Earlier, it was operating under Sugava Mishra Vivah Mandal under
guidance of Late. Appa Redij. It does not insist that one should marry only
out of caste but advises that one should select the right life partner. It simply
109
means that one should see that likes-dislikes, behaviour, ambitions, priorities
and preferences, life-plans of the partner are matching and; if all types of
compatibility match, then one should be ready to go beyond caste. It is
heartening to note that more and more young singles are joining Pratibimb that
protects socially ostracized couples against harassment and violence. It
advocates that caste system is a curse on the nation; the sooner it is destroyed,
the better and accepts that disapproving parents can at best snap social
relations with their children without resorting to physical or psychological
violence.
Response of Judiciary
The Supreme Court expressed concern over the growing opposition to,
intimidation of, and violence against inter-caste married couples. A Bench
consisting of Justices Ashok Bhan and Markandey Katju directed the
administration and the police throughout the country to extend protection to
such couples against harassment and initiate action against those who resorted
to or instigated violence. The Bench also recommended that feudal-minded
people deserve harsh punishment. Writing the judgment, Justice Katju said:
"The caste system is a curse on the nation and the sooner it is destroyed, the
better. In fact, it is dividing the nation at a time when we have to be united to
face the challenges before the nation. Hence, inter-caste marriages are in fact
in the national interest, as they will result in destroying the caste system.
However, disturbing news is coming from several parts that young men and
women who unite in inter-caste marriages are threatened with violence, or
violence is actually committed on them."3 Expressing anguish, the Bench
said: "Such acts of violence or threats or harassment are wholly illegal and
those who commit them must be severely punished. This is a free and
democratic country and once a person becomes a major he or she can marry
whosoever he or she likes. If the parents of the boy or girl do not approve of
an inter-caste or inter-religious marriage, the maximum they can do is to cut
off social relations with the son or the daughter, but they cannot give threats or
3
http://lawjustice-bakeelsab.blogspot.com/2011/04/honour-killing-freedom-of-
inter.html (last accessed on 12-8-2011)
110
commit or instigate acts of violence and cannot harass the person who opts for
inter-caste or inter-religious marriage."4
Referring to instances of killings of such couples, the Bench said: "There is

nothing honourable about such killings, and in fact they are nothing but
barbaric and shameful acts of murder committed by brutal, feudal-minded
persons who deserve harsh punishment.”
Lata Singh (Jat) of Lucknow got married to Bramha Nand Gupta (Bania) of
Delhi; both belonged to different upper castes. At the instance of the girl's
brother, the boy's sisters and their families were arrested and criminal
proceedings were initiated against them. Ms. Lata Singh moved the Supreme
Court seeking to quash the proceedings. Allowing her petition and quashing
the proceedings, the Bench said: "This case reveals a shocking state of affairs.
There is no dispute that the petitioner is a major and was at all relevant times a
major. Hence she is free to marry anyone she likes or live with anyone she
likes. There is no bar to an inter-caste marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act
or any other law. Hence, we cannot see what offence was committed by the
petitioner, her husband or her husband's relatives." (The Hindu, 2006).
In 2010, in Tamilnadu- the home state of Home Minister who decried honour
killing in North India, seven honour killings took place in 12 weeks. (Thufail,
2010).
A Dalit youth named Nagaraj and a non-Dalit girl named Sumathil of the
Dindigul district, fell in love, fled to a nearby town, and got married. Hoping
that things would have settled down back home, the couple returned to their
village. But, the girl’s parents caught them and delivered a milder
punishment. A goat was slaughtered and its blood was smeared on the girl’s
forehead to declare the marriage null and void. The girl was later married off
to a man of her own caste. A few weeks later, a non-Dalit girl Sangeetha fell
in love with a Dalit youth Balachandar in the same district. Both fled the
village and married. But they ran out of luck as the couple was caught and
4
(Indian Express, 20-11-2010).
111
brought back in the village. A few days later, the girl died in mysterious
circumstances. Mercifully, in both the cases, Dalit youth survived death.
In 2008, a Dalit boy named Sunkara Srinivas fell in love with a non-Dalit girl
Swapna Reddy of the Nizamabad district, Andhra Pradesh, and both got
married. A few months later, both were stoned to death.
In the national capital, a Dalit youth Yogesh Kumar fell in love with a non-
Dalit girl Asha Saini. Yet to be married, both were viciously murdered by the
girl’s parents. Not far away from the national capital, we witnessed high
drama near Greater NOIDA countryside. In July 2010, a Dalit youth named
Sanjay fell in love with a non-Dalit girl Priyanka Sharma, and got married.
Infuriated, the non-Dalit Panchayat has allegedly threatened to kidnap girls of
the Dalit hamlet if Priyanka was not returned to her parents immediately.5
Incidents of inter-caste marriages involving Dalits, more often Dalit male and
non-Dalit women, is no news anymore. It turns into news only when parents,
most often from the girl side, punish couples by murdering them (Outlook,
2008). According to a report of the Government of India, nearly 5,000 inter-
Caste marriages involving Dalits took place in 2008-09.6
The rate of social transformation seems to be faster than our heart beats. In our
known history, caste has come under severe strain. Its foundations are
shaking, given the fact that the twin principle of blood and occupational purity
are the backbone of the caste order. The very backbone of the caste order is
now slowly fracturing.
Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed Chandigarh and the states of
Punjab and Haryana “to publicize the centers opened for the protection of
‘runaway couples’, with the help of electronic media, radio etc. Advocates
Navkiran Singh and Tanu Bedi, who are assisting the court in the case, have
been asked to pay a surprise visit to the protection homes in Punjab and
Haryana. The states have been directed to furnish details of number of
5
www.dailypioneer.com/269827/Killing-Caste-Order.html
6
www.dailypioneer.com/269827/Killing-Caste-Order.html
112
marriages registered, counseling given to parents of ‘runaway couples’ and

protection offered after marriage.”7
Gender Question in Identity Politics
Communal forces have strengthened their hold on important spheres of the

state and civil society that include subversion of constitution and judiciary and
communalisation of culture, media, religion and lifestyle. Women are the
major casualties in the bargain. Communal politics has always played the
major role in determining rights and limits of women (IIJ 2003).
Any fundamentalist propaganda that concerns itself with identity makes use of
the gender question to impose rigid norms on women who are identified as
repositories of culture and tradition (Sarkar, 2001).
These norms manifest themselves in son-preference and female infanticide

(quotation from Hindu scriptures-Blessings for newly-wed brides, ‘Be the
mother of a hundred sons’, questions are asked to wife-“Did any heroes of
Ramayana or Mahabharata have daughters? That shows daughters are
inauspicious!”), glorification of sati, widow-burning). Thousands of sati
temples have flourished all over India and the Global Association for
Glorification of Sati has its head-quarter in Chicago (USA). The witch-hunting
of widows as they are perceived to be inauspicious, imposition of dress codes,
general demeanour and the social construction of the ideal woman who
submissively accept the patriarchal norm are imposed by fundamentalists.
In the Kumbh Mela in 2001, 60000 women devotees were deserted by their
brothers, sons and relatives. Allahabad police tried its best to reach them to
their respective families but the family members refused to have known them.
Now, the government has made a special budgetary provision for abandoned
widows at the pilgrimage centres and women in difficult circumstances (Patel,
2009).8
7
nhrc.nic.in/Documents/AR/NHRC-AR-ENG07-08.pdf
8
Patel, V., Fundamentalism, Communalism and gender justice in www.europe-
solidaire.org/spip.php?article13223 - Cached (last accessed on 12-8-2011)
113
The fundamentalist belief also takes form of forced marriage of a widow to

her brother-in-law (known as chader-nawazi) among Sikhs, Jats, Rajput castes
to stop division of property. Among Muslims, the same fundamentalist forces
(qazis and agents) organise mutta (temporary) marriages with ready
nikahnamas and talaqnamas. Young girls are traded by their poor, illiterate,
parasitic and unemployed relatives in these marriages that are not registered
and hence have no legal status. Main attraction for such contract marriages is
Meher amount (cash as well as goodies). The girls are mostly cheated and
sexploited (Patel, 2009). Thus prostitution under the garb of religious
ceremony is perpetuated. The criminal justice system of the demanding
countries and supplying countries don’t take stern measures as hard-currency
received through tourism is the most crucial concern in this religious form of
flesh trade. The kinship network is used by the fundamentalist forces for
cross-country trafficking of women. Young, frail, weeping and hungry girls
are wrapped in a burqa while being transported the South Asian Countries
(India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangledesh) to the Gulf countries. Many die
or disappear in the process. Those who survive the torturous assault are
brought back to the native country by the same nexus after they become
physically unusable due to sexually transmitted diseases or HIV-AIDS and
mentally ill.
Denial of human rights and fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution

of India by the fundamentalists by imposition of dress code, not granting right
to work and attacks on female headed households have been objected by
women’s rights groups throughout the world. Extreme form of punishment
meted to women by the fundamentalists is in the form of stoning to death of
‘an adulterous woman’ by the assembled community. During the last decade
innumerable women in several countries have lost their lives in such a painful
and undignified manner at the hands of self-appointed ‘custodians of
morality’. ‘Honour killing’ has become the most widespread among all types
of fundamentalists and communalists throughout Asia, Africa and the Middle
East not only among the tribals, but also among the so called civilized sections
of the nation states. Girls and boys are punished for talking or marrying boys
or girls from other religious groups even in seemingly progressive states such
as West Bengal and Kerala. Caste Panchayats in Hariyana have brutally killed
and publicly hanged young lovers or newly married couples for inter-caste
114
Hindu-Dalit marriages. Recently, the law court of Shariat in Nigeria has

passed a judgment of stoning to death to a mother of an infant, Ms. Amina
Lowal for adultery.9 There has been an international uproar against the
judgment. As a result, for the first time, the state has not executed the decision
of the Shariat.
Sex Segregation: The fundamentalist forces have prevailed upon the state to
enforce sex-segregation in Iran, Albania, Sahel in West Africa, Pakhtun,
Malaysia and Turkey. (Pervin, 2003). No-entry of women in the stadium and
sports complexes is practiced in several theocratic states. On 22-1-2003, the
chief justice of Afghanistan ordered a nationwide ban on cable television and
coeducation. (WLUML, 2003). Al Badr Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Jabbar, an
offshoot of Lashkar-e-Toiba pasted a poster outside the government Higher
Secondary School in Kashmir asking girls to discontinue their studies on
December 19, 2002.
Dress Code:
The Kashmir conflict has created a situation of great fear and insecurity in
women’s lives. Those who opposed the imposition of burqa by Kashmiri
militants had to face dire consequences. A senior Shiv Sena leader, Mr.
Nanak Ram Thavani has urged the federal and state governments to formulate
and implement a dress code for girls in all schools, colleges and other teaching
institutes. (WLUML, 2003).
Within hours of the expiry of their deadline for Muslim women and girls to
wear a burqa, the Kashmiri fundamentalist militants killed three women,
including 2 students and a teacher on the morning of 20th December, 2002 at
Hasiyot in Thanamandi tehsil of Rajouri district. (The Indian Express, 27-12-
2002)
9
Patel, V., 2009, Empowering Harmony at the Individual and Community Level”:
Communalism as product of the politics of the elite of a religious community, in
http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article13669 (last accessed on 20-8-20011)
115
Girls throughout India get attacked by conservative forces for wearing denims
and a T shirt. Couples get beaten up for getting cozy in parks, sea beaches,
attending dance parties or celebrating Valentine’s Day. Jan 24, 2009 attack by
members of the Sri Ram Sene on young women in a Mangalore pub in which
the Sene members had accused the women who go to pubs of violating Indian
tradition created nationwide uproar. As a result, even the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani had to say, “I strongly condemn the attack on
girls in Mangalore. There can be no compromise on this. It is wrong and
against Indian culture and ethos. Girls and boys will have their own ways, and
you may not approve, but it is wrong to attack them for it.” (Patel, 2009)
Moral Policing:
Culture policing or moral policing is a term that is much discussed as it has

devastating influence on young women. In fact, much of our society is split by
the debate on culture and moral policing (Parekh, 2009). This comes into
evidence especially during Valentine’s Day celebrations. There have been
instances of right-wing mobs violently attacking shops and restaurants in the
past and the protests continue. Also, many young couples have been driven
away from sea-fronts and beaches, by conservative factions who do not like
public display of affection. There have been protests against beauty pageants
and bars and pubs have been shut down. Culture or moral policing is an
attempt to control the cultural and moral atmosphere prevalent in society.
LGBT groups have been targeted for violent attacks as well as verbal abuse
and face discrimination in jobs and housing.
Attacks on Right to Work:
Women were the first targets of theocratic states in the neo-colonial phase and
the post liberation phases in the Middle Eastern, the Mediterranean and the
North-West Frontier countries. In all these countries, women bravely fought
along with their male comrades against the imperialist forces. But once, the
‘revolution’ or ‘the national liberation’ was attained, the fundamentalist forces
dumped women into the four walls of domesticity. Arab News, the Saudi
English language daily has revealed that Saudi women are more concerned
about finding good work in tough jobs than being veiled.
116
The Kashmiri militant group, Lashkar-e-Jabbar has asked Muslim women to

quit their jobs and stay home, or face punishment, including death. (The Times
of India, 21-1-2003).
In spite of the threats by the fundamentalists, women are entering male

bastions such as foreign services, diplomatic missions, judiciary, military, and
police force, sports such as soccer, political bodies, academic institutions, and
industrial chambers even in the theocratic states.
Attacks on Female Headed Households:
Fundamentalists of all hues perceive female headed households as an eye-sore

and make all efforts to persecute, stigmatise, isolate, marginalize and terrorise
deserted, divorced, single and separated women leading an independent,
economically self-sufficient life with dependent children or senior citizens.
They don’t accept, women as heads of the household. Wherever, the
fundamentalist forces have become powerful, the female-headed households
face persecution and witch-hunting.
Conversion of husband or wife as a conditionality for ‘allowing’ couples to get

married is a logical extension inward looking mentality generated by the
fundamentalist mindset.
Role of Women’s Rights Organizations in fighting against ‘honor

Crimes’:
Since the early eighties, women rights activists have provided protection and
shelter to couples hounded by their relatives after their love-marriage.
Women’s groups have done lot of preventive work to stall ‘honour’ crimes.
For instance, in 1980, a Ph.D. student and a feminist activist, now a high level
academician had given shelter to a Hindu woman who was being held against
her wishes by her family and going through a great deal of harassment for
having married a Muslim. She brought the woman to Mumbai and organized
her stay with other activists until she was safe and the couple could live
together.
117
In 2007, The Rizwanur and Priyanka tragedy in Kolkata had spurred women's
groups and individuals to engage with an issue largely left untouched by civil
society and the media - women's right to sexual choice. On September 26,
intellectuals walked in a silent march to protest Rizwanur's death and police
involvement. About 500 women from all fields of life – print and electronic
media, literary world, artists, films, women’s movement, academia, and even
homemakers - participated, walking shoulder to shoulder with mostly Muslim
men. Eminent litterateur and Magsaysay award winner Mahasweta Devi
demanded the removal of Kolkata Police Chief Prasun Mukherjee. (Bhadir,
2010)
Women's rights activists today have demanded that a stringent law be enacted
to check the sudden spurt in cases of honour killings in the country. "It is a
conspiracy of silence. The central government should form a stringent law to
punish the people involved in the brutal killings," said Kiran Bedi, the
country's first woman IPS officer. Speaking at a discussion on 'Honour killing
or violation of Legal and Human Rights?' here, Bedi stressed on the need for
government bodies, judiciary, police, media and the masses to work in tandem
to eradicate the evil. Women’s groups have demanded a national Helpline to
protect couples choosing to marry a partner of their choice. (CSR & WPC,
2010)
In a meeting organised by the Centre for Social Research and

WomenPowerConnect (WPC), women’s rights activists stated “We appeal to
the Prime Minister to break his silence on the issue and take this matter in his
own hands. The issue of dis ‘honour’ killings needs to be addressed on an
urgent basis as it has already led to the deaths of numerous young innocent
couples. We are also going to seek an urgent appointment with the honourable
President to ensure that she takes up needful action so that the Indian society
gets rid of this social malice,"
Highlighting the need for a multi-pronged strategy to address this problem, Dr.
Kiran Bedi said, “Dis ‘honour’ killings are India's knee jerk reaction to
modernisation. The problem is deep rooted and the home Ministry or the
Police cannot control and prevent it alone. A multi –pronged strategy would
involve coordinated efforts from all ministries. A national research should be
118
conducted by the Bureau of Police Research and Development and also by the
National Commission of Women to assess the extent of the problem. The
Ministry of Panchayati Raj needs to ban such verdicts that justify killing of
couples in the name of honour. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
should bring out advertisements to publicise helpline numbers for couples
seeking to marry outside their village/caste/gotra. Similarly, the Ministry of
HRD has the responsibility to prevent such a social menace by designing a
curriculum for the future generation; the idea is to educate the society as a
whole and make them responsible citizens. The Ministry of Youth Affairs
should promote youth clubs for both men and women to make the society
more open minded and tolerant. Finally, the Ministry of Women and Child
have a great responsibility to strengthen the roles and positions of women in
the society because such problems impact women most. The Government and
the Honourable Prime Minster need to address this problem in totality and not
in isolation".
The year 2010 saw a sudden spurt in the cases of dis ‘honour’ killings in
Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Haryana. These cases cut across all
cultures, communities and background and it appears the reasons are not
merely related to same 'gotra' marriages. Parents, siblings, and villagers are
opting to eliminate their sons and daughters who are choosing to marry a
person of their choice. The cases of Manoj and Babli, Nirupama Pathak,
Kuldeep & Monika, and several others that have made headlines on the front
page of the leading newspapers are reflective of the urgency that is required to
address these cold-blooded murders.
The government has been facing pressure and urgency from all corners to
address this problem. Therefore, recently the government announced to set up
a group of ministers (GoM) to work out details for an effective law against
honour killings. Expressing great concern over the recent spurt in honour
killings in different parts of the country, the Government is working towards
bringing a Bill during the coming monsoon session of Parliament to check the
incidents of this heinous crime. The BJP too recently said that honour killings
were cold-blooded murders and demanded setting up of fast-track courts to
deal with such cases.
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Feminist Understanding of Khap panchayats
The Khap has been a system of social administration and organization in the
north-western states of India since ancient times. These khaps are spread all
the way from Northwest India down to Madhya Pradesh, Malwa, Rajasthan,
Sindh, Multan, Punjab, Haryana, and modern Uttar Pradesh. Although their
rulings have no legal validity they are very powerful and are successful in
keeping with their so-called traditions. Recurrently the khap panchayats and
their leaders are being seen as protectors of the poor but in fact they are
aggressors towards these underprivileged couples / families. Instead of
helping them, they try to impose their judgments on them. Their tyranny is
mostly felt in traditional rural habitations since very little or no cases have
been reported from urban areas. Their autocracy is specifically evident in the
Sarv Khap of Haryana; whose influence extends to the Malwa province in
Central India, Rajasthan and Sindh. The khap panchayats have a great effect
on the lives of people and the society as a whole. These effects can be either
of political, social or economical nature.
Cases taken up by women’s groups
During 2009-2010, women’s organizations have intervened in the following

cases of honour related violence by Khaps. Although their rulings have no
legal validity, there is long list of uncivilized 'punishments' meted out to those
couples that 'offended' the khap traditions. A couple of examples are: 10
• On July 24, 2009, a khap panchayat 'banished' the couple Ravinder
and Shilpa and Ravinder's entire family from their village. The khap
panchayat ordered their banishment on the ground that Ravinder is a
'Gehlot' from Dharana, and Shilpa is a 'Kadyan' from Siwah, in
10
http://www.dancewithshadows.com/politics/khap-panchayats-of-haryana-order-
death-exile-and-social-ostracism/ and
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1710337.ece and
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/health/khap-panchayats-no-room-for-a-parallel-
justice-system-comment_100362369.html and
http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-106093.html (last accessed on 12-8-2011)
120
Panipat. Now, Ravinder and Shilpa live in Delhi, but they require a
police escort if they want to visit their village.
• The villagers of Singhwal lynched Ved Pal Mor in the very presence
of the police, because he married a girl from the same gotra.
• In June 2009, a khap panchayat forced Manoj and his wife Babli to
drink pesticide. An order by the High Court to give police protection
to the couple was in vain.
• In June 2009, another couple, Anita and Sonu, who had 'violated' the
khap propriety, were tricked to return to their village, only to be
stabbed to death in public.
• In April 2010, the khaps imposed such a heavy financial penalty on a
family of Rajasthan that there was no other alternative for them than
to commit suicide. Five members of the family jumped before a
running train and took their lives.
These incidences highlighted the psychological fear and the tremendous

pressure that these khaps generate on the minds of the rural poor. Women’s
rights organisations have compared the Khap Panchayat justice to the Taliban
type kangaroo courts. The comparison is not entirely true but to pass verdicts
by people and to act as prosecutors and judges in many cases without having
the legal authority to do so must not be allowed in this era. There should be a
strict law against honour killings in India which punishes all those responsible
for violating the law.
Women’s groups such as All India Democratic Women’s Association have

demanded a ban on such parallel systems of justice. The courts and
government need to speedily curtail their powers.
According to Dr. Ranjana Kumari, President of Women Power Connect,

“The rising number of honour killings in the capital reflects the
‘Talibanisation’ of society, adding that the central government should enact
a law to put down the pernicious practice. Women’s Groups have started a
signature campaign to request the President of India to ban honour killing.
(Hindustan Times, 22-6-2010).
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AIDWA states, “The recent spate of ‘Honour’ killings in Delhi and other parts
of the country have outraged all democratic minded people of our country.
The right of any individual to choose their life partner is a basic democratic
right. This right is guaranteed by the norms of any democratic, civilized
society as well as by the Indian Constitution. However, the brutality,
barbarism and impunity with which young couples are being murdered in the
name of caste-community-family ‘honour’ is a matter of great shame and
reflects a serious lacunae in the criminal justice system as well as the lack of
decisive political will on the part of the government towards curbing such
incidents.”11
The recent spate of ‘Honour’ killings in Delhi, which has outraged the nation,
is just the tip of the iceberg. The Asha Saini-Yogesh Kumar Jatav murders or
the Kuldeep-Monica-Shobha murders have come to light either because
aggrieved members of the family lodged complaints with the Police or the
cases came under media scrutiny. Asha Saini and Yogesh were bound, beaten,
stabbed and electrocuted to death by Asha’s father Suraj Kumar Saini and
uncle Om Prakash. Her mother, Maya, aunt Khushboo and cousin Sanjeev
were also involved. The killings of Monica and her husband Kuldeep, four
years after marriage, along with sister Shobha, by Monica’s brothers Ankit
Gujjar and Mandeep Nagar, with their friend Nakul Khari were clearly
premeditated murders. They were shot to death. Monica’s cousin Khushboo
who recently married outside her caste also faces threat. Monica’s uncle,
Dharmaveer Nagar, who has been seen openly justifying the murders, has
been correctly arrested for making provocative statements amounting to
incitement of violence. Similar stern steps are also necessary against all such
elements including representatives of Khap Panchyats elsewhere in the
country.
The real test in these cases, however, will be the strength of investigation and
prosecution against the culprits. It must be ensured that watertight cases are
prepared in both these cases against the accused and the Police do not file
weak charge sheets in the courts and allow the accused to either escape scot-
free or evade deserving punishments. The perpetrators of these brutal and pre-
11
www.stophonourkillings.com/?q=it/node/4776 (last accessed on 12-8-2011)
122
meditated murders, those involved in the conspiracy to murder as well as those

providing logistical and other support and justification must be awarded
exemplary punishments without delay. Yogesh’s sister Renu must also get
full protection by the State, since complainants are often coerced, threatened
and intimidated.
While dealing with such offenses, the government must not lose sight of the
gender component of these crimes. It is not a coincidence that ‘honour’ crimes
are generally perpetrated by the woman’s family, as is evident from the recent
cases in Delhi as well as other instances like Nirupama Pathak, Nitish Katara,
etc. Numerous instances of such murders do not even reach the purview of the
criminal-justice system. Several young girls are killed by family members at
the mere whiff of possible interest in a boy of another caste-community.
These deaths are passed off as natural deaths. Provisions need to be made to
monitor any sudden death, particularly of young girls, to deter such crimes.
Moreover, other forms of violence to prevent or nullify ‘own-choice’ or ‘love’
marriages need to be brought within the purview of suitable and related laws.
These include public humiliation, threats, physical assault, sexual assault,
forced marriages, denial of property share, etc. Consenting families are also
coerced or victimized through various extra-constitutional means like social
boycott, economic victimization, forced removal from place of residence etc.
Women’s rights organizations in Delhi have stated that the Delhi Police often
plays a negative role in instances where young couples escape from hostile
family members in order to get married. The Police are proactive in
registering complaints of kidnapping on the charge of family members.
Couples are often traced, exposed to the hostile pressures of their families or
restored to the custody of their respective families. If the families of either
party play a supportive role, intimidation and threat are used by the Police to
pressurize the consenting family to produce the couple. Efforts are made to
prevent or nullify marriages. Even in event of marriage, if the girl succumbs
under pressure or is unaware of her rights, cases of rape are registered against
the boy. The threat of registering such cases is also used to exert pressure to
withdraw from the relationship. At a time when the Supreme Court has issued
notices to the Centre as well as several State governments regarding measures
undertaken to prevent ‘honour’ killings, any reply that does not uncover the
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truth behind cases of kidnapping registered by the Police will be incomplete

and evasive.
The provisions for couples desiring security are also extremely problematic.
Only a DCP level officer can evaluate the perception of threat and sanction
police protection. It is extremely difficult for ordinary citizens to obtain such
a security cover. Otherwise, a couple has to approach the courts, which in turn
can order police protection. Instances where such protection is provided are
rare. The case of Gurleen and her mother-in-law who were hacked to death in
Tarn Taran while under the protection of the Punjab and Harayana High Court
exposes the callous approach towards such protection. Kuldeep and Monica
had also applied for police protection, but ultimately in vain. Instances where
families conspire against couples for months and years after marriage are
coming to light. They demonstrate the futility of adopting a mechanical
approach towards security. Provision of security in combination with a
proactive approach wherein family members, relatives and self-appointed
custodians of ‘honour’ like khap panchayats are made culpable for a
combination of disciplinary action in the event of any harm to a couple will
produce better results.
It is a matter of common knowledge that the Special Marriages Act of 1954

allows for civil marriages between consenting adults. However, the provisions
of this Act amount to nothing less than discouraging own choice marriages.
Provisions like a minimum waiting period of one month, proof of birth, proof
of at least 30 days of residence in the concerned district, copy of ration card
for proof of permanent residence or authentication by SHO or a gazetted
officer, public notice as well as notice of information served to family
members, etc. make this Act very difficult to employ in case of marriages that
are opposed by family members. The provisions of this Act undoubtedly need
to be simplified to facilitate own choice marriages. Well publicized and easily
accessible bodies need to be made so that couples opting for own choice
marriages can easily inform the government about their intentions and avoid
unjust police action and harassment. Safe shelters and other support also need
to be provided to such couples. All this requires the formulation of a
comprehensive law against ‘honour’ killings in our country.
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The most alarming aspect of this entire sorry state of affairs is the impunity
with which family members, panchayats or community members are justifying
and glorifying such murders. Their confidence is emanating from the tentative
and unprincipled approach shown by the government towards such crimes.
Statements in support of Khap Panchayats by Haryana CM or MPs like Navin
Jindal are only providing strength to such elements. Paying lip service against
honour killings while endorsing the very bodies that are taking a lead in
perpetrating such crimes smacks of not only opportunism, but also sheer
disregard towards the law of the land. Such acts by elected members also
merit strict action. They cannot be explained away as mere compulsions of
electoral politics. Our parliamentary democracy is guided by the principles
enshrined in the Indian Constitution. Political mobilizations that are based on
undermining and challenging those very principles must be firmly dealt with.
It is disappointing that no such resolve has been visible on the part of the
government yet.
It is clear that more and more young citizens of our country are opting for own
choice marriages. No one should be allowed to violate this basic democratic
right in the name of tradition or ‘honour’. Families, relatives and extra
constitutional bodies that are taking the law into their own hands need to be
disciplined. The Union government must take a lead in ensuring that all
practices that violate democratic rights enshrined in the Constitution are
confronted without fail. Any other approach would only prove that the
government is willing to turn a blind eye to gross criminal practices while
maintaining a façade of modernity, democracy and progress.
CWDS (Centre for Women’s Development and Studies) in collaboration with

All India Democratic Women’s Association and Saheli organized a
convention in New Delhi to focus attention on ‘honour killings’ and called for
resolute legal and political action against such incidents. At the Convention,
Geeta was one of the participants who narrated her horror story. She wore a
woollen cap, which hid most of her face. She told that in 2003, within two
months of her marriage her husband Jasbir was hacked to death, in front of
her. Geeta belongs to the Rajput community while Jasbir was a Jat Sikh. A
widow at 20, Geeta has vowed to see to it that the people behind her husband's
125
murder are brought to justice. Today, she is facing great economic and social
hardship and has armed security guards as there is a threat to her and her
mother-in-law's lives. They were the main witnesses to the murder.
Geeta's painful experience points to the frightening realities that exist in Indian
society, despite the ruling group's claims of a ‘feel-good’ factor. ‘Honour-
killings’, which are widespread in some of the economically advanced States,
is an example. Perpetrated under the garb of saving the ‘honour’ of the
community, caste or family, such incidents occur often as the State
governments are not keen to take action. The acts of violence include social
boycott, public lynching of couples, murder of either the man or the woman
concerned, attack on family members, murder made to appear as suicide,
public beatings, humiliation, blackening of the face, forcing couples or their
families to eat excreta or drink urine, forced incarceration, social boycotts and
the levying of fines. (Rajalakshmi, 2010).
During last 2 years, more than 36 honour killings have been recorded in
Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, at least 13 honour killings occurred within
nine months in 2003. In 2002, while 10 such killings were reported, 35
couples were declared missing. AIDWA estimates that Haryana and Punjab
alone account for 10 per cent of all honour killings in the country.12
The Central government's stand on the issue was clear last year when S.S.
Ahluwalia, Bharatiya Janata Party member of the Rajya Sabha, contested the
claim of the United Nations Special Rapporteur that honour killings occurred
in India. Ahluwalia was speaking in his capacity as the Indian representative
at the U.N.'s Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee. He is reported to
have said: "Selective reproduction of unsubstantiated reports, which are based
on hearsay, seriously affects the credibility and importance of the report." He
was referring to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's report, which stated that
12
http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2103/stories/20040213001205000.htm and
www.mrt-rrt.gov.au/ArticleDocuments/87/IND32577.pdf.aspx (last accessed 12-8-
2011)
126
the Special Rapporteur continued to receive reports of so-called honour

killings from India and other countries.
In Delhi, members of Saheli, an autonomous women's group, came together to

raise slogans and petition the public on the issue. They held up posters that
read, ‘Protect The Right To Love Across Caste Barriers', 'There Is No Honor
In Killing' and 'Hands Up Against Killings'.
In a strongly worded statement Saheli projected feminist standpoint in these

manner, “We read with shock and outrage about the Khap Maha Panchayat
held in Kurukshetra on the 13thof April 2010 at which over 4000 khap
panchayat members from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi vowed
to fight for the seven people convicted recently in an ‘honour-killing’ case.
They valorised those who killed Babli (19) and Manoj (23) and argued that
those who murdered them ‘honoured traditional values’ which must be upheld.
The khaps decided to collect money from all Khap members to provide
support to the convicted and vowed to mobilise public opinion against the
court order. They also decided to give 1 lakh Rupees to the families of those
convicted. Such barbaric acts and support of these acts must be condemned.
No caste or community has the license to kill under any pretext, nor to glorify
such murders.” (Saheli, 2010).
In June 2007, Babli and Manoj from Karoran village near Kaithal in Haryana
were killed. The ‘sin’ for which they were fatally punished was that they
married each other against the wishes of Babli’s family. Babli’s family’s
disapproval was linked to both of them belonging to the same ‘gotra’
(lineage). This led the panchayat to declare the marriage as ‘void’ and a
witch-hunt for the two was ordered. Within a month of their marriage, they
were tracked down and brutally murdered by Babli’s family members to
uphold the verdict of the khap panchayat. Babli was poisoned and Manoj was
strangled. Their bodies were thrown into a canal. As in most cases of so
called ‘honour’ killings, in this case too the killers were family members;
Babli’s brother, two of her cousins, two uncles and a distant relative.
The couple had clearly feared the violent reaction from the community,
because when they eloped and got married they had sought protection from the
127
High Court in Chandigarh which in turn had directed the Haryana Police to
provide them with security. The policeman who was deployed to provide
them security is suspected of revealing their whereabouts to Babli's family!
He is currently facing departmental action.
Manoj’s mother, Chanderpati, refused to take this lying down and decided to
fight to get justice. She filed a complaint with the police and also approached
the Punjab and Haryana High Court for justice. Chanderpati lives a very
difficult life because she has been ostracised by the villagers. They do not
speak to her, do not sell her any groceries and blame her for wanting to seek
justice. This is believed to be one of the first instances in Haryana where an
affected family has gone to court against such a killing.
As a result of this case, a court in Karnal (Haryana) held 7 people guilty and
pronounced its Judgment in April 2010. Those sentenced to death were all
family members of Babli. The head of the panchayat in Haryana's Kaithal
district, which ruled against the couple's marriage, has been given life
imprisonment and a driver found to have helped abduct the couple was given a
seven-year prison term. This verdict was pronounced by Additional District
and Sessions Judge Vani Gopal Sharma, who herself unfortunately is facing
threats for this judgment and has been provided a security cover by the Karnal
Police. She continues to face the Khaps’ ire and has recently requested a
transfer.
This was not the first time that Haryana's Khap panchayats have come in the
way of lovers. In many cases diktats have been made against young couples
who are believed to have crossed community and caste rules and familial
authority. In many cases the real threat appears to have been ‘choice’
marriage itself. (Although in some cases marriages arranged by the parents of
a couple have similarly faced Khap-terror because it was found out later that
the couples were of the same gotra).
These pronouncements have often led to many young lives being brutally
snuffed out. While we hail the judgment made in the District and Sessions
Court as a step in the right direction to bring not only the killers but also the
khap panchayats to task, we do not support the death penalty. It is important
128
that steps are taken to curtail the powers of these self-styled panchayats which
function contrary to rights laid down in the Constitution and act as a law unto
themselves. It is also extremely important to strengthen people’s faith in the
police and judiciary so they can complain against such diktats that deny the
right to life and liberty and the right to choice marriages.
There are no official statistics on the number of ‘honour’ killings in India, but
media reports are full of such cases where young couples are driven to suicide
or killed by family members for marrying outside caste, community, or within
the village and gotra. It is extremely important to recognise these so–called
‘honour’ killings as a crime and find ways to prevent these killings.
Not only has the Khap mahapanchayat held on the 13th of April, 2010
glorified the killers, but they have also given a loud and clear message to the
government that caste and family ‘honour’ is above the law. They also
demanded that the Hindu Marriage Act be amended to ban marriages within
the same gotra for the sake of ‘restoring social norms’.
Saheli has demanded:

- That further action is taken against the Khap leaders who made statements at
the Khap Mahapanchayat that amount to the glorification of murder and the
valourisation of the killers.
- That the State Governments and Courts take suo moto cognizance of various
media reports and institute an enquiry into incidents of ‘honour’ killings in
Northern India.
- That state governments take strict action to protect the rights of citizens to
choose their own partners.
- Strong action be taken against all those who have threatened Sessions Judge
Vani Gopal Sharma to ensure that the members of the judiciary are not
intimidated in this manner.
- That action is taken against all those policemen who did not perform their
duty, leading to the killing of Babli and Manoj. The ugly nexus between Khap
leaders, the police, and local politicians should be exposed to ensure that
fundamental rights laid down in our Constitution are upheld.
129
In Andhra Pradesh, nearly 200 couples, who were part of inter-caste and inter-
religious marriages, attended a meeting to share and discuss their experiences.
“We got married in 92. It was a big deal then. We were harassed and became
the centre of attention for everyone in Hyderabad. We have two daughters,
now but we made sure that their minds are free from these prejudices,” says
General Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Kula Nirmulana Sangham, Md. Waheed.
The Women’s Sangham made arrangements to felicitate and celebrate the

achievement of the couples.
“Since childhood, thanks to my parents, I was unaware of my caste. It is

important for parents to keep children away from the perils of caste and
religious bias” says G. Ujwal, an IBM employee, who married Rekha of a
different caste. “We belong to no religion or caste. Caste did not make any
difference to us and we want to spread this message to others,” says Rekha.
Most of the couples pointed out that inter-caste and inter-religious marriages
do pose practical difficulties in getting adjusted with society. “In schools, they
insist that we mention our caste during admissions. We have always
maintained that we are Indians first,” points out Jyothi, wife of Mr. Waheed.
Many Sangham members said that the State was not passing on the incentives,
which were launched by the Central government for inter-religious and inter-
caste couples. “The Central government provides Rs. 50,000 to such couples.
However, that incentive never trickles down. Our organisation, till date, has
counseled and conducted over 1,000 inter-caste and inter-religious marriages,”
says Waheed (The Hindu Jan 27, 2010).
They swam against the tide to break new ground and in the process, set
examples for others. Even today, some of them maintain that they remain in
the fringes and society does not accept them for what they are. Yet, they came
out to spread the message of a casteless society.
Progressive multi-caste and multi-religious social movements are great moral

boosters for such couples as they provide them democratic space in their day
to day life.
130
Social Security from the State Governments
In the post independence period, several state governments have been making
financial allocation to give monetary awards to couples choosing inter-caste
marriages. There is a special financial allocation in the state budgets for the
same.13
Last year, Maharashtra government decided to gift Rs 50,000 to a couple

opting for inter-caste marriage. The state cabinet took the decision with the
view to abolish caste system in the state by encouraging inter-caste marriages,
an official from CMO said. Earlier, the amount was Rs 15,000, he added. The
government would give a cheque of Rs 20,000 and invest Rs 25,000 in postal
savings scheme, Indira Vikas Patra, in the name of the couple. The remaining
amount would be given in form of marriage expenditure or household things,
the official said. The government has been implementing the scheme from
1958 and 50 per cent of the fund is given by the Centre. 14
Government of Uttar Pradesh declared cash incentive and interest-free loan to

couples opting for inter-caste or inter-religion marriages to set up cottage
industries, a national integration department spokesman said (Times of India :
05-10-2009). "On application, such couples may get interest-free loan of upto
Rs 15,000 subject to approval by the district industries centre," he said. The
loan sanctioned will be payable after a period of two years in 10 equal half-
yearly installments. "Such couples will also get a cash reward of Rs 10,000
and a medal," the spokesman said.
Women’s rights groups recommend that the state should include support
system for women whose rebellious marriages fail. Notions of romance and
right to personal freedom do not make these marriages immune to patriarchal
forces. Feminists have critiqued traditional notions of love and romance. The
meager family support available to women who marry with family consent is
13
http://socialjustice.nic.in/pdf/arpcr07.pdf (last accessed on 29th August 2011)
14
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article79640.ece (last accessed
on 29th August 2011)
131
also denied to women in cases where they have made choices going against
the family.
Conclusion
Attempts to end ‘honour’ crimes need the involvement of the local

community. Crimes of ‘honour’ are part of a continuum of violence against
women that spreads across time and place (Sen, Purna, 2005) Ban on inter-
caste, inter-religious and inter-racial marriages signifying obsession about
racial, caste and religious purity that are so deep in the psyche of status quoists
and fundamentalists that have strong aversion against inter-mixing and inter-
marriages among citizens of different caste groups, religious communities and
racial backgrounds. Newspapers are full of incidences of torture, abduction,
forced abortion, lynching, and murder of newly married couples with different
caste, religious, ethnic or racial backgrounds. Even the state and criminal
justice system miserably fail to provide adequate protection to such love
marriages. Such couples have to face social boycott, can’t easily get jobs,
accommodation and school admissions for their children. Though women’s
groups are silently supporting such couples, the enormous advocacy work is
missing as people’s movements have only a paternalistic concern on the issue.
Strict law against honour killings in India which punishes all those responsible
for violating the law will have to be backed by grass roots movements
promoting secular humanism and respect for multicultural ethos.
References
1. Bhadir, Aditi (2007) “When Will Women Come of Age?” Delhi: Women
Feature Service, Oct. 21. Centre for Social Research & Women Power
Connect (2010) Women leaders condemn Dis ‘honour’ killings, Delhi.
www.shaktivahini.wordpress.com/category/honor-killings
2. Chakravarty, Uma (2005) “From Fathers to Husbands” in Lyn Welchman
and Sara Hossain (Ed.) Honour, London: Zed Books, Spinifex Press,
Melbourne.
3. Chopra, Rohit and Jyoti Punwani (2005) “Discovering the Other,
Discovering the Self: Inter Religious Marriages among Muslims in the
Greater Mumbai Area, India” in Abdullahi An-Naim (Ed.) Inter-Religious
132
Marriages among Muslims – Negotiating Religion and Social Identity in

Family and Community, Delhi: Global Media Publications.
4. Desai, Neera (2006) Feminism as Experience: Thoughts and Narratives,
SPARROW, Mumbai.
5. Gupta, Dipankar (2004) Caste in Question: Identity or Hierarchy? Delhi:
Sage Publications.
6. IIJ (2003) Threatened Existence: A Feminist Analysis of the Genocide in
Gujarat, International Initiative for Justice, Mumbai: New Age Printing
Press.
7. Mathur, Kanchan (2007) Countering Gender Violence: Initiatives Towards
Collective Action in Rajasthan, London: Sage Publications. 2007.
8. N.F.H.S. (2006) National Family Health survey, Mumbai: International
institute of Population Studies.
9. Narayan, Anjana (2003) "Home and the World: Inter-Religious Marriages in
India" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological
Association, Atlanta Hilton Hotel, Atlanta, GA, Aug 16, 2003 Online
<.PDF>. 2010-10-16
<http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p107363_index.html>
10. Outlook (2008) “Honour Killing is Act of Barbarism”, July 8.
11. Parekh, Bhikhu (2008) A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an
Interdependent World, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
12. Patel, Vibhuti (2009) “Fundamentalism, Communalism & Gender Justice”,
http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article13223
13. Pevrin (1997)
www.voiceagainsttorture.org.pk/web/user_files/File/newsletter, April, 2004,
Vol.11
14. Puniani, Ram (Ed.) (2005) Religion, Power and Violence, Sage Publications,
Delhi.
15. Rajalakshmi, T.K. (2003) “Murder for `honour'”
Http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2103/stories/20040213001205000.htm
16. Rege, Sharmila (2010)” Indian Feminists Should Reclaim Ambedkar”
organized by Indira Gandhi National Open University's (IGNOU, Delhi) Dr
BR Ambedkar Chair on Social Change and Development.
17. Sarkar, Tanika (2001) Hindu Wife, Hindu Nation: Community, Religion and
Cultural Nationalism New Delhi: Permanent Black.
18. Shah, Ghanshyam (2001) Dalit Identity and Politics, New Delhi: Sage
Publications.
19. Saheli (2010) New Delhi
www.stophonourkillings.com/?q=fr/taxonomy/term/769
133
20. Sen, Purna (2005) “‘Crimes of Honour’: Value and Meaning” in Lyn
Welchman and Sara Hossain (Ed.) Honour, London: ZED BOOKS. Spinifex
Press, Melbourne.
21. The-doomed-love-story-of-Rizwanur-
Priyanka,www.infochangeindia.org/htmlIzzat-ka-mamla-hai-
22. Times of India (2010) Government of Maharashtra, Mumbai Edition, 12 th
January.
23. The Hindu (2006), “Killing Caste Order”. July 8.
24. Thufail P.T. (2010) “Seven Honour Killings in 12 Weeks”, Delhi: Tehelka,
October, 23.
25. WLUML (2003) Women Living Under Muslim Law, An appeal for Action,
www.wluml.org/english/newsbyregion.shtml?cmd%5B53%5D=c-1-
Miscellaneous - 22k.
(The author gratefully acknowledges helpful comments given by veteran
feminist Sonal Shukla to the first draft of this paper. The author is
responsible for the views and errors in the paper.)
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134
THE ROLE OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT IN SOCIO-

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN
- Dr. Mohd Furqan, Dr. Mohd Nayim & Naghma Rizwan
Introduction
Women are the most precious citizens of any nation. On them lies the
foundation of any meaningful social and economic development. Women
have a very important and crucial role in various stages of economic
development. The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian
Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and
Directive Principles. The Constitution not only grants equality to women, but
also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour
of women.
Unless the woman develops the society will not be developed. So leaders of
the national movement led by Jawaharlal Nehru took a progressive stand
regarding women’s rights and proposed radical changes in the Hindu law
relating to marriage and succession. After 15 long years of struggle, four
Acts, forming the core of the Hindu Code Bill, were passed by the first
Parliament. These were the Special Marriage Act, the Hindu Marriage Act,
the Hindu Succession Act and the Adoption and Maintenance Act.
The National Commission for Women was set up by an Act of Parliament in

1990 to safeguard the rights and legal entitlements of women. The 73rd and
74th Amendments (1993) to the Constitution of India have provided for
reservation of seats in the local bodies of Panchayats and Municipalities for
women, laying a strong foundation for their participation in decision making at
the local levels.
India has also ratified various international conventions and human rights
instruments committing to secure equal rights of women. Key among them is
the ratification of the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1993.
135
The Government has given equal rights to women and men but even today
they are being exploited by man. The UN commission on status of women
observed that ‘women who contribute to half of the world’s population by
virtue of an accident of birth, perform two-thirds of the world’s work, receive
one-tenth of its income and owns less than one-hundredth of its property’. In
India, women produce thirty percent of all food commodities consumed but
get only ten percent of the property or wealth of the country.
As far as their social status is concerned, they are not treated as equal to men
in all places. Empowering may be understood as enabling people, especially
women to acquire and possess power resources, in order to make a decision on
their own or resist decisions that are made by others which affect them.
Making a policy for Women’s Development:
In India, there have been many ups and downs in the condition of women from
ancient times up until now. It is time now to think about her development.
The government has formulated several policies for the development of
women. According to these policies, the Government should provide them
with every facility. The goal of these policies is to bring about the
advancement, development and empowerment of women. A policy for
Women’s Development should be widely disseminated so as to encourage
active participation of all stakeholders for achieving its goal, specifically, the
objectives of this policy should include-
(i) Creating an environment through positive economic and social policies for
the full development of women to enable them to realize their full potential.
(ii) The de-jure and de-facto enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental
freedom by women on equal basis with men in all spheres - political,
economic, social, cultural and civil.
(iii) Equal access to participation and decision making of women in social,
political and economic life of the nation
(iv) Equal access for women to health care, quality education at all levels,
career and vocational guidance, employment, equal remuneration,
occupational health and safety, social security and public office etc.
136
(v) Strengthening legal systems aimed at elimination of all forms of

discrimination against women
(vi) Changing societal attitudes and community practices by active
participation and involvement of both men and women.
(vii) Mainstreaming a gender perspective in the development process.
(viii) Elimination of discrimination and all forms of violence against women
and the girl child; and
(ix) Building and strengthening partnerships with civil society, particularly
women’s organizations.
Dang concluded that, the establishment of National Women’s Commission

with statutory powers is a great step forward. We feel that similar
commissions must also be set up in the states for the development of women.
Gothoskar said that changes in the quantity and quality of women's

employment in banking can be accounted for by a number of factors operating
simultaneously. There are deeper social changes taking place in the country
vis-à-vis women's education and employment; changes in government policies
regarding this and other sectors; changes in management policies, especially
after the nationalization of banks in 1969; the effects of internationalization;
and the technological changes taking place in this industry. This study
focussed primarily on the effects of technological change, and will include
material on how women employees perceive these changes and what they feel
themselves about retraining and improving their working conditions.
Moreover, it is important to consider how unions, cooperatives and
workgroups can strengthen women's positions and overcome the stereotyping
which persists even in new fields.
Dwivedi, Solanki, Kareemulla and Ramana (2001) concluded that women are
generally engaged in multiple occupations, ranging from unpaid family labour
to self employment in their home or village or outside to generate income for
themselves.
Munjal (1985) said that, about 60 percent, 90 percent and 95 percent of

women in farm families participated respectively in crop, and home activities.
Studies on women in agriculture conducted in India and other developing
137
countries point out the fact that women contribute more to agriculture
production than has generally been acknowledged.
Madhok says this situation has arisen from the fact that most women’s
employment — close to 95 per cent — is in the informal sector. What
employment growth there has been for women in the formal sector has been
mainly in the public sector in the 1980s. Within the private formal sector,
there has been little growth after the 1970s, contrary to popular belief which is
based mainly on increased employment for women at the higher levels in a
company’s hierarchy.
The education of women is most important for the development of women.

So, during the previous Congress government in Punjab, education was made
free for girls up to the graduation level. The railway ministry of India was
given a special facility as free travelling to girl’s students for coming and
going to school and college. This has definitely helped the girl child’s
education. Many girls have to go to private institutions which charge heavily.
The students and the women’s movement are demanding that we spend at least
10 per cent of our Budget on education for the girl child. For girls, we need
more polytechnics and hostels.
Employment is an important index of the economic status of women. Work

participation of females has raised from 14.22 per cent in 1971 to 22.27 per
cent in 1991. This despite the fact that these women perform a multiplicity of
economic activities ranging from wage labour to self-employment. On an
average, each woman was doing four kinds of work — labouring in the fields
for wages, working the family plot, rearing livestock and processing
agricultural produce for sale. Her work contributed roughly 40 per cent to the
income of the family.
The rural wage labourer was found to earn the least — less even than women
engaged in independent work or in contract, piece-rate work at home. Yet,
census data shows that between 1981 and 1991 women constitute 90 per cent
of the total marginal workers, but in the organized sector, they constitute only
4 per cent. About 30 million women work as agricultural labourers. The
others work on roads, brick kilns, construction projects etc. the number of
138
rural women agricultural workers increased by a phenomenal 36.15 per cent.

Clearly, landlessness and poverty is forcing more rural women into the labour
force to earn a miserable wage. The argument that this increase reflects more
accuracy in census definitions and data is a partial and inadequate explanation
for such a huge jump. Traditionally, women are paid lower wages than men.
Usually, the discrimination is justified by demarcating jobs as either “men’s
work” or “women’s work”. Even the government’s periodic notification of
minimum wage rates for agricultural labour, has not affected any change.
In industry, women have been thrown out so that expenses on maternity

benefits etc. are saved. Women do not get equal pay for equal work, except in
government factories. There is no law for the protection of women who are
given work in private sheds and houses. Since Independence, there has been
tremendous progress with regard to the status of women, though not all of it is
satisfactory in India. Actually, there has been a contradictory process. For this
purpose; there has been some awareness about the need for gender equality.
Women’s organizations have led powerful movements and struggles for their
rights. Many laws to protect them are in the statute book. On the other hand,
oppression and atrocities against women have been on the increase for some
years now. Cases of wife-beating, dowry deaths, kidnappings, molestation,
rape and amniocentesis (killing of female foetus in the womb) are common.
Government Schemes for Women Development
The government had started new programmes of training and employment for
women (STEP) scheme seek to provide updated skills and new knowledge to
poor and assetless women in 10 traditional sectors for enhancing their
productivity and income generation. Twenty new projects have been
sanctioned during 2008-09 benefitting 31,865 women. Presently, there are 876
hostels functioning throughout the country and the during the year 2008-09, 11
new hostel which will benefit 933 women and girl students have been
sanctioned under the scheme of working women hostel. Till March 31, 2009,
287 Swadhar homes and 210 helplines were functional under the Swadhar
Scheme. 69,803 SHGs have been formed against the target of 65,000 SHGs
under Swayamsidha which was an integrated scheme of the Ministry for
holistic empowerment of women through the formation of self-help groups
139
(SHGs), awareness generation, economic empowerment and convergence of

various schemes. The scheme ended on March31, 2009.
Two schemes are being implemented for the development of adolescent girls
viz. kishori shakti yogana (KSY) and Nutrition programme for adolescent
Girls (NPAG). KSY is an intervention for adolescent Girls and aims at
addressing the needs of self-development, nutrition and health status, literacy
and numerical skills, as well as vocational skills of adolescent girl in the age
group of 11-18 years. The scheme is currently operational in 6,118 ICDS
projects. NPAG is being implemented in 51 identified districts across the
county to provide free foodgrains at Rs. 6 a kilogram per beneficiary per
month to undernourished adolescent girls (11-19 years) irrespective of the
financial status of the family to which they belong. Both the schemes are being
implemented through the infrastructure of ICDS.
Conclusion and Suggestions
A woman is the wheel of the social and economical vehicle. The principle of
gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble,
Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. So The
National Commission for Women was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1990
to safeguard the rights and legal entitlements of women. The 73rd and 74th
Amendments (1993) to the Constitution of India have provided for reservation
of seats in the local bodies of Panchayats and Municipalities for women,
laying a strong foundation for their participation in decision making at the
local levels. The Government has given equal rights to women and men but
even today they are being exploited by men. If women are not given proper
rights, her present as well as future will be doomed much like her predecessors
in earlier centuries, Kavi Pant says-
‘Mukt karo nari ko manav, chir nandini sakhi pyari ko

Yug-yug ki nirmam kara se janani sakhi pyari ko’
The Government of India has made policies for the development of women.
But development of women has not been satisfactory. So my suggestions to
the government in order to promote the development of women-
140
• Education should be compulsory for women.

• Property rights should be given women in reality and not merely on
paper.
• Financial support should be given to women NGO’s which facilitate
the work done in the field of development of women.
• The Government should give equal rights to women and men.
• Reservation bill should be passed in the Lok Sabha.
References
1. Dwivedi, R.P., Solanki, K.R., Karimulla, K., and Ramana, D.B.V., Souvenir of
National Seminar On Natural Resource Management in Uttar Pradesh with special
reference to Bundelkhan Region, published by government of Uttar Predesh, and
Bundelkhand University, Jhansi-2001.
2. Niyaz, Dr. Shagufta, Souvenir of Annual Function and Seminar on Communal
Harmony for National Integration-A Social Responsibility, Published by Dr. Zakir
Husain Foundation, Aligarh-2006, pages 45-46
3. Kavitha, N.-Overview of Microfinance for Women in India.
4. Husain, Yuman, “Women Employment in India”, Azad India Foundation,
Kishanganj, Bihar. www.Azadindia.org
5. Dang, Vimla, “Feudal Mindset Still Dogs Women’s Struggle: A Fair Deal,
Equitable System Urgently Needed” www.google.com
6. Gothoskar,Sujata,http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu37we/uu37we0i.
htm
7. Munjal, S.; Grover, I. And Sangwan, V. (1985), Women’s Economic
Contribution in farm household in Haryana. India. Agril. Econ., Vol. 40:274
8. Madhok, Sujata “A Vast Majority Lives in Abject Poverty: Gender bias,
infanticide bane of Indian woman” www.google.com
9. Economic Survey 2008-09, Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic
Affairs, Economic Division, Government of India, page 275-76
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141
GENDER AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH OF THE

WOMEN WORKERS IN THE COTTON TEXTILE
MILLS OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY
(1921-1935)
- Dr. Meherjyoti Sangle
-
The women workers at mills were truly courageous; they migrated for their
jobs from smaller towns and villages to Bombay city. These women were
over burdened with work, both labour work at the mill and their ‘domestic
responsibilities’.1 Their ‘new’ work had them coping with unhealthy
working conditions, low wages, unhygienic houses and their poor diets
only added to a number of long-term diseased conditions in them and their
children, affected especially in the reproductive phases. Natural shyness
prevented women to go to male doctors and were thus treated by the dai.2
After the ILO conference in 1919, the Indian Industrialists’ began to
consider maternity leave as an option for expecting women.
This paper focuses on various aspects of the women mill workers with
respect to their working standards, ill-effects of their work on their physical
and reproductive health and labour acts made to help them.
Cotton Textile Mills of the Bombay Presidency
The first mill in Bombay was projected by Mr. Cowasji Nanabhai Davar,
an Indian Parsi3 in 1851 under the name of Bombay Spinning and Weaving
Company. Even though lot of ups and downs of the world economy
affected Bombay textiles mills, 4 in the last three decades of the nineteenth
century, Bombay became a flourishing centre for cotton mills. However,
 This paper presented in the International Conference on Gender and Development in the World of
Work held in Jhansi, India from 25-27 March, 2010.
142
there was a rapid glut of textiles in the Chinese market, which was a
principal buyer of Bombay yarn. Between 1892 and 1898, the total number
of factories in the island rose from 119 to 136.5
These modern industries brought out tremendous changes in the political,

economic and social fields. It increased migration from rural to urban
sectors. The new wave and policies of a sub-ordinate level, although
granted technical education but failed to create “skilled labour” to match
modern industries. The professional and technical education provided by
the British rulers was of a low grade and was made available far away from
actual industries. Skilled labour was in demand but did not provide enough
employment opportunities to Indians because of the racial policy adopted
while employing workers.6 Indians often did not get a chance to do
vocational courses.7 Some mills provided vocational training, but women
were always left out of these courses as a result of which they were the
unskilled labour who worked long hours in turn for low wages.8 The
industries though, made a huge profit by benefiting from such cheap
labour. Indians obviously held foreign rule responsible for their economic
backwardness.
The turn of events in the world history had changed the economic policies
of the country and the war thoroughly exposed the industrial backwardness
of India. Furthermore, the victory of Japan over Russia gave stimulus to
the thought that it wouldn’t be difficult for a country like India to achieve a
position of eminence. The commencement of the First World War in 1914
had an adverse impact on the growth of new cotton mills in Bombay.9 The
stoppage of machinery shipments from Lancashire to India created
difficulties in mill industry in Bombay for many years, during and even
after restoration of peace in 1918.
The Bombay industry, in particular, was the greatest beneficiary of the

policy of protection due to Fiscal Commission’s recommendation.10 As a
result in 1920, the total births in Bombay city showed a steady increase
whereas total number of deaths fell rapidly. Birth rate was 16.3 per 1000
live births in 1921 and 23.4 in 1931and death rate showed higher 45.5 in
1921 and 21.6 per 1000 deaths in 1931.
143
Women’s Employment
The two world wars changed the misconception regarding women’s

capacity and ability for work. Gender biased and patriarchal norms
considered women as a weaker sex. It was doubtful whether she could bear
the physical strenuous nature of the industrial work at hand. Women
joined the mills, substituting for men. They handled machines which they
did not have experience working with and took an active part in various
works of the industry. Through the ages women have played a vital role in
the development of the agricultural economy. In modern economy, cotton
textiles formed the main source of employment for women. Their long
work hours in mills added to their domestic burden. They multi-tasked
various roles simultaneously; that of a wife, mother, a worker or daughter-
in-law. Over burdened by their work, they were negligent towards their
basic needs of their health, greatly affecting their reproductive health and
family that increased rate of maternal mortality and infant morbidity. 11
Polygamy overruled high maternal deaths.
Women were mainly a part of the spinning department at Bombay,

Ahmadabad and Sholapur. Nearly about tens of thousands of workers were
engaged in textile trades. Out of them around 20,000 were women.12 Out
of them 22.5% of female population were aged in between 15 to 50 years
and employed in Bombay, while 37% in Ahmadabad and 40% in Sholapur
from 1919 to 1934.13 After 1930, the percentage of women employees was
lower as compared to previous years. The reason being that the owners
found the increased cost of maternity benefits too much to cope with.
John Robertson reported that females were found to be irregular and

troublesome and were only employed as reelers, cleaners and winders
because these departments worked with hand powered equipment which
women could easily operate as they were the ‘unskilled and untrained’
labour.14 This mill work often had them stay away from household duties.15
In Bombay a large force of women workers of lower castes were left out
from the fear of socio-religious taboos that repulsed the other higher class
144
workers. Managements in Bombay supported this belief only to avoid

social conflicts.16
Standard of Living
Though the presidency flourished through the industrial sectors and

increased economic growth, the rulers and the industrialists failed to
provide a better way of life to workers and their families with better
houses, better working conditions, or better wages curbing their ability to
cope with their basic needs of life and health. The thought had come in the
late 1920 that if these conditions of workers were not improved then it
directly affected their efficiency at work.17
Work- Place
Janet Kelman of New York18 visited India and studied the factory
conditions and the standard of life of the workers in India. She pointed out
the adverse conditions of the work place, built in north south direction to
save from direct and perpendicular sun heat. There was poor ventilation
and light, even lack of oxygen. Wrongly constructed mills had
arrangements of heavy machines which intercepted air and Pankha or
electric fans, little protection from the sun’s heat, and adverse types of
roofs which caused poor-ventilation in one or double storied building.
Humidity and damp atmosphere were useful for cotton textile mills but
they harmed the workers. They strictly followed class and caste prejudices
with separate arrangements of kitchen, canteen and drinking water supply
for Hindu, Muslim and untouchables. The arrangements of machines and
the wrong construction of the mills were as “boxes built round a crowded
heap of machinery.” The author emphasized the urgent need of a detailed
study in actual construction that was conducive to health.19 Workers were
not ready to accept the idea of open windows as they would directly open
towards their houses which were situated very close to the industries.
Secondly even the smallest currents of wind would cause damage and
break the cotton threads.
145
Studies show that there were no standard measures used for constructing
mills that were followed by the industrialists in India that had taken into
consideration Indian needs and weather. Small crowded rooms and stale
air increased the temperature of the body of the workers making them
feverish and affecting the efficiency of the workers at home and at work.
Fluff-laden air increased the risk of respiratory diseases.20 Exhaust fans
and ducts on the machines had the greatest possibilities of fluff emersion.
Safety tanks and the flush system of latrines were not used or even the least
bit maintained.
Houses and Work
Margaret Balfour and Shakuntala Talpade21 studied the conditions of the

women workers and their social, economic, cultural and medical factors as
they affected their reproductive health. The people lived in chawls or
tenement houses, which are usually built with a long central passage. The
rooms were about 12 by 15 feet in area and open on only one side. A single
or several families used this room. Barnes 22 has even mentioned an instance
where 36 persons lived in a room; it was adjusted to by the different shifts and
weekends.
There was no cross ventilation, only one window opened towards the street
that was often closed. Cooking was done in the verandhas so smoke and
fumigation filled up in the room. They cooked food, cleaned utensils, and
shopped for groceries, thus maintaining their households. They worked
from 8 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. and a double income for a couple changed the
living standards. During working hours in mills, they were away from the
crowded chawls.
Dagmer Curjel (Bengal), 23 Florence Barnes (Bombay);24 both doctors of

Women’s Medical Service studied the influence of the ill-ventilated
industrial work on the mill working women’s body especially during child-
birth. They stated that women were over burdened as employees and had
household work. Their day started early in the morning at 5.00a.m. , had
no routine for sleep. A woman had to sleep in the veranda due to small
houses and low economic condition. During the night women occupied
146
240 cubic feet for sleeping.25 Not a single mill had kept a register for
women mill workers of expectant mothers in terms of her children, ante-
natal treatment, frequencies of her pregnancies and diseases. By and large
women went to their villages for delivery or remained in the chawls served
by dais.
Sanitation
By and large, chawls had poor sanitation; the passages were dirty,
disorderly, littered with rubbish and swarming with unwashed children.
Mud walls, thatched roofs, cow dung smeared floors were common in other
industrial centres. In the winter and monsoon, these mud houses were
uncomfortable and thin clothes were insufficient. Dysentery, diarrhoea and
fever were rampant.26 Gynaecological cases were rarely reported
diseases.27
Wages
In 1923, the average monthly wages of women in Bombay was Rs. 17-5-0.
It varied in the cities and depended upon the nature and duration of the
work. By and large, all workers sent some amount to their native places.
The subsistence wage could be earned when a man or a woman worked
sixty-six hours duration per week that was so high that it affected the health
of the workers. It resulted in a poor standard of life and created serious
social problems. Higher wagers often spent their salary in gambling and
drinking.28 In smaller centres the wages of women were very low than big
centres in urban areas. After World War I, the wages were increased from
70 to 130. Sholapur had increased salary by 82 % for women and other
centres of the presidency increased to 140 for women and 112 for men in
1914. 29
In the years 1920-1921, women got higher wages in Bombay Presidency

mills than other parts of India. They got between 13 and 34 rupees per
month but it would be received after fifteen days of the month due to which
the budget and management of houses collapsed. In Ahmedabad, men and
147
women got equal wages at the same rate. A bonus was added; sometimes
even fines were paid by workers.
Diet
Studies 30 found a better calorie, high protein and carbohydrate diet, than
available in the hospital among women mill workers than non-working
women. Their diet was deficient in fats especially animal fats and animal
proteins. It majorly consisted of bajri, rice, vegetables, dal or gram with
occasional non-vegetarian food. Milk, ghee, eggs, fruits were almost never
taken except mangoes whenever they were cheap and very little of
vegetable oil. Vitamin A and Vitamin B was received from meals. Women
sat in the sun so they had good supply of vitamin D through the skin
absorption.
Maternal Mortality
The Bombay city records showed the highest maternal mortality rate i.e
234 maternal deaths, 7.6 / 1000 in 1933 and the lowest was 166 maternal
death and 4.3 / 1000 Live Birth.31 Thus, it shows a decreasing trend from
1939 to 1947.
It was very difficult to find out the MMR among women mill workers in
urban and rural sectors because all the reports in hospitals, dispensaries and
Government records had not taken efforts to differentiate women mill
worker and non-working women. Annual Reports of Public Health
Commissioner showed 16.7 % maternal deaths in the Bombay city in 1924,
where as the Bombay Corporation Midwives showed 4.8 per 1000 birth in
1924.32 Such was the ambiguity between the two sources.
Secondly, women workers always preferred to deliver at their parent’s

home in villages. She returned after four months or a year when a good
house was available in cities. Thirdly, the registration of births and deaths
was not compulsory.
148
Among the births and deaths from 1921 to 1948, registered in Bombay
city, the percentage shows a higher rate of female morbidity than males in
proportion to the population. Actually, women mill workers rated low as
compared to others: 204 in 1924, 46233 (1925), 644(1926), 980 (1927),
1260 (1928), 1675 (1929).34
Nowrosjee Wadia Maternity Hospital, Bombay was opened for the mill
workers at Parel in 1926. Bhatia General Hospital, Tardeo was started in
1932 by some industrialists.
The Nowrosjee Wadia Maternity Hospital, Bombay
To find out the scenario of MMR, we examine the reports of the Nowrosjee
Wadia Maternity Hospital, Bombay.
Table No. 3 MMR in the Nowrosjee Wadia Maternity Hospital,

Bombay 1929-1958
Year Total Deliveries Maternal Death MMR/ 1000LB

1929-1938 45271 310 6.8
1939-1948 62186 354 5.7
1949-1958 85833 255 3.0
Source: AR of Nowrosjee Wadia Maternity Hospital, passim.
A high rate of MD was seen, later it steadily declined. Anaemic women

were handled by dais so that the cases acquired on obstructive nature.
Post-partum haemorrhages, often with anaemia as underlying or associated
cause of sepsis, malposition of the child, low birth weight, toxaemia,
abortion, were common cases. Teenage mothers suffered in pregnancy,
specially obstructed cases due to delivery complications including
hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, eclampsia, premature delivery, and
prolonged obstructed labour in severe anaemic condition. Anaemia was
seen to occur with the highest frequency than Osteomalacia and Eclampsia.
67 % Anaemia shows highest than Osteomalacia (19%) and Eclampsia
(8.3%) among non-industrial classes and surprisingly at 10.5% Anaemia
149
was higher than Osteomalacia and Eclampsia 1.7% among the industrial
class. 35
Balfour and Talpade observed that “...in spite of poverty and overcrowding
workers have easier confinements and lower mortality than non working
women.”36 It shows the condition of childbirth in two classes. MMR
among worker women was much lower only 1.7 per 1000. The great
differences seen in the report of the Wadia hospital and also Report of
Health Officers reported 13.9 births per 1000 births in 1926 and 9 in 1927
and 9 in 1928.37
The possibility of the high rate of death took place after the patients left the
hospital in the post-natal phase where a number of rituals and customs were
followed to save mother and child from evil spirits. They were discharged
on 8th or 10th day.
Low MMR among mill workers was due to low incidence of the toxaemias
and other diseases of pregnancy. This immunity was probably directly
associated with both diet and active, open air access for women who
worked in mills.
The then pre-natal care was unknown and it started in the seventh month.
Hindus visited the hospitals more often, followed by Christians and
Muslim. Ante-natal care checking was not followed by all communities.
Infant Mortality
All Census 38 and Public Health Reports 39 of India repeatedly pointed out
the high Infant morbidity. In 1921, 667 was the highest IM.40 In 1930, out
of every 1000 deaths 237 deaths were of infants,41 Dr. J. A. Turner, the
Health officer of Bombay gave the different causes of IM. The various
reasons 42 included influenza, respiratory diseases, Tuberculosis, fevers,
Diarrhoea, Cholera, Intestinal worms, Small Pox, Plague and various types
of illness. Generally causes of infant mortality in case of neo-natal deaths
are prematurity, congenital malformation and birth injuries; while
diarrhoea and enteritis, small-pox are causes of post-natal mortality. Dr.
150
Turner pointed out that the mother’s ignorant attitude and their poor
knowledge in mother-craft, sanitary and socio-economic conditions
resulted high rate of IM.43 Low birth weight of baby of working mothers
was seen in numerous cases because of improper feeding at odd times.44
It was 668 infant deaths under one year in 1921, 272 in 1931, 211 in 1941;
it shows the decline of the IM.45 There was thus an acute shortage of
workers for a couple of years during the plague outbreak and famine in
1896, they left from the city to their native places fearing death as
respiratory diseases had high morbidity.
Legislative Provision for Women’s Welfare
The implementation of various laws relieved the strenuous work in the

mills. The Factory Act 188146 reduced the working hours to 48 hrs/week
and minimum age limits for employment with a rest interval of one and
half hours and prohibited night shift for women. It was useful and over all
underlined the extra work carried out by them and the stress it placed on
the woman’s physical condition including the serious effects on her health
and the consequent lack of her attention to family and children.
The Labour Legislation in India was linked with the International Labour
Organization in 1919 which gave worldwide publicity of the condition of
workers and created awareness regarding their problem. Debates on
maternity acts, the natural process of reproduction and others revealed the
attitudes of capitalists, state and society through the ages on several
issues.47 It was not possible for expecting or nursing women to put in
heavy work hours. Hence the granting of legal maternity leave for textile
mill workers was started only from 1929, first in Bombay, and the other
fields of labourers followed suit. Women were entitled to twelve weeks of
maternity leave; of which six weeks were allocated for the pre-natal period
and six weeks for the post-natal. Women’s ‘reproduction’ was considered
as a ‘labour’ (job) and it was given special attention.
No women entitled to benefits until six months after 1st July, 1929, 349
factories applied by this act. Total number of women to whom the act
151
applied was 53,309 of who 1684 received benefits for actual births. In 16
cases the payment of maternity benefit was made after a woman’s death to
other persons under section 7. In Bombay, total 31,185 employed, out of
whom 1011 women claimed for maternity benefit, out of whom financial
assistance was given to 577 and 11 were paid benefit under section 7 and 2
cases in Ahmedabad and Sholapur in same section. Rs. 12,190 spent on
benefit in Bombay in 1929. In Ahmedabad, 12,493 women workers, out of
whom 919 claimed for benefit, 574 women assisted and Rs. 11,381 paid for
it. In Sholapur 4655 were employed, 396 applied for benefit and 356
received and Rs. 7359 spent for it.48 Majority of women workers did not
return to work until November 1929 they were not entitled to benefits.
Secondly, the average age of women in Bombay was higher than in
Ahmedabad and Sholapur and preferred to deliver at home by dais
(midwives). Fourth, widows were employed in larger numbers in Bombay.
Dr. Barnes found in 1922, 75% of mill women in Bombay still relied on
dai and unskilled assistance.49 The average benefit paid was Rs. 23-9-0, it
was spent on different items as follows 50
Even though women received monetary assistance for child birth they
preferred dais to western medicine. Most of the money received was spent
more on traditional rituals-Rs. 5-13-0, ornaments-Rs. 1-10-0etc. during pre-
natal and post-natal period rather than on food- Rs. 2-11-0, Milk- Rs. 1-18-
0 and only 9 ana spent on medicines and dai. This attitude showed the
negligence of women towards their health care often resulting in high rate
of Maternal Deaths.
Conclusion
The problem of maternal mortality was complex and did not have any
simple solutions.51 A number of voluntary and women’s organizations
came forward for the medical welfare schemes including the Bombay
Corporation. They started a scheme for providing free medical assistance
to the women of the poor society, focused on prevention of the diseases,
created awareness and focussed on provision of better sanitary conditions.52
152
Regular supply of water, construction of drainage, more careful scavenging

of streets and roads, removal of offensive trades and introduction of
compulsory vaccination all helped to have contribute towards counteracting
the high mortality. With the increase in hospitals and dispensaries more
staff was available to look after the principal diseases, especially epidemic
diseases which once played havoc in Bombay.
Balfour pointed out the remedy could not be found simply by providing
maternity wards or by training midwives or starting medical welfare
schemes. Colonel Russell, Public Health Commissioner drew attention to
the need for co-ordination, co-operation and continuity between medical
departments, practitioners and Maternity and Child Welfare Schemes,53
missionary medial work and DF hospitals. Secondly there was lack of
research and inquiry necessary for finding out causes of MMR (Maternal
Mortality Rate). All such efforts did little to affect MM and IM because
people were not aware of the schemes. 54
Endnotes
1. Bhore Committee (1946) had recommended that there be a special health
measures taken for the industrial women workers, Reports of the Health Survey
and Development Committee, vol. I, Survey, Government of India Press, Calcutta,
1946, p. 71; Margaret Balfour pointed a special section is needed to discuss the
problems faced by women mill workers, The IMG, May, 1930, p.241.
2. Geraldine, Forbes, (1988), Women in Modern India, The New Cambridge History
of India, Cambridge University Press, New Delhi, p. 99; O.P. Jaggi, (2000),
Western Medicine in India: Modern Period, PHISPC, vol. IX, Part I, OUP, New
Delhi, pp. 199-200.
3. D. M. Morris, (1965), The Emergence of an Industrial Labour Force in India, pp.
23-25.
4. The condition of the industry was described as “most critical” in 1899; and by the
end of that year nearly all the mills were closed for three days in a week while
some were wholly stagnant. The number of mills was reduced to 79 in 1904. It
was from 1903 that the condition of the industry began to improve and by 1905
and 1906 the industry experienced conditions of revival; D. E. Wacha, (1910) A
Financial Chapter in the History of Bombay, p. 5.
5. Inquiry Committee of The Bombay and Lancashire Cotton Spinning, 1888
reported seventeen new mills had been established between 1870 and 1875, thus
153
making a total of 27, working with 7,52,634 spindles, 7,781 looms, the capital
investment in the industry being Rs. 2,24 lakhs. It was from 1875 that the cotton
industry in Bombay registered a rising trend up to 1898 in which year the number
of mills stood at 82. Between 1892 and 1898 the total number of factories in the
island rose from 119 to 136, the increase being almost entirely due to the opening
of new cotton mills; D. R. Gadgil, (1988), The Industrial Evolution of India in
recent times (1860- 1939), p.55.
6. Review of Education of the Bombay Presidency, 1890, p. 9.
7. Ibid,
8. Padmini Sengupta, (1960), Women Workers of India, p. 43.
9. The Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, p. 24.
10. Annual Reports of Bombay Mill Owners' Association, 1919, p. 2.
11. Janet H. Kelman, (1923), Labour in India: A study of the conditions of Indian
Women in Modern Industry, pp. 116-18.
12. Morris ((1965), The Emergence of an Industrial Labour Force in India, p. 65.
13. Census of India 1931, vol. VIII, p. 252.
14. Report of the Bombay Mill Owner’s Association, 1875-1876, p.75.
15. Morris, op. cit., p. 68; Sengupta, op. cit., p. 101.
16. Morris, op. cit., p. 69.
17. Kelman, op. cit., pp. 18-20.
18. Ibid, p. 170-71.
19. Ibid, p. 126.
20. Ibid, pp. 126-135.
21. Margaret Balfour and Shakuntala Talpade, “The Maternity Conditions of Women
Mill-Workers in India”, The Indian Medical Gazette (hereinafter IMG), May
1930, pp. 241-49.
22. Barnes, op. cit., p. 31.
23. D. F. Curjel, (1923), “Women Labour in Bengal Industries” Bulletins of
Industries and Labour; Bombay Labour Gazette.
24. F. D. Barnes, (1923), “Maternity Conditions of Women Industrial Workers”,
Bombay Labour Gazette.
25. IMG, 1930, p. 242.
26. Mary F. Billington, (1973), Women in India, p. 137.
28. Kelman, op. cit., p. 116; Billington, op. cit., p. 138.
29. Kelman, p. 117.
30. Balfour, op. cit., pp. 242-44; they surveyed by visiting daily to Chawls and also
noted non-working women’s diet.
31. Dr. R.V.S Rao, Maternal Mortality, Still Births and Infant Mortality in Bombay,
Rao Publication, Bombay, 1990, p. 15.
154
32. Margaret Balfour and Routh Young, the Work of Medical Women in India,
Bombay, 1929, Appendix –I, PP. 189-190.
33. Years are mentioned in brackets.
34. Annual Report of Nowrosjee Wadia Maternity Hospital, Bombay, 1930, p. 7.
35. Balfour, IMG, op. cit., p. 245.
36. Ibid.
37. Ibid.
38. Census of India, 1891, 1911, and passim.
39. Annual Report of Civil Hospitals and Dispensaries (ARCHD) 1899, pp-5-7;
Balfour, op. cit., Appendix I, p 190.
40. ARCHD, 1922, p. 112; Report of Health Officer, AR of Municipal Commissioner
of Bombay, 1921-22, p. 10.
41. Census of India, 1931, Vol.I, part I, p124.
42. ARCHD, 1899, pp.14-15.
43. GD, 1914, 624, p.m-11; `Advocate of India,’ September 23, 1914.
44. IMJ, May, 1930; Labour Office, Report of an Enquiry on Infant Mortality among
Working Classes in Bombay City, 1942.
45. Labour Office, Report of an Enquiry on Infant Mortality among Working Classes
in Bombay City; The Gazetteer of the Greater Bombay, p. 31.
46. Shanta A., Vaidya, (1993), Women and Labour Laws, Bombay, p. 1.
47. Chhachi, Amrita, “Who is responsible for Maternity Benefit; State, Capital or
Husband? : Bombay Assembaly Debates on Maternity Benefit Bill, 1929; 1
EPW,1998, pp. L-21 –L-29
48. AR of the Administration of the Bombay Maternity Benefit Act, 1929 for the year
of 1930, pp. 2, & 4-5.
50. AR of the Administration of the Bombay Maternity Benefit Act, 1929 for the year
of 1932, p. 1.
51. The Lancet, 1935, p. 40
52. GD, 1914, 624, p.m-11.
53. Bradfield, op. cit., p. 50.
54. Ibid, pp. 184-85.
----------------
155
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... in her family...

enough
money within her control to move out A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
and rent a place of her own, eight matching plates, wine glasses
even if she never wants to or needs with stems,
to... and a recipe for a meal,
that will make her guests feel
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... honored...
something perfect to wear
if the employer, or date of her dreams A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
wants to see her in an hour... a feeling of control
over her destiny..
A WOMAN SHOULD
HAVE . EVERY WOMAN SHOULD
a youth she's content to leave KNOW...
behind.... how to fall in love
without losing herself..
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
a past EVERY WOMAN SHOULD
juicy enough that she's looking KNOW...
forward how to quit a job,
to retelling it in her old age.... break up with a lover,
and confront a friend,
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... without ruining the friendship..
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill,
and... EVERY WOMAN SHOULD
a black lace bra... KNOW...
when to try harder...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .. and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...
one friend who always makes her
laugh.. EVERY WOMAN SHOULD
and one who lets her cry... KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... calves,
a good piece of furniture the width of her hips, or the nature of
not previously owned by anyone else her parents…
156
EVERY
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD WOMAN SHOULD KNOW.. .
KNOW... whom she can trust,
that her childhood may not have been whom she can't,
perfect... and why she shouldn't take it
but it's over... personally...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD EVERY WOMAN SHOULD

KNOW... KNOW...
what she would and wouldn't do... where to go...
for love or more... be it to her best friend's kitchen table..
or a charming Inn in the woods....
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD when her soul needs soothing...
KNOW....
how to live alone... EVERY WOMAN SHOULD
even if she doesn't like it... KNOW..
What she can and can't accomplish in
a day...
a month... and a year...
- Maya Angelou
157
STATEMENTS
ALL INDIA DEMOCRATIC WOMEN’S

ASSOCIATION
5th March 2015
AIDWA strongly opposes the blanket ban on the documentary titled “India’s
Daughters” made by BBC4. This is a knee jerk reaction that constitutes an
attack on the freedom of expression. Furthermore the film reveals the reality
of the brutality of rape without sensationalizing it. 'The statement made by
one of the convicts in the film, is to say the least, shocking, heinous and
condemnable. This is the attitude that was reflected in the crime this person
and others committed and for which they have been penalized by life
imprisonment. But it cannot be denied that this is the dominant patriarchal
attitude on rape in our country and has been voiced at many different levels of
society and even sometimes by influential people within and outside
Parliament.
AIDWA further states that the correct course of action for the government is
to file an FIR and take prompt action against the defence lawyers in the
Nirbhaya case, Shri M.L Sharma & Shri A P Singh, for making hateful and
derogatory speeches and inciting violence against women in the BBC
documentary and on national television. Instead of needlessly banning films
in an undemocratic fashion, the Government would do better to proactively
pursue the pending case in the Supreme Court, where shockingly even such a
high profile case has gone unheard of for over a year. AIDWA also demands
that the Government address structural causes for increasing violence against
women and adopts policies that increase public provisioning of transport,
street lighting, sanitation, employment, etc.
4th March 2015

A delegation from AIDWA comprising Jagmati Sangwan, Sudha
Sundararaman and Maimoona Mollah from Delhi JMS went to the Police
Headquarters at 4.30 pm to press for filing an FIR and taking prompt action
158
against defence lawyers in the Nirbhaya case, Shri M.L Sharma & Shri A P
Singh, for making hateful and derogatory speeches and inciting violence
against women in the BBC documentary and on national television.
AIDWA too intends to file an FIR against their hateful and derogatory
comments that are meant to incite violence against women.
The Special Commissioner Law & Order Shri Deepak Mishra met the
delegation and assured them of immediate action.
The transcript of the lawyers’ comments is attached for your reference.
Malini Bhattacharya
Jagmati Sangwan
Transcript of Comments made by the Defence Lawyers

in Nirbhaya Case
M.L. SHARMA
A female is just like a flower. It gives a good-looking, very softness

performance, pleasant. But on the other hand, a man is just like a thorn.
Strong, tough enough. That flower always needs protection. If you put that
flower in a gutter, it is spoilt. If you put that flower in a temple, it will be
worshipped.
She should not be put on the streets just like food. The ‘lady’, on the other
hand, you can say the ‘girl’ or ‘woman’, are more precious than a gem, than a
diamond. It is up to you how you want to keep that diamond in your hand.
If you put your diamond on the street, certainly the dog will take it out. You
can't stop it. You are talking about man and woman as friends. Sorry, that
doesn't have any place in our society.
A woman means I immediately put the sex in his eyes. We have the best
culture. In our culture, there is no place for a woman. That girl was with
some unknown boy who took her on a date. In our society, we never allow
159
our girls to come out from the house after 6:30 or 7:30 or 8:30 in the evening
with any unknown person.
A.P. SINGH
If very important, if very necessary, she should go outside. But she should go
with the family members, like uncle, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother,
etc, etc. She should not go in night hours with her boyfriend.
There are a number of criminal cases of murder, robbery, rape pending against
approximately 250 members of parliament.
Sitting members of parliament. But their cases are not being tried in fast-track
courts. Their case is not tried based on day-to-day hearing. Why? If you want
to give a message to society against rape, against robbery, against murder,
then you should start from your own neck.
If my daughter or sister engaged in pre-marital activities and disgraced herself

and allowed herself to lose face and character by doing such things, I would
most certainly take this sort of sister or daughter to my farmhouse, and in front
of my entire family, I would put petrol on her and set her alight. This is my
stand. I still today stand on that reply.
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Sex-Selective Abortion Myths Debunked in New Report

University of Chicago Law School researchers find that lawmakers rely on flawed
racial assumptions to further abortion restrictions
NEW YORK — The International Human Rights Clinic at the University of

Chicago Law School, the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum
(NAPAWF), and Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health at the
University of California, San Francisco, released a groundbreaking report on
sex-selective abortion laws and policies in the United States today.
Legislation to ban abortion based on the sex of the foetus was the second most
popular anti-abortion ban in 2013, and six states have passed bans in recent
160
years. California, home to the largest population of Asian Americans in the

United States, considered and rejected moving this ban out of committee just a
few weeks ago. Opponents of the legislation assert it is unnecessary and
misdirected and that it stereotypes Asian Americans and restrict women’s
access to health care.
The report, “Replacing Myths with Facts: Sex-Selective Abortion Laws in the
United States,” identifies six major inaccuracies commonly associated with
legislation seeking to ban sexselective abortions. These inaccuracies appear in
arguments made by legislators and in reports issued by legislative committees
that are often widely distributed.
Despite the lack of conclusive data that Asian Americans are "importing" sex-
selective practices to the United States, legislators have used fear mongering
about son-preference practices in China and India to further limit access to
abortion for women in the United States. In fact, lawmakers supporting this
legislation largely ignore the 11 other countries that have sex ratios at birth
that are skewed in favor of males — including six European countries.
“Lawmakers have relied on misinterpretations of narrow data and faulty

assumptions about sex selection practices to enact sex-selective abortion bans
in the United States,” said Sital Kalantry, clinical professor of law and director
of the International Human Rights Clinic, University of Chicago Law School.
"Empirical analysis of recent U.S. census data reveals that in the United
States, Asian Americans are in fact having more girls than U.S.-born white
Americans."
Elected officials have also misreported information about global sex-selective

abortion laws. Despite claims to the contrary, only four countries other than
the United States — China, Kosovo, Nepal, and Vietnam — have laws
explicitly prohibiting sex-selective abortion. Most anti-sex selection laws
globally prohibit practices related to assisted fertility. Sex-selective abortion
laws in the United States, however, do not prohibit sex selection achieved
through use of assisted fertility technologies.
161
"This report debunks the myths that have been used to advance an anti-
abortion agenda that stigmatizes Asian American and Pacific Islanders,” said
Miriam Yeung, executive director of the National Asian Pacific American
Women's Forum. "We’ve long thought of this type of legislation as ‘wolves in
sheep’s clothing.’ This research lays bare the disguise, and what remains is
legislation that promotes racial stereotyping and is deeply offensive to Asian
American families.”
This report was produced by a multi-disciplinary team, and draws on legal

research, empirical analysis of U.S. birth data, fieldwork in India, and an
extensive review of scholarly publications in social sciences, law and other
disciplines. Findings include:
• Foreign-born Chinese, Indian and Korean-Americans, as well as all Asian

Americans considered as a group, have more girls on average than U.S.-born
white Americans.
• Sex-selective abortion bans in Pennsylvania and Illinois are not associated
with higher numbers of girl children.
• Only four countries other than the United States have laws explicitly banning
sex-selective abortion. Most countries that are concerned about sex selection
prohibit procedures that allow for sex selection prior to implantation of the
embryo into the uterus, and do not restrict abortion.
• Though Asian Americans are most discussed by lawmakers trying to pass
sex-selective abortion bans, two countries, Liechtenstein and Armenia, have
male-skewed sex ratios at birth as high as or higher than India and China.
• Sex-selective abortion bans in the United States have been proposed by
legislators who oppose abortion generally.
• The fact that more boys are born than girls in a given population does not
demonstrate that abortions are causing the disparity.
----------------
162
WHISTLEBLOWER
RADICAL SOCIALIST STATEMENT ON STARVATION
DEATH OF TEA GARDEN WORKERS
Tea gardens in West Bengal continue to be sites of super-exploitation of

workers. The death due to starvation of six persons from the Raipur Tea
Estate in North Bengal has driven home this point once again. Yet the only
response of the government of West Bengal has been to announce one more
Committee to discuss the matter.
The matter is a straightforward one. For at least one decade, tea plantations in
West Bengal have been closing, workers have been paid terribly low wages, or
not paid in the name of crisis of the industry, and have suffered from
malnutrition and starvation. According to the 51st Annual Report 2004-05 of
Tea Board of India, a total of 118 tea gardens were reportedly closed between
the years 2000-2005 that had affected 68,442 workers. In many of the tea
gardens, owners do not declare the tea garden as closed but ‘conveniently’
abandon them. The company has to apply for closure in order to close a
garden. These companies owe huge dues not just to the workers in terms of
Provident Fund and Gratuity dues but also to the respective state governments
and concerned banks. An important feature/nature of such closures and
abandonment was that the tea gardens would reopen during the peak season
and again close during the lean period as in the case of one tea garden in West
Bengal that was closed five times during 2001-2006 and on 13 January 2006 it
was closed permanently. In Raipur Tea Estate, there had been previous cases
of starvation deaths, recorded as far back as 2005. In all, a few thousand
workers and their family members have died out of starvation and malnutrition
in the last one decade.
As a result of ill payment, plantation workers have been caught in a vicious

circle of poverty, poor literacy and ill health, with children of tea workers
ending up in the same ill paid work as their parents and grandparents before
them.
163
Radical Socialist condemns the collusion of owners and governments that

have made possible repeated deaths of workers and the systematic super-
exploitation of the labouring force for the profit of the owners. While the
Minister for labour, Purnendu Bose, acknowledged the possibility of
malnutrition, his colleague, Jyotipriya Mallick has blamed the tea labourers,
saying they do not take government medical aid and that is the cause of their
deaths. We condemn this policy of covering up for owners and blaming the
victims.
Neither the previous, nor the current state government of West Bengal has
done anything concrete for the workers. Yet there are obvious remedies that
need to be taken up.
➢ In the first place, the Tea Act should be invoked and any plantation
that is not being run properly should be taken over by the government.
➢ In the second place, factory and plantation books should be inspected
with full participation by workers representatives elected by them, so
that action can be taken against managers and owners who have not
paid PF, etc to workers.
➢ The right to life is higher than the right to profit. Take over the wealth
of the owners who flout laws and push workers to death, to ensure the
survival of the workers
Radical Socialist, 2 July 2014
----------------
164
REFLECTION
ONE PEOPLE, UNITED IN OUR PLURALITY?

Shock. Horror. Outrage. Another church burnt, another place of worship

desecrated. Another group of Christians attacked.
Each new episode seems to evoke the same response and the words have
begun to lose meaning and impact, feelings have begun to get numbed.
Yet, the recent gangrape of an elderly nun in West Bengal has jolted not just
the Christian community, but many in our country into searing awareness of
the intersecting levels of rampant communalism, religious fundamentalism,
political manoeuvring and economic imperatives.
Is this what we want our country to be? Is this who we are as a people? Can
we just let it happen?
As a woman, as a Christian, as a nun, I find myself struggling to remain calm

and rational while discussing these issues with students. But the maelstrom of
emotion that threatens to engulf my sanity will not be so easily ignored.
Gripped by anger, I want to lash out against the forces that seem to be rioting
unchecked across the country. Forces that target the vulnerable, the
defenceless.
As a woman, I am involved every time a woman is attacked, raped, killed.

Rape has always been the “ultimate” weapon against not just a woman but
against all womankind, and against the entire community to which the raped
woman belongs. Imposing what a patriarchal mindset calls a “fate worse than
death” upon the victim, it proclaims the power and supposed invincibility of
the rapist. It underlines the vulnerability of the victim, and worst of all, it
imposes the burden of shame and guilt upon the victim. She, not the
perpetrator, is “dishonoured.” And the family, the community, is
“dishonoured” as being so weak and spineless that they cannot protect the
165
“honour” of their womenfolk. As a woman, and as a teacher, I have to come

to daily grips with the challenge of changing this mindset.
As an Indian Christian, the attacks on the community and on Christian places

of worship in my own country leave me aghast, shaken to the foundations in
my belief that as Indians we bring a large acceptance and understanding to our
multiculturalism. Shaken also in my belief that this is fundamentally a law-
abiding country. Questioning the value of our protected status as a minority
community, guaranteed by the Constitution. Confused, bewildered, struggling
to cope with a sense of a betrayal of trust. Struggling to hold on to my belief
that we are essentially good people, that my neighbours and I are essentially
one people, united in our plurality.
And then, as a nun. As nuns, we are women, but consecrated women. As

nuns, we are Christians, but consecrated to a particular way of life. Our
vocation calls us to serve God in and through our brothers and sisters in a
variety of ways, like education, healthcare, counseling. But knowing all
along, that the core of our vocation is to be as like our role model—Jesus—as
we can be. To make counter-cultural choices. To be witness by our very lives
to an alternate worldview that runs counter to the consumerist, competitive
world we inhabit. What do these attacks say about the way we are viewed by
those among whom we work?
So, I don’t know. In the last few months, the escalation of such communal
attacks has been frightening. That I am outraged as an Indian, as a woman, as
a Christian, as a nun, every time something like this flares up, is an
understatement. But there is a terrible fear of what is going to happen to this
country. We—as Indians, as human beings—need to speak out, to protest, to
demand action from the elected authorities and from our law-makers and law-
enforcement agencies. There is no room for neutrality, our silence can only
indicate acquiescence.
In the words of Pastor Niemöller, speaking at his trial in Nazi Germany:

First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out because I was not
a Communist. Then they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out
because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did
166
not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and
there was no one left to speak out for me.
----------------
Bread and Roses
As we go marching, marching, in the beauty of the day

A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses
For the people hear us singing, bread and roses, bread and roses.
As we come marching, marching, we battle too, for men,

For they are in the struggle and together we shall win.
Our days shall not be sweated from birth until life closes,
Hearts starve as well as bodies, give us bread, but give us roses.
As we come marching, marching, un-numbered women dead

Go crying through our singing their ancient call for bread,
Small art and love and beauty their trudging spirits knew
Yes, it is bread we. fight for, but we fight for roses, too.
As we go marching, marching, we're standing proud and tall.

The rising of the women means the rising of us all.
No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories, bread and roses, bread and roses.
- James Oppenheim
167
BOOK REVIEW
TOWARDS POLITICS OF THE (IM) POSSIBLE –

THE BODY IN THIRD
World Feminism by Anirban Das, U.K.: Anthem Press, 2012,
- Dr. Vibhuti Patel
This philosophically nuanced work examines the discourse on ‘women’s
question’ with profound theoretical rigour. The book highlights the
contemporary debate among feminists in the context of post-coloniality. It
deconstructs body, gender and identity projected by the feminist standpoint
theory. It provides critical reflection on inter-sectionality of social
construction of ‘body’ and ‘others’ in the context of power relations and
scientific rationality. The book enriches our understanding on ‘third world
feminism’ by questioning ‘embodied knowledge’. The author makes an
honest effort to delineate ethical priorities in foundational structuring of
heterogeneous feminist efforts to question universal forms of knowing and
enhances reader’s understanding on power dynamics.
In Chapter 1: Body, Power and Ideology the author analyses ‘power’ as ‘the
hierarchical construction of subjects’. He starts with Foucault, Althusser,
Spivak and deconstructs Deleuze's engagement with Foucault's principal
themes of knowledge, power and the nature of subjectivity. The author is
inspired by this discourse to state, “The power relations are shifting,
contingent, unstable and multiple.” (p.7) He argues that power indicates a
process, “that constantly flows and shifts its location, its configurations, its
points of applications and resistances.”(p.10). He raises pertinent questions:
How to distinguish ideology from truth? Does ideology provide ground for
hegemony? The author states, “Hegemony is said to occur when space B is
made to obey rules of space A without use of coercion or state institution”.
(p.18) Primacy of gender in Anglo American tradition popularised by Julian
Kristeva has gained global acceptance over last 50 years. Thus in women’s
studies, there is acceptance of the sex-gender distinction as one of the
mainstays of critical analytical tool in feminism. (p. 44) Like nature/culture
168
binary, sex refers to biological difference and gender refers to ‘socially

constructed’ difference between boys and girls as well as between men and
women.
Chapter 2: Thinking the Body: Metaphoricity of the Corporeal makes an

attempt to address unsolved queries concerning binary – the mind and the
body discussed at great length by philosophers Descartes, Foucault and
Derrida. The author aptly remarks, “Gender roles presuppose a sexed body
that acts out roles assigned to it.” (p. 68)
Chapter 3: Thinking the Body: Negotiating the other/Death delves on the

notions of immanence and transcendence-not opposing in separation nor
conflating in union. The author asks a mind-boggling question, “How to write
(about) death? And critically examines the role of medicine in conceptualizing
the phenomenal body. Then he moves from ontology to ethics. He comments
on Fox Keller’s notion that ‘relations to the secret are at the heart of scientific
revolution and the purported progress, the developments in science.” (p. 94)
Fox Keller speaks of the relationship between God/Nature and man/woman
and finds roots of male supremacy as an ideological tool to keep women in
subordinate positions.
Chapter 4: Thinking the Body: Beyond the TOPOS of Man begins with a
question, if in the post-modern parlance the body is not one, then how is the
body rendered many? While discussing sexual differences as multiple
singularities, the author believes that deconstructing discourse on masculinity
opens an avenue for feminization of philosophy. He quotes Irigaray as Spivak
reads her in terms of two universals (arising out of sexual difference) and two
different ethical worlds. While showing relationship of sexual difference with
the struggle for equality of men and women, the author says, “The fight for
equal rights is not for the same sets of rights”. (p. 123) Feminist literary
criticism of Kamal Kumar Majumdar’s Bangla novel Antarjali Jatra in this
chapter not only makes a moving tale but also brings to the fore political
economy of sati. (p. 127) Yashobati, a Brahmin girl to be married to an old
man on the verge of death exposes patriarchal vested interests in widow
burning-father is relieved of burden of unmarried daughter, Brahmin who
conducts ritual of marriage and sati gets gold and money and grown up sons of
169
Yashomati’s husband gets prestige and portion of the widow’s property.

While the dialogic narrative of scheming by the patriarchs is heart-breaking,
Baiju, Chandal whose job is to burn corpse brings out the humane side. Baiju
realizes that Yashomati, a widow is an object of male maneuvers and rebels
against the patriarchs. The author asks, “How mind-body binary acts itself out
in the reason-emotion dichotomy?” (p. 130)
Feelings of shame, guilt, helplessness, disgust consistent with the construction

of the gendered body are discussed in detail in this chapter with respect to
menstruation, child sexual abuse, forced marriage, class, caste, coloniality,
religion and other identities. Author discusses these complex issues by giving
examples from works of Taslima Nasreen and Jaya Mitra. While discussing
valorization of motherhood he quotes Spivak and states that family is a
machine for the socialization of female body through affective coding.”
(p.131)
Chapter 5: Violence and Responsibility: Embodies Feminism as it begins with

a scrutiny of structuralism, phenomenology and hermeneutics and evaluates
politics of location and experience in Third World Feminism. He reflects on
positions of Julie Stephens (1989) and Chandra Mohanty (1088) and shows
the genesis of the construction of “Third World woman as a monolith”. (p.
137) That challenged universal sisterhood-many voices one chant. With this
came the unfolding of heterogeneous history of struggles based on class, caste,
elite-non-elite and race. Cross-cultural studies became trendy in women’s
studies. In this backdrop, the author asks, Does the category ‘woman’ in its bid
to homogenize in the model of white, western, middle class identity do
violence to black women, third world women or women workers? (p. 142) He
talks of location specificity of women in third world in the twin sense of the
cartographic and the historical. He mentions contribution of Janaki Nair, “On
the Question of Agency in Indian Feminist Historiography” that advocates for
feminist viewpoint that sees woman neither as a victim nor as a rebellious
heroine but performs “negative critical task of unmasking gender-neutral
methodologies and the development of a complex and dynamic conception of
female agency”. (p. 145). This view-point which does not treat victimhood
and agency in a contradictory mode. The author treats experiences as
mediated by discourses and histories. Shefali Moitra’s attempt to classify and
170
categorise general forms of hegemony through patterns of communication

‘speaking to…’ and ‘speaking with…..’, the former being Anglo-American
tradition and later being rooted in ‘cognitive anxiety’.
The concluding chapter titled, ‘Towards a Politics of The (I’m) possible’

begins with Leninique question, “What is to be done?” This exploration of the
dynamics of the production of the ‘body’ with a focus on the ‘others’ (death,
sexual difference and colonial experience) provides nuanced understanding on
third world feminism.
Detailed notes and an extensive bibliography enhance the value of this

scholarly effort multifold. Scholars interested in gender studies, philosophy,
political science, logic, ethics and philosophy will find this theoretically dense
book extremely educative in terms of ideological, conceptual and ethical
concerns.
----------------
I am Malala: The girl who stood up for Education and Changed the
World by Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick, UK:
Indigo, Hachette
- Laura Eggertson
-
A small boy digs a grave in the garden, playing army versus Taliban instead
of hide and seek. An 11-year-old girl lies in bed listening to the boom of guns
trained on the mountains overlooking her home in Minora in Pakistan’s Swat
Valley.
Most of the world has now heard the story of Malala Yousafzai — the girl
who, as the subtitle of her biography I Am Malala proclaims, “Stood Up For
Education and Was Shot By the Taliban.” With the help of British journalist
Christina Lamb, those who were captivated by Malala’s bravery can now read
about the circumstances that led to the October 9, 2012 shooting, and the way
they affected Malala and her family. It is Malala’s younger brother who digs
171
the grave, and she who listens to the army’s guns, as the war on terrorism
wages in neighbouring Afghanistan and spills over into Pakistan.
I Am Malala illuminates the influences that shaped this young woman’s strong
character — in particular her father, Ziauddin. Even before you start the book,
it’s clear from expression of Malala’s face as she looks at Ziauddin in the back
cover photograph of the two of them that his is the approval she most seeks in
the world. Theirs is a tight bond — perhaps to the exclusion of Malala’s
mother, Tor Pekai. Unlike Malala, Tor Pekai quit school at age six even
though her parents, unusually, gave her the opportunity to attend. It is
Ziauddin, not his wife, who is the socialist education activist, and Malala’s
passion and leadership is forged at his knee. As such, it is difficult, when
reading I Am Malala, to separate her voice from his.
Although unknown outside Pakistan before she was shot as she travelled home
from her father’s school in the back of a converted truck, Malala was already a
well-established public figure inside her own country at the time. Her courage
in championing girl’s rights to education and to freedom from fundamentalist
restrictions in the face of threats is unquestionable. Malala is a bright,
articulate hero whose story continues to inspire millions, as did her speech at
the United Nations once she had recovered from her injuries. The book,
however, is not as great as its author.
Part of the difficulty is, of course, that a biography of a 16-year-old is

necessarily limited in scope. So Lamb and Malala have filled pages with a
history of Pakistan and the political turmoil and religious clashes that gave
birth to it. While an interesting primer, this approach does not foster a page-
turning pace. And although the book raises interesting questions about the
contradiction in Ziauddin’s progressive views on the role of women and
education and his own traditional role within his household, supported by an
illiterate wife that he does not teach to read and write, neither Malala nor her
co-author examine these questions.
While the writing is clear, it’s neither exciting nor particularly lyrical. Too
often, the book repeats rumours about the factions involved in political
assassinations and other critical events, instead of relaying established facts or
172
simply acknowledging the continued confusion. It’s also clear that Malala and
Lamb walk a fine line in expressing opinions critical of Pakistan’s leaders, the
Taliban, and U.S. foreign policy and incursions into Pakistani sovereignty. At
the same time, they emphasize the Yousafzai family’s devotion to Islam as
loyal patriots and good Muslims. It’s a difficult balance to strike and at times
makes Malala’s opinions seem quite scripted.
Nevertheless, I Am Malala educates readers about more than just Malala’s

own life. It provides an important window into what many intelligent,
principled Muslim families in Pakistan want for their children and for their
future — equality of opportunity and freedom from the crippling burdens of
both poverty and religious and political oppression.
----------------
DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S STUDIES AND WOMEN’S

MOVEMENT IN INDIA
- Dr. Vibhuti Patel
Women’s Studies and Women’s Movement in India by Kusum Datta,

Asiatic Society, Kolkata; 2007, pp. xxiii + 342, price: Rs. 320
This book by Kusum Dutta, is a product of a unique research endeavour at the

Asiatic Society, Kolkata to show important pedagogical status attained by
women’s studies in the mainstream academia. Preface by Jasodhara Bagchi
sets the tone by an extremely inspiring and motivating overview of the state of
art in women’s studies and women’s movement. She makes an apt remark on
this research effort, “If one is ready to adjust one’s lens a little, undertaking
this work and completing it was a form of storming the Bastille!” She rightly
states that the book links up a rich past with exciting future!” (p. IX)
The author has painstakingly and judiciously constructed HERSTORY of

women’s studies and women’s movement in India. She analyses the origin,
173
development and direction of women's studies (WS) in India in the context of its
intimate relationship with the Indian women's movement (WM). The dialectical
relationship between `pedagogy' and `praxis', vis-à-vis the `women's question',
has been a matter of great concern for pioneers of Women's Studies (WS) such as
Dr. Neera Desai, Dr. Veena Mazumdar, Dr. Maithreyi Krishnaraj, Prof. Latika
Sarkar, Dr. Sardamoni, Dr. Leela Dube and Dr. Shusheela Kaushik. The need to
study women's issues in academic institutions and to conduct research based on
experiential material and affirmative action was beginning to be discussed among
Indian women's studies scholars by the early eighties.1 The discourse on this
subject has proved to be a fruitful exercise for activists, academics, researchers,
policy planners and the UN system. This book tries to examine the following
issues: the genesis of interaction between WS and the WM in India; the
contribution of WS to mainstream academia-economics, political science,
sociology, anthropology, literature, history, education, psychology; the analytical
tools and the theoretical insights provided by WS and the WM in India; the
research methodology and agenda of the WS, ongoing debates on the scope and
limitations of WS within institutionalised structures, the shift of focus from WS
to gender studies; the economics and politics of funding, consultancy and
priorities in research.
Pioneers of WS in India defined it as a discipline that involved research,

documentation, teaching, training and action.
The Genesis of Women’s Studies in India
Chapter 1 starts with answering a question, “What is Women’s Studies?

It is understood that women have subordinate status in our society so the
knowledge-base created by WS should be used for empowerment of women. It
also provides international and national, historical and political context of
beginning of women’s movement and women’s studies in India.
1
See Neera Desai and Vibhuti Patel (1988) 'Critical Review of Researches in Women's
Studies', India Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Delhi. Also see, a state of
art report prepared by Neera Desai, Leela Dube and Veena Mazumdar (1982) 'Women's
Studies and Social Sciences in India', UNESCO Regional Expert Meeting, Delhi.
174
The UN Declaration of 1975 as an International Women's Year coincided with

the Emergency Rule in India. By the time the Emergency was lifted in 1977,
several women's groups had developed around democratic rights issues. The
press swung into "action" after the imposed silence of nearly two years.
Atrocities committed against women during the Emergency were openly
documented and reported in the press. These atrocities struck a chord in most
women's own experience of life in the family, in the streets, in the workplace
and in political groups. The culmination of this process was reached in 1980
when many women's groups took to the street to protest. During the 1980s,
the issue of women's oppression was depicted not only in discussion forums,
seminars and ‘serious’ articles but also in the popular media. Women
identified the sources of their problems and indignity.They began to acquire a
language, an organisational platform, a collective identity and legitimacy they
did not have earlier.
The Status of Women's Committee appointed by GOI released a voluminous

report in 1974. This report called Towards Equality was prepared by the
scholars with an interdisciplinary perspective and was presented in the
Parliament of India, where it received a tremendous response from the
decision-making bodies, the state apparatus and the print media. Shocking
description of Indian women's reality, which manifested in declining sex ratio,
very high rate of female mortality and morbidity, marginalisation of women in
the economy and discriminatory personal laws were some of the major
highlights of the report. But the report failed to throw any light on violence
against women in the civil society and by the custodians of law and order.
Major achievement of the report lay in the policy decision taken by the
principal research body like the Indian Council of Social Science Research
(ICSSR) i.e. to provide financial support to scholars committed to the women's
cause, to conduct research into problems faced by women in poverty groups.
Chapter 2 delineates the processual dimensions of emergence and proliferation

of WSCs in India. The first WSC was established at SNDT women’s
University, Mumbai in 1974. The 3rd chapter is devoted to formation,
development and expansion of Indian Association of Women’s Studies as an
academic body ‘to promote women’s interests and to push the WS movement
forward.’ (p. 61)
175
Chapter 4 is devoted to ‘Two pillars of WS’, Research Centre for women’s

Studies (Mumbai) and Centre for Women’s Development Studies (Delhi) have
been two pillars of WS in India. Their contribution in terms of path-breaking
research, documentation and archives, training & mentoring, curriculum
development, textbook writing, publications in regional languages and
teaching and extention and action plan, networking between WS and WM at
local, national, regional and global has been glorious.
An in-depth study of WSCs in West Bengal is provided in Chapter 5, in which

the author discusses formation of The Women’s Studies Research Centre
(WSRC) at Calcutta University in 1989 and School of Women’s Studies
(SWS) at Jadhavpur University with their respective founding directors Dr.
Bharati Ray (History) and Dr. Jasodhara Bagchi, (Literature) both renowned
academicians within the mainstream academia.
Dynamics of Women’s Studies and Women’s Movement in India
Chapter 6 provides an understanding on the contemporary women’s

movement and its interface with women’s studies. Between 1977 and 1979
new women's groups emerged in the cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad,
Bombay, Ahmadabad, Patna, and Madras. They organised protest actions
against dowry murders, beauty contests, sexist portrayal of women in media,
pornographic films and literature imported from abroad, introduction of
virginity tests by the U.K. immigration authorities, custodial rape and pitiable
condition of women in prison. These groups were multicultural in their
composition and worldview. As a result, their political agenda reflected the
contemporaneous handling of the complex reality of women constructed by
interplay of class, caste, religion, ethnicity and globalisation. The
spokesperson of these groups had an advantage of a high level of ideological
investment and the experience of the radical movements-students and youth
movement, dalit movement, working class struggles, tribal movement of the
late sixties. Their collective wisdom provided main backbone to the women’s
rights movement. Their newsletters, magazines and booklets in regional
languages as well as in English provided creative way of handling Indian
women's problems. Launching of MANUSHI in January 1979 was a
qualitative leap in this direction.
176
The need to study women's issues in academic institutions and to conduct

research based on experiential material and affirmative action was beginning
to be discussed among Indian women's studies scholars by the early eighties.
Chapter 7 gives profile of consolidation of base of WS in India and its search
for identity and goals. The discourse on this subject has proved to be a fruitful
exercise for activists, academics, researchers, policy planners, lawmakers,
administrators and the UN system. The apex body of higher learning,
University Grants Commission defined WOMEN'S STUDIES as a discipline
that involved research, documentation, teaching, training and action. It is
understood that women have subordinate status in our society so the
knowledge base created by WS should be used for empowerment of women.
Currently, UGC has supported 80 women’s studies centers within the
university system.
Threats and Challenges to WSCs:
Chapter 8 is devoted to “Women’s Studies at the Threshold of the Twenty-first

Century”. During NDA government’s rule, WSCs faced tremendous
difficulties due to right wing onslaught. UGC’s circular to rename WSC as
‘Family Studies Centers” provoked massive protests from the women’s studies
scholars in India and Diaspora feminists from Europe, Canada and USA.
The author rightly points fingers at challenges and tribulations such as

conservative university environments, market forces in women’s studies,
disjuncture with activism, uneasy alliance and chasm in networking between
“scholars” and “activists”, lack of Meta theory, ghettoisation and exclusionary
nature of WS. The major development in the 21st century feminism has been
emergence of Dalit-Bahujan feminist movement and studies and currently
themes such as “Dalit Women’s identity” and “Caste, Class and Gender” have
been the top most priority in the intellectual examination/quest in WS.
Contribution of Indian feminists in Diaspora has highlighted women’s

predicament in the context of marginalization of women as a result of complex
interplay of caste, class, enthnicity, race, religion. Feminist writing on
experience, identity, and community; dominant conceptions of
multiculturalism and citizenship, interdisciplinary programs like Women's
177
Studies and Race and Ethnic Studies; pedagogies of accommodation and

dissent; and transnational women's movements for grassroots ecological
solutions and consumer, health, and reproductive rights has definitely
provided a universal Feminist pedagogical framework.
The author argues that Indian women's studies scholars have never been blind
followers of their western counterparts. This is reflected in their balancing of
pedagogy with praxis and a context specific use of the methodologies of post
colonialism and postmodernism. In fact, Indian feminists in Diaspora have
reshaped these methodologies for the scholarship of the third world. She also
provides detailed narrative of emergence of cultural studies in the wake of
growing marginalization of women due to neo-liberal policies of “market
fundamentalism” and “identity politics” promoted by “religious
fundamentalism”.
Chapter 9: “Feminist Scholarship and Activism since the 1990s” focuses on an

impasse in the women’s studies movement (so called post-feminist phase) and
demands rethinking about mainstreaming of WS. She advises, “…feminists
like good strategists must avoid ‘excessive institutionalisation’ or
‘depoliticisation of feminist agenda’, identify and ‘seize available opportunity
space’ for using state’s potential for social change to their advantage outdoing
others who manipulate its potential as a mechanism for social control of
women.” (p. 284)
The concluding chapter raises pertinent question: Whither the feminist

movement in India? It is necessary to evaluate critically weaknesses of WS
and plan for the future. The biggest criticism about the movement is that it
depends on the state to provide remedy for women’s problems through
litigation. Critics ask, what happens when the patriarchal state itself unleashes
violence? Who will police the state? What about shoddy implementation of
the plethora of laws that have been fought for and won? It takes a vigilant
movement to do so. The environment movements and citizen’s movements
are now getting strong. Both WS and women’s movement must build
alliances with these movements to highlight the gender aspect of ecological
degradation and good governance. According to the author, ghettoisation of
WS and WM is a major bottleneck and both “ need to form a strategic alliance
178
not only with other broader social movements of the weaker sections of the
society for their rights but also with sympathetic men who are fellow travelers
and are keen to dislodge the centuries old patriarchies.” (p. 299).
This exhaustive work misses out on crucial contribution for women’s studies
and women’s movement in India made by SPARROW (Women’s Archives)
and Vacha Women’s Library over past two decades.
Except for this missing link, the book provides insightful and judicious
analysis, balanced narrative of origin, development, growth, contribution and
challenges faced by Women’s Studies Centres within the university system,
autonomous women’s organizations, and politically active women’s front such
as All India Democratic Women’s Association.
The most significant contribution of this book is bringing to the fore women’s
agency for construction of knowledge the prism of “gender’. This is reflected
in an exhaustive list of references encompassing reports, articles, scholarly
papers, manifestoes, newsletters, journals, books, primary research
publications.
The book is strongly recommended to all change agents-activist scholars,

gender trainers, movers and shakers in WS and WM, alert academicians and
politicians wedded to the cause of gender equality and gender justice.
----------------
179
OBITUARY
Pravinaben Natubhai Patel (6-8-1935 to 1-1-2015)
- Dr. Vibhuti Patel
My mother, Pravinaben Patel was a matriarch

with an electrifying personality. She was
highly gifted, had a photographic memory,
flair for picking up new languages-recipes-
cultural legacies. She was a courageous
woman who stood by me when I took
revolutionary decisions of life-at the age of
10 (I decided not to wear gold in response to
witnessing dowry harassment), became
active in social movements when I was in
high-school and continued to the same for the
rest of my life. During my student days,
whenever I was arrested for political work
during emergency rule, my relatives would pressurize her to lock me in the
home, but she would challenge them with a statement, if I lock her behind the
door, she will jump out of the window. Instead of punishing her, we should
discuss with her.”
My mom had a tremendous sense of humour and great will power to face
opposition with poise and without indulging into fights. She was dignified,
smiling, hardworking, compassionate, helpful person who found something
good in every human being. That is why she was always surrounded by
‘social rejects’- unemployed, needy, hungry, marginalized and voiceless men
and women whose experiences never got legitimized by the society. From
early childhood, while sitting or standing in a corner and just observing and
listening to her communicate with individuals of different age-groups and
backgrounds, taught me a lot about, what we call today, ‘equity’ and
‘equality’. Her life guided me to see a spark in every ‘ordinary’ human being
that I met.
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Childhood Memoir
Pravinaben, my mummy was always made conscious of her good looks, while
I was labeled by the same people ‘an ugly duckling’. My mom and I were
temperamentally very different-I was too serious and studious while she was
jovial and the motto of her life was ‘Life is fun’. Armed with home-cooked
snacks, she would collect children of neighbours, relatives and friends and
take them to visit lakes, gardens, museums, art-galleries, and historical places.
Those were the days of “We two, our two”, small family norm popularized by
the government. While travelling in a bus or train, co-passengers would curse
her for producing so many children, moreover mischievous!! But, she would
not clarify that all were not her biological children. Instead, she would defend
the children by retorting, “If children will not make noise/ mischief, who else
will? Adults? My children are active and smart.”
She assumed the role of ‘renegade predecessor’ in our extended family due to
her quest for independence and enchanted the younger generation with her
free spirited adventures. She cultivated our interest in music, literature, art
and craft, language learning and most important respect for all religions,
cultures and lifestyles. She played major role in shaping my daughter’s sense
of ethics and empathy for the weaker sections of community.
She always stood by young couples ostracized by the community for their
inter-caste and inter-religious ‘love marriage’ and came forward for providing
moral and material support and thereby, exhibiting great personal courage.
Her demand for personal growth remained unfulfilled due to early marriage
and motherhood, but she built so many people who aspired to achieve their
dreams. She celebrated educational achievements of women.
Became Worldly-wise
In 1939, loss of her father at the age of 4 and betrayal of my nani’s

(grandmother’s) in-law who took away all her property made my mother self
dependent. My nani, Maniben was an ascetic in her lifestyle, Gandhian and
took part in the freedom movement. Nani was an exemplary teacher with
conviction for Montessori teaching-learning system. She was a gifted story
181
teller and extremely popular with students as she applied an innovative style of
experiential teaching. She pioneered ‘Shishu Kunj’ with sponsorship of her
husband’s employer, Alembic Chemicals Private Limited. Later on the
nursery school got converted into a high school named Alembic Vidyalaya.
As a child, my mother was playful and mischievous in school and people

around my nani would comment, “There is always darkness behind the lamp”
meaning, my mother will bring shame to her by not studying well. My nani
and my mother cleared Final Exam (VII Grade) together. In 1954, my mother
was married off after she wrote SSC Exam. My father, Shri. Natubhai Patel
was B.Sc., B.E. (Civil) and eight years older than her.
Early Marriage:
Pravinaben’s dream of higher education got shattered as she had to run a joint
family at the age of nineteen. She did not have a mother-in-law. Her Father-
in-law (my dada), unmarried sister-in-law (my foi) and unmarried brother-in-
law (my kaka) were voracious readers, introverted and quiet; while my mom
was an extrovert, talkative and social. First of all, she targeted the later two
for personal coaching to clear their S.S.C.E. exam. Even after leaving
Vadodara and residing in other parts of the country, she continued her mission
for educating boys and girls, men and women who were around her. My dada
considered her as his daughter and asked her not to cover hear head. This
created lot of unease among her extended in-laws circle.
Protecting her daughter from Racist Jibes:
Unnerving comments by relatives for my dark skin did not affect her. My
relatives would tell her, “Even if she weighted me in gold and gave it as a
dowry, she would not find a groom for me.” She taught me to focus on my
studies, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities and be socially useful.
She would always tell me, ‘marriage is not everything in life. She constructed
a 3 storied house for 3 children and declared that in their old age they would
stay with me.
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Multifaceted Personality:
She played very good badminton, always won in housie. While playing cards
with children or elderly, she chose to be a loser and allowed them to win. In
my school days, she would tell me a summary of articles she read in Illustrated
Weekly, Reader’s Digest, Dharmayug, spiced with her sharp observation. She
had fantastic memory about people and events.
During the days of idealism and nation-building in the 1960s, she used to knit
woolen sweaters, socks and mufflers for army men, whenever there was a
curfew in the city, instead of being afraid, she would send tea and snacks for
police/CRP/army man. She would join and keep me at the forefront of food-
relief and drought relief efforts in the city.
My father had 18 transfers in Western, Northern, Eastern and North Eastern

parts of India, the burden of which she singularly shouldered. My father
always made it a point for us to see his work sites so that we were aware of the
nature of his work-clearing of forest, constructing roads, colonies, schools,
dams. My mom had to manage family life by herself as my father was a civil
engineer and had an erratic and demanding work-schedule.
In 1960, my father was posted in Bhilai Steel Plant where the school was
inaugurated by the Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharla Nehru. My mom decked
me up early in the morning and asked me to hold red rose to offer to Panditji.
It was so heart-breaking that when my papa was posted in Baraouni, floods in
Ganga destroyed our photographic memory of the first PM of India.
When my father was posted in Vadodara, my mom taught embroidery,

tailoring, singing to children at the Remand Home. Though, she was an
agnostic, she visited all religious places with great respect and would tell us
stories of each and every shrine we visited with her.
In 1983, when my father was posted in Mumbai, she invited us to stay with
them in their flat; often she would tell me that my husband must be missing
non-veg food. I would tell her, “Even I do not cook non-vegetarian food.”
But my mother learned to cook chicken from her Haryanvi neighbour.
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Response to Sexual Harassment:
My mother was fearless and outspoken and was never afraid of strangers. She
would always confront anyone who made sexual innuendoes in the street, bus,
train and in public places. She would loudly respond, “What is wrong with
your hands? Why are they moving in a wrong direction?” In those days a
common way of sexual harassment of a woman walking or travelling
unescorted by man was, “Want to come with me?” Without getting
embarrassed she would look straight in the eyes of harasser and say, “Yes, I
want to come with you along with my 3 children!!” And she would laugh
loudly.
Unique Bond with her Son-in-law:
In 1977, I and Amar had court marriage (inter-religious) in Vadodara. She

was extremely sensitive to my Muslim husband, who was looked at with
suspicion by many of my relatives. She neutralized them by discussing his
work for the toiling poor, workers and public health. She prevented violence
by talking to all those who were instigating my brother who was young and
impressionable. Some highly educated uncles and aunties recommended
conversion of my husband under Arya Samaj. She retorted, “How would you
feel if you were robbed of your identity?” It is a different matter that both of
us were atheists and would not indulge in religious conversion and our social
life was robust with social movement community-activists from workers,
women, tribal and the Dalit movement.
When Amar was arrested as a convener of Textile Workers Solidarity

Committee, she lambasted me for not finding out in which police custody he
was kept. I told her, “Hundreds of activists are arrested, he is not alone.” She
said, “How can we sit at home? Let us begin our hunt from the nearest police
station.” We both reached Dahisar police station. My mom started howling at
the police officer and told him, “My son in law is a doctor, fighting for justice
and workers’ rights for which he has been arrested. You should feel ashamed
of your act that you are treating such a gentleman as a criminal. Now, find out
for us, in which police lock up he and his comrades are.” The police officer
made several phone calls and finally found out that Amar was in Jacob Circle
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police custody. Now, her agenda was to cook for Amar and his comrades.
We rushed home, made Thepalas, muthia, sukhadi etc. Armed with food, we
left home to meet Amar. Once we reached the police station, she gave a big
lecture to the police officer on her son-in-law’s good work and lambasted
them for taking away his spectacles. She demanded that we be allowed to
give home cooked food to Amar and his comrades.
Bond with her three sister-in-laws:
Her magnanimous nature made her popular with her sister-in-laws, brother’s
wife and husband’s sisters. All of them stood by her and gave quality time to
her as she had been a patient of acute asthma from the time she was pregnant
with me. They always told us not to hurt my mom as asthma was a
psychosomatic illness and gets aggravated with any type of emotional stress.
Personal gets reflected in public: Support to Women’s Groups:
She had great admiration for the activists of the women’s movement. She
would tell me, had you been living in the same city, I would have liberated
you from housework so that you could devote your 100% energy to the
women’s movement.
In response to my argumentative nature, she always told me, “You are lucky
to be born in the independent India where intelligent women are respected,
had you been born earlier, you would have been labeled as ‘a witch’ and got
killed.
During the National Conference on Perspective for Women’s Movement in

India,1980and 1985, she cooked rice-based food-Pongal, masala rice, mixed
vegetable rice for delegates from Southern states and brought it to the
conference venue with the help of my papa in huge vessels without anybody
telling her to do so. Her logic was, “Women from rural areas of South India
must be feeling home-sick and craving for rice.”
During 1980s, she would send food packets for women from rural and tribal
areas who would be in Mumbai to press for their demands such as
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employment guarantee, land rights, draconian forest laws, violence against

women, and state support to single women.
Any activist who came to her home, tired, famished, hungry would not only
get food and rest, but also care, nurturance and emotional solace from her.
She knitted sweaters for several of my comrades in the social movement.
When they thanked her for her selfless action, she would jocularly reply by
quoting Gujarati proverb, “Educated like you prepare the balance- sheet while
less educated like me stand by you with a lamp.”
She unconditionally supported Neeraben Desai, Sonal Shukla, Nimisha Desai

and Trupti Shah. In Vadodara, she was a sympathizer of feminist
organizations, Sahiyar and Olakh.
Felicitation by Olakh:
When Olakh, a feminist group in Vadodara decided to felicitate women in the

age-group of 75+, mummy was also invited for felicitation. She humbly told,
“I am not a fire-brand fighter like you. Do I deserve such an honour?” When
I successfully persuaded her to attend the function, she was so happy to meet
many women from the Gandhi era, especially Homaiben Vyarawala, the first
official woman photographer of independent India. While returning, we
reached Homaiben to her home.
Always a Giver:
Pravinaben was known as a ‘giver’. When my father had to go to site, she

would give food for both, him and his driver. During the monsoon, the
postman came to her asking for umbrella, if his footwear gave way, my mom
would give him chappals or shoes. Whenever, a poor woman in the vicinity
delivered a baby, she would make baby’s clothes, quilt and go to meet her
even without knowing her personally. She taught ‘juvenile delinquents’ at a
remand home to cook, embroider, write and read. In spite of being in an
extremely hierarchical eco-system of public sector, she treated everybody
equally in terms of hospitality-officers, administrative staff and support staff.
She stood by them in their difficult moments. She proactively broke caste
186
barriers in her daily life that was covertly resented by her high caste friends.
At the time of illness among her friends, papa’s colleagues, neighbours and
domestic help, she would regularly send food cooked by her.
At the time of any calamity (flood, femine, riots), her home would be the
centre for collection of food, medicine and clothes. In her daily life, vegetable
vendors, milk man, raddiwala, fruit seller, postman, gardner, rickshow drivers,
needy neighbour received timely support from my mom in terms of school
fees, financial aid for medical treatment, textbooks, uniform, ration. All of
them had access to her kitchen. They would take water, snacks, chocolate-ice-
cream and make tea from kitchen when she would be grounded due to arthritis
or asthama. This was strongly resented by her neighbours as they felt that she
was spoiling them. They would complain to me, “Your mom does not lock
the door, anybody enters the house, one day your parents will be murdered!” I
would say, “Even when anybody comes home to murder them, my mom
would say, first you eat and relax, then you can kill us!”
In my upwardly mobile clan, she was the only one who had meaningful
relationships with relatives and friends who were poorer than her, who were
‘country folks’, who lacked ‘sophistication’.
During last five years, each time I visited her, I noticed so many things
missing from the house. Whenever I would ask for an explanation for missing
clothes, utensils, equipments for exercise, wheelchairs, walker, walking sticks,
etc; instead, in a Sufiana style, she would question me, “Have we become
poor?” I would say, “No”. And the matter would end there. She was a friend
in need to her neighbours, acquaintances and like true Vaishnav believed in
secret donation.
The most important gift my mom gave to me was a strong sense of work
ethics. Due to my activism, when my Ph.D. was getting neglected, it was my
mom who insisted that I complete my thesis as it was dishonest to take junior
research fellowship and not deliver. She would say, “You cannot waste tax
payers’ money. Your work in the women’s movement if important; at the
same time you need to complete your thesis. She took complete charge of my
187
daughter, phone calls and visitors. She would lock me in the room while I was
writing my chapters; open the door to serve meals and coffee.
Body Donation: Don’t wait for anyone
In 2007, she had made up her mind to donate her body after her death to the
medical college. She also convinced her peers for body-donation. I prepared
the document for my mom, my papa and my aunt, gave original to the hospital
and carbon copy was give to them. In last seven years, they kept their papers
in the drawing room, showed them to their neighbours and close relatives with
an instruction that in case of death, they must immediately inform the hospital
so that cornea donation can be done within 2 hours and body donation should
also happen as fast as possible so that someone’s life can be saved with organ
transplant.
In November 2014, a road was getting constructed in their society. Around 15

tribal families were working in cold weather. She gave them shelter in the
basement of her house, allowed them to bathe, cook and relax in the premises.
She inhaled lot of carbon monoxide as a result of cooking on firewood by the
workers, developed pneumonia and after a month long hospitalization, passed
away on 1st January 2015. All of us were with her.
She will live in the hearts of all those who knew her as an example who did
great service to the community even in her death by donating her body and
eyes. As per her wish, no rituals for 13 days were observed; instead we
organized a memorial meeting that included singing of her favorite bhajans by
Mirabai, Narsinha Mehta, sufi saints and Vaishnav devotees along with blood
donation camp as well as eye and body donation registration. My brother,
Chandramauli N. Patel instituted a Gold Medal for University First student in
MA in Economics at SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai.
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188
Prof. Jasodhara Bagchi (17-8-1937 to 9-1-2015)
Jasodharadi was a towering personality. She was non-sectarian when it came

to sharing her ideas, analysis, information and contacts were concerned. She
was enigmatic ‘Bhadra Mahila’ in her demeanor, at the same time warm,
affectionate and accessible. I had fond memories of my vacations at Jodhpur
Park where my parents lived in the mid seventies to share with Jasodharadi
who had lived there most of her life. Our common interest in Rabindra
Sangeet, Nazrul Geeti and Baul also made us close. She appreciated my
sharing of women’s movement literature (Leaflets, documents, position
papers, booklets, posters) with fellow feminists and would also caution me to
look after my back.
In 1991, during National Conference of Indian Association of Women’s

Studies at Jadhavpur University, as a hostess she took genuine interest in
solving problems of hundreds of delegates from varied socio-cultural and
linguistic background. She could establish rapport with tribal women,
academician, activist, working class women and artists with the same ease due
to her humility and genuine interest in reaching out to them.
In 2003, Prof. Jasodhara Bagchi as a Director of Centre for Women’s Studies

displayed tremendous courage of conviction when UGC circulated a directive
to change name of ‘women’s Studies Centre’ as ‘Family Studies Centre’. In a
UGC organized official National Conference on ‘Future of Women’s Studies
in India’, she made a scathing criticism of draft document prepared by the
UGC bureaucrats that undermined functioning of UGC sponsored Women
Studies Centres (WSCs) in India. She forcefully projected achievements of
WSCs and admired commitment and hard work of women’s studies scholars-
activists. Her fearlessness encouraged other directors WSCs also to challenge
the lies, misrepresentation and distortions in the document ad finally the
document was rejected by the house.
After our meaningful discussion on declining child sex ratio in Kolkata as per
2001 Census, she took up the campaign to sensitise the governance structure
189
on missing girls due to sex selective abortions of female foetuses. It was

always a pleasure to meet her at workshops of National Commission for
Women, Ministry of Women and Child Development and IAWS.
In 2007, she signed Leading Intellectuals’ Appeal demanding from the state to
Drop Charges, Release Dr Binayak Sen. Jasodharadi built feminists and
institutions, popularized feminist discourses and left a lasting mark thro’ her
writings in English and Bengali. Her scholarship is embodied in her following
publications-authored, co-authored, edited and co-edited:
• Literature, Society, and Ideology in the Victorian Era (edited volume),

(1992)
• Indian Women: Myth and Reality (edited volume), (1995)
• Loved and Unloved: The Girl Child in the Family (with Jaba Guha and
Piyali Sengupta)(1997)
• Gem-like Flame: Walter Pater and the 19th Century Paradigm of Modernity
(1997)
• Thinking Social Science in India: Essays in Honour of Alice Thorner (co-
edited with Krishna Raj and Sujata Patel)(2002)
• The Trauma and the Triumph: Gender and Partition in Eastern India (co-
edited with Subhoranjan Dasgupta) (2003)
• The Changing Status of Women in West Bengal, 1970-2000: The Challenge
Ahead edited by Jasodhara Bagchi, Sarmistha Dutta Gupta(2004) Sage
Publications
• Space of her Own that focused on personal narratives of 12 women and Co
edited with Leela Gulati, Delhi: Sage Publications.
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190
ABOUT AUTHORS
Dr. (Sr.) Ananda Amritmahal Principal, Sophia College for Women,
Mumbai & Director, Sophia Centre for Women’s Studies & Development.
Dr. Lalita Dhara Vice Principal of Dr.B.R. Ambedkar College, Mumbai and
is a Professor of Statistics. As a Chairperson of the Women Development
Cell, her dedicated work as an activist for woman and child issues has spilled
over to her leisure hours.
Dr. Meherjyoti Sangle Assistant Professor in History University Department

of History Dept. of Post Graduate Studies & Research, S.N.D.T. Women’s
University, Mumbai
Dr. Mohd Furqan Lecturer, Institute of Economics and Finance,

Bundelkhand University, Jhansi.
Dr. Mohd Nayim Lecturer, Dr. B R Ambedkar Institute of Social Sciences,

Dr. Sunita Malkothe Meenakshi Shirsat and Archana Giri. Sinhagad College
of Education Training and Research, (B.Ed – for Women), Vadgaon (Bk)
Pune.
Dr. Vibhuti Patel Director, Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and
Inclusive Policy, &Professor and Head, Post Graduate Department of
Economics SNDT Women’s University.
Dr.R.V. Singh Associate Professor & Head Deptt Of social work, Dr B.R.
Ambedkar Institute of social sciences,Bundelkhand University, Jhansi (U.P.).
Laura Eggertson is an Ottawa-based journalist, writer and editor.
Nabaneeta Dev Sen is an award winning Indian poet, novelist and academic.
191
Naghma Rizwan Student, Nayyab Abbasi Girls Degree College (Amroha),

M.J.P. Ruhelkhand University, Bareilly.
Neha Mishra Lecturer, Dr. B R Ambedkar Institute of Social Sciences,

Sharmeela Rege was an Indian Sociologist, feminist scholar and headed the
Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule Women’s Studies Centre at the University of
Pune.
Shilpa Mishra is a Lecturer, Institute of Economics and Finance,

Bundelkhand, University, Jhansi.
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192
GUIDELINES TO THE CONTRIBUTORS

Urdhva Mula is an interdisciplinary journal (ISSN No. 2277-7954) that publishes
articles based on multidisciplinary research, as well as essays about diverse aspects of
gender and women’s issues. Gender functions as a central category of analysis. The
journal concentrates on gendered representation of topics from the fields of literature
and language, history, political science, sociology, anthropology, cinema and media
studies, human development, law, and medicine. It also analyses the intersection of
gender with race, ethnicity, location, nationality and disability.
Urdhva Mula is accessible widely and it seeks to incorporate an international vision,

including book reviews related to women’s studies and gender studies. It will be
particularly useful for researchers on gender issues. Professionals, academics and
students from other fields, whose experience might not be limited to gender issues but
who are interested in the topic, will also find this journal a valuable resource.
Contributions to Urdhva Mula must report original work, and will be peer-reviewed.
Manuscript preparation guidelines:
• Papers are accepted only in English. Manuscripts may be submitted as either

Word documents or PDF files. (Font: Times New Roman. The title should be
in font size 16, sub-titles in font size 14, and main text in font size 12.)
• Format and referencing should follow the MLA guidelines.
• The title with the author’s name must be on a separate page, and the author’s
name should not feature anywhere else in the article, so that the peer-review
process may be impartial.
• Articles should be 5000-7000 words in length. Papers that greatly exceed this
will be critically reviewed with respect to length.
• Articles may express the personal voice of creative writing, or a reflection on a
transforming text or event in the field of gender, or an impersonal presentation
of data useful to researchers in that field.
• A short biographical note about the author must be supplied on a separate
page.
• Authors whose work has been accepted for publication will receive a
complimentary copy of the issue containing their article.
193
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS OF
SOPHIA CENTRE FOR WOMEN’S STUDIES &
DEVELOPMENT
Working Paper Series:
1.1 Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace

1.2 Endometriosis: A Pilot Study
1.3 Survey on Food and Nutrition
1.4 Understanding Menopause
1.5 A Study of the Cognitive and Attitudinal Impact, and AIDS
Awareness Educational Intervention on College Students
Research Paper Series:
2.1 Stress and Health Implications of Domestic Violence

2.2 Women and Environment: Bangles of Fire
2.3 Women and Environment: Women in Panchayat
2.4 Women and Environment: Misrepresentation of Women
in Advertising
2.5 The Psychological Symbiosis between Man and Nature
2.6 All the World’s a Peep Show
2.7 A survey on the Ecological Footprints
Urdhva Mula: An Interdisciplinary Bi-annual Journal on

Women’s/ Gender Studies
----------------
194
Urdhva Mula
(Roots Upwards)
An Interdisciplinary Women’s Studies Journal
Editors Dr. (Sr.) Ananda Amritmahal

Dr. Vibhuti Patel
Editorial Advisor Dr. (Sr.) Anila Verghese
Editorial Assistance Ms. Deepti Anil
Layout and Design Ms Lata Pujari
1
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL 4
ARTICLES
New Reproductive Technologies in the Urban India and 7

Their Implications on Reproductive Rights of Women
- Dr. Vibhuti Patel
Development of Women Entrepreneurship as 16

an Instrument for Transformation of Human Resource:
A Case Study of Navi Mumbai
- Dr. Sharmila Basu
Living Pattern in Meghalaya 38

- Dr. Vatika Sibal
Women in the Working World – why the gaps? 52

- Amita Sahaya
Description of Matriarchal Communities in India 58

- Aditi Deshmukh, Meritta Anju Joseph,
and Sweta Mookerjee
Dr. Anagha Tendulkar (Teacher Guide)
Domestic Violence and Mental Health of Women 79

- Dr. Vibhuti Patel
2
16RESEARCH PAPER
A Study of Anthropometric Variables in 91
Adolescent Girls from Lower Socio-Economic Strata to
Access Nutritional Status
STATEMENT
Stree Mukti Andolan Sampark Samiti Condemns 136
Attempts to Utilize Issue of Violence against
Women for Sectarian Politics 13 October 2016
PRESS RELEASE
ALL INDIA DEMOCRATIC WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION 139
BOOK REVIEW
Marginalisation of Minorities 141
- Dr. Vibhuti Patel
OBITUARY
Dr. Trupti Shah (1962 to 2016) 149
Mahasweta Devi (14th January 1926 – 28th July 2016) 158
ABOUT AUTHORS 164
List of Publications of Sophia Centre for Women’s

Studies and Development
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3
EDITORIAL
The Platinum Jubilee of Sophia College for Women marked 75 years of

“Empowering Women to Excellence”. Founded in 1940 and affiliated to
Mumbai University (then the University of Bombay), the College has been
known for its contribution to the cause of women’s rights and dignity, offering
a high-quality education to women to enable them to face the world of work
and life.
The increasing incidence and intensity of violence against girls and women
has finally forced various states to make active interventions in terms of
providing support structures to survivors of violence, and monetary
compensation to the survivors of rape and acid attacks for rebuilding their
devastated lives. At the same time, the criminal justice system has been made
more accountable in terms of immediate and effective registration of cases,
collection of evidence and fast-track trials.
Legislations to combat sexual assault against children and women have been
implemented far more judiciously and under the media gaze. All private and
public sector enterprises and offices have been mandated to set up internal
complaints committees to ensure redressal of grievances in cases of sexual
harassment at the workplace. Particular mention must be made of
amendments in the Indian Evidence Act (2013) with regard to rape, cyber
stalking and Section 356, Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment Act
(2013) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (2012).
India had become a major destination for assisted reproduction since 1991.
The globalisation and liberalisation of the Indian economy also brought in its
wake commercialisation of new reproductive technologies. There were
virtually no legal systems to address contentious issues, such as coercion and
4
health complications faced by the surrogate mothers and egg donors. The
unethical conduct of techno-dons, cheating by agents and other forms of
violation of body-integrity of young girls and women who were forced into
this industry out of economic compulsions, was another issue crying out for
justice. Now a law has been put in place which bans making assisted
reproductive services available to foreigners. However, the scenario has not
really changed. An increasing number of infertile couples in the upper stratum
of Indian society are resorting to assisted reproduction where there is a
conspiracy of silence with regard to the rights of egg donors and surrogates
who are totally voiceless and helpless.
Gender-based inequalities creep into every stage of a woman’s life-cycle,

impacting something even as basic as access to food and nutrition security,
care and nurturance, opportunities and freedom. The decision-making power
to determine one’s own destiny often remains out of reach for most girls and
women. Given this depressing scenario where chivalry is replaced with
hostility and barbaric violence targeting girls and women, the minimum
necessary condition to ensure a dignified life for women is economic self-
sufficiency. Education and exposure to the world of work provide us with
options to move ahead with self-assurance and confidence even when faced
with challenges, mishaps and tragedies. Budgetary allocations need to be
enhanced drastically for adequate provision for rehabilitation, skill
development and seed money for entrepreneurship, and incubation centres for
new openings for area-specific economic ventures.
It is a decade since the Sachar Committee Report (2006) brought the concerns
of minority communities to centre-stage. The review process has revealed a
disheartening reality, where the minorities have been found marginalised,
subdued and brutalised in this post-truth era of majoritarianism, where might
is right. Two voices who spoke up consistently for the marginalised sections
5
of society at the bottom of the pyramid have been lost but their writings are
our conscience-keepers. Other women’s groups continue to articulate their
resistance to misogynist and sectarian discriminatory practices.
The candle of hope is kept alive even in the darkest and most desperate of
situations.
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6
ARTICLES
NEW REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE

URBAN INDIA AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS ON
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS OF WOMEN
- Dr. Vibhuti Patel
Introduction
The legacy of continual declining sex ratio in India in the history of the
Census of India has taken a new turn with the widespread use of new
reproductive technologies (NRTs) mostly in urban India. NRTs are based
on the principle of selection of the desirable and rejection of the unwanted.
In India, the desirable is the baby boy and the unwanted is the baby girl.
The result is obvious. The Census results of 2011 have revealed a sex ratio
of 914 girls for 1000 boys. India had a deficit of 60 lakh girls in the age-
group of 0-6 years, when it entered the new millennium; female infanticide
was practiced among selected communities, while the abuse of NRTs has
become a generalised phenomenon encompassing all communities
irrespective of caste, class, religious, educational and ethnic backgrounds.
Demographers, population control lobby, anthropologists, economists, legal
experts, medical fraternity and feminists are divided in their opinions about
the gender implications of NRTs. NRTs in the context of patriarchal control
over women’s fertility and commercial interests are posing a major threat to
women’s dignity and bodily integrity.
New Reproductive Technologies (NRTs) and Women

NRTs perform 4 types of functions. In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) and
subsequent embryo transfer, GIFT (Gamete Intra Fallopian Transfer), ZIFT
and cloning assist reproduction.i In Mumbai young girls are willing to
7
selltheir eggs for Rs. 20000. Infertility clinics in Mumbai receive 4-5 calls
per day from young women who want to donate their eggs.ii
Contraceptive Technologies prevent conception and birth. Amniocentesis,

Chorionic Villi Biopsy, needling, ultrasound and imaging are used for
prenatal diagnosis.iii Foetal cells are collected by the technique of
amniocentesis and CVB. Gene technologies play a crucial role through
genetic manipulation of animal and plant kingdoms.iv Genomics “the
science of improving the human population through controlled-breeding”
encompasses the elimination of disease, disorder, or undesirable traits, on
the one hand, and genetic enhancement on the other. It is pursued by
nations through state policies and programmes”.v
It is important to examine scientific, social, juridical, ethical, economic, and

health consequences of the NRTs. NRTs have made women’s bodies, a site
for scientific experimentations.
New Reproductive Technologies in the neo-colonial context of the third

world economies and the unequal division of labour between the first and
the third world economies have created a bizarre scenario and cut throat
competition among body chasers, clone chasers, intellect chasers and
supporters of female infanticide. There are mainly three aspects to NRT -
assisted reproduction, genetic or pre-natal diagnosis and prevention of
conception and birth. It is important to understand the interaction among
NRT developers, providers, users, non-users, potential users, policy makers,
and representatives of international organisations.vi
Assisted Reproduction
The focus of assisted reproduction experts is on healthy women who are
forced to menstruate at any age backed by hazardous hormones and steroids.
The process involves - use of counsellors, techno-docs and researchers to
learn the details of the personal life of women to delegitimise the victim's
8
experience. Utter disregard for a woman's pain, carcinogenic and mutagenic

implications, vaginal warts, extreme back pain, arthritis, sclerosis, heavy
bleeding, growth of hair on face, nose, chin, cheeks, joint pain associated
with uterine contractions for production of egg-cells are dismissed as Mood-
Swings. Network between stake groups have only one goal- impregnating
women for embryo production which in the techno-docs’ language is
assisted reproduction. Embryos and foetuses are used for the cure of
Parkinson’s disease among influential and wealthy aging patriarchs. Side-
effects on women's health like facial hair growth and skeletal deformities are
totally ignored.
Political Economy of Assisted Reproduction

By using phallocentric and misogynist psychologists, psychiatrists, state and
the techno-docs (ever ready to flash a plastic smile) have found a ruthless
weapon to cretinise, dehumanise, degrade, humiliate, terrorise, intimidate,
and cabbagify women. Through advertisements in newspapers, poor/needy
women are asked to lend their womb for IVF in exchange for money
furthermore, through websites rich clients are sought.
Selective Elimination of Female Foetuses and Selection of Male at a

Preconception Stage
Advances in medical science have resulted in sex-determination and sex pre-
selection techniques such as Sonography, fetoscopy, needling, chorionic
villi biopsy (CVB) and the most popular, amniocentesis and ultrasound have
become household names not only in the urban India but also in rural India.
Indian mega-cities are the major centers for sex determination (SD) and sex
pre-selection (SP) tests with sophisticated laboratories.
There is an official admission to the fact that “it is increasingly becoming a
common practice across the country to determine the sex of the unborn child
or foetus and eliminate it if the foetus is found to be a female. This practice
9
is referred to as pre-birth elimination of females (PBEF). PBEF involves

two stages: determination of the sex of the foetus and induced termination if
the foetus is not of the desired sex. It is believed that one of the significant
contributors to the adverse child sex ratio in India is the practice of abortion
of female foetuses.”vii
China has officially admitted that shortage of young women due to 27 year
of ‘one child norm’ imposed by the state has created a situation where 2.5
million Chinese men are not finding brides! Moreover trafficking of brides
has become a lucrative business in the rural hinterland. Due to economic
reforms introduced after 1978, women stopped getting equal wages for
equal work. Even old age security from the state was withdrawn. In this
situation, Chinese couples found it ‘economically unviable’ to have daughter
as she would bring less wages so if the state allowed them to have only one
child, they preferred a male child.
South Koreans adopted sex selection during seventies. By 1986, there was
such a shortage of brides in Seoul, capital city, that Federation of Obstetrics
and Gynaecological Society of Korea decided that they would not reveal sex
of foetus to the pregnant women on the ground of medical ethics. During the
last 20 years, the sex ratio of Korea has improved to 99.7.
Rapid advances in the field of new reproductive technologies has “created a
situation where there has been a breakdown of the moral consensus”viii with
respect to medical ethics and gender justice. Techno-docs refuse to see the
larger contexts, future implications and gender implications.
A sharp remark made by the Member Secretary of the Maharashtra State
Commission for Women represents the concerns of women’s rights
organizations in these words, “The attempt at legitimizing the vetoing of
female life even before it appears, is worse than the earlier abortion related
violence in the womb, precisely because it is so sanitised and relies on
seemingly sane arguments against the policing of ‘human rights’ in a
10
democracy in the intensely personal matter of procreation. This needs to be

resisted at all cost.”ix
Diametrically opposite views come from Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, the most
articulate proponent of sex-pre selection tests. When asked, “Is it ethical to
selectively discard female embryos?” he said, “Where does the question of
ethics come in here? Who are we hurting? Unborn girls?”x
My questions are: Can we allow Indian women to become an endangered

species? Shall we be bothered only about endangered wild life- tigers,
Lions, so on & so forth? Massive resources are invested in OPERATION
TIGER. When shall we start an OPERATION GIRL CHILD?
Population Control Policies
There is a serious need to examine Population policies and Global funding
from the perspective of commercialisation of the medical market and
marketization of the nation states in the context of the newly emerging
culture of daily changes of sponsors. Financial economists have reigned
supreme to generate moment-to-moment existence among population so that
they can get an unending supply of cannon fodder for the NRT
experimentation. Budgetary provision on health has a hidden agenda of
NRT. The victims are not given scientific details and by labelling them as
parasites and beneficiaries, their consent is not sought. It has burdened
women with backbreaking miseries. The nation states have been coached to
implement the use of NRT in Secrecy -in line with the programmes executed
by G8 in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Bangladesh. To achieve
population stabilisation, 2.1% growth rate of population and NRR-net
reproduction rate of 1(i.e. mother should be replaced by 1 daughter only) are
envisaged. These have an inherent sexist bias because it desires birth of 1
daughter and 1.1 sons. Those who support sex-determination (SD) and sex-
preselection (SP) view these tests as helpful to achieve NRR1. Recent study
of Haryana revealed that out of 160 mothers and grandmothers interviewed
11
by AIIMS study team, 40 % supported SD on the ground that it contributed

to population control and prevented families from having series of females
in an attempt that a male was born.xi
This will further widen the gap between the number of girls and number of
boys in the country. As it is 100 million women have been missing due to
femicide (female infanticide, ill treatment and discrimination leading to
higher mortality rate among women/girls in the first three quarters of 19 th
century and in the last quarter of 19th century due to misuse of SD and SP)
over a period from 1901 to 2001.
Gendered Power-relations and NRT
The search for the "perfect' baby through genetic screening, ante natal sex
determination tests, pre-implantation diagnosis, commercialisation of sperm
and /or egg donation, commercialisation of motherhood and hormonal
contraceptives raise many socio-legal and ethical questions.
Division of labour among women to control women's sexuality, fertility and
labour by utilising homophobia and pitting women of different race,
religions, age and looks to suit the interest of NRTs are serving the interest
of patriarchy, medical mafia, pharmaceutical industries, scientists, and
techno-docs at the cost of vulnerable human beings as raw material. If the
NGOs don't want to get criminalised, they must dissociate from NRTs and
divert the funding for public health, library, education, skill building, and
employment generation as a long-term investment and channelize their
energies towards formation of self-help groups.
It is important to understand that reproduction has an individual and a social
dimension. While examining birth control practices, an individual is a unit
of analysis. While examining the population control policies we have to
analyse the pros & cons of NRTs, national governments, population control
organisations, multinational pharmaceutical industries, public and private
funded bodies, medical researchers and health workers who shape women's
12
"choices"- women's autonomy or control at micro and macro levels. Thus

choices are not made in a vacuum. NRT as a choice for some women
(educated career women) can become coercion for others (powerless and
less articulate women). Hence it is important to be vigilant about power
relations determined by race, age, class and gender while examining
implications of NRT on different stake groups.
Informed consent and medical malpractice
Power relations in the medical market favour the techno-docs and the clients
are not given full details of the line of treatment and its consequences.
Respect for diversity, adoption of child/children is a far simpler and more
humane solution than subjecting women to undergo infertility treatment.
Obsession about the creation of designer baby boys has made development
agenda subsidiary.
As per the International Convention on Population and Development,

Cairo1994, women’s reproductive rights constitute, “a state of complete
physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease
or infirmity, in all matters relating to reproductive system and to its
functions and processes.” Rights relating to reproductive and sexual health
are:
•Right to life and survival

•Right to liberty and security of a person
•Right to be free from torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or
punishment
•Right to maternity protection
•Right to private and family life
•Right to highest attainable standard of health
•Right to procedural fairness
•Right to benefits of scientific progress
13
•Right to receive and impart information

•Right to education
•Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion
Conclusion:
Reproductive technologies are violating women’s reproductive rights at all
levels
-in philosophy as they are based on principle of ‘selection’ and ‘rejection’
-in their approach of seeing women only as raw material for experimentation
-in practice as they violate women’s bodily integrity and dignity
-in terms of professional ethics as the providers don’t observe ‘informed

consent’ in their obsession of achieving their targets of eugenics or
commercial interests.
Reproductive technologies were pioneered in the previous century during

Nazi rule in Germany for intensive breeding among ‘white, healthy,
intelligent, stocky’ German women and forcible sterilization of the Jews. At
present also, the same logic is used. Globally, pro-natalist policies are
promoted for white Anglo-Saxon population and repressive population
control policies are imposed on the non-white and poor population.
References
i
Nandedkar, Tarala D. and Medha S. Rajadhyaksha (1995): Brave New Generation,
Vistas in Biotechnology, CSIR, Department of Biotechnology, Government of
India, Delhi .
ii
The Asian Age, 11-6-2004.
iii
Patel, Vibhuti (2000): Sex Selection, in Routledge International Encyclopedia of
Women- Global Women’s Issues and Knowledge, Vol.4, pp.1818-1819.
14
iv
Agnihotri Gupta, Jyotsana (2000) New Reproductive Technologies- Women’s
Health and Autonomy, Freedom or Dependency? Indo Dutch Studies in
Development Alternatives-25, Sage Publications, New Delhi...
v
Heng Leng, Chee (2002) “Genomics and Health: Ethical, Legal and Social
Implications for Developing Countries”, Issues in Medical Ethics, Bombay, Vol.X,
No. 1, Jan.- March, pp.146-149.
vi
Finnarage-Feminist International Network of Resistance to Reproductive and
Genetic Engineering, Germany, 2000 and UBINIG: Women’s Declarations on
Reproductive Technologies and Genetic Engineering”, Dhaka, 2004.
vii
“Missing…Mapping the Adverse Child Sex Ratio in India”, Office of the
Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare and United Nations Population Fund, 2003
viii
Rupsa, Malik (2003) “‘Negative Choice’ Sex Determination and Sex Selective
Abortion in India”, Urdhva Mula, Sophia Centre for Women’s Studies
Development, Mumbai, Vol 2, No. 1, May.
ix
Thekkekara, T. F. (2001) “On the Road to Extinction”, The Indian Express,
December 5.
x
Banerjee, Piali (2001) “The Battle against Chromosome X”, The Times of India,
November, 25.
xi
Bardia, A., Paul, E, Kapoor S.K. and Anand K. (2004) “Declining Sex Ratio:
Role of Society, Technology and Government Regulation in Haryana- A
Comprehensive Study”, Comprehensive Rural Health Services Project, All India
institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
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15
DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS AN INSTRUMENT
FOR TRANSFORMATION OFHUMAN
RESOURCE: A CASE STUDY OF NAVI
MUMBAI
- Dr. Sharmila Basu
Introduction
Women entrepreneurs have been designated as the new engines for growth
and the rising stars of the economies in developing countries to bring in
prosperity and welfare. The World Economic Forum identified women
entrepreneurs as “the way forward” at their annual meeting in 2012 (WEF,
2012). Female-run enterprises are steadily growing all over the world,
contributing to household incomes and growth of national economies.
Women-owned businesses are likely to be even greater in the informal
sector. Globally, women from varying cultures, educations, and economies
contribute to the environment around them and are increasingly engaging in
entrepreneurial efforts (Minniti, Arenius, & Langowitz, 2004).
With the world economy still struggling to recover from the economic
shocks of the past few years, momentum is growing for a new industrial
revolution that is both sustainable and inclusive. Central to inclusive and
sustainable industrial development is the urgent need to harness the
economic potential of women – half of the world’s population.
In India, women constitute around 48 percent of the population but their

participation in the economic activities is only 34 percent. As per Census
2011, workers constituted 39.79 per cent of total population whereas the
16
ratio of female workers was 25.51 per cent. At All-India level the
percentage share of females as cultivators, agricultural labourers, workers in
the household industry and other workers stood at 24.92, 18.56, 2.95 &
47.20 respectively. As per the Human Development Report (2007), India
ranks 96th on the gender related development index of 137 nations. The
gender empowerment measures, which estimate the extent of women
participation in the country's economic and political activities, rank India as
110th of the 166 nations.
The Government of India introduced the New Industrial policy 1993 and
opened the door of a number of industries to foreign direct investment, with
the condition of minimum number of direct employment. This decline
pushed women from direct employment to ancillary employment as well as
entrepreneurship related to different services. One of the major discourses
during the period of liberalization has been directed at women as self
employed workers originating from the perception that beneficial effects of
liberalization lay in expanding the relationship between women
‘entrepreneurs’ in the informal sector and wider markets.
This paper indicates and emphasizes how the women entrepreneurs are the
potentially emerging human resource in the 21stcentury, possessing the
capacity to transform economies into thriving enterprises, into the newly
emerging city of Maharashtra, the Satellite city 'Navi-Mumbai'.
Concept of Women Entrepreneurs

Women Entrepreneurs may be defined as the women or a group of women
who initiate, organize and operate a business enterprise. The Government of
India has defined women entrepreneurs as ― an enterprise owned and
controlled by women having a minimum financial interest of 51 per cent of
the capital and giving at least 51 per cent of the employment generated in
17
the enterprise to women. “A woman entrepreneur can be defined as a

confident, innovative and creative woman capable of achieving economic
independence individually or in collaboration, generates employment
opportunities for others through initiating, establishing and running the
enterprise by keeping pace with her personal, family and social life.” —
Kamala Singh
While being a small share of total activity, women-owned establishments

have experienced much more rapid growth during the 1994-2005 period
than the manufacturing sector. (NSSO SURVEY)
Graph-1: Growth Rate of Women Entrepreneurs in India
25
20
20
1970-80
15
1980-90
9.56 1990-00
10
2000+
5.19
5
1.58
0
% of Women Entrepreneurs
Source:www.ent.org.com
,
As per the Annual Employment Review 2010 published by DGE&T,
MoL&E, previous five years have witnessed an increased women
18
employment in the organised sector; from 49.34 lakh in March 2004 to

55.34 lakh in March 2009, an increase of 13.1 per cent. Currently, the share
of women in organised employment is estimated to be around 20 per cent.
The employment scenario of our nation for the last two decades justifies the
immediate attention for this specific group's development as an
'Entrepreneur'.
Table 1: Employment on cds basis (in millions) during 2004-05 and

2009-10 and cagr (in %)
2004- 2009- CAGR%
2005 2010
Rural
Male 194.7 211.9 1.71
Female 81.5 72.9 -2.22
Persons 276.2 284.7 0.61
Urban
Male 86.3 99.2 2.80
Female 20.1 20.5 0.37
Persons 106.5 119.7 2.36
Rural+Urban
Male 281.0 311 2.05
Female 101.6 93.4 -1.69
Persons 382.6 404.4 1.11
Source: NSSO 2006 and 2011 and CAGR are estimated
Review of literature
Women in India reveal that the empowerment of women and development
of women entrepreneurs to bring actual reality through the constitutional
goal of equality. Lalitha Iyer’s study in 1991 on “Women Entrepreneurs
Challenges and Strategies” analyses major constraints faced by women
19
entrepreneurs and reflects upon specific policies and programmes for

women entrepreneurship development. Kamala Singh’s study in 1992 on
Women Entrepreneurs has made an attempt to diagnose the women
entrepreneurs profile and has identified dominating entrepreneurial traits,
their motivational forces and performance both quantitatively as well as
qualitatively. This work aimed at understanding the entrepreneurial
development among women is an unique attempt for highlighting their
existing status and contribution to the national economy. Rani in 1996
found that the availability of leisure time motivated women entrepreneurs
from higher income classes.
Tambunan, (2009), made a study on recent developments of women

entrepreneurs in Asian developing countries. The study focused mainly on
women entrepreneurs in small and medium enterprises based on data
analysis and review of recent key literature. This study found that in Asian
developing countries SMEs are gaining overwhelming importance; more
than 95% of all firms in all sectors on average per country. The study also
depicted the fact that representation of women entrepreneurs in this region is
relatively low due to factors like a low level of education, lack of capital and
cultural or religious constraints. However, the study revealed that most of
the women entrepreneurs in SMEs are from the category of forced
entrepreneurs seeking better family incomes.
Singh, 2008, identifies the reasons and influencing factors behind the entry
of women in entrepreneurship. He explained the characteristics of their
businesses in Indian context and also obstacles and challenges. He
mentioned the obstacles to the growth of women entrepreneurship are
mainly the lack of interaction with successful entrepreneurs, social un-
acceptance as women entrepreneurs, family responsibility, gender
discrimination, missing network, low priority given by bankers to provide
20
loans to women entrepreneurs. He suggested the remedial measures like

promoting micro enterprises, unlocking institutional frame work, projecting
and planning to grow as well as support the winners etc. The study
advocates for ensuring synergy among women related ministries, economic
ministry and also the social and welfare development ministry of the
Government of India.
Lall and Sahai, (2008), conducted a comparative assessment of multi-

dimensional issues and challenges of women entrepreneurship and family
business. The study identified psychographic variables like, degree of
commitment, entrepreneurial challenges as well as future plans for
expansion, based on demographic variables. Through stratified random
sampling and judgment sampling the data have been collected from women
entrepreneurs working in an urban area of Lucknow. The study identified
business owner’s characteristics as self-perception self-esteem,
entrepreneurial intensity and operational problems for future plans for
growth and expansion. The study suggested that though, there has been
considerable growth in the number of women opting to work in family
owned businesses but they still have lower status and face more operational
challenges in running the family business.
Objectives and Research questions

Urbanization, in general, is considered to be associated with the process of
economic development and good quality of life because of the type of
facilities and opportunities it offers to its inhabitants. Navi -Mumbai has
emerged as a unique and well planned new city. In the past few years along
with the increase in the number of houses, there has been tremendous growth
of social, educational, cultural and religious institutions. Thus Navi-
Mumbai has a clear strategic vision i.e. to decongest Mumbai and to act as a
counter magnet to Mumbai. Its economic purpose is to be the future
business and financial capital of India and to provide a lot of investment
21
opportunities in various areas of business. As there are good opportunities

for women in Navi-Mumbai, the present study has been undertaken with the
following broad objectives.
1) To find out the socio-economic profile of women entrepreneurs, who
have taken up the 'Micro-enterprises' as their venture in the newly developed
'Satellite-City' Navi-Mumbai during the year 2000-2005.
2) To assess the contribution made by the women entrepreneurs as a
productive resource for the growth of the urban economy of Navi-Mumbai.
Area of the Study

The survey was conducted in Navi-Mumbai city of Maharashtra. Navi-
Mumbai is situated adjacent to the Thane-Belapur Industrial Belt (TBIB)
developed by Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation, which is the
largest industrial complex in Asia. About 2000 industrial units are
functioning there which contribute to the strength of the urban economy of
Navi-Mumbai. Here there are many trading, manufacturing and service
organizations available for conducting research. The City and Industrial
Development Corporation (CIDCO) has taken up the development of Navi-
Mumbai keeping this economic base in mind. This study examines the
emerging trends of women entrepreneurship in urban social patterns in 'Navi
Mumbai'. A sample of 200 women entrepreneurs spread over different
nodes of Navi-Mumbai stretching from Vashi to Panvel (Harbour line) and
having different kind of enterprises engaged in 3 sectors was taken for the
study using stratified and simple random sampling. For evaluating the
performance of the entrepreneurs it was decided to select the enterprises
which were in operation before the year 2005-06. The scope of this study
includes only first generation entrepreneurs, who have employed at least two
persons in her units.
22
Map I.1: Navi Mumbai Source: Google Maps
Women entrepreneurs in Navi-Mumbai: Who, where, how big?

'Navi-Mumbai', the satellite city of Mumbai, was created to decongest
Mumbai with its all modern amenities in the 1980s, helped many women
entrepreneurs to flourish in the 1990s and prosper in the twenty first century
with diverse traditional as well as modern business opportunities. The data
from the study reveals that most of the entrepreneurs were in the age group
23
31-40 years. The socio-economic profile of the respondents indicate that

they had an average educational background with regard to educational
qualifications about 41.5 percent are graduate, while 25 percent studied up
to HSC (12th grade) level. About 7 percent were technically or vocationally
qualified and engaged in activities which were related to training received
by them.
GRAPH-2: Age Group of Sample Respondents
90
80
70
60
50 < 30
40 years
30 31-40
20
10
0
Total no: of the Percentage
respondents
Source: sample respondents of the researchers
Age of the sample respondents at the time of starting their units varied from
less than 30 years to more than 50 years in general. 43% of sample
respondents started their entrepreneurial career while they were in the age-
group 31- 40. The maximum interest was shown by those women who were
married and had grown-up children. 75% percent of the respondents
perceived themselves to be from an urban background. It was observed that
24
74%of the entrepreneurs were from non-business background and the most
preferred form of ownership is sole proprietorship. An astonishingly high
percentage of the women entrepreneurs were from a nuclear family set-up.
Majority of the respondents did not participate in any kind of
Entrepreneurial Development Programme (EDP). Prior to starting the
business unit some of the respondents had made efforts to enter into jobs,
and some had left their earlier jobs to start independent units. Very few of
the respondents opted for bank loans.
Data shows the low-rate of female participation in manufacturing and trade

enterprises, and a strong bias towards being engaged in service sectors is
there.
Table-2 Nature of business

Sr. Business of the Number of Percentage Rank
No. respondents respondents
1. Beauty Parlour 40 20 1
2. Dabbawali/Tiffinwa 20 10 2
li/Caterer
3. Tailoring & Dress 19 9.5 3
designing
4. Tutorial 16 8 4
classes/Education
5. Nursery &Crèche 13 6.5 5
6. Sweet 13 6.5 5
&Farsan,Pappad,pic
kle, Masala maker
7. Interior decorators 12 6 6
8. Trade in Garments 9 4.5 7
9. Florist 9 4.5 7
10. Tour & Travel 8 4 8
25
11. Handicrafts/soft toys 7 3.5 9

maker
12. Ad agency 7 3.5 9
13. Jewellery Designer 7 3.5 9
14. Trade in old baby 6 3 10
items
15. Computer/ Xerox 5 2.5 10
shop /Data
processor
16. Estate agent 4 2 12
17. Dry Cleaner 3 1.5 13
18. Event management 3 1.5 13
Total 200 100
SOURCE: sample respondents of the researcher
Table-2 shows more specific details about the nature of the enterprises. As
for industry type, Cosmetic & Beauty Parlour, Apparel/accessories and Food
& Beverages are the three major sectors in which women own businesses
(40% of those surveyed).
None of the sample respondents have ventured into hi-tech areas such as
manufacturing solar thermals, vacuum reactors, television boosters, air
compressors, voltage stabilizers.
26
Graph-3: Educational Qualifications of the Sample Women Entrepreneurs
90
80
70 Below Xth
60
50 Below
Graduation
40
Graduation
30
20 Post
10 Graduation
0 Professional
No: of Percentage
respondents
Graph-3 depicts only 14 of the respondents had professional qualification,

which is 7% of the sample size and hence quite distressing to find that
women with technical/professional qualifications are not coming forward or
showing interest in entrepreneurship probably because of their job prospects
in other salary-employment which brings an assured income. Around 30%
of the respondents were not even graduates but their inner talents, skills and
confidence may have encouraged them to enter the business scene, on
further exploration it was found those who had better education and had
obtained special skills were more confident of their abilities. It is a proven
fact that entrepreneurship is not specially reserved for the educated, but
27
education is definitely a powerful tool in breaking down the barriers to

successful entrepreneurs.
Table-3 Educational background: Sector-wise

Level of Manufactu- Service Trade Combined Total Chi- d.f.
education ring square
Below Xth 8 9 5 0 22
Below 4 28 9 9 50
Graduation
Graduation 6 58 19 0 83
Post 1 18 12 0 31
graduation
Professional 0 10 04 14
Total 19 123 49 9 200 24.1 8
66
Source: sample Respondents of the researchers
It is also found (table-3) that majority of those who had education at least up
to graduation level had a preference for Service sector and those who had
the least education, had a preference for the manufacturing sector. Higher
education makes them confident to venture into the service sector, whereas
in the manufacturing sector most of them are using their inherent skills or
inner talents rather than education. On the basis of Chi-square test it is
observed that the analysis of activity-wise Education is significant because
table of Chi-Square is less than that of calculated value. On further probe
into the matter it was found least educated people had a preference for 'Food
and Catering' section or manufacturing of food items. This is an extended
kitchen activity to the entrepreneurs for which less education is not a
hindrance. Thus there is a direct relationship between education and type of
activity.
28
The family income is the main indicator of the economic background of the
respondents. Most of the respondents have an annual income between (3-5)
lakhs (Table-4).
Table-4 Annual income of the family members of the sample

respondents
Annual income of the Number of respondents Percent

family
Up to 1 lakh 3 1.5
1-3 lakhs 85 42.5
3-5 lakhs 87 43.5
➢ 5 lakhs 25 12.5
Total 200 100.0
Perhaps the micro-enterprise concept is mainly attracting the low to middle

income group. Initial financial background definitely motivates them to
choose a particular 'type of enterprise'. The study reveals that the size of
funds used in women’s enterprises is very small and almost half of the
respondents depended on own sources from family and friends.
Corresponding to this, 'Micro-enterprise', 70% had under 4 employees.
Study shows the low rate of participation of those who are from a rural
background. Women who are from an urban background have dared to
venture into the entrepreneurial world.
Women entrepreneurs involved in the survey stated the lack of awareness

and information about available loans, various funding agencies, procedure
regarding certification, and government welfare programmes and schemes.
Their personal funds and savings were used to start the business in a
29
majority of cases. However, 30% of those surveyed stated that they had
used more than 1 source of funding. As for support in their entrepreneurial
journey, besides friends and family (the top choices), the growing
importance of the entrepreneurial community is reflected in the fact that
20% mentioned other entrepreneurs and entrepreneur groups. 23% also
mentioned mentors and advisors. Women entrepreneurs’ networks are
increasingly recognized as very valuable tools for further development in
this field and for business promotion.
Graph-4: Initial Investment Made by the Entrepreneur
60
Upto
50 10,000
40 10,001
30 to
50,000
20 50,001
to
10
1,00000
0
No: of respondents
Percentage
What drove women to start businesses? The opportunity to work more

creatively and the perceived benefit of being one’s own boss were the top
reasons chosen. While work-life balance was also considered by 36% of the
surveyed sample that was not the biggest reason for women turning
entrepreneurial as is commonly perceived.
30
When asked to pick their challenges, both at the time of starting up and at
the time of the interview, the respondents answered differently. Financial
and marketing related challenges emerged as the top pick at both times.
Employee related challenges however were stronger at the time of the
interview than while starting up indicating that as teams grow, so do the
challenges associated with them. Personal challenges (bandwidth/time
management) however, drastically taper off suggesting that women’s
confidence in their own abilities as entrepreneurs has grown with the
experience.
Entrepreneurial performance of women entrepreneurs could be somewhat

judged by their occupational performance. The parameters of
entrepreneurial performance were:
1. Period of survival in the business

2. Entrepreneurial Mobility, Growth and Diversification
3. Modernization and Innovation
4. Change in income and Generation of employment for the locality.
Table -5: Year of Establishment

Year of establishment No: of respondents Percentage
Before 2000 2 1
2000-2004 123 61.5
After 2004 75 37.5
Total 200 100
Growth of women entrepreneurship in the area of Navi-Mumbai from the

year 2005 onwards was quiet appreciable. This was the period when Navi-
Mumbai was establishing itself in full-swing. A lot of major corporate
houses, educational institutions were established in that time period which
31
must have motivated many women to come out into the uncertain business
world.
On the question of goals, 75% chose growth and profitability related goals.
The data indicates that a large proportion of the respondents have not made
any diversification in their products and very few of them opted for
modernization of their respective enterprises. 25% of the respondents, who
have already expanded their business made sufficient amount of profit from
expansion, gained credibility in the market and their products have high
demand in the market.
Table-6: Comparison of Annual Income of the respondents before and after

establishing their enterprises
Pre- No: of Percentage No: of Percentage
business persons before persons after
annual before establishing after establishing
income establishing their establishing their
their enterprises their enterprises
enterprises enterprises
No 80 40 0 0
Income
Upto 1 81 40.2 48 24
lakh
1-3 36 18.0 108 54
lakhs
3-5 2 1.0 4 2
lakhs
>5 1 .5 30 15
lakhs
32
When the present annual income of the respondents was compared with the
pre-set up stage it is found from the data in Table-6 that in the lowest
income category ( up to 1 lakh) there was a marked fall from 40.2% to 24%.
In the middle income category (1 to 3 lakh) there was a marked
improvement from 18% to 54%. In the highest income category there was
also a major improvement as there were now 30 entrepreneurs. Thus there
was sharp increase of income.
GRAPH-5: Comparisons of Initial and Present Number of Employment in

the Units
180
160
140
120
100 2 to 4
80 5 to 8
60 >8
40
20
0
Initial Number of Initial Percentage
33
Table-7: Comparisons of Average Number of Employee, Initially and

Present Time.
Type of Enterprise Average number of Average number of
Employees at Employees at
Starting of the unit present
Manufacturing 2.05 4.53
Service 2.72 5.20
Trade 2.61 4.76
Total 2.63 5.02
When we compare the average number of employees of the unit at the start
of the unit and the present situation, it is clearly understood from the table-8
that in each type of enterprise it has doubled. So over the years a substantial
generation of employment has been created in Navi-Mumbai region by
women owned micro enterprises.
CONCLUSIONS
In spite of many hurdles in running their units, the respondents exhibited
entrepreneurial performance by way of generating more employment and
affecting growth and diversification, modernization, improvement and
innovations in their enterprises, which is indicative of a healthy foundation
for small business enterprises with high growth prospects in the 'Satellite-
City'.
Thus we can conclude that women entrepreneurs of the 'Satellite City' have
shown their excellence in diverse economic activities and have contributed
significantly as a productive human resource in the development of the city.
This paper also indicates and emphasizes that in spite of all the odds, women
entrepreneurs of Navi-Mumbai are potentially emerging as a significant
34
human resource in the 21st century. They are no more a traditional resource
confined to homes only rather an educated, knowledgeable and innovative
part of the overall population possessing the capacity to transform
economies into thriving enterprises, which if properly tapped can bring
significant improvement in the economy. The study also brought to light
that most of the respondents have brought a change in their financial
positions after starting the business which has also brought about a change
in the standard of living of the family. This has finally brought about a
positive self-esteem in the women entrepreneurs. Thus, proving that there
has been an empowerment of women entrepreneurs through
entrepreneurship development which has brought a positive impact on the
lives of the family and improvement in the community and society at large.
From the analysis of the study it is quite visible that for development and
promotion of women entrepreneurship, in the region, there is a need for a
multi-dimensional approach from different sectors, namely from the
government, financial institutions, individual women entrepreneurs and
many more, for a flexible integrated and coordinated specific approach.
Appropriate support and encouragement from the Society in general and
family members in particular is required to help these women scale new
heights in their business ventures.
The principal factor in developing entrepreneurship among women is not in

terms of infrastructure or financial assistance or identifying an enterprise but
it is a question of clearing the ground for their movement into
entrepreneurship. Though there are several factors contributing to the
emergence of women as entrepreneurs, the sustained and coordinated effort
from all dimensions would pave the way for the women moving into
entrepreneurial activity thus contributing to the social and economic
development of the members of the family and thereby gaining equality and
equal importance for themselves.
35
Economic growth and development depends upon successfully utilizing the

workforce, both male and female. Despite its recent economic advances,
India’s gender balance for entrepreneurship remains among the lowest in the
world. Improving this balance is an important step for India’s development
and its achievement of greater economic growth and gender equality. Based
on data analysis one can conclude that women’s participation in the field of
entrepreneurship is gaining increased acceptance, albeit at a slow pace,
while efforts are ongoing to enhance women’s involvement and achievement
in the field.
Thus, our judgment, based upon extensive field work and good rapport with
women entrepreneurs of Navi-mumbai is that with proper long term policy
and national stability, the women entrepreneurs may offer greater promise to
Navi-mumbai than seemed apparent to the Government in the early
seventies for India, a period when the mixed economy philosophy seemed to
be tilted increasingly towards public sector efforts.
References
Books
1. Lalitha Rani, D. (1996), Women Entrepreneurs, APH Publishing Corporations, New
Delhi
2. Lalitha Rani, D. (1998), Women Entrepreneurs, A.P.H. PublicationCorporations,
New Delhi
3. Lall & Sahai (2008), Entrepreneurship, Excell Book: India
4. Singh, Kamala (1992), Women Entrepreneurs, Ashish Publishing House, New Delhi
5. Singh, Surinder Pal (2008), "An Insight into The Emergence of Women owned
business as an Economic Force in India". pp 6-8
6. Swaraj Laxmi, C. (1998), Development of Women Entrepreneurship in India,
Problems and Prospects, Discovery Publication, New Delhi
7. Tambunan (2009),SMEs in Asian developing Countries, Palgrave Macmillion.
8. Vinze, Dubashi Medha (ed.) (1987), Women Entrepreneurs in India: A Socio-
Economic Study of Delhi, Mittal Publications, Delhi
36
9. Walokar, Deepak M. (2001), Women Entrepreneur, Himalaya Publishing House,

Mumbai
Journals
10. Annual Report 2005-06, NABARD,

11. Dev, M. S. (2000), Economic Liberalization and employment in South Asia,
Economic and Political Weekly, XXXV (1-3), Jan 8th &15:40-51 & 135-146
12. Eleventh Five Year Plan 2007-2012 (2007), Governance and Implementation,
Vol. 1, Government of India, Planning Commission, Delhi
13. Human Development Report 2013, United Nations Development Programme
(2013), the Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World.
14. Report NSSO (2001, 2006), Employment and Unemployment Situation in India,
2004-05 (Part 1), NSS 61st Round , July 2004-June 2005 Report No.515, GOI,
New Delhi
15. Report, Ministry of MSME, (2006-2007), Fourth All India Census of MSME
2006 -07
16. Report, Ministry of MSME, (2012), MSME Annual Report 2011-2012, Govt. of
India
17. Report, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, National Sample
Survey Office, Surveys (NSSO)
18. Report, National Policy for Empowerment of Women (2001), Dept of Women and
Child Development. Ministry of HRD, New Delhi
19. Report, UNESCAP (2005 - 2006), Developing Women Entrepreneurs in South
Asia
20. Reports of the Census of India, 2001, 2011.
21. Reports of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, GOI.
22. Reports of Third and Fourth Census on SSI/MSME units in India-2001-02 and
2006-07
----------------
37
LIVING PATTERN IN MEGHALAYA

- Dr. Vatika Sibal
Though a large number of communities around the globe follow a patrilineal

system in which the lineage is traced through the father, there are certain
parts where the lineage is traced through the mother, known as the
matrilineal. A few communities of Southern and North- Eastern parts of
India follow the matrilineal system, and the “Khasi tribe” of Meghalaya in
the North-Eastern region is one such group. The present research aims to
study the traditional gender roles and the changing practices in the
matrilineal community of the Khasi tribe in Meghalaya. A close-
ended questionnaire and a semi structured interview were used keeping in
mind the two- fold objective of the study. The study was done in four
villages of Meghalaya (Ialong, Mawteneng, Kdonghulu and Smit). Data was
analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Practices related to the education,
marriage, property, politics were discussed. It was witnessed that the
matrilineal system is still being practiced. Irrespective of their educational
and financial status, it was observed that in all the four villages the people
did not wish to part with their tradition as they found their culture ‘unique’.
Introduction
Human civilization has traced a long way since the pre-historic times and in
the process of biological evolution man has tried to define his relationship
with the surroundings he inhabits. The day to day activities and practices of
particular groups of people in specific areas lead to the formation of various
cultures around the globe. Cultural identity becomes an inseparable and all-
encompassing aspect of humankind and still continues to be of utmost
sociological significance. The debate relating to gender disparity in various
centuries has brought to the fore the marginalized status of women and their
38
subjugation in the dominant patriarchal cultural order. Often regarded as the

weaker sex, pioneering gender studies have found women in most part of the
world as being the victims of ideological suppression and their conformation
to gender based power dynamics continues to reinforce the norms that fuel
cultural subjugation of women. Women have been largely found to be
confined to the four walls and their domestic role is even glorified as the
essential attribute of the quintessential female. Femininity is regarded
synonymous with meek submission and docile behaviour. In such a cultural
condition the lineage is traced along the line of the males and all the
transactions in the socio-economic realm are dealt with by the male
members of the society hence constituting what is called a patriarchal
system of functioning.
Worldwide, a large number of communities follow a patrilineal system in

which the lineage is traced through the father though the matrilineal system
has always existed side by side but in a very low profile. Certain
communities from Southern and North-Eastern India follow the matrilineal
system. The Khasi tribe of Meghalaya in the North-Eastern region is one
such group. The descent is traced through the mother as a result of which
children take up the mother’s family name, the residential pattern is
‘matrilocal’ where the husband comes to the wife’s house after marriage.
Here, the property is inherited by the youngest daughter on whom then lies
the responsibility of looking after the parents, the maternal uncle playing an
important role in the family decision making process; these form the chief
characteristics of a matrilineal system.
One of the few parts in the world where people rejoice when a girl is born is
in Meghalaya among the Khasis, a tribe of Meghalaya, a small north eastern
state of India. It is one of the few areas in the world where a woman
39
proposes marriage and where the houses bear the name of a woman instead
of a man. Anthropologists describe it as a matrilineal society (Rasid, 1982).
Surviving the cultural clash with the rest of the patriarchal world,
Meghalaya’s matrilineal society is a repository of traditional uniqueness.
The research, based on a sample survey of the traditional gender roles in the
Khasi tribe of Meghalaya, aims to juxtapose the culture of the yore against
the influences of modern day city life, immigration and inter-
cultural interactions and study the changing practices of the society in this
effect.
Matrilineal System
Early evolutionists have attempted to demonstrate that most societies in this
universe have eventually evolved from matriarchy to their present form.
Today assumptions of universal male dominance, rather than universal
female dominance hold the stage (Fox, 1967; Divale and Harris, 1976).
Analyses of the matrilineal system operating in a variety of cultural and
ecological settings and their comparison with kinship systems based on
different principals of descent, inheritance and succession, have contributed
to a clearer understanding of certain distinctive type of social structure.
Most of the anthropologists do not believe in the existence of any true

matriarchy. They, however, suggest that there exist three characteristics of
matriarchy, viz., descent through the mother (family name through mother),
matrilocal residential system (husband lives at the residence of wife after
marriage) and inheritance of property by females. Thus, any society, which
follows these three norms, is presently called matrilineal society. In a
matrilineal society, the descent or the family name is through the mother's
side, and is known as ‘matrilineal descent’. This affiliates an individual
with kin of both sexes, related to him or her through women only. Kapadia
40
(1966) has mentioned that all children of a woman take the family name of
their mother. As descent is through female side, only the children of the
female of the family can become members of the family. The children of
the male child cannot be the member of his father’s family as they cannot
take the family name of their fathers.
Usually in a matrilineal system, it is the husband who lives with his wife in
his in- laws house and doesn’t take his bride home, as is the case with other
communities. After the birth of one or two children, the man frequently
takes his wife to his own house. Generally at this point of time, they form
a neo-local family. However, an interesting feature of neo-local family set-
up is that the mother of the bride mostly gifts the house in which the couple
usually settles down (Sinha, 1970). Property is transmitted through the
female and is held by the females alone. Whatever a male member of the
family earns belongs to the family, to which he belongs, and either goes to
his mother or is inherited by his sister and her female descendants.
Methodology and study area

This work discusses the changes that are occurring among the only few
existent matrilineal setups in the world in terms of their attitudes and
behaviour. In order to discuss the changes, the existing literature has been
reviewed and supplemented by in-depth interviews of a few key informants.
The key informants include eminent academicians, elderly persons of
different localities, local heads, social workers and persons representing the
younger generation. The idea behind this exercise is to clearly identify those
features that have been characterizing the matrilineal system of the Khasi
tribe these days.
Along with the qualitative analysis, the profile of women living in original
matrilineal arrangement as against those who have completely transited in
the form of percentage distribution is also presented. A few socio-
41
economic, demographic, and developmental characteristics of both women

and her husband have been taken into consideration. Lastly, a multivariate
analysis has been undertaken to substantiate the findings from bivariate
analysis and to find out the factors, which brought changes among the
society.
The basic aim of the study is to understand the structure of matrilineal

system and the changes that have taken place among the Khasis of
Meghalaya. In Meghalaya there exist three tribal groups, namely Khasi,
Jaintia and Garo. The state is predominantly inhabited by the Khasi tribe,
who are known for their matrilineal social system.
The Khasi Matriliny

The term matriarchy or matrilineal has become inseparably associated with
the Khasi social organization since it was first used in 1914 by Gurdon to
describe Khasi social customs (Das. Gupta, 1964). Although the term is
used to explain the pattern of residence after marriage among the Khasis.
As among the Nayars of India, though they are also the followers of
matrilineal system, the residential system among them is duo local, where
husband is usually the night visitor to the wife.
Before we begin to understand the nature of Khasi social organization, it

becomes necessary, to clear that the general rule of matrilineal system is that
females inherit property. However, it must be noted that at the outset the
system of inheritance is governed by some code of rules, which, if taken in
its totality and richness, can hardly be described as simple. In fact, the
Khasi society is more complex and vivid than what is apparent. The Khasis
have matrilocal residence and matrilineal descent. Participation in the
family religion and the common sepulchre, where the members of the family
are interred after death, are the two elements that bind the members together.
42
Besides the matrilocal residential pattern and matrilineal descent, family

property is mainly transmitted through the female line.
The children of the male do not belong to the family. The youngest
daughter, Ka Khadduh, in a Khasi family is in charge of the family religion.
She cremates her mother and inters her bones in the common sepulcher (a
place where the bones are kept with a huge stone over it which is different in
shape for males and females). Marriage is a great social institution among
the Khasis, as it determines the system of matrilocal residential pattern
among them (Sinha, 1970).
Being the followers of a unique social system of matriliny, the Khasi women
enjoy a special place of status and dignity (Kyndiah, 1990). A Khasi
woman is the guardian and preserver of the family goods. She plays a
crucial role in the affairs of the family. However, she is not the head of the
family, as this is left to a male member. The father of the family has a
definite role to play in the household affairs. However, his role is limited to
the final word of the maternal uncle.
When Christianity came, the Khasi family was faced with the question
whether a “Ka Khaduh” could hold the family property if she would convert
to the Christianity. In 1918, the Government ruled that Christian converts
should be allowed to inherit the ancestral property. Property is thus
divorced from religion. Though religion was divorced from the traditional
rules, because of the modernization process along with the spread of
Christianity, the traditional system has changed in many respects (Roy,
1964).
Cultural Change in descent patterns

When we try to understand the cultural shifts among a particular
community, two questions arise in our mind: What is the source of the new
trait? Why are people motivated to adopt it? From the literature on
43
matrilineal society it has been found that some of the matrilineal societies
have changed through the ages to patriarchy and this process is making
inroads into the remaining matriarchal societies which are coming into
contact with the outer world (Vidyarthi and Rai, 1985).
In the following section, an attempt is made to understand the process of

cultural change among the Khasis, who belong to the matriarchal or
matrilineal set-up.
(a) Role of Christianity in bringing cultural change

Christianity came on the scene with its patrilineal values and cultural
concepts. It has been spread among the Khasis mainly during the British
rule. This has mainly spread with the help of Christian missionaries, who
are found in most of the rural areas in the state besides being in the urban
areas. Christianity is adopted more by the Khasis than the other two tribal
groups (Garos and Jaintias) of Meghalaya. The first generation converts
completely cut themselves off from practising the traditional religion.
Many of them were ostracized and rejected by their ‘kur’ or 'clan' (Syiem,
1998).
Due to the activity of Christian missionaries during the past century and the
development of a dynamic native Christian Church, the culture of the Khasis
has been radically altered, and thus the Khasis have accepted ‘new lives for
old’ (Roy, 1964). The main difference that has come in the society due to
the Christian intervention is the spread of education. This has helped them
to achieve the goal for providing education to those people who are
considered to be an isolated or backward group. And as education alters
human perception, even among Khasis, there exists some changes in the
traditional set-up. At the present time when education has become an asset,
and is available in most of parts of Meghalaya, the parents consider it
essential to educate his/her children so that they can also achieve their goals
44
in this modern world. But, though education has helped the overall
developmental process, it has also altered the perception of men and thus
among most of the male members in particular, a desire to form a separate
household after marriage has emerged. They wanted to have a life
independent.
(b) Level of exposure and interaction with patriarchal society

The second challenge has come from growing exposure and interaction with
patriarchal cultures. The Khasi society has had an interaction with other
neighbouring cultures in the past. A key informant has recounted that “since
independence, the Khasi locality has been increasingly open to the larger
society. Besides, many Khasis have gone out of their homes to other parts
of the country for the purpose of education and employment. Thus, when
they return they bring different norms and values of other cultures, mainly
patriarchal values, along with them which after mixing with traditional
norms and values give shape to a different cultural set-up.
The changes have also been occurring due to cross-marriages, because, the
children of such couples generally use their father’s clan name. In present
days it is also found that children of Khasi families, especially in the urban
areas, are using their father’s clan name or both their father and mother’s
clan name. A young person has pointed out that it is simple and convenient
to say that “I am the son of Mr. so and so, rather than referring to the
mother’s name when we interact with other community people”.
(c) Role of Urbanisation in bringing change among the Khasis

Urbanization is another important reason which has brought changes into the
Khasi matrilineal set-up. The spread of urbanization has given rise to more
chances of intermingling with people of different communities and thus has
lead to the adaptation of different cultural traits among the Khasis. This
process has also altered their perception of matrilineal culture. From the
45
above discussion on the changes of matrilineal culture, it has been found

that some of the matrilineal societies have changed through the ages.
Though, the above mentioned sources are the main causes of cultural
change, common people consider many other factors responsible for the
changes that have occurred in the society. To collect more information
regarding the causes and consequences of changes in the societal set-up, the
key informant’s interviews were conducted, some descriptions of which
have been given below.
According to an elderly woman from a sample village, “The changes that

occur in the society are different in towns and in the villages as the causes
for the change differ a lot according to their location”. She has emphasized
that in a rural area the most drastic changes that have occurred are the
changes in the residential pattern, which we consider the most important
asset of the matrilineal system. While discussing the cause of change she
said that except for the rich families, other families in the village couldn’t
afford to have so many members in a single household. Thus, due to
financial problems males prefer to stay away with their wife after marriage.
Secondly, among many families in rural areas, the chances of having large
ancestral property is very less compared to the urban areas and thus the
parents cannot afford to divide the property among the daughters while it is
their right. Because of which, however small holdings they have in terms of
land or other goods, all of them generally go to the younger daughter or the
one who stays back with her mother. The other daughters stay away from
their parents.
While asked whether she likes the changes that have occurred and will occur
in the social set-up in the due course, she replied that it was very difficult to
accept the fact as their generation had seen the traditional matrilineal
culture. An eminent social worker has stated that, “It was our moral duty to
give respect to our mothers and other females, whether they are our relatives
46
or not, which has vanished mostly at present. I don't blame the male
members of the society, but as a whole, the rigidity of the social set-up and
feelings of inferiority among the males had caused the present situation.
Men felt that he had no contribution to this society”. In the present time,
when education has become an asset, even parents consider both their son’s
and daughter’s education equally important. This has given rise to the
desire among males to form a neo local family rather than staying with
their in-laws. The girls also have taken to this new phenomenon. This is
because it is the husband with whom she has to spend her whole life and if
he feels insecure staying with his in-laws then she supports the decision.
Even with regards to inheritance of property, there is marked change as
people now-a-days prefer to divide the property equally among all children,
be it daughter or son. It has also been found at the present juncture that
parents wish to have at least one son, as daughters prefer to stay separately
after marriage.
Mother-Daughter relationship among the Khasis

Throughout the discussion focus was kept on the matrilocal residential
system among Khasis and its advantages, disadvantages and changing
patterns. Most of them were of the opinion that matrilocal residence after
marriage is not conducive for both mothers and daughters. They pointed out
that if a daughter after getting married stays with her mother, her
relationship doesn't properly develop with her husband. Almost always it
has been reported that the husband feels that he is being treated as a stranger
in the family and thus he takes very less interest in the family affairs. It was
also pointed out that in such a system in most of the matters, both husband
and wife have to depend on the wife’s mother to say the final word. While
discussing the same issue among the rural women it has been found that
even in rural area, women feel more secure to stay with their husband
separately for a better and happy married life.
47
In general, all the women of this group (both rural and urban) were of the
opinion that it is always easier and better to stay with mother. The reason
pointed out was that if they stay with their mothers, they enjoy more
freedom and help during their pregnancy, as well as lesser workload all the
time. They have also mentioned that it is their duty to keep alive the
traditionalism of matrilineal system.
Changing Inheritance Pattern and Its Impact on the Position of Women

In the study it has pointed out that along with the changes in other aspects,
the inheritance of property by females has also faced change. As of now
daughters are mostly found to move out to form neo-local families, the
family property is either divided or given to all the daughters or else it is
given to the son if he is going to stay with his parents at home. The parents
feel that it is not wise to restrict the son from inheritance as even the son can
also take care of their parents equally well. About its impact on the position
of women, they felt that it is true that if a daughter doesn't get anything from
her mother, her position becomes inferior as she is always under pressure.
However, at present, it has been found in most of the cases that the property
is kept by the parents and it is only the youngest daughter in most cases who
enjoys all rights which has also caused a great set back in the position of
women.
Conclusion
The present paper gives an outline of the changing matrilineal set-up where
two groups have been identified based on the important characteristics of the
matrilineal society emphasized by many anthropologists. It also shows us
the relationship between the women’s socio-economic and demographic
characteristics in both the groups of matrilineal set-up.
48
The changes that have occurred over time are examined as the pre-
requisite to show the transformation of the matrilineal society. From the
analysis it is clear that out of three important aspects of matriliny, i.e. type
of family setup after marriage, descent, and the inheritance, there is a
definite change in at least two of them. They are the residential system and
the inheritance pattern. The paper concludes that over the time due to
continuous mixing with members of patriarchal societies around them,
having found their mates from that society, the norms and attitudes of the
minority matrilineal society is in a state of fast transition.
Tracing the tendencies of social changes through the ages, it is observed that
among Khasi matrilineal society, there is a definite change over time due to
many elements that exist in the society. The important factors that have
brought the changes in the system are mainly the increasing rate of
urbanization, modernisation, and also the intermingling of different
communities with the Khasi society.
Most of the researchers have described the factors like urbanization as an

important determinant for any change in the society. Even in the study
population, it has been found that those who have transited or have gone far
from the traditionalism are higher among urban population and those who
follow the traditional form of matriliny are more among the rural
counterparts. What is, however, more interesting is that around 40 per cent
of women in urban areas are still following the traditional matrilineal
culture. This indicates that the transition that had taken place among the
Khasis are not only due to urbanization process.
It has been observed that among the social characteristics, i.e., educational
level of spouses, women who are closer to matrilineal set-up have higher
opportunities to go for higher education and as they transit, the rate of
illiteracy among them has increased. In case of husband’s educational
49
status, the level of illiteracy is almost identical among both the groups. The
crucial relationship that had existed in case of husband’s education predicts
that if the husbands are more educated, the chances of transformation from
matrilineal system among women become more.
When occupational status is concerned, women’s absorption in professional

field leads to more shifts towards transited groups. Whereas, in case of non-
professional women workers and their husbands who are engaged in
agricultural sector there is a higher probability to follow the age-old
traditional system of matrilineal structure. Among the demographic issues,
age at marriage of women reveals that the study population irrespective of
groups has a higher age at marriage. The overall fertility level is found to be
higher among the ‘traditional’ group.
Thus, we can conclude that the forces like modernisation in terms of

educational attainments, economic characteristics and developmental factors
have acted in a positive way to bring change in the matrilineal system
among the Khasi women.
References
1. Barnard A, Spencer J. (eds). Encyclopaedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology,
Routledge, London, 1996.
2. Beattie J. Other Cultures – Aims, Methods and Achievements in Social
Anthropology, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London and Henley, 1964.
3. Chaudhri JN. The Khasi Canvas, Naneva Works, Shillong, 1978.
4. Durkheim E. The elementary forms of the religious life, The Free Press, New
York, 1915.
5. Dutta PN. Impact of the West in Khasi and Jaintia, Omson Publication, New
Delhi, 1982.
6. Geertz C. The Interpretation of Cultures, Basic Books, New York, 1973.The
Khasis, Cosmo Publications, Delhi, 1907.
50
7. Jyrwa J Forth. The Wondrous Work of God, Ri Khasi Press, Shillong, 1980.
8. Khongphai AS. The Principles of Khasi Laws, Ri Khasi Press. Shillong, 1971.
9. Lamin H. Christianization and Change, the Pnars of Meghalaya, In T.B. Subba
(ed), Wonder that is Culture, Mittal Publication, New Delhi, 1990.
10. Lyngdoh KS, Henia A. Contribution of the Missionaries towards Development
of Education in Jaintia Hill area of Meghalaya, In Passah, P.M. and S. Sharma
(eds), Jaintia Hills, a Meghalaya Tribe- Its Environment, Land and People.
Reliance Publishing House, New Delhi, 2002.
11. Majumdar DN. Christianity as a Factor of Change in the Garo Society, In
Soumen Sen (ed), Religion in North East India, Uppal Publishing House, New
Delhi, 1993.
12. Nangbah Presbyterian Church. History of Nangbah Presbyterian Church (in
Khasi), Nangbah, 1887.
13. Radcliffe-Brown AR. Religion and Society, Journal of the Royal
Anthropological Institute, 1945; LXXV:33- 43.
14. Snaitang OL. Christianity and Change among the Hill Tribes of Northeast India.
In T.B. Subba, J. Puthenpurakal and S.J. Puykunnel (eds), Christianity and Change
in Northeast India, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, 2009.
15. Van Gennep A. The Rites of Passage (translated by Monika B. Vizedomand
Gabrielle L. CaVee), Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1960[1909].
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51
WOMEN IN THE WORKING WORLD –

WHY THE GAPS?
- Amita Sahaya
Why do so many women drop out of the workforce in India? It is a question

that is becoming increasingly worrisome for everyone connected with the
wider spectrum of development, economic issues and most certainly
women’s rights. Economic wherewithal is indisputably integral to
empowerment but the large percentage of women remaining out of the labour
market, poses a huge challenge to making women the drivers of their own
destiny.
India’s female labour force participation rate fell nearly seven percentage
points to 22.5% between 2004-05 and 2011-12, according to NSSO data.1 At
53 percentage points, India has one of the world’s worst gender gaps in terms
of labour force participation, with only a quarter of women employed. The
statistics continue their ominous ring when we examine other parameters as
well. The gender wage gap continues to widen as women earn only 56% of
what men earn for the same work and as women go up the ladder, the wage
gap only increases.2 The scenario at the highest echelons of the corporate
world paints an equally grim picture: Women only hold 7.7% of board seats
and only 2.7% of board chairs.3 India’s position regarding women
employment amongst the G20 nations, an indicator to how we feature
amongst the developing nations of the world, is equally abysmal. We are
only one rank ahead of Saudi Arabia, which is nearly draconian in its dealing
with women’s rights issues. Amongst the BRIC nations, we are at the
bottom of the rankings. Unlike women from other countries in the
developing world, who opt out of the workforce only when they are required
to move from mid-level to top level jobs, Indian women opt out when faced
52
with the option of moving from low level jobs to mid-levels jobs, leading to
the ‘leaking pipeline’ syndrome.
These are dismal findings indeed. Yet, contemporary India also sees more
women going for higher education. 45.9% of all enrolled undergraduate
students in India are girls and more women are enrolling for professional
degrees than have ever done historically. In 2012 -2013, women opting for
Engineering/Technology were 28% in IT and in Computer science 54 %4
and similar upward trends showed up in other disciplines as well.
However, these figures could change if women were to find an equal

representation in the labour force. This would translate to nearly 217 million
women, or to give a relative perspective, a number more than 2/3rds of the
population of the USA, would be added to the paid work force of the
country. As per a conservative estimate the GDP of India would go up by 25
percentage points if such a game changer happened. As Christine Lagarde,
head of the International Monetary Fund said at the launch of W20, a
grouping of women leaders from the world's 20 largest economies including
India, "it is an absolute economic no-brainer that empowering women
boosts economic growth”.
While economists would quantify this inclusion in terms of the growth of the
economy and prospects for a quantum leap in the business scenario of the
country, social scientists would also focus on the transformative reality it
would bring to the lives of Indian women and certainly in the country’s
position on the gender inequality index.
Yet, the reality is far from rosy as we have examined and therefore it
becomes imperative to understand what keeps such large swathes of women
away from the paid work force. While several theories abound, the matter is
53
a complex mix of several social and cultural elements, which work within the
larger context of given structures, traditions and gender roles.
Patriarchy is the defining philosophy that permeates the various texts and sub
texts of the country, and therefore becomes the operating principle by which
women and men perceive their roles in society. The primary care giver in
her role as a mother, wife, daughter-in-law, daughter; a woman’s role is
valued largely in the context of her relationship with another. Rather than
being feted for her achievements in the work field and being given the space
to bask in that glory, the woman once home is expected to subsume her work
life under the identity of the ideal homemaker. The traditional household
expects the woman to put away her work life identity as soon as she steps
into the threshold at home, and become the cook, nursemaid, teacher, the
attentive and sometimes subservient daughter-in-law; roles that a woman
tries to play with zealous enthusiasm in an attempt to silence that raging
guilt, which she has imbibed and internalized through all her adolescent and
adult life. The apocryphal story of Indira Nooyi CEO of PepsiCo, one of the
most powerful corporate women in the world, illustrates this point with
startling immediacy. Nooyi narrates this incident when after years of
relentless work, she is nominated as President of the company PepsiCo and
invited to its Board of Directors. Exulting in the glory of this achievement,
she rushes home that evening to share the news with her family. Her mother
confronts her however, even as she enters the house and orders her to get the
milk for the home, because according to her that was her primary role.
Paying no attention to Nooyi’s resentment, she says: "Let me explain
something to you. You might be president of PepsiCo. You might be on the
board of directors. But when you enter this house, you're the wife, you're the
daughter, you're the daughter-in-law and you’re the mother. You're all of
that… So leave that damned crown in the garage. And don't bring it into the
house. You know I've never seen that crown."5
54
Women’s incomes too are seen as secondary and her career considered less
relevant in relation to her supposed primary role of care giver. The focus
needed to give one’s energy, commitment and dedication to a career, and
infuse into it the potent mix of drive and ambition to take it forward, is rarely
encouraged or considered desirable. Given this bias in perception, many
women from urban, middle class India see their own career as something
‘makeshift’, a temporary choice in life, until they get married or even more
compellingly go on to their next role, that of becoming a mother. And so
when a situation arises where young children and household demands are
weighed not in tandem, but in opposition to the demands of a career, women
are expected to put their careers on the block. It’s a step they often take on
their own volition as well, seeing it as the ‘right thing to do’. Socialization
processes, play their part too, urging her to subsume her frustration under the
glorified chimera of her martyred role. Years later, when she discovers that
she has no economic autonomy and has to ask her husband, father or son for
pocket money, thereby reinforcing the ancient law giver, Manu’s diktat of
women’s roles, she is left with little recourse but to dredge the memories of
her sacrificial care giving role, which provide little but cold comfort.
Patriarchy asserts itself in far more forceful ways too by not allowing women
to join the workforce at all. Witness the story of the women in Pipli Khera, a
village near Meerut in the state of UP, reported recently in the New York
Times.6 Hailing from the Nat community, a schedule caste tribe, they were
expected to survive on the tradition of begging or the intermittent earnings of
their men, who worked as musicians during weddings. Desperate for
survival, a band of seven women decided to challenge the strict parameters
of their lives that the men had imposed on them, and decided to work in a
neighbouring meat factory. The ruthless suppression of these women, the
crushing of ambition and spirit through the connivance of political and local
actors, is a dystopian story of the assertion of gender roles, invoking every
form of inequality and injustice. It showed that the poorest and the most
55
deprived are as inextricably linked to it as their urban, middle class sisters,

yet what is commendable is that such challenges are being sounded even at
the grass roots.
Besides these traditional obstacles, the lack of women in the work force has
other more contemporary reasons too. According to ILO economist Steven
Kapos, the declining workforce of women can also be attributed to the very
large number of women students who are in secondary school. Though
certainly commendable with education as a powerful tool in improving
women’s status, the attribute becomes self-defeating when education
becomes merely the means to a better marriage prospect. Linked to the
reasons we have stated above, there are few measures to facilitate women’s
entry into the paid workforce or make her stay there. The old fashioned
ways of working in most of India’s corporate sector do not make things any
easier for women employees. With few policies in place regarding flexi
hours, maternity leave, Sexual harassment laws, crèches etc. the work space
is yet to create an environment that is inclusive or designed to meet the
special needs of their women employees.
Gender segregation such as groupings in certain kinds of occupations or jobs,

has contributed to the declining employment opportunities for women.
Women in India tend to be grouped in certain industries and occupations,
such as basic agriculture, sales and elementary services and handicraft
manufacturing. None of these industries have seen an employment growth in
recent years, which in turn has adversely impacted women’s employment
too. Women’s employment grew by a mere 9 million between 1994 and
2010 (ILO estimates) a figure that would have been nearly double had
women found employment in more broad based industries and occupations,
similar to men. Measurement issues, where women’s employment is not
reported or undercounted also contributes to decimating women’s presence
in the labour force.
56
There are certainly many barriers to women finding their true representation
in the paid work force, but as the example of the women in Pipli Khera
shows, change is gradually percolating from the urban to the rural and
includes the privileged and the deprived too. What is required now is a
collective effort from all agencies to facilitate the process of bringing women
into the paid work force. With economic empowerment being a powerful
measure to correct gender imbalance and inequity, it is imperative that
women in India are provided the opportunity for a greater share of the
economic pie.
Reference:
1) Livemint.com/Politics/zIQeewlbvuKrW6aZw5bHyI/The-gender-divide-in-the-
Indian-labour-market.html
2) Paycheck India, Gender Pay Gap in the Formal Sector: 2006-2013 (2013).
3) http://www.communitybusiness.org/images/cb/publications/2010/WOB_India.pdf
4) Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, “ Table 12

Enrolment at Under Graduate Level in Major Disciplines/ Subjects (Based on Actual
Response)” (2011).
5) http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/07/why-pepsico-ceo-indra-k-
nooyi-cant-have-it-all/373750/
6) http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/world/asia/indian-women-labor-work-
force.html?_r=0
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57
DESCRIPTION OF MATRIARCHAL
COMMUNITIES IN INDIA
- Aditi Deshmukh, Meritta Anju Joseph, and
Sweta Mookerjee,
– Dr. Anagha Tendulkar (Teacher guide)
Introduction
This paper focuses on ‘Matriarchy’ as a concept and attempts to describe the
tradition of Matriarchal Communities in practice. To get an in-depth insight
on the topic, the realm of this study lies majorly within a particular unit of
analysis that is Family/Household. The research objectives of this paper are:
1. To establish the conceptual construct of Matriarchy and its dimensions;

Matrilineality and Matrilocality
2. To understand whether Matriarchy exists in practice.
In order to achieve these objectives, the paper describes three prominent

Matriarchal communities in India specifically Nairs, Garos and Khasis. The
status and role of women in a Matriarchal community is an important aspect
of this paper. In order to highlight the contrast between the two gender
roles, the position of the male members in these communities is also dealt
with. The paper intends to eliminate the common misconception that
Matriarchy is the stark opposite of Patriarchy; where in men are subjugated
and the power lies concentrated in the hands of the women. The
organization of Matriarchal communities is not simply the reversal of
patriarchal form of system but a system with its own unique rules. Women
have never been authoritarians in the sense that men are in a patriarchy,
however in the past there have been conjectures about the existence of
58
Matriarchies. There are two schools of thought associated with the

existence of Matriarchy, one involving the Feminist’s perspective, which
believes on the existence of Matriarchy in some societies. The second
school of thought is that of the Anthropologist’s perspective which
emphasizes on the lack of such a community throughout history. The
influence that the legal provisions have had on the transformation of the
constituents of Matriarchy is integral in building a holistic study.
Anthropologists believe that if Patriarchy is a system of society dominated
by the rule of men, then by analogy a Matriarchy should be a social order
ruled by women. This has never occurred in history, the closest case
scenario is that when a woman is the power behind the throne.
Matriarchy
According to the Oxford Dictionary of Sociology (2009), Matriarchy can be
defined as ‘A type of social organization in which mothers head families,
and descent may be reckoned through them. The occurrence may
idiosyncratic rather than the basis of social structure.’ The word Matriarchy
is derived from the Greek words matēr (mother) and archein (to rule).
This interpretation of the term “Matriarchy” is essential because social
structures of Matriarchies derive from women. It is pivotal to the concept of
Matriarchy to understand that it does not mean an autocracy of women
dominating men but an equalitarian living. It is due to the position of
women in a Patriarchal society that Matriarchy empowers women, not to
supersede men but to bring them to the same level as them thus creating an
egalitarian society. In simple terms it can be explained as form of social
organization in which the mother or oldest female is the head of the family,
and descent and relationship are reckoned through the female line;
government or rule by a woman or women. Since Patriarchy is
characterized by men subjugating women, it is often assumed that
59
Matriarchy would mean women ruling over men; Matriarchy can be seen in
three levels (Darity, 1968):
1. In the family where the mother is the head of the household
2. In the polity where the system of government of managed by and looked
after by a woman
3. In the societal level where there is dominance of women in the culture and
society.
There is a discrepancy in the understanding of Matriarchy when looked

upon by the Anthropologists and the Feminists. Most anthropologists are of
the view that there are no known societies or communities that are distinctly
Matriarchal, whereas the feminists believe that it existed in practice in bits
and pieces. The concept of Matriarchy was introduced in the first-wave
feminist discourse (Donovan, 1869). There are different aspects to be kept
in mind when looking at Matriarchy: economic, social, political and cultural.
On the social level, Matriarchies are based on the principle on Matrilineality
and Matrilocality. The former is where the kinship is exclusively
acknowledged in the female line, the clan’s name, and all social positions
and political titles are passed on through the mother`s line. The latter is
where the women permanently live in their maternal house, even after
marriage thus keeping her own identity. Hence, Matriarchy is often
confused with Matrilineality and Matrilocality. What is imperative to
Matriarchy is the fact that women have the dispositional and controlling
power over the belongings of the clan thus granting women a strong position
in the society (Adler, 1979). In India, a few communities are Matrilineal
and/or Matrilocal and are thus known to be Matriarchal and more egalitarian
in nature. Whether Matriarchal societies might have existed at some time in
the distant past is controversial. It is known that wherever human
communities have been found, ancient and modern, the preference for men
to hold power has been pronounced.
60
Matrilineality
Matrilineality is the tracing of descent through the female line. It may also
correlate with a societal system in which each person is identified with their
Matrilineal – their mother's lineage – and which can involve the inheritance
of property and/or titles. A Matrilineal system is a line of descent from a
female ancestor to a descendant (of either sex) in which the individuals in all
intervening generations are mothers – in other words, a "mother line". In a
Matrilineal descent system, an individual is considered to belong to the same
descent group as her or his mother. In a Matrilineal system, although the
line of descent passes through the females, they rarely exercise authority in
their kin groups. Since males exercise authority in the kin group, an
individual's mother's brother becomes an important authority figure because
he is the individual's closest male Matrilineal relative in the parental
generation. The individual's father does not belong to the individual's own
matrilineal kin group and thus has no say in kin group matters. Most
Matrilineal societies practice matrilocal residence. Daughters stay at home
after marriage and bring their husbands to live with them; sons leave home
to join their wives. Matrilineal societies often prefer Matrilateral cross-
cousin marriage. Matrilateral cross cousin marriage involves the marriage
between the heiress (usually the youngest daughter) and her father’s sister’s
son. It is a way of avoiding conflicts about where a couple should live. In a
Matrilineal system, a husband is not easily persuaded to spend his married
life among his wife's people and most such societies have to make some
kind of compromise. Matrilineal surnames are names transmitted from
mother to daughter, in contrast to the more familiar patrilineal surnames
transmitted from father to son, the pattern most common across the world
today. Krishna Iyer and Bala Ratnam, renowned anthropologists, consider
mother-right to be the inheritance in the female line with regard to
relationship as well as property. Inheritance from the mother's brothers to
her son (the nephew) is also to be regarded as a form of matriarchal
61
inheritance in the female line. Consequently a man becomes the owner or at

least guardian of a matriarchal joint family's property. His heirs are in the
care of matriarchal survivals, his sister's sons who are regarded as outsiders
to their father's clan or family.
Matrilocality
The word Matrilocal is derived from the Latin words matr meaning mother
and locus meaning place. Hence, Matrilocality is a term referring to the
societal system in which a married couple resides with or near the wife's
parents. Thus, the female offspring of a mother remain living in (or near)
the mother's house, thereby forming large clan-families, typically consisting
of three or four generations living in the same place. It is also called
Uroxilocality (Oxford English Dictionary Additions Series, 1997). The
children of such marriages are raised by the mother's extended matrilineal
clan. The father does not have a significant role in the upbringing of his
own children; he does, however, play a role in his sisters' children (his
nieces and nephews). In direct consequence, property is inherited from
generation to generation through the mother, and, over all, remains largely
undivided.
The Nairs
In order to understand the Nair community better, it is essential to use and
understand the important native terms used:
Tharawad: A system of joint family practised by the Nairs
Sambandham: The socially recognized alliance. It is a civil contract by
which a man and a woman surrender their sexual right to each other.
Karnavan: The eldest maternal male member of a Nair household, Sanskrit
for ‘One who does things’. He may be the eldest brother of the mother or
the eldest son.
62
Marumakkathayam: A system of matrilineal inheritance prevalent in the

state of Kerala at present. Under this system of inheritance, descent and
succession to the property was traced through females. The mother formed
the line of descent and kinship as well as the rights to the property was
traced through females.
Makkathayam: A system of patrilineal inheritance prevalent in the state of
Kerala at present, it includes the inheritance, descent and succession to the
property
A Nair Household
A Nair household is formed by a woman, her sons and daughters and her
daughter’s children, which means that only the descent of the females stays
in the household. The husband is what is known as a visiting husband, he
visits occasionally but never stays and in the same manner, the sons go visit
their wives and children in their respective Tharavad. The husband usually
visits the Tharavad at night and leaves the following morning and he had no
obligations towards his children, which lay entirely with the Karnavan.
Kavalam Madhava Panikkar, a well-known writer from the Nair community,
says that the Karnavan exercises authority in the family, he has complete
control over the property and income. All the marriages are under his
consultation, he has the power to form the alliances as well as break them.
It must be understood that the autocrat of the family is not the mother, but
the mother's brother. The family management and property was under the
male head while only succession was through women. Our research
indicates that the Karnavan was closer to his sister’s children than his own
and believes this to be a result of the instability of Nair marriages and the
fact that they share the clan name. The Karnavan’s succession was either
fraternal or through this sister’s offspring i.e. only his brother or nephew
could supersede him. Sometimes the Karnavan’s wife would come stay
with him in his house, but her presence there would be resented. Her
63
affiliation in his Tharavad would be an unusual one since she belonged to a

different one and her interests lay there. Marriage among the Nairs was
quite a loose arrangement. There seems to be great evidence showing that
Nair women as well as men had more than one Sambandham partner as the
same time. The couple did not live together and their relationship
essentially had no meaning other than a sexual liaison and legitimacy for the
children. A Sambandham wasn’t binding in nature and the woman or man
was free to marry anyone else without formally terminating the arrangement.
This system of polygyny/polyandry and separation reiterates the better
position of women in the society as it shows that women did not need men
to be socially well placed. The women had a significant say in household
affairs and enjoyed freedom and safety that was available to very few
women in India. Courtesy of the Tharavad system, the Nair women did not
suffer the two great banes of the Indian Hindu marriages: the dowry system
and the tragedy of widowhood. Unlike in other communities, females were
not considered unwanted birth, a burden to be married away and never to
return. They were instead given a higher social status and inheritance. A
man’s sister was prioritized over his wife and the women did not live under
the otherwise well-known fear of the mother-in-law. When they
occasionally visited their husband’s home, they were treated as special
guests. However, the position of the Karnavan in the household cannot be
overlooked. The happiness of a family was dependent on him and a
household without a Karnavan always felt a certain sense of insecurity.
Iravati Karve in her book Kinship and Organization (1968) writes about first
hand experiences of Nair women. Most of them talk about the Karnavan
often as an autocrat; his permission was essential before every move that
they made. He had power and control in the matters of food, clothing,
education and even their day-to-day affairs. If he disliked his sister’s
husband, he could very well make her divorce him. So much was the power
64
that he held that even in a community where women weren’t stooped below
men.
Matrilineality and Matrilocality in the Nairs

Following the Marumakkathayam system, inheritance and lineage was
traced through the female line and the Tharawad consisted of the mother
and her children with joint right in property. The Makkathayam is the
system of patrilineality where the inheritance and succession is through the
paternal side of the family. In both systems the male child has property
privileges and rights but in the patrilineal system the female member
completely lacks the right to inherit property. In a matrilineal set up, the
final death rites of the female member was performed by her son and of the
Karnavan were always performed by his nephews and not his son; the
performance of these rites were only to be done by members of the same
Tharawad. Nairs may be considered as an extreme development of mother-
right and matrilocal conditions where the husband and wife continue to take
abode in their respective mother’s houses and the husband only visits the
wife and children that too in her house. Also, the presence of the offspring
living in the mother’s house restates the presence of Matrilocality.
Prevalence of Matrilineality and Matrilocality at Present in the Nairs

The situation today is very different; the senior woman yields her authority
to the Karnavan and is no longer the head. Thus, patriarchy has displaced
matriarchy in the extended Nair families. Today’s households are smaller
consisting of only the nuclear unit, though a matrilineal relative of the
woman might often reside with the married couple. Marumakkathayam is
the form of matrilineal succession that was followed by the Nairs; it was
abolished by the Kerala Joint Hindu Family System (Abolition) Act of 1975.
This legal reform led to an abrupt change in the community. The
responsibility of maintaining a wife became the man’s and she was no
65
longer merely a sexual partner of her husband but a wife and mother of her
home. Whether or not this change of status was desirable or not is
debatable. Disappearance of polyandry also promoted greater solidarity
among her children for they were not born of her different husbands. This
also strengthened the conjugal relationship between the wife and husband
because marriages became monogamous and separation became less
common. Earlier, following the matrilineal structure, everything a man
possessed went to his sister and her children. But as modernization took
over, western professions allowed men to procure wealth other than the
ancestral property and they began passing it down to their wife and children.
Although, even today it is traditional for the man to put his property and
wealth in his wife’s name in order for it to be inherited matrilinealily.
Modernization has also impacted the family structure and they are gradually
becoming nuclear in structure.
Position of Women in a Nair household
Decision-making in personal matters: Marriage

In the Matrilineal system, women had the freedom to liaison with and
separate themselves from the husband. Today, although they legally have
the freedom to make their own decisions, it does not exist in practice. The
husband or his family usually influences the wife’s decision.
Collective decision-making: Property matters

It is maintained that the Nair women had the right of property and
inheritance but the extent to which they exercised those rights were
questionable. However, today women have the legal right to hold a share of
the property and to dispose it according to their will.
66
Collective decision-making: Upbringing of children

The upbringing of the children was a responsibility shared by the entire
family. But their material needs were met by the Karnavan and women
were not allowed to interfere with these matters. Today’s families place a
more uniform right to both the men and women in such matters.
It is observed that this “Matriarchal” community is not so much matriarchal

as it is matrilineal. Given its system of matrilineality, matrilocality and the
uplifted status of women, the Nairs could have been prevailed as a
matriarchal community had it not been invaded by concealed patriarchy.
Although in concept it still might be considered a matriarchal community
because the power is vested in the maternal side of the family, it is not so in
reality. Where the fact of the matter is that realistically it was and is a
patriarchal society where only inheritance, succession and residence of the
offspring is determined maternally.
The Garos
In order to understand the Garo community better, it is essential to use and
understand the following native terms.
Ma’chong: A Clan/ Motherhood within a Tribe
Chatchi: The sub divisions of the Garo Tribe
Nokna: The Heiress or youngest daughter in a Garo household
Nokrom: The husband of the Nokna (usually her father’s sisters’ son)
Chowari: The husband of the other daughters
Nokma: The village headman (husband of the nokna of the principal
household)
The Garo Household

The simplest pattern of Garo family consists of the husband, wife and
children. The family increases with the marriage of the heiress, generally
67
the youngest daughter. She is called Nokna and her husband Nokrom. The
bulk of family property is bequeathed upon the heiress and other sisters
receive fragments but are entitled to use plots of land for cultivation and
other purposes. The other daughters go away with their husbands after their
marriage to form a new and independent family. The husbands of the other
daughters are called Chowari. While any of the daughters can be nominated
as a Nokna, it is usually the youngest daughter who is chosen to inherit the
family property. Among the Garos any of the daughters, even the eldest, if
there are many, may be chosen as the Nokna or heiress, having proved her
fitness to occupy this privileged position by her dutifulness to her parents.
In case there are no daughters, the family can adopt any other girl, usually
one having the closest blood relationship to the adoptive mother, first
preference being given to one of the "non-heir" daughters (A'gate) of the
woman's sisters, who are, of course, among the closest female relations a
woman can have. In the event of the death of the father, the mother is
permitted to remarry but there is a risk of the Nokna losing her title if any
younger daughters are born to the mother through the new wed-lock. Hence
to keep the property with the Nokna, often the son-in-law weds the mother-
in-law with the permission of his wife. The marriage may or may not be
consummated. If the Nokna is unmarried, as she often is, since selection
generally takes place before she get married, the father will try to get a
young man from his own lineage, commonly the son of his own sister, as the
husband of the heiress. This is the representation of the father’s clan. This
shows the subtle yet visible signs of the penetration of patriarchy within a
matrilineal community like the Garos. Among the Songsareks or non-
Christians, the practice of' bridegroom capture, particularly in rural areas,
still goes on. A girl may express her interest in a young man and ask her
male kinsmen to get him for her. This may involve an arduous chase,
especially if the boy is not interested because, perhaps, he still cherishes the
freedom of bachelor life, and the matter may not end with his capture and
68
his being brought to her house. In the circumstances, the captured

bridegroom will try to escape but generally after a few such attempts, he
becomes reconciled to the idea of settling down. Such rituals are a contrast
to social systems such as dowry which are prevalent in the patriarchal
system. The maternal uncle has a very respectable position and also has
command over his sister’s household. He has the strongest hold on his
sister’s children. The maternal uncle virtually acts as the father of the
children. The bond between a brother and sister in a Garo household is not
that of a passing significance. Even after moving to his wife’s clan the
brother still exerts his influence on his sister’s household, even though he
has no rights over the property.
Communal Life
A Garo village is a well-knit unit, the population of the village seems to be
growing out or radiating out from one principle household. This household
has property rights over the entire village. In the case of the principal
family, the husband of the heiress becomes the Nokma. The Nokma or the
village head man manages his wife's property and allots plots to different
families for cultivation, besides carrying out other duties. This is yet
another example that shows that a cluster of matrilineal households does not
lead to a matriarchal community as the supreme post of the clan with
concentrated power lies with a man. Historically, the Garos did not own
land - whatever land they hold in possession, they do so without any
ownership documents and the land belonged to the tribe as a collective
property, cultivated under a cooperative system. Theoretically, land is
owned by the Nokma, and new sections are distributed among the
households each year.
69
Matrilineality and Matrilocality in Garos

The Garos have a matrilineal society where in inheritance of property takes
place through the maternal line and is generally linked with matrimonial
relations, and although men may have no property to pass on, they have an
important say in deciding to whom it should pass. The Garos are Matrilocal.
The extended family is called a Machong which has been translated by
Colonel Dalton as ‘motherhood’ which is not the same as family. A man
leaves his machong after marriage to live in the machong of his wife. He
becomes a member of her machong and adopts the name of her clan.
Moreover all children, as soon as they are born, belong to their mother’s
clan. Likewise, the children of his sister live in his mother’s machong, and
belong to her clan.
Prevalence of Matrilineality and Matrilocality at Present in the Garos

With the arrival of the missionaries, conversion to Christianity of the Garo
people started. The cuisine, dressing, day to day life styles of the Garo
people are exclusively influence by the western civilization. Nevertheless,
theoretically the customs of Matrilineality and Matrilocality are still
prevalent. Technically, the custodian of the family property is the mother.
The youngest daughter in the family inherits the property rights from her
mother. But the authority to manage property and to maintain the tradition
is in the hands of maternal uncle. His sister’s son inherits this right. Thus
the right to own property is separated from the right to authority. The Garo
woman also enjoys the freedom in respect of selection of her life partner. Of
course, the marriage may be arranged by the elders. Dissolution of marriage
is possible only on the basis of mutual agreement of the parties. It is
obvious that, among the Garo tribe, the matrilineal and matrilocal residential
patterns though temporary, assigned prominent status to Garo women.
However a residence is not by itself adequate to create a higher status for
women, because matrilocal system does not necessarily enhance the status
70
of wives, although it adds to that of her kin. Thus a woman benefits from
the protection of the status of her kin in an indirect manner. Therefore it is
residence combined with inheritance of property which enhances the social
status of the Garo woman. However, recent changes have occurred in the
Garo areas. This has many far reaching influences on a family structure. So
the unity is tending towards nuclearity. The authority of the maternal uncle
is strengthening day by day. Men are busier with their sister’s family.
Women are also getting influenced by the patrilineal system of their
neighbours. But they still hold on to their rights.
The Khasis
In order to understand the Khasi community better, it is essential to use and
understand the following native terms.
Shi iing: A Khasi family
Kur: A Clan / motherhood in the Tribe
Ki kur: The blood relation on the mother’s side, also called Cognate
Ka trai iing: The custom when the heiress becomes the Head of the House
Ka kmie: The Mother in a Khasi household
U kpa: The Father in the Khasi household
U kni: The Maternal Uncle
Ka Khadduh: The youngest daughter in the Khasi household who is also the
Heiress
S'iem: The Chief of the Tribe
The Khasi Household

The typical Khasi household comprises of husband, wife and their sons and
daughters. In the Khasis, the blood relations on the mother's side are known
as the Ki Kur. The Khasi woman is considered the custodian and preserver
of her Kur, family and lineage. Such a legacy has empowered the Khasi
woman to enjoy a position of importance and dignity. The U kpa on the
71
other hand is provider and guide of the family, with the U kni as the
undisputed director of the ancestral property. Responsibilities relating to
regulation of the family are entrusted to Men folk. Whatever the woman
earns is meant for her ka kmie's house, which is expected to support the
entire Shi iing. In a Khasi household, responsibilities and authority are
shared between the U kni and the U kpa. The U kpa earns for his own wife
and children but in matters affecting the Kur or the family, such as marriage
arrangements, management of ancestral property and performance of
religious duties, it is the U kni who makes the decisions though generally in
consultations with other members of the family. Thus there is a virtual three
fold division of family responsibility- the Ka kmie looks after the hearth and
home, the U kpa provides all that is necessary for the maintenance of his
wife and children. The U kni looks after all the business affairs that come
before the Shi iing. The man’s position in his wife's house is that of being in
it, but not of it.
Matrilineality and Matrilocality in Khasis

In a Khasi marriage it is usual for the husband to live with his wife in his
mother in law's house. He does not take his wife home as is customary in
other communities. If a man marries a woman of a particular Kur his
children take the title of that Kur therefore there is no illegitimate child in
Khasi tribe as the children take their Ka kmie's title. The Ki kur trace their
origin from a common ancestress and their lineal descent is from Ka kmie to
Ka khadduh. The Ka khadduh’s right over property is sanctioned by
customs and religious traditions. The other daughters, however, on their Ka
kmie's death are entitled, each of them to a smaller share of her property.
The Ka Khadduh cannot dispose of the house without the unanimous
consent of her sisters. If Ka Khadduh dies, she is succeeded by the next Ka
khadduh, and so on. In the event of the Ka khadduh changing her religion,
or committing an act of sang, or taboo, she loses her position in the family.
72
If a Khasi woman does not bear any daughters, inheritance would pass by
the knight's move to the woman’s sister's Ka khadduh and so on.
Prevalence of Matrilineality and Matrilocality at Present in the Khasis

The legal provisions regarding Khasis have played a vital role in the
prevalence of this community. The Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Khasi
Social Customs Of Lineage) Act, 1997 is an Act to make Provisions of the
protection and preservation of the Khasi Social Custom of Lineage. A large
number of people have been misusing the Khasi social custom of lineage for
their personal advantage and self-interest thus jeopardizing and seriously
disturbing the social and cultural life of the Khasi people. So it was apt to
provide a law for strictly following the prevailing Khasi social custom of
lineage in order to keep and preserve the traditional matrilineal system of the
Khasi and for the protection of their interest. The bill says that the offspring
born of a Khasi mother and a non-Khasi father is a Khasi. The
matrilineality is preserved. A child belongs to the mother's descent group
and not that of the father's irrespective of the father's identity or status.
Additionally, due to globalization, the Khasis are in transition in terms of
many aspects. While the system of Matrilineality is followed, patriarchal
ideologies and matrilineal principles operate as well within the system.
These ultimately define the roles and responsibilities of the Khasi women.
With the increasing involvement of males in the socio-economic activities,
expansion of education, emergence of nuclear families, etc. the number of
families being headed by the father is increasing, though the women are still
heir to the ancestral property. So while the lineage and inheritance is
reckoned through the female line keeping with the matrilineal principles, the
society resembles a patrilineal one. The maternal uncles have the
responsibility of being the spiritual and moral guide for his sister's children,
he has control over issues pertaining economic interests and decisions.
Now, the youth are being drawn towards Western culture and are becoming
73
increasingly aware of the predominant Patriarchal system. Male groups

have come forward and created male rights group to challenge the
matrilineal system, inspired by the patriarchal system of India. Groups like
Syngkhong Rympli Thymmai Movement (SRT) led by Mr. Keith Pariat are
demanding full authority to be given to the father, to change the system to
patriarchy so the children have the father’s name and they also want the
inheritance to be equally distributed among sons and daughters. The impact
of modernization and influence of other cultures has somewhat eroded the
uncle’s authority but, by and large the tradition is still honored.
Conclusion
The freedom and status enjoyed by women in a community speaks volumes
about the functioning of the society. On the basis of empirical evidences
documented, it can be seen that the communities reviewed in the paper are
in deviation of the conceptual notion of Matriarchy. Moreover, the
transformation of these communities has been accelerated due to the
processes of modernization and globalization. The current generation has in
particular embraced Western ideas and the impact is evident in terms of
clothing, art and folk culture. This has led to an alteration of the traditional
customs and values that were essential to the distinctiveness of the
communities. Another notable change is the widespread influence of
Christianity among the Garo and Khasi tribes of Meghalaya, resulting in a
change in religious practices and religious rituals. Marriage as an institution
in Matriarchal communities is less rigid in comparison to that in Patriarchal
communities. It can be easily dissolved on mutual consent as is seen in the
case of Sambandham in Nairs. The Khasis and the Garos also share the
same practice and the women belonging to these communities are not
considered as a property of the men. Under special circumstances, these
communities follow Polygamy specifically Polyandry in the Nairs and
Polygyny in the Garos and the Khasis. The sex ratio in the states where the
74
Matriarchal communities are geographically situated are much higher than

the average sex ratio found in India (940 females per 1000 males; according
to Census 2011) and this could possibly mean that the Matriarchal social
system therefore doesn’t overtly discriminate against women. Additionally,
the legal provisions regarding these communities have greatly influenced the
prevalence of Matrilineality. The abolition of Matrilineal succession by the
Kerala Joint Family Abolition Act (1975) in the case of the Nairs altered the
traditional construct of this community. This has paved the path for hidden
Patrilineality to set in. In contrast to this, the Khasi Hills Autonomous
District Council has passed a law for the preservation of the traditional
Matrilineal system of the Khasis. This allows the Matrilineal customs to
thrive under the protection of the law and discourages the mal practices
regarding acquisition of land. The women in these communities revel in the
lack of restrictions and the right to inheritance. But, it is observed that even
though women are the sole custodians of the ancestral property, the
decisions regarding management of the property lies in the hands of the
maternal uncle, a man. This shows the underlying presence of Patriarchy
within the social construct of Matrilineality. Patriarchy being the dominant
social system in India has brought about a gradual change in the mindset of
the men and the women. The men are increasingly aware of the deprivation
of authority and rights that they have within their household. This has given
rise to Men’s Rights Activist Groups who are fighting for this cause.
Another pressing injustice that they aim to eradicate is the unequal
distribution of property leaving the sons and other daughters (excluding the
youngest daughter) with little or nothing substantial. Surprisingly, women
too have felt the need to accept few aspects of Patriarchy, for instance
women have now begun to take up their husband’s surname after marriage,
as is the popular norm in Patriarchy. This may therefore indicate that
women themselves are not completely satisfied with the rigid functioning of
the dimensions of Matriarchy. In the Garos and the Khasis, the husband of
75
the heiress of the principle household in the community becomes the Chief
who is responsible for the distribution of the communal land and peace. As
women are again excluded from the decision making process, this vital
aspect in the description of Matriarchy stands challenged. However the
practical dimensions of Matriarchy namely Matrilineality (inheritance of
property through the female line) and Matrilocality (a social system wherein
the married couple resides at the wife’s ancestral home) is ideally still
prevalent in these communities. A cluster of Matrilineal or Matrilocal
households does not necessarily lead to a Matriarchal community. But at
the family level which is the unit for analysis of this paper, both
Matrilineality and Matrilocality are still surviving, although each
community has adapted its ways to suit the present day and age. Since the
core principle of Matriarchy that involves the authority of the eldest woman
in decision-making is not fulfilled in any of the three communities studied,
the paper agrees with the Anthropological School of Thought, that
Matriarchy has never existed in the practical sense but only as a conceptual
construct.
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78
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND

MENTAL HEALTH OF WOMEN
- Dr. Vibhuti Patel
The recognition of domestic violence (DV) as a serious public health issue

has sensitised the medical profession to provide special support services to
the victims, predominantly women and children, of domestic violence.
Country wise studies have shown that the prevalence of violence by an
intimate partner ranges between 16 and 40 percent in the Asia and Pacific
region”.1 In 1999, a team of Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC)
doctors, women activists and a medical researcher visited hospital-based
crisis intervention centers for the victims of DV in Philippines and Malaysia.
Inspired by this study tour, the doctors from Mumbai Municipal Corporation
facilitated the process of replicating the model and invited Centre for
Enquiry Into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT) to set up a one stop crisis
center for women, called Dilaasa (means empathy), in collaboration with
BMC-run Bhabha Hospital, Bandra, Mumbai.2 The experiences of doctors
and medical and psychiatrist social workers in the project corroborate the
findings of support groups providing refuge to the victims of DV as revealed
in the recently circulated multi-centric study in India.3
After 40 years of campaigning by women’s rights organisations, Indian

women managed to get the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence
Act, 2005 which defines “Domestic Violence” as
(a) harms or injures or endangers the health, safety, life, limb or well-being,
whether mental or physical, of the aggrieved person or tends to do so and
includes causing physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal and emotional abuse
and economic abuse; or
79
(b) harasses, harms, injures or endangers the aggrieved person with a view
to coerce her or any other person related to her to meet any unlawful
demand for any dowry or other property or valuable security; or
(c) has the effect of threatening the aggrieved person or any person related to
her by any conduct mentioned in clause (a) or clause (b); or(d) otherwise
injures or causes harm, whether physical or mental, to the aggrieved person.
The Act recognizes the right to residence for survivors of domestic violence
and ensures provision for the appointment of Protection officers and the
recognition of Service Providers, trainings for Protection Officers and
Judges and awareness creation.
Gender economists are demanding adequate budgetary allocation for service

providers such as hospitals, shelter homes, police and legal bodies to
implement the law effectively.
Manifestations of Depression:
Depression caused by DV manifests in headaches, sleepless nights, constant
tension, detachment, irritability, loss of appetite, dryness of mouth, fear,
self-blame, lack of concentration, lack of interest in any kind of activity.
After marriage, women get displaced which brings about cultural loss and
bereavement, loss of social networks and supports, loss of traditional healing
sites. DV aggravates the situation. Psychological stages through which
women victims of DV pass are –enduring, suffering, reckoning, reconciling
and normalising. The successful completion of therapeutic cycle depends
on how conducive the physical and emotional systems are. Sometimes
hysteria can also open up more opportunities and increased freedom/space
with added costs. Women cope with tension by crying, talking it over,
praying and engaging in creative work-music, art-craft-reading-studies-
community work, team building.
80
Approaches to Mental Illnesses among the Victims of Violence:

Universalist ETIC approach uses diagnostic categories of mental illnesses
such as neurosis, schizophrenia, psychosis, mania; phobia and paranoia
amongst others. Psychiatric labelling does not take cognisance of DV faced
by women on day-to-day experiential levels. It obscures social reality such
as physical, sexual and psychological violence faced by the victim while
dealing with her phobia. The victims are further victimised by short cuts
such as drug and ECT. Hence, medicalisation of mental health in the Draft
National Health Policy 2001-III has been criticized by sensitive mental
health practitioners.4
EMIC approach emphasises cross-cultural psychiatry and evaluates

phenomena of mental illness from within a culture, evolves community
intervention strategy to provide safety and security for the victim of DV.
Traditional treatment of the mental illness used to be meditation, yoga,
group singing and listening to the discourser. A culturally sensitive
counselling on mental health consequences of trauma caused due to DV take
into consideration women’s personal predicaments in a specific socio-
cultural environment. Because of this approach, we have been able to
ensure state protection and statutory provision to safeguard interests of the
victims of DV.
Psychiatrists use chemotherapy i.e. administration of anti-depressants and

sedatives, shock therapy which induces shock, with or without convulsions,
in a patient by means of insulin or electric current through brain. Hundreds
of DV victims who were subjected to this line of treatment in the state-run
hospitals and refuge homes are leading the life of cabbages. As against this,
individual psychotherapy which includes hypnosis, suggestions, supportive
therapy, re-education, desensitisation and other forms of consultation, group
psychotherapy, family therapy and psychoanalysis have proved empowering
81
to rebuild ruined lives of the victims of DV.5 In this approach, four phases
of Healing Cycles6 have been:
1. Enduring- anxiety, grieving and loss of past

2. Acceptance- reality testing, preparedness and reckoning of the future
reconciling, evaluation of self and resources, recuperating
3. Recovery-rebuilding life, maximizing options, setting new goals, healing
4. Normalizing-stability and routines, building relationships and active
community life.
Power Relations of Professionalism:

Unequal relationship between a medical professional, who is UP THERE
and the seeker, who is DOWN BELOW creates a communication gap. In
the case of women, this inequality is compounded by subjugation of women
by the patriarchally structured psychiatric system. Focus on ‘feminine
qualities’ pathologises all physiological changes of a woman, in childhood,
adolescence, reproductive age and menopause. Philosophical basis of
psychiatry as a bio-medical discipline prevents the mental health
professionals to take into consideration power relations in the private lives
of the victim. Psychiatry focuses on treating the individual symptom while
ignoring the disease. ‘Diagnosis’ frequently arouses protests of indignation
about labelling people as ill and treating them as impersonal objects. 7
Limitations of bio-medical perspectives lie in their narrow focus on somatic
and psychological factors in their diagnostic efforts, ignoring the impact of
socio-cultural and socio-demographic factors. In India, the focus is more on
the treatment of the illness, not on preventive and promotive efforts.
Marginalization of mental health concerns results from the understanding
that mental distress is a manifestation of an individual problem, not directly
related to social oppression and not common to all women.8
82
Experiences of support groups have revealed that individual counselling by

the professional counsellor in a non-threatening environment can be helpful
in breaking ice. At the same time, mutual counselling among women with
similar experiences can empower each other by narrating their problem
areas and finding solutions.
Patriarchal biases of the Mental Health Establishments:

The mainstream mental health professionals are unable to impart the
required counselling to women due to misogyny. Stereotypical
understanding about women’s role in the family and society governs their
psyche and if the so-called “mentally ill” woman does not fit in that mould,
she is declared a ‘socially incompetent’ woman. Subordination- domination
relations between men and women are re-emphasised in the mainstream
counselling. In the present context, when modern women facing massive
DV for breaking traditional barriers imposed by male chauvinist value
system, the mental health professionals must realise that ethics lies in
empowering the victim, not in infantilising or marginalizing her by
declaring her to be “mentally unfit”, forcing her to take high potency drugs
with harmful side-effects or by using ECT.
Sexual Violence and Mental Health:

Sexual assault, molestation, rape, and sexual harassment by family
members, child sexual abuse and nuisance calls at her
school/college/workplace cause psychological disturbances among girls and
women. The trauma of sexual violence sparks off tension and anxiety at a
dangerous level. Their mental health problems are manifested in anxiety,
fear, avoidance, guilt, loss of efficiency, lack of coordination, depression,
sexual dysfunction, substance abuse, reliving the traumatic incidents through
memory, suicidal attempts, eating disorders, disturbed sleep patterns, fear of
encountering such situation once again. It is found that women who
undergo extreme sexual violence in domestic life experience a loss of self
83
and self-esteem following the shock inflicted on them. When there is a

continuous period of traumatic stress, it becomes chronic, lessening the
individual’s ability to do any kind of constructive work. In such a situation,
ethical practice demands that the concerned doctor facilitates the process of
shifting her out of that situation, rather than use chemical therapy.
Counselling in the Shelter Homes for Women:

The most promising solution to confusion and disorientation among the
women inmates of shelter-homes for victims of DV is a democratic space
for brainstorming as autism is one of the main problems faced by them. The
doctor should encourage the management of shelter homes to create an
informal set up which is more congenial for their personal and career
counselling. The management at the shelter homes for women and girls
need to be made to understand that behind every behaviour, there is a story.
It is important for them to know the story. Panel of psychotherapists and
psychoanalysts in the shelter homes should also conduct the staff
development programme so that the staff can handle post trauma stress
disorder (PTSD) among the inmates with empathy rather than resorting to
victim blaming.
Mental Health and Reproductive Rights of Women:

Societal attitude towards Indian women as son-producing machines creates
painful mental problems for women. A woman’s body is de-linked from her
subjectivity. Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and Post-Partum depression
(PPD) are regarded as general complaints concerning women’s reproductive
abilities. Premenstrual syndrome as a debilitating factor has been used to
run down women in the family and at the workplace. PMS is a political
category, which conveys that biology is destiny for women. Instead of
focusing on the genuine issues concerning premenstrual discomfort in terms
of fatigue, headache, cramps, headaches resulting in to depression and
84
crying spells, PMS provides a reductionist and reactionary explanation for

women’s discontent. Women don’t have the right to decide, how many
children to have and at what interval to have them. New reproductive
technologies have robbed women of their individuality and reduced them
into spare parts for either scientific experimentation and/or sale. NRT
values women only for their ovaries, uterus, foetus, that too preferably male.
NRTs have caused tremendous psychological burden on women in the arena
of sexual activity for procreation or only for recreation without procreation
with the help of contraception or abortion. Researches over last 3 decades
have highlighted mental problems associated with repeated induced
abortions, long acting hormone based contraceptives or conception inducing
drugs. This happens along with physical and/or psychological violence in
the family.
Instead of using humane healing techniques of music, fragrance, get to

gathers to deal with discomfort during pregnancy and post-partum
depression, bio-medical intervention of giving tranquillisers and electro-
convulsive therapy are promoted by the psychiatrists. This is the most
vulgar example of the medicalisation of the natural processes of women’s
bodies. Gender sensitive training programmes should be organised for
medical officers of primary health centres and women health workers
adopting perspective promoted by the UNFPA.9
Menopause and Mental Health of Women:

Many psychologists have attributed harassment of daughter in law by her
mother in law to menopause. But it is not true for all women. Many women
find it a liberating experience to stay with their in-laws. It all depends on
how society and family treat an aging woman. Pathologisation of
menopause and negative attributes given to “old hag” (sadeli buddhi)
experienced by women are responsible for identity crisis and depression
among women during this period. Here, the role of counsellor/doctor should
85
be to recommend activities for self-actualisation and a healthy diet with

vitamin supplements to menopausal woman. Exercise is very important to
increase conversion of androgens to estrogens.
Mental Health of Women Senior Citizens:

There are 80 organisations of senior citizens in Mumbai. DV experienced
by them is not legitimised because they are declared, “mentally unfit” by
commercial-minded psychiatrists. They end up either in mental asylums or
old age homes. The most talked about problem concerning mental health of
elderly women is dementia i.e. “loss of cognitive functioning, memory,
language abilities, abstract thinking and planning”.10 Dementia is often
reversible. Irreversible dementia can arise due to amnesia, Huntington
disease and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Modern medicine treats this problem
with estrogen replacement therapy, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
and vitamins. Feminist senior citizens deal with mental problems of elderly
women by providing spiritually, emotionally and intellectually stimulating
group life to them. Discourses, singing, outing, social service, meditation
and mutuality and reciprocity in human relations make great contributions
towards their mental health. Vardhana, a group of feminists has defined
women above 60 years of age as “Women of Age” and has provided a
democratic and development oriented platform to Women of Age.11
Mental Health of Women in the Mental Hospital:

Pathologisation of women victims of DV by using diagnostic labels is a
major cause of stigmatisation and ostracism for women. Women’s groups
are demanding that pigeonholing of people into set slots must stop.
Interaction with the mental health professionals is used by the family
members and the community to declare the concerned woman “unfit” to live
in the family, be a parent, function as an autonomous individual or take up a
job. Husband’s family uses the episode to dispose her of or debar her from
86
property rights or right to live in a matrimonial or parental home. “Madness

certificates” given by the mental health professionals are used by husbands
to divorce, desert or throw out their wives from their matrimonial homes.
Women are admitted in the mental asylum as per the directives of the
Mental Health Act, 1987and Lunacy Act, 1912.
Once dumped in a mental asylum, it is impossible for her to get out of it

even after complete recovery. “Women in the mental hospitals have fewer
visitors, are abandoned or tend to stay on longer than men within the
institution. There are fewer voluntary patients among women than among
men. Even in adjudication for a woman’s institutionalisation, the official
discourses are often coloured by the sex role stereotypes that the judges,
police officials and the staff in mental hospitals uphold.”12 Remarks of a
social worker after the visit to the mental hospital are apt, “The interaction
with female patients made me sadder. Almost all of them were abandoned/
dumped by families or the police and court got them admitted after they hit
the rock bottom. Most of them were forced to face violent situations in their
lives and had painful and atrocious account to tell. In many cases, one could
see (although without an in-depth study, one cannot claim and prove) that
the mental distress, ill health had its roots not in a person’s biology or
psychology, but in society, in our social environment”. 13
The iron wall of secrecy about the administration of drugs, surgery and ECT
and their side effects needs to be condemned by citizen’s initiatives and
ethical medical practitioners. The long lasting side effects of biomedical
approach need to be highlighted. Our mental hospitals need to focus on
psychotherapy and counselling which involve therapies that produce
positive results and no negative side effects.
87
Developmental Input:
Breakthrough counselling is the need of the hour to make women’s material
reality more secure, liberating and healthy. It is the only alternative to get
out of repeated attacks of mental illnesses. Developmental counselling aims
at removal of chronic conflict situation in women’s lives that is associated
with high mental health morbidity. It is more than a remedial service. It
believes that involvement, readiness and commitment on the part of the
doctor/counsellor are necessary and basic conditions for counselling
success.”14 It is concerned with the development and facilitation of human
effectiveness. It increases self-direction and evolves better problem solving
and decision-making abilities. This is the central axis around which human
rights therapy or counselling revolves. It emerged in the wake of the
liberationist social movements as an alternative to hegemonic patriarchal
mental health establishments, which depended on bio-medical approach to
deal with the innate feeling of unhappiness in women or subjugated human
being.
The most successful healer is one who avoids victim blaming and provides
patient listening.15 After talking / catharsis, the seeker feels better. Girls and
Women with communication disability need special help.16 At the same
time, “Reversing the process of alienation by consciously building
community networks is a must. Mental health professionals should be seen
in the community rather than in the secure institute or clinics.” avers a well-
known psychiatrist, Dr. Harish Shetty.17
Training Programmes on Counselling:

Sensitisation and training of general practitioners and other health personnel
to mental health issues caused by DV, particularly, minor psychiatric
morbidity (anxiety-depression) is a must. There is a need for social
counsellors at health posts and public hospitals that are in touch with NGOs
providing institutional support to women in social distress. Training
88
sessions for professional and para-professional volunteers should focus on

supportive networks, group cohesion and solidarity. Training should
include modules on interviewing skills, history taking, and mental status
examination. More and more doctors should come forward to discuss
mental health issues concerning DV on the electronic and print media with a
message that the counsellor must observe the ethics of valuing and
respecting the victim.18 Common characteristics required from the
counsellor are concern, emotional investment, cognitive detachment,
sensitivity and introspection.19 The doctor/counsellor should know that
healing is a part of empowerment.
Bibliography
1
Abdullah, R. “Indicators of Women’s Mental Health and Well-being”, Arrows for
Change, Vol.7, No. 3, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2001, p.12. Website:
www.arrow.org.my
2
Jesani, A “Violence Against Women: Health and Health Care Issues- A Review of
Selected Indian Works”, Samyukta- A Journal of Women’s Studies, Vol.II, No. 2,
July, 2002, p.57. Website: www.samyukta.org.
3
International Centre for Research on Women Domestic Violence in India-
Exploring Strategies, Promoting Dialogue, Delhi, 2002.
4
Davar, Bhargavi “Draft National Health Policy 2001-III, Mental Health: Serious
Misconceptions”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XXXVII, No. 1, Jan 5-11,
2002, pp.20-22.
5
Shertzer, Bruce and Shelley Fundamentals of Counselling, Houghton Miffin Co,
Boston, 1968, p.14.
6
Kearney, M.H. (1999) Understanding Women’s Recovery from Illness and
Trauma, New Delhi, Sage Publications.
7
Noonan, Ellen Counselling Young People, Methuen, London and New York, 1983,
p.48.
89
8
Vindhya, U, A. Kiranmayi and V. Vijayalaxmi “Women in Psychological Distress-
Evidence from a Hospital Based Study”, Economic and Political Weekly, Oct. 27,
2001, Vol.xxxvi, No. 43, pp.4081-4087.
9
UNFPA Training Modules of Gender and Reproductive Health, Unite Nations
Population Funds, India, 2002.
10
Diana Garner and Susan Mercer (Editors) Women as They Age, The Haworth
Pres, New York, 2000, p.91.
11
Vardhana The Women of Age- Women and Ageing in India, Vacha, Mumbai,
1999, p.1.
12
Davar, Bhargavi “Women-centred Mental Health: Issues and Concerns”, Vikalpa-
Alternatives, Special Issue, Gender and Transformation, Vikas Adhyayan Kendra,
Mumbai, Vol. IX, No. 1& 2, 2001, pp.117-130.
Joshi, Lalita “At the Fag End… A Visit to Yervada Mental Hospital”, Aaina-a
13
mental health advocacy newsletter, Vol.2, No.1, Pune, pp.7-8.

14
Dinkmeyer, Don and Edson Caldwell Developmental Counselling and Guidance-
A Comprehensive School Approach, Harvard University, USA, 1970, p.87.
15
Nelson-Jones, Richard Practical Counselling and Helping Skills, Better
Yourself Books, Bombay, 1994, p.12.
Amar Jyoti “Improving Approaches to People with Communication Disabilities”,

16
Disability Dialogue, Issue III, January-April 2002, pp.1-12.

17
Shetty, Harish “Prevent Suicide, Save Life”, One India, One People, Special issue
on Prescriptions for Healthcare, Vol.4, No.12, July 2001, pp.21-22.
18
Seden, Janet Counselling Skills in Social Work Practice, Open University Press,
Buckingham and Philadelphia, USA, 1999, p.142.
19
Perez, Joseph The Initial Counselling Contact, Guidance Monograph Series II
Counselling, Houghton Miffin Company, Boston, 1968, p.28.
----------------
90
RESEARCH PAPER
A STUDY OF ANTHROPOMETRIC VARIABLES IN

ADOLESCENT GIRLS FROM THE LOWER SOCIO-
ECONOMIC STRATA IN RURAL AND URBAN
SETTINGS TO ACCESS NUTRITIONAL STATUS
- Dr. Ratnaraje Thar,
- Ms. Pallavi R. Bandodkar
- Ms. Deepti Anil
Introduction
Nutrition is an integral part of the health and well-being of all individuals.
Good nutrition is determined by the consumption of an adequate diet as also
a person’s ability to resist disease and infections that interfuse with the
digestive and absorptive processes of the biological system. Medical
practitioners have discovered that the link between diet and health is
stronger than previously thought. (Slupik, 1996)
The body for daily sustenance and growth needs carbohydrates, proteins,
fats, minerals and vitamins. It is a well-documented fact that the primary
cause for nutritional deficiencies is inadequate dietary intake for long
periods. Malnutrition thus ensues which is a state of impaired nourishment
in an individual. Such a dietary inadequacy, to start with, leads to changes
in tissues and organs like muscles and liver progressing subsequently to
biochemical changes. While the change in tissues can be measured by
examining the concerned tissues, examination of the blood and plasma or
serum can identify biochemical changes. At this stage, the nutritional
deficiencies are considered as sub clinical as we cannot find any anatomical
changes by naked eye examination. These sub clinical changes can be
identified by either biochemical assessment or anthropometry e.g.
anatomical changes in some organs due to dietary deficiencies like swelling
in the body or changes in the eyes. Nutritional Anthropometry is thus the
tool, which can assess even the early changes due to dietary disorders.
91
When a person does not get enough food to eat (for any reason), the energy
that is normally obtained from carbohydrates is obtained by breaking down
stored fat and then the body proteins. More particularly in children,
depressed appetite during an illness episode or periods of nutrient
deprivation reduces their body weight that affects the immune system
making them more prone to continuing or newer infections.
Nutritional anthropometry is a measurement of the human body at various

ages and levels of nutritional status. It is based on the concept that an
appropriate body measurement reflects any morphological variation
occurring due to a significant functional physiological change. It is an
important component of any community based nutrition survey because it is
simple, easily measurable by workers with limited educational qualifications
and provides much information on the nutritional status of individuals. It is
especially helpful to assess the extent of under nutrition in vulnerable
populations, like in the case of the present survey on adolescent girls as well
as ascertain the extent of nutritional rehabilitation post an intervention. The
most commonly used measurements in routine surveys are height, weight
and skin-fold thickness. Weight for age is the commonest indicator used in
children. Since children grow very fast, their weight changes significantly
with their age, unlike in adults. A child whose weight is less than expected
for his/her age is said to be underweight. This may be due to insufficient
food, or due to illness, and often signifies food deprivation.
When a child is undernourished for a long time, his/her bone growth is also
affected. Such a child remains short for his/her age. A low height for age
indicates chronic hunger, and such children are said to be stunted. This
indicator requires that the age of the child be known. Weight for height is
an age-independent measurement. A child who is malnourished for a long
time will be short and underweight. However, the ratio of their weight for
height will be normal, or near normal. A child whose weight for height is
low indicates that she has recently lost weight: her long-term nutrition and
bone growth may be normal (or both may be sub-normal) but she has
suddenly lost weight. Generally, the body weight is used as an indicator of
92
an individual’s health. This is compared with a desirable weight range to

identify whether the individual is under-weight or over-weight.
There is another method of comparing an individual to a population group,

which is using the body mass index (BMI). High value can indicate excess
fat while low value indicates reduced fat. Hence, body mass index
correlates the individual’s height and weight. It is considered as a useful
tool to identify obesity or malnutrition.
According to government figures, around 43 per cent of children under the

age of five years are malnourished; more than half of all pregnant women
aged between 15, and 49 years suffer from anaemia. Stark inter-state
disparities exist with some states better off on all social indicators than the
others do. The states that suffer from hunger and malnutrition the most
include Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Rajasthan
and Uttar Pradesh. It is relevant and significant to study the nutritional
status1 of mothers and children since, they are usually the most vulnerable
from a nutritional point of view and partly because it is here that, we can
really make a difference. This is especially true in a developing nation like
India.
A girl child’s life follows the inevitable physiological path from infancy
(period of rapid growth), childhood (period of organ and skeletal
development), adolescence (period of sexual maturation, menarche), young
woman (period of reproduction, pregnancy, lactation), older woman (end of
fertility period, menopause). Each stage entails several physical and mental
changes. Pregnant women have special nutritional needs. At the antenatal
as well as postnatal stages, a mother has greater needs for nourishment from
food sources to take care of her and her new-born’s needs. The energy
requirement can be best met with the help of balanced nutrition. The
1
Nutritional status is the condition of health of an individual as influenced by nutrient intake and
utilization in the body.
93
nutritional needs of a woman vary at each stage too; e.g. increased iron and
folate requirement in pregnancy. Non-compliance with altered requirements
can lead to the development of different nutritional problems. The age-old
role of a woman as a caregiver and nurturer can be fulfilled satisfactorily
only if she is at her optimal health status. Nutritional intervention is critical
in situations where women are already malnourished before pregnancy and
in a state of nutrition deprivation. Adolescent girls need good nutrition
because, without it, their physical and mental development can be
irreversibly compromised. In India, gender discrimination is so inherent that
it very often results in unequal food distribution among male-female siblings
thus propounding the problem of malnutrition amongst this vulnerable
population.
Hence, it was with this thought that the present research was undertaken
with the central aim being, to highlight the need for the evaluation of
nutritional status in urban and rural adolescent schoolchildren. Optimal
nutritional status in children will have long-term effects on their physical
and mental performance and will translate into an economic benefit rather
than an economic loss to themselves and the nation.
Review of Literature
The present paper seeks to get an insight into whether the school students
from urban Mumbai city limits and rural towns of Maharashtra know what
constitutes a balanced meal. It seeks to assess the perceptions of these
students through their response to a questionnaire and whether they
recognise the connection between good nutrition and good health. A
healthier lifestyle ultimately contributes to improved maternal mortality and
morbidity for women. A study of this nature helps also to evaluate the
severity of nutritional imbalance in households of students and its effect on
their families. The socio-economic background of a household establishes
the level of disposable income available to spend towards having basic
needs of food and nutrition met. A lack of awareness may indicate that the
students do not have a healthy BMI or come from upper socioeconomic
backgrounds that do not let problems like malnutrition affect their daily
schedules. Similarly, the modality of socioeconomic background influences
94
the choices made by households of students belonging to lower

socioeconomic backgrounds.
Operational Definitions:
1. Adiposity: Excessive accumulation of lipids in a site or organ. (Farlex
Partner Medical Dictionary Farlex 2012)
2. Anaemia: A medical condition in which the capacity of the blood to
transport oxygen to the tissues is reduced, either because of too few red
blood cells, or because of too little haemoglobin, resulting in pallor and
fatigue. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anemia)
3. Antenatal: Occurring or existing before birth. (Farlex Partner Medical
Dictionary Farlex 2012)
4. Anthropometry: The branch of anthropology concerned with
comparative measurements of the human body. (The American Heritage®
Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin
Company)
5. Body Mass Index (BMI): An anthropometric measure of body mass,
defined as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared; a
method of determining caloric nutritional status. (Stedman's Medical
Dictionary)
6. Bone Mineral Content (BMC): The hardness of bone results from its
mineral content in the organic matrix. The minerals (commonly designated
as bone salts) and the organic matrix make up the interstitial substance of
bone. The bone salts consist essentially of hydroxylapatite (Ca10
[PO4]6[OH2]), carbon dioxide, and water, with small amounts of other ions.
(http://www.answers.com/topic/chemistry-of-bone-mineral-content)
7. Bone Mineral Density (BMD): A measure of bone density, reflecting
the strength of bones as represented by calcium content.
(http://www.medterms.com/)
8. Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED) : A condition of the body
characterized by low body weight and low energy stores and possibly
limited physical capacity due to deprivation of food over a long period of
time, with BMI of less than P5 (5th percentile) for adolescents or less than
18.5 kg/m2 for adults.
(http://www.nscb.gov.ph/resolutions/2008/10Annex1a.asp)
95
9. Glucose Intolerance: is a pre-diabetic state of hyperglycaemia that is

associated with insulin resistance and increased risk of cardiovascular
pathology. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prediabetes)
10. Malnutrition: Faulty nutrition resulting from malabsorption, poor diet,
or overeating. (http://www.medilexicon.com/medicaldictionary.php)
11. Mortality : the death rate, which reflects the number of deaths per unit
of population in any specific region, age group, disease, or other
classification, usually expressed as deaths per 1000, 10,000, or 100,000.
(Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 8th edition. © 2009, Elsevier.)
12. Normoglycemia (Normal Glucose Tolerance): normal glucose content
of the blood. (Miller-Keane Encyclopaedia and Dictionary of Medicine,
Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an
imprint of Elsevier, Inc.)
13. Nutritional Status: The condition of the body resulting from the
intake, absorption and utilization of food.
(http://www.reference.md/files/D009/mD009752.html)
14. Obesity: Obesity is an abnormal accumulation of body fat, usually
20% or more over an individual's ideal body weight. Obesity is associated
with increased risk of illness, disability and death. (http://medical-
dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/obesity)
15. Overweight: A condition where a person’s weight is greater than that
of a normal person of the same age (in case of adolescents) or height (in
case of adults), with BMI of more than P85 (85th percentile) for adolescents
or between 25 and 30 kg/m2 for adults.
(http://www.nscb.gov.ph/resolutions/2008/10Annex1a.asp)
16. Postnatal: occurring or being after birth; specifically: of or relating to
an infant immediately after birth.
(http://www.merriam-webster.com/medlineplus/postnatal)
17. Protein Energy Malnutrition: A condition arising from inadequate
intake of food rich in energy and protein, characterized by marked weight
loss and failure to grow.
(http://www.nscb.gov.ph/glossary/terms/indicatorDetails.asp?strIndi=251)
18. Retarded Growth Status: Growth retardation is when an infant fails to
grow sufficiently during pregnancy.
(http://health.allinoneplace.info/health/Retarded-Growth.aspx)
96
19. Stunting (Height for Age) / Linear Growth Retardation: Stunted

growth reflects a process of failure to reach linear growth potential because
of suboptimal health and/or nutritional conditions.
(http://www.krepublishers.com/Blossner-M-Text.pdf)
20. Thinness: A state of insufficient flesh on the body usually defined as
having a body weight less then skeletal and physical standards. Depending
on age, sex and genetic background a BMI of less than 18.5 is considered as
underweight. A condition where the child’s weight is lower relative to
his/her height or length than that of a normal child and is measured using
weight-for-height as the index.
21. Underweight: A condition where the child’s weight is lower than that
of a normal person of the same age and is measured using weight-for-age as
the index.
22. Urban and Rural Towns: All places with a municipality, corporation,
cantonment board or notified town area committee, etc. (known as Statutory
Town). All other places, which satisfied the following criteria (known as
Census Town): A minimum population of 5,000; At least 75 per cent of the
male main workers engaged in non-agricultural pursuits; and a density of
population of at least 400 per sq. km. All areas which are not categorized as
Urban area are considered as Rural Area (http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-
prov-results/paper2/data_files/india/Rural_Urban_2011.pdf)
23. Waist Circumference (WC): the waist circumference measured at the
midpoint between the lower margin of the last palpable rib and the top of
the iliac crest, using a stretch‐resistant tape.
(http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2011/9789241501491_eng.pdf)
24. Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR): Waist-to-hip ratio is a measurement that
compares the size of your waist in inches to that of your hips. Risk for
developing heart disease is typically measured by waist-to-hip ratio.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waistohip_ratio)
25. Wasting (Weight for Height): An index for the assessment of growth
of children 0-10 years old, which compares the weight of each child to the
weight of a reference population of the same height or length. Notes: It is
an expression of leanness or wasting (acute malnutrition) and can
97
distinguish those who are well proportioned from those who are thin (or
heavy) for their height (or length).
(http://www.nscb.gov.ph/glossary/terms/indicatorDetails.asp.strIndi=241)
In this review of literature, we will examine the secondary data available on
the subject matter.
Female adolescents constitute nearly 12% of the total population of India.

The empirical evidence related to food and nutrient intake among adolescent
girls is limited (NIPCCD, 1989). The specific changes during adolescence
that affect nutritional requirements are an increase in growth rate, changes in
body composition and the attainment of sexual maturity (Seth, 1995). The
onset of menarche and increase in bone mass creates an increased demand
for minerals like iron and calcium.
Monthly loss of menstrual blood and insufficient nutrient intake either due
to poverty or due to wrong food choices lead to the development of
nutritional anaemia that is caused by the absence of any dietary essential that
is involved in haemoglobin formation or by the poor absorption of these
dietary essentials. Iron-deficiency anaemia is most commonly seen is
adolescent girls. According to the NIN (National Institute of Nutrition) in
India (20-25)% of adolescent girls suffer from anaemia irrespective of the
socio-economic class, thus underlying the fact that not just economics but
also relevant food choices play an important role in eliminating these
deficiencies (Srilakshmi,2000). A survey carried out by Kusuma in 2001,
on the nutrient intakes of rural adolescent girls in a district in Andhra
Pradesh revealed that their diets were deficient in calories, protein, calcium
and iron.
Anthropometry has long been advocated as an easy and reliable measure of

nutritional status. Amongst the anthropometric indicators, BMI was
recommended as the basis for anthropometric indicators of thinness and
overweight. The term ‘underweight’ in adult assessment has been applied to
individuals of low body weight relative to height, generally expressed in
terms of BMI. Several scholars have emphasized the importance of BMI as
an index of nutritional assessment. BMI was found to be useful for the
98
assessment of the current or short duration malnutrition among adults with

retarded growth status and onset of clinical signs of protein energy
malnutrition, Vitamin A deficiency and severe forms of anaemia (Bhasin
and Jain, 2007).
In developing countries like India, various forms of malnutrition affect a

large segment of the population and both macro and micronutrient
deficiencies are of major concern. The most recent estimates, in a
developing country like India show that approximately 57 million children
are underweight while over 90% Indian women, adolescent girls and
children are anaemic. According to a number of studies, the health of
children is dependent upon food intake that provides sufficient energy and
nutrients to promote optimal physical, social, cognitive growth and
development. Inadequate energy and nutrients have a variety of poor
outcomes including growth retardation, iron deficiency anaemia, poor
academic performance and development of psychosocial difficulties.
Waterlow (1994) reported that, the etiology of linear growth retardation is
multi-factorial but has been explained by three major factors: poor nutrition,
high levels of infection and problematic mother-infant interaction, which is
closely related to the socio-economic status of the family.
Kumari and Jain (2005) consider the school age period as nutritionally
significant because this is the prime time to build up body stores of nutrients
in preparation for rapid growth of adolescence.
In a study carried out by Handa et al. 2008 where they investigated the
nutritional status of 150-school going children aged 7-10 years. Data on
anthropometry revealed that out of total children screened (N=150), mean
height and weight in all the age group was significantly (p<0.05%) less than
the National Centre for Health Statistics standards. The mean MUAC (Mid
Upper Arm Circumference) in all the age groups was significantly
(p<0.01%) less than the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
standards. Haemoglobin tests revealed that 65.33% had haemoglobin level
below the normal (12 g dl/1) values, indicating anaemia, out of which
approximately half (53.33%) were mild anaemic and 12% were moderately
99
anaemic. 30.5 and 23.73% of the subjects respectively experienced

breathlessness and fatigue. It was thus concluded that poor anthropometric
indices, under nutrition and iron deficiency anaemia might be due to a lower
intake of food and nutrients than the recommended dietary
BMI categories of underweight are related to increased mortality. The

condition of low BMI in adults (also termed as ‘thinness’), which results in
Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED), can be graded based on BMI into mild
thinness (BMI<18.49>17.0), moderate thinness (BMI <16.99>16.0) and
severe thinness (BMI<16.0). BMI in the range of 18.5-24.99 is considered
as normal and individuals above a BMI of 25 are categorized as overweight.
(Khadilkar et al, 2009)
BMI was also found positively correlated with levels of socio-economic

status. Shah et al. (1989) studied the relationship between socio-
demographic and behaviour variables, and BMI. They identified that the
most important correlates of BMI in men are family income, occupation,
leisure time, exercise frequency, number of meals eaten out, alcohol intake,
smoking, caffeinated drink intake and meal planning. In low socio-
economic indicators of living standard, BMI shows a positive correlation
with indicators of development (Nube et al., 1998). Delpeuch et al. (1994)
reported a large prevalence of low BMI in rural areas. In this context a
research study was conducted to assess the nutritional status on the basis of
the weight/height (BMI) and to assess the percentage prevalence of thinness
in adolescent girls and boys among the school groups of urban and semi
rural towns of Maharashtra and to give a comparative picture among them.
The results have also been compared with the standard national and
international reference values of BMI and accordingly their status has been
determined in relation to them.
In a study titled ‘Cut-off Values for Normal Anthropometric Variables in

Asian Indian Adults,’ by M.V. Hospital for Diabetes and World Health
Organization Collaborating Centre for Research, Education and Training in
Diabetes, Chennai (2003), Asian Indians have been identified with a high
risk of developing glucose intolerance even with small increments in their
100
BMI. They generally have high upper-body adiposity, despite having a lean
BMI. Therefore, the analysis was performed to find out the normal cut-off
values for BMI and upper-body adiposity (waist circumference [WC] or
waist-to-hip ratio [WHR]) by computing their risk associations with
diabetes. The risk of diabetes with stratified BMI, WC or WHR was
computed in 10,025 adults aged ≥20 years without a history of diabetes, and
they were tested by oral glucose tolerance tests, using World Health
Organization criteria. The calculations were performed separately in men
and women using diabetes as the dependent variable versus normoglycemia
(normal glucose tolerance) in multiple logistic regression analyses. Age-
adjusted and stratified BMI, WC or WHR were used as the independent
variables, using the first stratum as the reference category. The upper limit
of the stratum above which the risk association became statistically
significant (P < 0.05) was considered the cut-off for normal values. Normal
cut-off values for BMI were 23 kg/m2 for both sexes. Cut-off values for
WC were 85 and 80 cm for men and women, respectively; the
corresponding WHRs were 0.88 and 0.81, respectively. Optimum
sensitivity and specificity obtained from the receiver operator characteristic
curve corresponded to these cut-off values. The cut-off value for normal
BMI for men and women was 23 kg/m2. The cut-off values for WC and
WHR were lower in women than in men. The values were significantly
lower compared with the corresponding values in white populations.
A field based cohort study that examined the effect of maternal nutritional
status on the birth weight among women of tea tribe in Dibrugarh district
used the following: Anthropometric measurements of weight and height
were recorded using bathroom scales and the anthropometric rod. The
measurements of weight were recorded during the first, second, and third
trimesters of pregnancy. Birth weight of the baby was recorded at delivery,
irrespective of the period of gestation and mode of delivery. It was observed
that, 88% mothers had pre-pregnant weight of <45 kg and 61% babies had
birth weight <2500 gm. Subjects with better pre-pregnant weight had
corresponding favourable total weight gain, resulting in better birth weight
of the babies. Pre-pregnant weight had direct positive linear relationship
with the birth weight. It was thus rightly concluded that it is imperative to
101
improve the nutritional status of the adolescent girl in order to build up her
pre-pregnant weight for a favourable birth weight. (Gogoi and Ahmed
2007)
Khongsdier et al. (2005) looked at the chronic energy deficiency among

adolescents: a cross-sectional study in the context of patrilineal and
matrilineal societies in the rural Northeast India, the objective was to
determine the sex differences in chronic energy deficiency (CED) among
adolescents in the context of patrilineal and matrilineal societies locally. It
was a community-based study of the Hmar patrilineal society and the Khasi
(War and Khynriam) matrilineal society from Mizoram and Meghalaya in
Northeast India. Altogether, 1733 adolescent boys and girls aged 9–16 y:
Khynriam Khasis (n=1005), War Khasis (n=305) and Hmars (n=423)
comprised the sample. The weight, height and socio-economic
characteristics of the respondents were measured. BMI was used for
assessing CED relative to the international reference values. The overall
prevalence of CED was significantly greater in boys than in girls. The sex
differences in the prevalence of CED were 5, 10 and 6% points in the
Khynriam Khasis, War Khasis and Hmars, respectively. Allowing for age
and socio-economic variables, the risks of CED were about 1.82 (95% CI
1.14–2.90), 1.83 (95% CI 1.19–3.33) and 1.78 (95% CI 1.10–3.25) times
greater in boys than in girls among the Khynriam Khasis, War Khasis and
Hmars, respectively. Using logistic regression analysis, the prevalence of
CED was negatively associated with family income across study
populations. No significant association was found between CED and
religion. In conclusion, it was found that the patrilineal and matrilineal
forms of society were not reflected in the prevalence of CED among
adolescents. Though it is subject to further studies this research concluded
that girls fared better than boys with respect to the prevalence of CED.
An American study on whether the socio-economic status, perceived

economic barriers and nutritional benefits affect quality of dietary intake
among US adults presumed that the socio-economic factors may affect diet
quality, perhaps differentially across gender and ethnicity. The mechanism
of this association is still largely unknown. The study examined the
102
independent effects of socio-economic status (SES), perceived barrier of

food price (PBFP) and perceived benefit of diet quality (PBDQ) on diet
quality indicators (DQIj-k) and indices, across gender and ethnicity.
Additionally, the mediation proportion of the effect of SES on DQI through
PBFP and PBDQ was estimated. Data from two cross-sectional surveys, the
Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII) and Diet and
Health Knowledge Survey (DHKS) 1994–96 were used. The sample
consisted of 4356 US adults aged 20–65 years. With principal components
analysis, SES (an index) was measured using household income per capita
and education, and PBDQ was measured using an 11-item scale. PBFP was
defined as the ratio of importance of food price score relative to nutrition.
DQIj,k were assessed by a set of indicators and two indices including the
Healthy Eating Index. The associations between SES, PBFP, PBDQ and
DQIj,k varied significantly across gender and ethnic groups. PBFP acted as
a mediator in the association between SES and selected DQIj indicators,
namely energy, fat intake, sodium and simple sugar consumption (mediation
proportion >10%), but not PBDQ. SES, PBFP and PBDQ all affect dietary
intake, and vary by ethnicity and gender. Positive effect of SES on DQIj,k
may be mediated by PBFP but not PBDQ which is an independent
protective factor. The results clearly indicated that nutrition education is
important to promote healthy eating. (Beydoun and Wang, 2007)
A cross-sectional analysis comprising of data from across three

socioeconomic areas (rural, suburban and urban) in Beijing, China showed
the impact of low body weight and its association with bone health and
pubertal maturation in Chinese girls. The relevance of low body weight
amongst the pubertal girls and to establish the cut-off for BMI for
underweight in Chinese pubertal girls a sample a random sample of 1214
adolescent girls aged 12–14 y from 13 middle schools were selected. Using
a modified Chinese reference, the rate of low body weight (BMI<18) was
32.2% (95% CI 29.6–34.8%). Compared with desirable weight girls
(BMI=18–21), girls with a low body weight had a lower bone age, delayed
breast and pubic hair development, a lower rate of menarche, lower distal
one-third radius and ulna bone mineral content (BMC), bone mineral density
and bone width. Logistic regression showed that BMI was one of the
103
predictors of one-third ulna BMC after adjustment for confounding

variables. When comparing BMI<18 vs. BMI=18–21, the risk of BMC
being less than the median increased by 82% (odds ratio 1.82, 95% CI 1.06–
3.13). Thinness and stunting rates assessed by WHO recommended cut-offs
are also reported. High prevalence of low body weight (BMI<18) was
found to be a major health problem among Beijing pubertal girls. BMI<18 is
confirmed as the cut-off for delayed general growth and development for
Chinese girls and for screening girls at risk of lower bone mineral status.
(Du et al. 2003)
A research paper on the care and support of unmarried adolescent girls in

Rajasthan, found that adolescent girls have considerable unmet needs in
health, reproductive health and nutrition. A survey in Rajasthan sought to
ascertain the extent to which unmarried adolescent girls receive care and
support from their parents. Study findings suggest that a majority of them
received a high or medium level of care. There was no clear pattern by
socio-economic status. In a context where gender discrimination is rife,
some families, regardless of their economic circumstances, do seem to
provide nutrition, health and psychosocial care for their adolescent
daughters. (Barua et al. 2007)
The Vacha Kishori Project Team (2002) undertook a pre-adolescent girls

study from municipal schools in Mumbai. The Vacha team realised that the
pre-adolescent girls are seldom the focus of policies or research. Yet this is
the stage when the girl’s concept of womanhood begins to be constructed
and they begin to be treated as women-in-the-making. The study, which
forms the basis of this note, was concerned with pre-adolescent girls in
municipal schools in Mumbai. The three significant criterions that the
sample from current paper tries to draw inferences from are as follows: Age
in terms of Height, Weight and BMI.
104
Table 3.9 BMI categories for age in children
Weight Status
Percentile Range
Category
Underweight Less than the 5th percentile
Healthy weight 5th percentile to less than the 85th percentile
Overweight 85th to less than the 95th percentile
Obese Equal to or greater than the 95th percentile
Source: - http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/html_charts/wtage.htm for children 3-

18 years
This brings to light the need of a research paper of this form. The quality
and nature of data collected in terms of the age group, geographical
locations and socioeconomic strata has not been carried out before. The
amount of different types of food groups consumed would reveal the amount
of macronutrients consumed and the respondent’s relative health status. The
dietary history and measurement of BMI of respondents are indicative of the
nutritional deficiencies and anaemia amongst the girl respondents. This data
in-turn would shed some light on the root of the wide prevalence of maternal
mortality and morbidity amongst Indian women in the childbearing age
group. It will additionally help scholars, academicians in the field to find
relevant interventions to improve the nutritional status of adolescent girl.
In this context a research study was conducted to assess the nutritional status
on the basis of the weight/height (BMI) and to assess the percentage
prevalence of thinness in adolescent girls and boys among the school groups
of urban and rural towns of Maharastra and to give a comparative picture
among them. The results have also been compared with the standard
national and international reference values of BMI and accordingly their
status has been determined in relation to them.
105
This paper tries to review the prevalence of female childhood malnutrition

and its consequence in the form of increased risk of maternal mortality and
morbidity through assessment of the children’s malnutrition status. A
gender comparison was undertaken to confirm these ill effects. Further
application of the knowledge of malnutritional status and its correlation with
female maternal mortality and morbidity in specific geographical locations
was studied in terms of urban and rural populations. Additionally, it was
ascertained whether malnutrition was characteristic of a particular age
group. The plan of action of this research study was formulated with these
objectives and methodologies in mind that are discussed at length in the
following sections.
Research Design
In India, weight for age has been the most widely used indicator for the
assessment of nutritional status, detection of under nutrition and monitoring
the improvement post interventions in children. The question whether in
Indian children with high stunting rates due to past chronic under-nutrition,
BMI for age is a more appropriate indicator for the assessment of current
under nutrition and improvement following interventions is often debated
among nutrition scientists in the country. While there is a global acceptance
that BMI should be used for assessment of obesity/adiposity in children,
there has not been a similar consensus regarding the use of BMI for the
assessment of under nutrition in children. This research paper reports the
results of analysis of data on growth patterns and prevalence of under
nutrition in children between (12-17) years of age as compared to the
Khadilkar standards 2007 for weight for age, height for age and BMI for
age.
The school age period was specifically chosen since it is nutritionally

significant. This age is the prime time to build up body stores of nutrients in
preparation for the rapid growth of adolescence. In children, protein/calorie
deficient diet results in underweight, wasting, lowered resistance to
infection, stunted growth and impaired cognitive development and learning.
Whereas, iron deficiency in school age children, is associated with
retardation of growth, decreased immunity, poor cognitive development
106
resulting in lower Intelligence Quotient (IQ) scores and behavioural

abnormalities (Gowri and Sangunam). Therefore, is imperative to know the
nutritional status of school going children as well as counter any
deficiencies with suitable interventions as children are the future of the state
and country, hence the present study was carried out in Maharashtra with
following objectives:
1. To assess the nutritional intake of adolescent school going children of

Maharashtra.
a. To assess gender differences in the nutritional intake of adolescent
schoolchildren in Maharashtra.
b. To assess the nutritional intake differences between urban and rural
adolescent schoolchildren in Maharashtra.
2. To determine the anthropometric profile of adolescent school going
children of Maharashtra.
a. To determine the gender differences in the anthropometric profiles of
adolescent school going children of Maharashtra.
b. To determine the anthropometric profile differences between urban and
rural adolescent schoolchildren in Maharashtra.
3. To study the impact of food intake on the anthropometric profile of the
adolescent schoolchildren from Maharashtra.
4. To compare and comment on the geographical location differences of
nutrition intake on the anthropometric profile of adolescent
schoolchildren in Maharashtra.
Two schools each were shortlisted and selected from the Thane, Nasik and
Pune districts, Maharashtra. A total of 133-school going children were
selected randomly from amongst these schools. A semi-structured
questionnaire was used in order to obtain the information required that
included questions on dietary intake, anthropometric measurements,
individual height and weight measurements.
107
Scope of Study:
• Diet survey: Dietary intake has been widely used as an indicator of

nutritional status. The dietary survey segment of the questionnaire
included questions on the food consumption frequency which was
recorded in terms of cereals, pulses, milk and milk products, green leafy
vegetable, roots and tubers, fruits, meat and poultry, fats and oils and
sugar. The daily dietary recall for one day was recorded. The average
daily nutrient intake was calculated. The calculated daily nutrient intake
in terms of energy, protein, fat, ascorbic acid, iron, retinol, folic acid,
calcium and zinc were then compared against recommended dietary
allowances for Indians. The detailed dietary information will help reflect
a “low,” “excessive,” or “adequate” intake of nutrients according to the
recommended dietary pattern.
• Lifestyle survey: In addition to the dietary survey, the adolescent

schoolchildren’s medical history with regard to infections, illnesses,
chronic ailments, intake of medicines, nutritional supplements and life
style pattern such as physical activity, T.V. viewing, eating behaviour
patterns under stress were recorded.
• Anthropometric survey: Nutritional status of all the selected children

was assessed by measuring body heights (cm) and weights (kg). Height
and weight were compared with National Centre for Health Statistics
(NCHS) standards.
• Height and Weight measurement: Height of each subject was measured

in a standing position to the nearest 0.1 cm using non-stretchable steel tape
and then converted into metres. A personal weighing machine was used to
measure the body weight to the nearest 0.5 kg. The individuals were kept
under basal condition with minimum clothing and without shoes.
• Anthropometric assessment for under nutrition: Anthropometric

assessment was conducted to identify children with moderate to severe
under nutrition. Two indices were taken as a measure of chronic under-
108
nutrition i.e. height for age (stunted) and weight for height (wasted), with
reference to NCHS standards of growth and development. Fiftieth
percentile was taken as median percentile function. Children found = -
2SD (Standard Deviation) from the median on height for age and weight
for height were considered as moderate to severe malnourished. Children
= -2SD from the median on height for age were considered as stunted and
those = -2SD from the median on weight for height were considered as
wasted. Stunting is considered as a measure of chronic under-nutrition
indicating that protein deficiency can cause retardation in one’s physical
growth. Children = 50 percentile function on height for age and weight
for height were considered as normal. Standard deviation was used since;
the distribution of responses was even and without error. The deviations
in the data are captured well by the standard deviation. The method
employed was the survey method. The tools used were a questionnaire for
school students (boys and girls).
Sampling and Location of study:

The towns of Vasai, Virar, Karanjali and Rajgurunagar constituted the
universe for the study. Four schools were shortlisted after a careful scrutiny
of the accessible schools in Maharashtra. The girls and boys interviewed
were from schools like:
1. Urban Population Sample: Thane and Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra:

Municipal schools located in the urban towns of Vasai, Virar and
Haregaon.
2. Rural Population Sample: Nasik and Pune District, Maharashtra: Schools
run by charitable trusts in the rural towns of Karanjali and Rajgurunagar.
Ms. Lata Pujari, Programme Officer of The Sophia Centre for Women’s
Studies and Development was principal investigator involved in sampling,
data collection and questionnaire administration.
Informed Consent:
The study was conducted with appropriate oral and written permissions from
the heads of institutes/principals located in Vasai, Virar and Halegaon
109
townships near Mumbai. The impact that the educational status of their
parents on the nutritional intake has additionally been observed.
Hypothesis:
It is therefore hypothesized that the, “The nutritional intake pattern and
anthropometric status of adolescent urban schoolchildren especially girls is
significantly better as compared to rural adolescent schoolchildren.”
Methodology:
1. Anthropometric Status:
The usual measurements made to assess growth and nutritional status.
a) Body mass (weight) in kilograms.
b) Linear dimension (height) in inches.
2. Questionnaire:
While designing the sample, the schoolchildren from urban and rural areas
were administered the questionnaire since they were educated.
Additionally, adolescent school going girls and boys were selected since
they are the population that are most affected by poor nutrition choices made
by their caregivers, primarily their mothers. Therefore, we surveyed
adolescent schoolchildren. The type of information that we needed was
likely to be found in the responses of our target population. The sample set
(n) included 133 respondents.
A non-probability, cluster based sampling was used for the urban and rural
areas. Schools within the urban and rural clusters were shortlisted and
selected for the current survey. The questionnaire included both open-ended
and closed-ended questions. The respondent’s answers to the open-ended
questions were coded into a nominal response scale. A researcher was
present while the respondents answered the questionnaire, thereby
increasing the reliability of the information collected. The survey data was
collected from four schools/groups and then interpreted comparatively,
enabling us to study attitudes, values, beliefs, and past behaviour patterns.
110
Moreover, the questionnaire was relatively easy to administer, and only

questions directly related to the research paper were asked, recorded,
codified and analyzed. With the purpose of increasing the response rate by
seeking the necessary permissions, an emotional appeal was made that
convinced the respondent that they could make a difference.
Students from classes six and higher from the selected schools were chosen
as a part of the sample (ages 12-17 years). During the allotted period, the
researcher along with an assistant administered the questionnaire and
resolved any doubts that they had. The duly filled response sheets were then
collected from them. The procedure of data collection from the time of
contacting the heads of institutions to administering the questionnaire took
four months to complete. At the SCWSD, they were codified, tabulated and
data entered on an excel sheet. Simple statistical techniques were used to
tabulate the data in order to arrive at verifiable results. Data was analysed
and the interpretation noted for further analysis. Every item relevant to the
research objective was selected during data analysis. The data was
presented in a tabular form.
The researcher contacted the community leader in person at each district

school for the rural respondents. After explaining the purpose and probable
outcome, expectation to the leadership appropriate permissions were sought.
Prior to administering the questionnaire to the schoolchildren, (that formed a
part of the sample) the questionnaire was translated and adapted to match
the education level of the respondents from rural areas. On the day of data
collection, the researcher and research assistant met with the schoolchildren,
introduced the project at hand and administered the questionnaire to them.
Responses were recorded and transcribed. The researcher offered further
explanation and elaborated on issues as the situation required. The language
used in the questionnaire was Hindi. Questions from the English
questionnaire were reused for the regional language respondents by
translating them to Hindi. Simple statistical techniques were used to
tabulate the data in order to arrive at verifiable results.
111
The questionnaire included the following type of questions:

• Closed–ended: Multiple-choice questions have been used in addition to
scale questions. The questionnaire (in English and Hindi) had two close-
ended questions. (Question Numbers: I-1 and II-5)
• Open-ended: open-ended questions were used to find out the dietary
intake lifestyle choices made by schoolchildren. A maximum number of
questions were open ended. Seventeen open-ended questions featured on
both the English and Hindi language questionnaires. (Question Numbers:
I - 2,3, 7 and 9 and II - 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12)
• Combination of both: Six questions on the questionnaires were a
combination of the close-ended and open-ended types. (Question
Numbers: I-5,6, 7, 9, 11 and 13)
One way and two way tables were used for tabulation. An attempt was
made to compare data using the tables.
The target population studied in this research paper are as follows:

1. People: School going boys and girls between 12-17 years of age from
educational institutions across four districts, both from urban and rural
areas, in Maharashtra. Information was collected from them by using the
survey method and administering questionnaire.
2. Subject areas that have been studied are as follows: demographic
information of the schoolchildren, dietary intake, particularly the
frequencies of major meals and snacking habits.
3. Lifestyle choices made in terms of the cause-and-effect relationship
between, the reality of undernourishment and lower height, weight and
BMI status amongst others.
Raw data was collected and examined for errors and omissions. The data
was arranged in groups based on common characteristics:
a. Classification was made according to common attributes like, gender,
geographical location etc. In addition, numerical classification, such as
age, weight, height, BMI etc. Simple classification was used for a part of
the data classification where only one attribute was considered and the
universe was divided based on that. The paper uses manifold
112
classification in addition to the simple classification tables where, two or

more attributes are considered simultaneously, and divide the data into a
number of classes.
b. Classification was made according to class – intervals with data relating to
gender, geographical location, age amongst others etc. The data of this
type was classified based on class – intervals.
c. Tabulation was used to summarize raw data and display the same in
compact form for further analysis. Both one way and two-way tables were
utilised to facilitate analysis of data.
Quantitative data analysis was employed in calculating frequencies and for

simple cross tabulations. Manual data analysis was done by coding it
directly onto a Microsoft excel sheet. Detailed headings were used and
question numbers were written on each column to code information about
the question.
The staff guides, researcher and assistant researcher together decided on the
sample of school students, both boys and girls from the urban and girls only
from the rural towns of Maharashtra. The heads of institutions were cordial
and helpful in the manner in which they helped us with the data collection.
The staff of the schools and leaders of communities ably supported the
researchers where questionnaires were administered to women respondents
in collecting the necessary data. Post collection, the data sheets were tallied
and entered. The data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel.
Data Presentation and Interpretation

Selection and Frequency Distribution of Subjects
Table 1a: Total Number of Urban Schoolchildren Girls and Boys:
Age Girls Boys
12 0 4
13 13 5
14 11 9
15 6 13
113
16 6 5
17 and above 3 3
Non responses 0 5
Total 39 44
There were 83 urban school children in the study. A total of 39 girl
respondents and 44 boy respondents comprised the urban sample. The age
ranges of the urban respondents both girls and boys were between (12-17)
years . (Table: 1a)
Table 1b: Total Number of Rural Adolescent School Girls

Age Girls
12 15
13 7
14 27
15 1
16 0
17 and above 0
Total 50
The total number of adolescent rural schoolchildren (girls only) was 50.
The rural girl respondents were primarily in the age range of 12 to 14 years.
(Table: 1b)
In the present study, the anthropometric results observed were as follows:
Table 2a: Average Height Distribution - Urban Adolescent School Girls

Age Girls 95th Average 95th
Percentile Height Percentile
(m) (m) Height
Rank
12 1 1.58- 1.54 75
1.65
114
13 13 1.62- 1.49 25
1.68
14 12 1.64- 1.50 10
1.69
15 6 1.65- 1.48 10
1.70
16 6 1.65- 1.46 3
1.70
17 and above 1 1.65- 1.45 3
1.70
Total 39
The 13 year olds had a percentile rank of 25 for their average heights. The
14 and 15 year old urban girls ranked 10th on the height percentile for Indian
girls. The 16 year old urban girls performed relatively poorly than their
younger counterparts did. The percentile rank of seventeen year olds was
three. A declining trend in height percentile is observed (Table: 2a) as the
girls grew older in age.
Table 2b: Average Height - Rural Adolescent School Girls

Age Girls 95th Average 95th
(m) (m) Height
Rank
13 13 1.62-1.68 1.44 3
14 11 1.64-1.69 1.41 3
15 6 1.65-1.70 1.55 25
Non responses 11
Total 50
The height percentile rank for rural Indian schoolgirls for ages 12, 13 and 14
was 3. The height percentile for 15 year-old rural girls was the highest at
25. There was an improvement in the height percentile in rural girls after
115
the age of fifteen. (Table: 2b) An improved height percentile trend was not
observed in the urban adolescent girls.
Table 2c: Average Height - Urban Adolescent School Boys

Age Boys 95th Average 95th
(m) (m) Height Rank
12 4 1.58-1.67 1.39 10
13 5 1.65-1.74 1.49 10
14 9 1.72-1.79 1.52 10
15 13 1.76-1.82 1.58 10
16 5 1.78-1.83 1.64 25
17 and above 3 1.79-1.83 1.70 50
Non responses 5 - - -
Total 44 - - -
The 12, 13, 14 and 15 year old boys from urban areas had a height percentile
of 10. The 16 and 17 plus year olds had a height percentile of 25 and 50
respectively. Until the age of 15, the boys were in the tenth percentile and
the heights improved after 16 years of age (Table: 2c)
Table 3a: Average Weight Distribution - Urban Adolescent School Girls

Age Girls 95th Average 95th Percentile
Percentile Weight Weight Rank
(kg) (kg)
12 1 57-70 41 50
13 13 61-75 39 25
116
14 12 65-78 42 25
15 6 67-80 39 10
16 6 68-81 38 3
17 and 1 69-82 36 3
above
Total 39
Amongst the urban girls, the weight percentile rank ranged between 3rd on
the lower end and 50th on the higher limit. Most 13 and 14 year old urban
Indian girls had a weight percentile rank of 25. The 12 year olds had the
highest percentile rank of 50 while the 16 and 17 year olds had a weight
percentile rank of 3. The urban girls had better weight percentiles at 12
years of age and declined after 13 years of age (Table: 3a)
Table 3b: Average Weight Distribution - Rural Adolescent School Girls

Age Girls 97th Average 95th Percentile
(kg) (kg)
13 13 61-75 33 3
14 11 65-78 34 3
15 6 67-80 38 3
Non 11
Responses
Total 50
The weight percentile for rural Indian girls aged 12 years was the highest at
10. The 13, 14 and 15 year old school girls had a low weight percentile rank
of three. The rural girls had a low weight at every age in the sample (Table:
3b). The urban girls performed better than the rural girls did.
117
Table 3c: Average Weight Distribution - Urban Adolescent School Boys

Age Boys 95th Average 95th Percentile
(kg) (kg)
12 4 57-73 29 10
13 5 64-80 37 10
14 13 70-87 37 3
15 13 75-92 42 10
16 5 79-95 52 25
17 and 1 81-97 50 10
above
Non 3
Responses
Total 44
The urban boy respondents of ages 12, 13, 15 and 17 years had a percentile
rank of 10 based on their weight. The highest weight percentile rank was
for the boys aged 16 years (25th). Urban boys aged 14 years had a weight
percentile rank of 3. There is no declining trend in weight percentile.
(Table: 3c). Thus, a comparison of rural and urban girls shows that there is
malnutrition that reflects in decreased weight and height, as they grew older.
Whereas in boys, there is no decreasing trend in the percentile observed in
height and weight due to malnutrition.
Table 4a: Average BMI Distribution - Urban Adolescent School Girls

Girls Girls Normal Average BMI
Age BMI for BMI Percentile
(Years) 95th
Percentile
12 1 25.9 - 26.5 17.29 25th
13 13 27.0 - 27.5 17.75 25th
14 12 27.9 - 28.3 18.59 25th
118
15 6 28.5 - 28.8 17.69 10th

16 6 29.0 - 29.2 18.06 25th
17 & 1 29.5 - 29.7 17.01 25th
Over
Total 39
The urban girl respondents aged 12, 13, 14, 16 and 17 years had a BMI
percentile rank of 25. The only exception being 15 year-old urban
adolescent school girls with a BMI percentile rank of 10 (Table: 4a).
Table 4b: Average BMI Distribution – Rural Adolescent School Girls

Girls Age Girls Normal Average BMI
(Years) BMI for BMI Percentile
95th
Percentile
13 13 27.0 - 27.5 16.00 10th
14 11 27.9 - 28.3 17.70 25th
15 6 28.5 - 28.8 15.82 3rd
Non 11
Response
Total 50
The BMI percentile for rural Indian adolescent girls aged 12 and 14 years
was 25. While the rank for the 15 year olds was lowest recoded at 3 (Table:
4b).
119
Table 4c: Average BMI Distribution - Urban Adolescent School Boys

Boys Age Boys Normal Average BMI BMI
(Years) BMI for Percentile
95th
Percentile
12 4 25.9 - 26.5 15.15 10th
13 5 27.0 - 27.5 16.75 25th
14 13 27.9 - 28.3 16.08 10th
15 13 28.5 - 28.8 16.47 10th
16 5 29.0 - 29.2 19.38 25th
17 & Over 1 29.5 - 29.7 20.32 25th
Non 3
Response
Total 44
The BMI percentile rank for urban Indian boys aged 12, 14 and 15 years
was 10. Moreover, the BMI percentile rank for urban Indian boys aged 13,
16 and17 years was 25 (Table: 4c). The BMI of the rural girls declined, as
they grew older, however the BMI of urban boys and girls showed a decline
at 15 years and it improved, as they grew older.
In India, under-nutrition is a common health problem; it is most

predominant among the female population starting from their early life to
motherhood. For the adolescent girls, there has been no such study though
they bear the nutritional costs of future motherhood. Therefore, this study
was undertaken to address the lifestyle and nutrition of the Indian female
adolescents. The study was conducted purposively in suburban Mumbai
city and semi-rural areas of Maharashtra state. All adolescent girls aged 10–
18 years were considered eligible participants of a suburban population of
Mumbai city and other parts of Maharashtra. The study included socio-
demographic information, clinical examination, dietary intake, physical
activities and body mass index (BMI = weight in kg / height in m. sq.).
Socio-economically, 51% of them had a monthly family income ≥20,000
120
INR and 11.4% had <10,000 INR. Of the participants, 14.8% had a BMI
<18.5, 80.7% had 18.5 – 24.9, and 4.6% had ≥25. BMI was found not to
have significant association with physical activities. No clinical signs of
vitamin A deficiency were observed. On clinical examination 75% of the
participants were found healthy, 15.9% had anaemia and 5.7% had
diarrhoea. Compared with the national dietary intake, the cereal intake was
lower but protein containing foods like pulse and nuts, meat, egg, fish, milk
and milk products were almost equal to the national intake. On an average,
95% of calorie, 93.5% of protein and 96.5% of fat requirement were met.
For micronutrient requirement, very low intake was observed with calcium
(62%) and iron (63%). In conclusion, the participants consumed rice daily
with frequent consumption of vegetables. Although the study subjects were
mostly from a higher class of suburban dwellers their dietary intake was
found not healthy as evidenced by their daily rice intake and a very low
intake of fruits, calcium and iron indicating lack of awareness regarding
food habits.
A large number of urban Indian girl (Urban Non-Veg Girls: 33) and boy
(Urban Non-Veg Boys: 34) respondents indicated a preference for non-
vegetarian food. A small number of urban Indian girl (Urban Veg Girls: 6)
and boy (Urban Veg Boys: 9) respondents indicated a preference for
vegetarian food. 32 of the 50 rural Indian adolescent girl respondents were
vegetarians while there were 15 respondents who were non-vegetarians.
The urban Indian girl respondents indicated a high frequency for consuming
their favourite food, close to four times per week (Urban Indian Girls
Favourite Food Intake Often: 10). In a significant number of cases daily
intake of their favourite food was also noted (Urban Indian Girls’ Favourite
Food Intake Daily: 8). The urban Indian boy respondents indicated a
preference for consuming their favourite food close to three times per week
(Urban Indian Boy’s Favourite Food Intake Sometimes/Week: 17).
The rural Indian girl respondents consumed their favourite foods twice a
week (19 respondents out of 50). About 18% of the rural respondents
consumed their favourite foods often i.e., more often than twice a week (14
121
respondents out of 50). A small number of respondents said that they

consumed their favourite foods everyday (8% rural daily favourite food
consumption by rural respondents). The urban and rural girls indulged in
their favourite foods more frequently than the urban boys did.
Urban girl and boy favourite foods reflected an international as well as

regional cuisine whereas rural favourite food preference was only regional
that had a better balance of all the nutrients like proteins, carbohydrates and
vitamins and minerals whereas urban respondents choices were higher in fat
content than the other nutrients.
The urban Indian girl respondents were inclined most often to consuming
three major meals per day (Urban Indian Girls Major Meal Frequency thrice
a day: 21). The major meal frequency ranged from two to four on an
average (Urban Indian Girl Major Meal Frequency twice/four times/day: 8).
They tended to respond least frequently to one or five major meals per day
(Urban Indian Girls Major Meal Frequency once or five times per day: 1).
The urban Indian boy respondents were also inclined most often to
consuming three major meals per day (Urban Indian Boys Major Meal
Frequency for thrice a day: 18). There were no urban Indian boy
respondents who consumed only one major meal per day (Urban Indian Boy
Major Meal Frequency once/day: 0). Both girls and boys from the urban
areas showed a similar trend in the pattern of the number of daily meals
consumed.
Fifty percent of the rural adolescent girl respondents indicated that they
consumed three meals per day (25 rural adolescent girl respondents have
three meals/day). The number of rural adolescent girl respondents who
consumed two meals per day was 44% or 22 girls. There were no
respondents that consumed more than four meals per day or less than two
meals per day. Both rural and urban girls and urban boys showed a similar
trend in number of meal consumption pattern i.e. two to three meals per day.
122
Table 5: Breakfast Intake Distribution for Urban Adolescent School Girls

and Boys
Breakfast Urban Boys Rural
Girls Girls
Yes 37 38 28
No 2 5 22
Non responses 0 1 0
Total 39 44 50
Regular consumption of breakfast is linked with better cognition and good

health. Both the urban Indian girls and boys responses indicated that
breakfast was the meal that all of them consumed and did not skip. 28 rural
adolescent girls consumed breakfast every morning (56% - the percentage of
rural adolescent girls who consumed breakfast every morning). The number
of rural adolescent girl respondents who skipped having breakfast every
morning was 22. There were no non-responses out of 50 rural respondents
(Table: 5).
The breakfast items mentioned by urban respondents had more processed

bakery and ready to eat foods as compared to the rural breakfast, which
indicated more homemade dishes. The homemade breakfast reported was
more nutritionally balanced as compared to the readymade/processed
breakfast options, which were higher in fat and carbohydrates. The
breakfast consumption habit was higher in urban boys and girls than in rural
girls (Table: 5).
The urban Indian girl (Urban Indian Girl Lunch Intake Response: 36) and
boy respondents (Urban Indian Boy Lunch Intake Response: 42) consumed
lunch usually. Very few respondents said that they skipped lunch (Urban
Indian Girl No Lunch Intake Response: 3) (Urban Indian Boy No Lunch
Intake Response: 1). One rural adolescent girl respondent did not consume
lunch. Forty-nine respondents consumed lunch from amongst the 50 rural
respondents. The lunch consumption habit was present in both urban boys
and girls and amongst rural girls.
123
Again a very high number of the urban Indian girl (Urban Indian Girl
Dinner Intake Response: 39) and boy respondents (Urban Indian Boy Dinner
Intake Response: 40) consumed dinner daily. Similar to the lunch
consumption results, very few respondents reported non-consumption of
dinner. All the 50 rural adolescent girl respondents consumed dinner. The
habit of consuming dinner was present in both urban boys and girls and
amongst rural girls. The food items chosen by the rural girls for lunch and
dinner contained simple preparations of cereal, vegetables, and pulses as
compared to their urban counterparts.
The urban Indian girl (Urban Indian Girl Snack Intake Response: 22) and
boy respondents (Urban Indian Boy Snack Intake Response: 25) tended to
consume snacks with marginally higher frequency than a no snacking habit.
They responded negatively to low snack consumption. (Urban Indian Girl
No Snack Intake Response: 14) (Urban Indian Boy No Snack Intake
Response: 15). 90% of the 50 rural adolescent girl respondents did not
consume snacks through the day. 8% of the 50 rural adolescent girl
respondents consumed snacks through the day. There was one non-
response.
The snack food items chosen by the rural girls comprised of more
wholesome nutritious products as compared to their urban counterparts. The
urban girls and boys consumed higher ready to eat/processed foods, which
were more energy dense.
Table 6: Beverage Intake Distribution for Urban Adolescent School Girls

and Boys
Urban Rural
Beverages Boys
Girls Girls
Tea 30 25 32
Coffee 7 6 0
Soft 2
10 11
drinks
None 0 5 9
124
The preferred beverage of urban Indian girls and boys was tea (Urban Indian
Girls Tea Intake: 30) (Urban Indian Boys Tea Intake: 25). The frequency
with which the urban respondents consumed the preferred beverage - tea
was greatest for the urban Indian girl (Urban Indian Girls Tea Once a Day:
13) and boy respondents (Urban Indian Boys Tea Once a Day: 19). A small
number of respondents consumed tea thrice a day (Urban Indian Girl
Beverage Intake: five and Boy Beverage Intake: 3)
32 or 64% of rural adolescent school respondents preferred tea as a beverage

of choice. Nine respondents out of 50 did not consume beverage of any
type. 4% of the respondents who indicated a preference for aerated drinks.
The rural adolescent girl respondents had a number of non-responses (48
Non-responses out of 50) on being asked about their beverage intake
frequency. Two respondents said they consumed a beverage (other than
water) twice a day.
From the responses, tea seems to be the favourite beverage of the urban
girls, boys and rural girls (Table: 6) that they consumed at least once a day
with breakfast or in the evening.
Beverage intake timings for both set of respondents for this particular
question had the most non-responses with (Urban Indian Girls Non-
Responses: 22) (Urban Indian Boys Non-Responses: 25). The responses of
both set of respondents were comparable. The preferred timing of
consuming a caffeinated beverage was morning with over 52% or 26 out of
50 rural adolescent girl respondents indicating it. 21 non-responses were
noted.
Water is the main solvent in which all the digestive and absorptive processes
of the body occur, hence its consumption is vital. A large number of the
urban adolescent schoolgirls and boys consumed one litre of water daily
(Water Intake (One Litre): Urban Girls – 11/39 and Urban Boys – 21/44). A
large number of urban respondents consumed between (2-3) litres of water
per day (Water Intake (2-3 litres): Urban Girls – 8/39 and boys – 19/44).
Not too many adolescent school students (both girls and boys) consumed as
125
much as (4-5) litres of water daily. ( Urban Girls – 2/39 and Urban Boys –
1/44). There were a large number of non-responses from the urban girl
respondents (Water Intake (Non-responses): Girls – 9/39). Most of the
adolescent schoolgirls from the rural sample consumed between (2-3) litres
of water (Water Intake (2-3 litres): Rural Girls – 22/50). The least number
of responses was for water intake equivalent to 4-5 litres (Water Intake (4-5
litres): Rural Girls – 3). Urban boys and rural girls had a good consumption
of water (i.e. upto ten cups per day) as compared to urban girls.
Table 7: Fruit Consumption Pattern of Urban Adolescent School Girls and

Boys
Fruit Intake Urban Boys Rural
Girls Girls
Yes 35 37 43
No 3 4 5
Sometimes 1 2 0
Non responses 0 1 2
Total 39 44 50
Fruits are a powerhouse of vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre. They are an
indispensible part of a healthy diet. More often than not the urban
adolescent girls and boys responded by saying that, they ate fruits as a part
of their daily diet. Seasonal fruits were preferred over out of season fruits
and consumed regularly. Unavailability of fruits in their area was the reason
cited most frequently for not consuming fruits. The rural girl respondents
ate fruit most often as a part of their diet on a regular basis. The
schoolchildren consumed apples and bananas on a regular basis both from
the urban and rural areas. There was little or no variable based variation
observed in the consumption of fruits between geographical areas. Both the
urban and rural respondents had indicated fruit consumption in their diet
(Table: 7)
The urban area respondents both girls and boys received meals at their
schools (Meals at School: Urban Girls – 37/39 and Urban Boys – 39/44).
126
The rural girl respondents received meals at their schools (Meals at School:
Rural Girls – 49/50). Both the urban and rural respondents had eaten a meal
in the school.
The urban adolescent girl and boy respondents had similar responses, they
responded by saying that they did not have any underlying medical
condition (No Medical Condition: Urban Girls – 28/39 and Boys – 35/44).
There were non-respondents from the girls (Non-responses for Medical
Condition: Urban Girls – 5 and Boys – 3). The rural girl respondents did not
indicate an underlying medical condition (No Medical Condition: Rural
Girls – 37/50). One fifth of the rural respondents indicated to having an
underlying medical condition (Yes Medical Condition: Rural Girls – 10/50).
Most of the urban adolescent schoolchildren (both girls and boys) did not
consume medication for any purpose (No Medication for Condition: Urban
Girls – 24 and Boys – 37). There were 9 non-responses amongst the urban
schoolgirls and 3 non-responses amongst urban schoolboys out of a total of
39 and 44 respectively. Three quarters of the rural adolescent school girls
indicated no use of medicines for any underlying medical condition (No
Medication for health condition: Rural girls – 36/50). There were 13
adolescent school girls who indicated consuming some form of medication
for a health condition. Majority of the respondents reported that they did not
have a medical condition for which they consumed medicines.
Most of the urban respondents did not consume nutritional supplements (No
Nutritional Supplements: Urban Girls – 22 and Urban Boys – 31).
However, the urban adolescent girl respondents indicated a higher likelihood
of consuming nutritional supplements than their male counterparts or the
school boys. (Yes to Nutritional Supplement: Urban Girls – 12 and urban
Boys – 10). There were a large number of non-responses from the urban
girl respondents than, the urban boy respondents on the subject of nutritional
supplement intake (Non-response Nutritional Supplement Intake: Urban
Girls – 5 and Urban Boys – 3). The girl respondents from rural schools
indicated that nutritional supplement was not included in their daily diet
plan (No Nutritional Supplement: Rural Girls – 35/50). There were rural
girl respondents who specified that they consumed nutritional supplements
127
(Yes Nutritional Supplement: Rural Girls – 12/50). Majority of the

respondents from both the urban and rural areas did not take nutritional
supplements.
There were no food intake restrictions suggested from the responses of the
urban adolescent school girls and boys (No Food Restrictions: Urban Girls –
27/39 and Boys – 30/44). Less frequently, the urban boys pointed to
following food restrictions in some form (Yes Food Restrictions: Urban
Boys - 10/44). There were a higher number of non-responses with the urban
girl respondents (Non-responses on Food Restrictions: Urban Girls – 7/39).
The rural girls did not follow any food restrictions (No Food Restrictions:
Rural Girls – 43/50). There were minor non-responses from the rural girl
respondents (Non-Responses: Rural Girls – 2/50). Majority of the
respondents did not avoid any food items, as they did not have any
restrictions in their diet.
Data indicates that Non-vegetarians predominated with 52.66 %, followed

by vegetarians (38%) and ovo-vegetarians (9.33%). 43.3% children skipped
breakfast on daily basis out which 12.66% children skips breakfast 3-4
times/week Table 1. Similar were the findings of National Institute of
Nutrition (NIN) (2003-2004), where in a sample of (11-13) year children,
33.8% children skipped breakfast (2-3) times/week and 3.9% were absolute
breakfast skippers. The foods consumed daily by all the subjects included
cereals, fats and oils and sugar and jaggery. Regarding the consumption of
pulses, it was found that a good proportion (71.33%) of the subjects
consumed the item daily and 22.66% consumed 4-6 times per week as
depicted in Table 2. Consumption of milk and milk products by the subjects
was also found to be frequent, 86.66% consumed milk on daily basis
whereas, 12.66% consumed milk 4-6 times per week. Percentage of the
children (32%) consuming green leafy vegetables 4-6 times per week was
higher than those (19.33%) who were consuming daily.
The survey showed that the consumption of roots and tubers was quite
frequent in comparison to most of the other foods except cereals, fats and
oils and sugar and jaggery. Majority of the non-vegetarians and ovo-
128
vegetarians consumed meat and poultry occasionally, whereas only 7.33%

consumed it on daily basis. Intakes of all the nutrients in all the three age
groups were comparatively less than the recommended dietary allowances
(RDA) of the respective age groups, published by the Indian Council of
Medical Research (ICMR). Protein was inadequate in spite of adequacy of
pulses and inclusion of meat and poultry. The reason may be a lower
dietary intake of foods.
Table 8: Physical Activity - Urban Adolescent School Girls and Boys

Physical Urban Boys Rural
Activity Girls Girls
Walk 7 13 9
Sports 23 19 35
Dance 8 15 16
Other 8 5 11
None 3 4 0
Physical activity is imperative for optimum bone and muscle development

as well as to prevent the negative health effects of a sedentary lifestyle. A
sport was one of the physical activities of choice for a large number of urban
girl and boy respondents (Sports: Urban Girls – 23/39 and Boys – 19/44).
Dancing was chosen by urban girl respondents to a lesser extent than sports
(Dancing: Urban Girls – 8/39 and Boys – 15/44). Urban boy respondents
chose to walk frequently (Walking: Urban Boys – 13/44). The urban
respondents who chose no form of physical activity were smallest in number
(No Physical Activity: Urban Girls – 3/39 and Boys – 4/44). Mainly, sport
as a form of physical activity or exercise was preferred by the rural
schoolgirls (Sports: Rural Girls – 35/50). Following sports, dancing was the
most preferred form of physical exercise (Dancing: Rural Girls – 16/50).
There were no non-respondents amongst the rural girls (Non-Responses
Physical Activity: Rural Girls – 0). The urban and rural respondents were
physically active as sports was the chosen activity by most respondents
(Table: 8).
129
Table 9: Television Viewing Habit - Urban Adolescent School Girls and

Boys
TV Viewing Urban Boys Rural
Girls Girls
Daily 34 36 43
Often 3 1 0
Sometimes 2 2 1
No TV 0 2 6
Non responses 0 3 0
Total 39 44 50
The habit of viewing television daily was noted amongst both, the urban
girls and boys (Daily Television Viewing: Urban Girls – 34/39 and Boys –
36/44). Very few urban respondents did not watch television nor had a non-
response to this question (No TV and Non-Response: Urban Girls – 0/39.
No TV: Urban Boys – 2/44 and Non-Responses – 3/44). A qualitative
analysis of the snacks schoolchildren prefer to eat while viewing television
revealed that the urban schoolchildren, both boys and girls ate pre-packaged
foods like chips, biscuits, instant popcorn and similar while watching
television. Rarely, was fruit consumption was mentioned by the
respondents. (Table: 9)
Amongst the rural adolescent schoolgirls, the daily television viewing habit
was greatest (Daily TV Viewing: Rural Girls – 43/50). There were a small
number of rural respondents who viewed no television whatsoever (No TV:
Rural Girls – 6). The qualitative analysis of the snacks schoolchildren
prefer to eat while viewing television. Responses of the rural schoolgirls
were similar to those from the urban areas. They preferred eating pre-
packaged snacks like chips, biscuits, instant noodles amongst others.
(Table: 9) TV viewing was the most popular passive leisure activity
preferred by both urban and rural respondents. They snacked on energy rich
processed foods while viewing television.
130
Both the girls and boys from urban schools admitted to having some form of
stress in their daily life (Yes Stress: Urban Girls – 24/39 and Urban Boys –
24/44). The boy respondents indicated that they suffered from stress less
often than their girl counterparts did (No Stress: Urban Girls – 10/39 and
Boys – 18/44). There were a higher number of non-responses amongst the
urban girls than the boys (Non-Response: Urban Girls – 5/39 and Boys –
2/44). The rural girl respondents indicate that they did not suffer from stress
very often (No Stress: Rural Girls – 37/50). About one quarter or 12/50
rural girl respondents said that they suffered from stress. There was one
non-response.
Previous research has shown that stress can lead to changes in eating pattern
leading to over or under eating. However, there was no change noted in the
eating pattern of urban girl respondents due to stress in about fifty percent of
the cases (No Change in Eating Pattern: 20/39). A significantly large
number (as compared with the urban girl respondents) amongst the urban
boys indicated no change in eating patterns (No Change in Eating Pattern:
Urban Boys – 35/44). The non-responses amongst urban girls were
comparatively higher than the boys (Non-Response: Urban Girls – 10/39
and Boys – 3/44). 6 out of 44 boy respondents said that they ate more or
less the same amount of food while experiencing stress. There was no
significant change in the eating patterns of rural girl respondents while
experiencing stress (No Change in Eating Pattern: Rural Girls – 42/50).
There were three non-responses to this question from amongst the rural
respondents. Most respondents reported that though they were stressed,
their eating pattern remained unaffected.
Conclusion
An extensive survey UNICEF carried out in different parts of India, both
rural and urban areas, indicated that the regional diets were predominantly
cereal based and so these diets were deficient in several nutrients,
deficiencies of these nutrients therefore occured frequently and to a greater
degree among children. Inadequate intake of nutrients compounded by
poverty is the main cause of nutritional deficiency disorders. Similar were
the findings of Singh (2003) and NIN (2003) (National Institute of Nutrition,
131
Hyderabad) who carried out a survey in Uttar Pradesh and reported that
nutrient intakes, especially the intake micronutrients were grossly
inadequate as compared to the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance).
These deficiencies can be reduced with relatively small investments. The

technology is available to address many of them, but they persist for a
variety of reasons including the insufficient awareness and understanding to
combat them. In recent years, food-based interventions have been largely
driven by non-governmental organizations and other local institutions, and
often overshadowed by national campaigns to reduce micronutrient
malnutrition through capsule distribution and supplementation programmes.
Perceived to be less cost-effective, and a bit time-consuming to achieve
results, compared to supplementation interventions, food-based
interventions have been neglected by national strategies in combating
micronutrient deficiencies. In addition, these strategies provide the only
sustainable approach to combat malnutrition at the community level. In a
country with a high prevalence of universal public distribution system, the
government of India should always retain a commanding position in
managing the food security system. Building a sustainable food security
system will require attention to both the availability of sufficient stocks as
well as control. If the ‘first green revolution’ benefits farmers in irrigated
areas, the launching of the second green revolution should help farming
families in rain-fed, semiarid areas. In both cases, the pathways used for
yield enhancement should be the ever-green-revolution approach.
The current research determined the anthropometric profile of adolescent

school going children of Maharashtra, that indicated no differences in
gender and both groups reflected poor height and weight gains as the
respondents grew older. The nutritional intake of adolescent school going
children of Maharashtra reflected that there were no gender differences with
regard to nutritional intake as poor nutrient consumption in terms of proteins
was observed as the respondents consumed a high carbohydrate diet and was
further reinforced by consumption of processed foods that are calorie dense
and poor in proteins. These observations were noted in both the genders and
geographical areas. Moreover, the rural respondents consumed traditional
132
food items much more than the respondents from the urban areas, which
were more wholesome and nutritionally balanced. However, there was also
an indication of processed food consumption, in rural areas too which
reflected urbanization of food patterns in rural areas.
A good pointer in this study is a participation of both groups (urban and

rural) in sports activities. However, as equally reported by both groups the
number of hours passively spent on viewing TV needs to be monitored by
parents in both urban and rural areas. It is also to be noted that stress seems
to be an aspect of life that has been reported by both the groups.
Hence, malnutrition is not only about food. To prevent and treat it

effectively, one needs a broader approach, which also tackles other problems
such as poor access to basic health services and inappropriate feeding and
caring practices of children.
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STATEMENT
STREE MUKTI ANDOLAN SAMPARK SAMITI

CONDEMNS ATTEMPTS TO UTILIZE ISSUE OF
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN FOR SECTARIAN
POLITICS
13 October 2016
Several incidents of sexual assault on young girls and women that have
taken place in Maharashtra, such as in Kopardi (Ahmednagar), Talegaon
(Nashik), Osmanabad, Beed, etc. in the last few months are a cause of
serious concern. The recorded number of cases of serious crimes against
women in Maharashtra has been steadily rising in the last few years.
Secular and progressive women’s organizations and groups such as ours
have been trying to draw the attention, not just of the government, but also
the general public to this serious state of affairs. Weak laws, lack of
sensitivity in the police, criminal justice system and the administration and
poor infrastructure coupled with political patronage for the perpetrators of
such crimes have all led to a poor conviction rate in crimes against women.
As a result laws have failed to act as a deterrent. It is for these reasons that
the women’s movement in the country has been asking not only for laws
that will provide justice to women, but also the necessary mechanisms for
their strict implementation. We have always maintained that violence
against women in not a cause of concern for women and women’s
organizations alone, but a problem to be addressed by the society at large.
We are at present witnessing a large number of gatherings in different parts

of Maharashtra wherein ordinary people are coming out on the streets to
protest the brutal atrocities against young girls and raise demands for strict
punishment to the culprits. We welcome this public expression of support.
However, at the same time, we strongly condemn any attempt to utilize the
issue of violence against women in order to target any particular community
and indulge in sectarian politics.
136
Violence against women is a serious problem with multiple dimensions.

Women are not just subject to rape and different degrees of sexual assault,
but face different forms of injustice. Discrimination at the work place,
insecure public places, sex selection, overruling their right to choose their
partners or even their careers, etc. are some of the ways in which women are
treated unequally in our society. Official data shows very clearly that almost
50% of the cases of violence against women are to do with violence within
the family. Lakhs of women are subject to harassment for dowry, desertion
on grounds of not having a male child, adultery and severe mental and
physical violence originating from patriarchal male supremacy. The fact is
that women face violence from within the household, irrespective of caste
and community. However, we do not find people taking to the streets to
protest these atrocities.
We appeal for an immediate halt to this attempt to project only one aspect of
violence against women and utilize it as a political tool to create a rift
between different communities. Since women are seen as symbols of
honour of the community, any increase in communal or caste tensions will
only result in women being further humiliated and becoming targets of
sexual violence during riots and attacks. Our country has witnessed
innumerable such incidents such as in Gujarat in 2002, and more recently, in
Muzaffarnagar, wherein women have become victims of sectarian identity
politics.
We also wish to state that the question of violence against women cannot be
seen in isolation from the problems of inequality and unemployment
resulting from the economic policies of the ruling sections, and the identity
politics of socially dominant groupings of Indian society. The current
political situation is inimical to women’s equality and their struggle for
emancipation. The need of the hour is for men and women from all castes
and communities to unite to root out the problem of women’s inequality and
discrimination.
Kiran Moghe (Akhil Bhartiya Janwadi Mahila Sanghatana), Shanta

Ranade, Lata Bhise (Bhartiya Mahila Federation), Anjali
137
Maydeo (Bharip-Bahujan Mahasangh Mahila Aghadi), Alka

Pawangadkar (Stree Mukti Sanghatana), Manisha
Gupte (MASUM), Nagmani Rao (Shramik Mukti Dal Lokshahiwadi),
Anand Pawar (Samyak), Preeti Karmarkar, Sadhana Dadhich (Nari Samat
Manch), Achut Borgaonkar (Tathapi), Vaishali Bhandwalkar (Bhatke
Vimukt Mahila Adhikar Andolan), Vidya Kulkarni, Sadhana Khati,
Sunita Sheel and others.
c/o Dr. Sulabha Bramhe,

Law College Road,
Pune 411 004,
Contact number: 9422317212
138
PRESS RELEASE
ALL INDIA DEMOCRATIC WOMEN’S

ASSOCIATION
26th August, 2016
A much delayed Bill to address the issues surrounding surrogacy has been
reportedly cleared in a cabinet meeting of the present NDA Government on
24thAugust 2016. There has been a long standing demand from many
organizations and groups for a separate law to ensure that women, especially
from the poorer sections are not exploited by the increasing pulls and
pressures of this multi-million dollar medical industry. AIDWA concurs
with the ban on commercial surrogacy introduced in the Bill, as it will
contribute to contain and regulate this proliferating business. We are
opposed to commercial surrogacy not because we think it belongs to an '
alien' culture, but because we are of the view that it is a form of exploitation
of poor women who have neither any economic option nor medical or legal
protection.
However, we are concerned with its underlying conservatism, which

excludes single parents, live-in partners, same sex couples, etc. from
altruistic surrogacy. It displays a regressive mind-set that makes negative
value judgements about certain categories of citizens, thereby violating their
fundamental Constitutional right to be treated equally before the law. The
same conservatism is expressed in confining 'altruistic’ surrogacy to the
same caste and community. It is also not clear why couples who already
have a child have been excluded.
Moreover, the Bill does not pay adequate attention to the protection of the
surrogate mother even in ‘altruistic’ surrogacy. Providing appropriate
139
safeguards, insuring her against long term consequences on her health and
wellbeing, etc should form an intrinsic part of the Bill.
If it has to succeed in its objective, the law will require an effective

implementing and monitoring component. These sections will have to be
carefully drafted taking into consideration the stiff resistance from
commercial interests that have already been expressed. To achieve any
degree of success, the NDA Government would do well to undertake a
larger consultation which includes women’s organizations that have been
active on the ground, before placing and passing this Bill in Parliament.
Malini Bhattacharya Jagmati Sangwan

(President) (General Secretary)
140
BOOK REVIEW
MARGINALISATION OF MINORITIES
- Dr. Vibhuti Patel
India: Social Development Report 2012: Minorities at the Margins by

Council for Social Development, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2013,
pp. xx + 298. Price: Rs. 795/-
Social Development Report of India is a product of a large number of area

studies and sectoral studies on the socioeconomic conditions of the socially
excluded sections of India i.e. the poor among Scheduled Castes, Scheduled
Tribes, DTNT, disabled, women and religious minorities. In the forward,
Muchkund Dubey sets the tone by declaring that the special theme of the
report is minority rights as the root of marginalization is identity based
exclusion. He also avers that while evolving the social development index,
it must be kept in mind that social hierarchies based on caste, ethnicity,
religion, and gender are aggravated by poverty. Market segmentation
superimposed on traditional structures of domination at micro level
determines access to public goods such as health, education and
employment.
In the “Introduction”, Zoya Hasan and Mushirul Hasan gives clarity about
the concept of ‘social development’ originally proposed by Durgabai
Deshmukh, a founder of Council of Social Development who played a
pivotal role in the debates on the Constitution of India of which Dr.
Babasaheb Ambedkar was a central figure. They point out the failure of
state to give people their basic minimum needs for survival and dignified
life due to withdrawal of state from key sectors of the economy-
infrastructure, social and agricultural sectors. They highlight identity based
141
exclusion in which huge new inequalities target Muslims the worst, as

revealed by Human Development Report, 2011 that among below poverty
line population Muslims constitute 33 % of the total.
Jayati Ghosh focuses on conceptual aspects of social development and states

that social development refers to the change or transformation of social
relations within society. She explains the genesis of development discourse
and convincingly proves that social development through change in
distribution of assets and income increases purchasing power, contains
social conflicts, enhances acceptability of state policies by the masses and
ensures political stability. She puts forward 6 dimensions of social
development index as redistribution of gains of growth, food and nutrition
security, enhancement of capacity to participate in economic activity,
security against ill health, accidents and calamities, equitable and high
quality education and health and social protection of the aged, children and
persons with disabilities.
While rigorously analyzing trends in poverty and inequality based on

statistics, indicators and an exhaustive data system generated by the
National Sample Survey, National Family Health Surveys and Census of
India and controversy around the Tendulkar poverty lines as against the
Lakdawala poverty lines, Himashu avers that socio economic inequities
affecting vulnerable sections the most should be seen in the context of
jobless growth. Majority of population is experiencing drastic lowering of
standard of living and quality of life as a result of employment in
unorganized sector and also informalisation of workers within the organized
sector.
Muchkund Dubey’s chapter on “Free and Compulsory Elementary

Education” shows limitation of Right to Education Act (RTE), 2009 as it
leaves outside its scope children from poorer sections, child labourers and
142
children with special disabilities. He provides social audit of Sarva Shiksha

Abhiyan, Mid-Day Meals Scheme and Common School System
Commission and asks a pertinent question whether education is an
‘exclusive commodity’ or ‘a basic right’. From the Annual Status of
Education Report (ASER) survey he does a reality check in terms of
inadequacy of educational infrastructure-water, electricity, library, medical
facilities, toilets, ramps for disabled children. He forcefully supports free
and compulsory education devoid of private interest and concludes that RTE
cannot be effective ‘until the present multi-layered system of school
education in India is a state supported and state controlled common school
system based on concept of neighbourhood schools and a comprehensive set
of clearly articulated and legally enforceable norms.’ (p. 44).
The chapter on ‘Employment and Unemployment: Context and Prospects”

Praveen Jha and Nath Thakur focus on the unimpressive record on
addressing unemployment, poverty and occupational structural
transformation in the post-independence period in India. From the First Five
Year Plan till the 12th Five Year Plan, proclamations for employment
generation are made but the quality of employment and wage improvement
remains the central challenge for large majority of the workforce. Dual
economy model provides plum packages only to the microscopic minority of
privileged sections i.e. only 6 % of the total workforce. The author
acknowledges the advantages of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Scheme but also admits that implementation of MG
NAREGA is limited due to bureaucratic bungling, corruption, leakage and
subversion by the vested interests. In the post liberalization period,
construction and trade are expanding sectors but they have served only a few
surplus earning individuals.
“India’s Health, Not Shining” by Mohan Rao and Ommen C. Kurian begins
with dismal record of India with respect to health indices. In comparison
143
with Thailand, China, Sri Lanka and Brazil health indices of India in terms
of Infant Mortality Rate, Under 5 mortality rate are extremely high while
immunization and birth by skilled attendants and per capita government
expenditure on health are extremely low. The chapter gives serious
attention to the grim reality of worsening child sex ratio symbolizing
daughter aversion and the deplorable status of women in India. Privatisation
and commercialization of health care services have played havoc by
rendering a severe blow to the public health sector. Authors of this chapter
recommend critical reorganization of public health services for which public
spending on health care must be enhanced drastically.
Indu Agnihotri’s chapter “Gendering Social Analysis, Contextualising

Gender: Women in Neo-liberal India” provides perspective on feminization
of poverty and decreasing work participation of women and increased
unpaid care work and extremely insecure forms of work in the informal
sector. Decline of agriculture due to liberalization of agrarian market has
resulted into immeserisation of women in the rural and tribal areas. Micro-
finance touted as the panacea for all woes of poor women has kept women
perpetually indebted. The rapid pace of globalisation has brought massive
uncertainties in women’s lives. Multi-faced tragedies due to marketisation
of poor economies and commercialisation of human relations, escalation of
social conflict and violence against women, super exploitation of women by
Transnational Corporations Corporations (TNCs) and Multi-national
Corporations (MNCs), starvation deaths in the rural areas. Devaluation of
women’s status has manifested in declining child sex ratio, domestic
violence and job opportunities as the cheapest labour doing demeaning
chores of domestic workers, waste pickers, and sweat-shop workers.
P.M. Kulkarni and Himanshu in their article “Regional Dimensions of

Inequality” bring to the fore distribution of inequalities in health, education,
nutrition, income across regions in India using official data sources of
144
National Sample Surveys, National Family Health Surveys and The Census
of India. They conclude that “Overall development accompanied by
affirmative action has probably helped narrow down the gaps between
socially backward classes and others but gaps do remain and the objective of
eliminating inequalities is far from being achieved.”(p. 116)
Mindboggling issues of starvation, hunger, under-nutrition are discussed in a

chapter by Tajamul Haque in “Challenges of Food Security”. The author
tries to answer 6 key questions concerning food production, accessibility to
people from different socio-economic strata, sufficiency for nutritious food,
appropriate policy, infrastructure and institutions for effective food delivery
and distribution, access to safe drinking water, sanitation, health care and
education food absorption and utilisation for sustainable food security. The
author makes a convincing case for universalisation of food security as a
basic human right. He also recommends land rights for women as women
are majorly involved in subsistence production and have principal stake in
food security.
In the chapter titled “Social Security in India” by Praveen Jha, R. Ramkumar

and Nilachala Acharya examine a notion of social security by ILO, OECD,
UN Millennium Declaration for Reduction of Poverty and role of the nation
states in provisioning of social security. It analyses recommendations of
National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector and states
that The Organised Sector Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008 has watered
down the thrust of the Commission. While discussing financial
affordability, viability and problems relating to the delivery mechanism the
authors conclude, “Even if we want to have a comprehensive social security
measure in place, we need only one-fourth of the amount of revenue forgone
etc., to various actors in the central tax system. But, what is lacking is a
strong political will.” (157)
145
Part II of the volume is dedicated completely to the most neglected strata of

India, minorities who are confronted with the reality of social, political,
economic, educational exclusion due to inbuilt biases in the social structure.
Major exclusion of Muslims from planning and implementation in the
context of growing communalization of day to day governance structures
and mechanisms allow diversion of funds earmarked for Muslims who face
continuous discrimination and stigmatization. Weak socio-economic and
educational profile of Muslims in all states has demanded greater attention
of policy makers and politicians after Sachar Committee’s Report was
released in 2006 by the Government of India. Abusaleh Shariff, Khursheed
Anwar Siddiqui, Amit Sharma and Prabir Kumar Ghosh seek reasons for
wage and non-wage income of different socio-religious groups.
Tanweer Fazal and Rajeev Kumar’s article “Muslims in India-A Study of

Socio-economic and Educational Levels in Four Focus States” reveal low
retention rate and high dropout rate from the field of education among
Muslims in UP, Bihar, Assam and Kerala. Mohammad Sanjeer Alam
explains the modalities of exclusion of Muslims from formal education due
to unequal distribution of opportunities and absence of affirmative action in
education by the state and non-state actors.
“Madarsas and Educational Conditions of Muslims” by Arshad Alam

profiles the historical genesis of Madarsas and its changing role in post-
independence India, state polices on Madarsas in UP, Bihar and West
Bengal. The author demands modernization of Madarsas to equip millions
of Muslim children to meet the challenges of modern times.
Prashant Trivedi’s article on “Rural Power Structure, State Initiatives and

the Muslims-Divergent Experiences in Four States’ brings out inter-
sectionality of class and socio-cultural variables in the nature of
landownership, occupational pattern, health related issues, availability of
146
housing and electricity, drinking water among Muslims in Uttar Pradesh,

Bihar, West Bengal and Assam. The author recommends a comprehensive
and multifaceted approach for the Muslim community.
“Assessing UPA Government’s Response to Muslim Deprivation” by Zoya

Hasan and Mushirul Hasan makes a social audit of the Prime Minister’s 15-
point programme that focuses on education related schemes, Multi-Sectoral
Development Programme for basic amenities, enterprise development,
health delivery system etc. due to too little funds for economic services,
social services and welfare services for minorities and exclusion of Muslims
from existing government programmes. They emphasise mainstreaming of
Muslims in all decision making bodies- ministries, departments and
implementation agencies.
“Government’s Commitment towards Development of Muslims” by Javed

Alam Kahn and Pooja Parvati evaluates state intervention to implement
Sachar Committee’s recommendations in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana during
2006 and 2012. In 2007, the Ministry of Minority Affairs adopted an area
development programme with special focus on education, health,
employment, skill development, living condition and security among
Muslims in 90 minority districts and 29 states/union territories. The
authors’ research in UP and Haryana shows that the norms and eligibility
criteria (marks, domicile, income and caste certificates and two child norm)
come in the way of accessing the schemes meant for them. They exhort the
government to make the norms and criteria uniform to schemes catering to
the SCs and STs.
Savio Abreu and Rowena Robinson in their article “Social Development of

Christian Community in India” highlight regional variations demographic
profile of Christians, discrimination against Dalit and tribal Christians,
attacks on Christians and churches by Hindu right wing forces. The authors
147
rightly conclude that “violence increasingly visible at all levels of

contemporary Indian Society-domestic violence, violence in public places as
well as varied forms of political violence” (273) also manifests in increasing
intolerance towards dalits, tribals and religious minorities like Christians.
The last chapter by Surajit Deb on “Social Development Index 2012”

provides comprehensive treatment to six indicators of Social Development
Index (SDI) with technical proficiency. The author states, “SDI-2008 was
developed using simplistic methodology based on equal weights in
aggregating components into a composite indicator. SDI-2012, developed
in this chapter, follows the same methodology used earlier in construction of
SDI-2010.” (275) the author uses six indicators to gauge social deprivation
and four dimensions-demographic, health, education and economic
deprivation to calculate SDI-social-SC, St and non-SC/ST. For SDI-gender
three dimensions –health, education and economic deprivation are used. It
reveals , “The states that have performed well in overall SDI include Delhi,
Goa, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh ad Punjab, while states like Bihar,
Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and
Chhattisgarh continue to rank low in many indicators of social
development.” (p. 290)
The only limitation in this exhaustive volume is the absence of a chapter on

“Socio-economic Deprivation and Exclusion of People with Disability
(PWD)”.
I would conclude by strongly recommending this analytically robust report

supported by hard core database and area studies to all social scientists,
political practitioners, policy makers, media persons and social activists.
148
OBITUARY
DR. TRUPTI SHAH (1962 to 2016)

- Dr. Vibhuti Patel
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people just exist”
- Oscar Wilde
Trupti Shah, a feminist and environmentalist lived her life to the fullest. Dr.
Trupti Shah a leading human rights and environmental activist, founder of
Sahiyar, a women’s rights organization in Vadodara, Gujarat dedicated to
feminism and secular humanism passed away on 26th May, 2016 after a
valiant battle against lung cancer at the young age of 54. Her untimely death
has caused an irreparable loss to wide range of social movements working
towards social justice, distributive justice and gender justice. She was full
of life, hope, spirit and a great champion in mass mobilization on gender
concerns such as declining sex ratio, violence against women and girls,
rights of women in the informal sector, sexual harassment at workplace;
environmental and livelihood concerns of poverty groups and farmers;
democratic rights of dalits, tribals and religious minorities. Her Ph.D. in
Economics from MS University in Vadodara was also on “Economic Status
of Women in Urban Informal Sector – A study of Baroda City” from MSU
in 2000. She made a valuable contribution towards participatory action-
research on themes such as dynamics of the women’s movement in India,
violence against women, women’s work, women in the informal sector,
household strategies of women in poverty groups, the impact of
fundamentalism and communal violence on women, and the impact of
globalization.
149
The egalitarian ethos of Marxist ideology attracted her as much as the

simplicity of a Gandhian lifestyle adopted by her parents. Her feminist
heritage came from her Gandhian mother. When Trupti was born, her
mother, Suryakantaben Shah who was working in the Remand Home of
Vadodara was the first working woman to fight for her maternity leave for 3
months and the matter reached right up to the Prime Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru.
Early Initiation in the Social Movements:

In the early 1970s, there was a new left group in Vadodara to which both me
and Trupti’s father, Thakorbhai Shah belonged. Trupti’s father was a great
influence on her. Along with him, she would attend the study circle on
Marxism and listen to stalwarts like Prof. A. R. Desai, Advocate Sharad
Zaveri, Prof. Ghanshyam Shah, youth icon of the time, Tariq Ali with rapt
attention.
When student members of this study circle decided to plunge into direct
action, Trupti too joined us. She became an active member of the group,
Study and Struggle Alliance. I still remember Trupti singing ‘Nanhe Munne
Bacche Teri Mutthi me Kya Hai’ with the working class children where we
were running literacy classes and a health clinic. This group conducted
factory gate meetings against retrenchment of workers, bonus, wages etc.,
commemorated May Day and expressed solidarity with liberation struggles
in Vietnam, African & Latin American countries in the Asian subcontinent.
Trupti attended all these programmes holding my hand. During 1973, in
Vadodara, we had several agitations, sit-ins, hunger strikes against price
rise, hoarding, and black marketing of essential goods. Trupti, 11 years old,
joined us in all these activities including the hunger strike, that too with total
honesty of purpose. She would not even think of eating or drinking water
during the time of hunger strike.
150
Navnirman Agitation, historic Railway Strike and Anti Price Rise

Women’s Movement
In 1974, with the same gusto, she attended solidarity programmes for the
historic railway strike and all the protest activities led by the students during
Navnirman Agitation. When we received a call from leaders such as Mrinal
Gore, Ahalya Tai Rangnekar, Manjutai Gandhi, Taratai Reddy to start Anti
Price Rise Women’s Movement in Vadodara, Trupti was always with me in
efforts at mobilizing women by visiting working class and middle class
areas with great courage of conviction. We would carry hand-mike and
appeal to women to join our protest rallies against price-rise, adulteration,
black marketing, hoarding and corruption. Whenever, we would get
arrested, Trupti was taken to Remand Home as she was underage. At that
time, whenever, she was advised by Remand Home staff to use her mother’s
name who was an officer there, to get released; Trupti would vehemently
oppose saying, “I am arrested for my protest activity and genuine cause,
why would I use anybody’s influence? I should get the same treatment as
hundreds of other women protesters who are also arrested”.
Formation of Workers Committee and Vadodara Kamdar Union

During the 18 months of Emergency Rule from 25th June 1975 to 21st March
1977, most of the trade unions had stopped functioning in Vadodara. Study
and Struggle Alliance was approached by industrial workers to take up their
issues. We formed factory-wise workers committees to deal with issues
such as bonus, retrenchment, wage and occupational health of the workers.
Trupti accompanied us to address gate meetings, distribute leaflets and visit
working class communities. Later on under leadership of her father
Thakorbhai Shah, Vadodara Kamdar Union was formed so that the
grievance of workers could be addressed in the Labour Court of Vadodara.
Trupti attended all programmes denouncing violation of democratic rights
151
and courageously shouted slogans, “Down with Dictatorship, Long Live

Democracy.”
Emergency Rule and International Women’s Year

UN declared 1975 as International Women’s Day and India being a member
country of UN which had signed the UN Charter on Equality, Development
and Peace; there were many official functions to discuss ‘Indian Women’.
Dr. Neera Desai who was a member of the Status of Women’s Committee
Report, 1974 known as “Towards Equality Report”, it was also translated
into Gujarati. When we fought for democratic rights, we faced state
repression, at the same time, as women’s rights activists, we were invited as
resource persons to speak in the official functions. This dualism continued
for Trupti till the end of her life. For her funeral procession on 27th May
2016 and for her memorial meeting on 5th June 2016, representatives of
social movements and mainstream political parties were present as Trupti
and her colleagues in Sahiyar stood by women survivors of domestic
violence, dowry harassment, forced sex selection irrespective of their
class/caste and religious backgrounds.
Feminist Network and Stree Sangharsh

In 1977, I moved to Mumbai and plunged into feminist activism and
Trupti’s trips to Mumbai increased to attend workshops, conferences and
meetings. Trupti contributed reports based on her activities in the working
class communities and highlighted women specific concerns in the
newsletters in English called Feminist Network and in Hindi Stree
Sangharsh.
As a young feminist activist Trupti had keen interest in feminist theories as

well as feminist praxis. She translated important position papers and
documents of women’s movement into Guajarati. She took keen interests in
152
cultural expressions of the women’s rights movement such as songs, street

theatre, poetry, posters, music ballets, folk forms and trained members of
Sahiyar to stage their Gujarati versions. Her training as a Bharatnatyam
dancer in her school days came handy for this mission. Trupti was a
successful trainer and orator, who spoke with lucidity and in a persuasive
style,
A Nationwide Anti Rape Agitation:

Trupti played pivotal role in initiating agitation against the Supreme Court’s
judgment on Mathura Rape Case in 1980. She translated into Gujarati,
Open letters by 4 Law professors of Delhi University - Prof. Lalika Sarkar,
Prof. Upendra Baxi, Prof. Vasudha Dhagamwar and Prof. Raghunath Kelkar
challenging theverdict of Justice Chandrachud that cast aspersion on teenage
tribal girl, Mathura and allowed the rapist policemen to go scot-free. This
18 year old college student galvanized women’s organisations in Vadodara
into a protest action under the banner Nari ShoshanVirodhi Samiti
(Committee to Resist Exploitation against Women). Conservative and
sectarian biases of the traditional women’s institutions and women’s wings
of political parties in this forum made Trupti disillusioned soon. Sahiyar’s
statement rightly captured Trupti’s predicament in these words,
“Disenchanted with the apathy of women political leaders towards gender
based violence, she participated as perhaps the youngest delegate in the first
conference of Autonomous Women’s Movement organised in Bombay
in1980. The proceedings sharpened the need in her to start something afresh
in Vadodara for women’s rights. And so she resolved: ‘there is a need to
have an autonomous women’s organisation in Baroda which will uphold the
interest of women above all other issues and political affiliation.” (Sahiyar
and PSS, 2016)
153
Contribution to Women’s Studies

Pictorial History of Women’s Movement in 4 volumes authored by Trupti
Shah has adopted story telling method in which 8 to 10 women raise issues,
provide explanation and analysis, and discuss approaches to “women’s
question” taking episodes from history, epics, folklores, scriptures and oral
traditions. The book provides a gender lens for 19th century social reform
movement, the first half of 20th century freedom movement of India and
contemporary women’s movement. Trupti was a bridge between women’s
movement and women’s studies. She was active in both the Indian
Association of Women’s Studies and Gujarat Association of Women’s
Studies. She also worked as a Researcher of Women’s Studies Research
Centre of M.S. University, Vadodara in its initial years.
Establishment of Sahiyar, an autonomous women’s rights Organization

In 1984, when a tribal woman in Sagbara, South Gujarat was brutally gang
raped and paraded naked, Trupti Shah and a fellow feminist Heena Desai
rushed to her village, met all concerned people and wrote the testimony of
the rape victim during their return journey. It was so moving that the highly
respected Gujarati digest “Akand Anand” published it. Trupti and Heena
felt a need for Sahiyar, an autonomous women’s organization to effectively
support women survivors of violence. Anti rape campaign by Sahiyar shook
the Government of Gujarat and Amnesty International also took up the issue
of Sagbara rape case for global campaigning.
With initiative of Trupti, during last 32 years, Sahiyar has provided

institutional support to women in social distress, produced cultural
alternatives in terms of feminist Garbavali (Gujarati folk songs), music
ballets, street theatre, advocacy and training material with support of local
resources. As Sahiyar, did not believe in accepting foreign funds, feminists
from Mumbai organized charity shows for fund raising for Sahiyar office
154
through which music ballet “In Search of Women’s History (HERSTORY)”,

One Act play of Italian playwright Dario Fo, enacted by stage and film
actress Meenal Patel and feminist songs by Neela Bhagwat rendered in
classical ragas were performed.
Trupti made great contributions in the Campaign against Sex Selection

initiated in 1986 by organizing pickets in front of nursing homes performing
sex selection tests on pregnant women, changing the mindset of doctors
through public dialogue, extensively writing against sex selective abortions
of female fetuses, motivating young researchers to work on the subject and
get primacy data to build campaign.
Narimukti, a feminist quarterly in Gujarati, 1986

Newly formed feminist groups in Gujarat felt the need of study circles and
publications in Gujarati. Trupti volunteered to organize the first workshop
to brainstorm and at the end of the 3 days deliberations, the consensus
emerged that we must start a feminist Quarterly and it should be named Nari
Mukti. It was also decided that we must have quarterly study circle that
would also make each member write an article/ book review/poem/report for
each issue of Nari Mukti. Trupti also insisted that we should not dilute its
feminist content.
Members of Nari Mukti collective also translated voluminous Shramshakti:

Report of the National Commission on Self Employed Women and Women in
the Informal Sector, GOI, 1988 into Gujarati. Each of us took responsibility
of one chapter of Shramshakti. Even for the original English version,
members of Narimukti in Mumbai, Surat, Valsad and Vadodara voluntarily
helped in data collection and field based studies.
155
Peace keeping, peacemaking and peace building Efforts

In 1993, when faced with devastating communal riots in India after breaking
of Babri Mosk in Ayodhya, Trupti was at the forefront of peace keeping,
peace-making and peace building Efforts. She and her husband, Rohit
Prajapti had chosen to live not in caste-based residential societies of
Vadodara but in Tandalja, outskirts of Vadodara and known to be ‘mini
Pakistan’ as it was predominantly populated by working class Muslims.
Rohit as a trade union and environmental activist and Trupti as a women’s
rights activists played pivotal role in the formation of Vadodara branch of
People’s Union of Civil Liberties. During the Gujarat Riots in 2002, Trupti
and Rohit provided protection to the minorities and contributed towards
documentation of human rights violation, deaths and destruction of property
of innocent citizens during the riots.
During the last decade, Trupti focused on environmental issues, displaced

people due to mega development projects, insensitive and anti poor ‘slum
demolition’, and relocation policies of the government. She had filed
several public interest litigations and was using Right to Information Act to
get official information to substantiate her cases. She took up causes of
people affected by the Statue of Unity project, the Garudeshwar farmers’
plight and the last petition filed by her was Vishwamitri Riverfront
Development Project (VRDP). The last 18 months were extremely painful
for Trupti due to cancer but that did not deter her from her spirited
engagement. She was eagerly awaiting the court order for her petition
demanding stoppage of VRDP and the moment she was informed that the
stay order for the VRDP had been obtained, she responded, “We have
become serious about environmental and human rights issues, but what
about women’s rights?” and she went into coma and in couple of hours, her
body gave way.
156
Trupti has made a permanent place in the hearts and minds of thousands of
men and women, boys and girls across class, caste, religious, ethnic lines
whose life she touched. In an anthology profiling feminists from Western
India by Dr. Neera Desai (2006), Trupti stated, “For me a feminist
perspective is not an ideology but a way of life.” Indeed Trupti, yours was
truly a feminist way of life, both in private and public domain.
Further Reading:
Chattopadhyay Kunal (2016) “Trupti Shah (1962-2016)” URI: http://www.europe-

solidaire.org/spip.php?article38064, Accessed on 28-6-2016
Desai, Neera (2006) Feminism as Experience: Thoughts and Narratives, SPARROW,

Mumbai. See, “Feminism as Ideology and Action-Trupti Shah”, pp. 384-394.
Marik, Soma (2016) “Trupti Shah: Remembering a Comrade and a Loving Sister”,
URI: http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article38076, Accessed on 30-6-
2016
National Alliance of People’s Movement (2016) “Trupti Shah: A Tribute”, URI:

http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article38068 accessed on 1-6-2016,
accessed on 31-6-2016
Sahiyar and PSS- Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (2016) “Trupti Shah: A Tribute”
http://feministsindia.com/trupti-shah-a-tribute/ accessed on 28-5-2016
Shah, Trupti (2010) Religious Fundamentalisms and Communalism: The Case of

Sahiyar - See more at: http://www.awid.org/publications/feminists-frontline-case-
studies-resisting-and-challenging-fundamentalisms#sthash.wLSE2tF2.dpuf
Shah, Trupti (2010) Nari Andolanka Itihas. Vol. I, II, III, IV (in Hindi) and Nari
Andolan No Itihas. Vol. I, II, III, IV (in Gujarati), Ahmedabad: Unnati.
157
Shah, Trupti (2011) “My Involvement with Women’s Movement” in Poster

Women. July 25, 2011 at 3:26 pm:
http://www.posterwomen.org/Posterwomen/?p=5215 accessed on 1-6-2016
***
MAHASWETA DEVI
(14th January 1926 – 28th July 2016)
- Dr. (Sr.) Ananda Amritmahal
With the death of Mahasweta Devi, two days ago, we have lost a towering,
iconic figure from the world of Indian literature. Having said which, I want
to bite my tongue and retract, since Mahasweta herself would have been the
first to insist that she was primarily an activist, and that her writing fed into
the activist agenda. The symbiotic relationship between the two has been
recognised and celebrated by the various awards that were bestowed upon
her, most notably the Jnanpith and the Magsaysay.
Mahasweta’s writing reflects a reality that is frequently ignored in any

analysis of India, any representation of the cultural kaleidoscope of the
‘nation’. A reality for which there is no room in the process of
decolonisation, in the industrialisation and globalisation that have spelt
progress in the last sixty-five years. This is a reality that is bound by factors
that seem unreal in the context of a progressive, independent India: caste
oppression, tribal communities and values, bonded labour, economic
exploitation and a degradation of life that we can only dimly begin to
comprehend. Nor have these stories been culled either from the unreal
world of fairy-tales or from the pages of a history that no longer exists. The
reality they represent exists even today: large, ever-present, and yet ignored,
158
almost invisible, creating an unnoticed, marginalised footnote to mainstream

discourse.
Any reading of Mahasweta Devi has to include an awareness of the political

implications of her writing. Few writers are as overtly political in their
intentions as she is. An activist who has worked tirelessly for the tribals and
the Dalits, and against bonded labour and other forms of oppression of the
most vulnerable sections of society, she is also outspoken in explaining her
motivation in writing. Her introduction to Bitter Soil articulates this very
clearly:
I believe in documentation. … The sole purpose of my writing is

to expose the many faces of the exploiting agencies: the feudal-
minded landowner, his henchmen, the so-called religious head of
the administrative system, all of whom, as a combined force, are
out for lower-caste blood. …I have based my writings on truth,
and not on fiction…. My experience keeps me perpetually angry
and makes me ruthlessly unforgiving towards the exploiters or
the exploiting system. … I have not written these stories to
please my readers. If they get under the skin of the stories and
feel as the writer feels, that will be reward enough. … Whatever
is written in these stories is continuing unabated. So, where is
the time for sleep? The situation demands immediate response
and action. (2002: vii-x)
Mahasweta Devi’s activism as much as her writing demand immediate

response and action in the form, not of short-sighted charity and its goal of
immediate, if temporary, relief, but rather of concerted mobilisation and
action that will lead to a dynamic transformation of the oppressive structures
and inhuman attitudes that so enrage her. Both in the introduction cited
above and in her remarks quoted in the introduction to Imaginary Maps
159
(1993: xiii) she speaks of encountering a man, deformed along the right side
from arm to ankle, in the Palamu district. (This man features in her story
‘Douloti the Beautiful’ as Crook Nagesia) Why was he deformed? A
bonded labourer, he had been forced by his malikto drag a paddy-laden cart
to take it to the market. Struggling with the weight in the blazing summer
heat, he fell and his right side was crushed beneath the heavy cart. When
asked why he had not used a bullock instead, the malik simply shrugged – if
a bullock were used, he would suffer in the heat, even perhaps die, and he,
the malik, would lose a thousand rupees. The man was just a bonded
labourer. His life was of no value.
Often her work is scathing in representing the impact of so-called

‘development’ on the lives and life-style of tribals. Yet, even while she
recognises violence in such resistance as being the legitimate expression of
outrage at the situation, she can still write, ‘Our double task is to resist
“development” actively and to learn to love.’ (1993:xvi)
The anger finds expression in a language that Mahasweta Devi herself calls
brutal, even lethal at times. Of course, most of us can only access these
works in translation, and so the full impact of the language is lost on us.
Nevertheless, the translations have obviously striven to capture something of
a similar effect in English. Both anger and the irony that forms the
dominant mode are articulated in a prose that is abrupt, often disjointed,
harsh, blunt in its unflinching representation of reality. There are no
extraneous elements, no unnecessary arabesques – the economy that one can
sense even through the translation ensures that every sentence is directed to
the writer’s purpose with single-minded dedication. Bengali readers assert
that in the original, the language has an earthy, racy, colloquial feel to it that
is very different to the kind of writing one would expect of ‘literature.’ It is
the perfect vehicle for the subject matter that these stories embody and yet
reveals a sophistication in use of narrative and figuration that indicate her
160
access to intellectual resources beyond the reach of the common people who
form the subject of her fiction. Something of this flavour permeates the
translation as well. The irony that serves as the filter through which events
and reflections are mediated is directed at the reader. The register –
determined as it is by the speaker/writer’s awareness of the audience – is
clearly ironic, savagely so at times. There are no concessions to delicate
sensibilities or to tactful platitudes. Battlelines are clearly delineated – one
has to choose where to position oneself in the struggle.
The element of irony is particularly noticeable in Mahasweta Devi’s

treatment of those aspects of life that are the most haloed by tradition, like
our mythological stories (in After Kurukshetra) or our veneration of
Motherhood and the reification of the woman’s body (in In the Name of
Mother, as well as in Mother of 1084, and in Breast-Stories).
Problematising these, she insists on our rethinking concepts and images that
we have taken for granted. Resistance is articulated unusual and startling
forms, most notably in “Rudaali” (which has also been made into a film) and
in “Draupadi”. The erosion of human dignity and value is represented in all
its unpalatable truth. The dehumanising effect of an inhuman society is
witnessed at close quarters. And yet, the power of community, the
valorisation of the human spirit, the celebration of the genuinely human in
the most unexpected of situations and contexts, call us to a rethinking of our
own value-systems, our own comfortable assumptions and our safe beliefs
in traditional structures.
In her fictional works as well as in Dust on the Road (1997), Mahasweta

Devi analyses the manifold exploitation and oppression endured by the
Dalits and tribals of West Bengal and Bihar. Example after example is
cited, carefully researched facts and figures are presented, and the analysis is
ruthlessly incisive. ‘Tales of woe and exploitation on the one hand; the
pulse of resistance mounting on the other. The Jharkhand demand is set
161
against such a background. When these people take to violence, they do it

out of sheer desperation…. [A]ll will be happy except the tribals and the
non-tribal poor. But they are expendable. (2002: 104-5)’
Mahasweta Devi’s own commitment to working for the tribals and the non-
tribal oppressed and exploited is clearly uncompromising. Her writing
demands of us a similar engagement with the realities we inhabit, even as it
shocks, outrages, horrifies us. She offers us no middle path: presenting the
naked facts in all their brutality, she leaves the response to us, but there is no
doubt that she expects a radical commitment to change and social
transformation to arise from (or be strengthened by) our encounter with the
text. This passionate involvement is perhaps one of the most attractive and
compelling aspects of all her work. As she herself said, ‘A responsible
writer, standing at a turning point in history, has to take a stand in defence of
the exploited, (1999: viii)
And again, ‘A writer faces his judgement in his lifetime and remains
answerable.’ (1999: ix)
Works Cited:
Devi, Mahasweta 1993. Imaginary Maps.Trans. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak.

Thema, Calcutta. (Includes the stories “The Hunt”, “Douloti the Beautiful” and
“Pterodactyl, Puran Sahay and Pirtha”)
_____________1999 Five Plays.Trans. Samik Bandhopadhyay.Seagull Books,

Calcutta. (Includes the plays Mother of 1084, Aajir, Bayen, Urvashi and Johnny,
and Water)
_______________ 2002.Bitter Soil.Trans. Ipsita Chanda.Seagull Books, Calcutta.

(Including the stories “Little Ones”, “Seeds”, “The Witch” and “Salt”)
_______________ 2002 (a).Breast Stories. Trans. Gayatri Chakravoty Spivak.

(first pub. 1997) Seagull Books, Calcutta. (Includes the stories “Draupadi”, “Breast-
giver” and “Behind the Bodice: Cholike Pichhe”)
162
_______________ 2004.In the Name of the Mother.Trans. Radha Chakravarty.

SeagullBooks. Calcutta. (Includes the stories “Ma, from Dusk to Dawn”,
“Sindhubala”, “Jamunabati’s Mother” and “Giribala”)
______________ 2005.After Kurukshetra.Trans. Anjum Katyal.Seagull Books.

Calcutta. (Including the stories “The Five Women”, “Kunti and the Nishadin” and
“Souvali”)
Devi, Mahasweta and Usha Ganguli. 1997. Rudaali: from fiction to performance.
Trans. Anjum Katyal.Seagull Books. Calcutta.
----------------
163
ABOUT AUTHORS
Aditi Deshmukh is a final year student of Bachelor of Arts, Sophia College
for Women, Mumbai
Amita Sahaya is the Founder-Secretary of the not-for-profit organisation,

Women Work & Health Initiative (WWHI). She is the Director of the VI
International Congress EQUAL WORLD EQUAL SPACES, on Women
Work & Health, a festival. She is the Co-founder of the BINDU “Building
Initiatives & Networking for the Development of the Underprivileged”,
based in one of the largest slums in South Delhi.
Dr Anagha Tendulkar, is Associate Professor affiliated with the

Department of Sociology at the Sophia College for Women, Mumbai
Dr. (Sr.) Ananda Amritmahal, Principal, Sophia College for Women,

Mumbai & Director, Sophia Centre for Women’s Studies & Development.
Dr. Sharmila Basu, Associate Professor, Siddharth College of Arts,

Science and Commerce.
Dr. Vatika Sibal is a Professor, Department of Sociology, St. Andrew’s

College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Mumbai.
Dr. Vibhuti Patel, Director, Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and
Inclusive Policy, &Professor and Head, Post Graduate Department of
Economics SNDT Women’s University.
Meritta Anju Joseph is a final year student of Bachelor of Arts, Sophia

College for Women, Mumbai
Sweta Mookerjee is a final year student of Bachelor of Arts, Sophia

College for Women, Mumbai
164
GUIDELINES TO THE CONTRIBUTORS
Urdhva Mula is an interdisciplinary journal (ISSN No. 2277-7954) that publishes

articles based on multidisciplinary research, as well as essays about diverse aspects of
gender and women’s issues. Gender functions as a central category of analysis. The
journal concentrates on gendered representation of topics from the fields of literature
and language, history, political science, sociology, anthropology, cinema and media
studies, human development, law, and medicine. It also analyses the intersection of
gender with race, ethnicity, location, nationality and disability.
Urdhva Mula is accessible widely and it seeks to incorporate an international vision,

including book reviews related to women’s studies and gender studies. It will be
particularly useful for researchers on gender issues. Professionals, academics and
students from other fields, whose experience might not be limited to gender issues but
who are interested in the topic, will also find this journal a valuable resource.
Contributions to Urdhva Mula must report original work, and will be peer-reviewed.
Manuscript preparation guidelines:
• Papers are accepted only in English. Manuscripts may be submitted as either

Word documents or PDF files. (Font: Times New Roman. The title should be
in font size 16, sub-titles in font size 14, and main text in font size 12.)
• Format and referencing should follow the APA guidelines.
• The title with the author’s name must be on a separate page, and the author’s
name should not feature anywhere else in the article, so that the peer-review
process may be impartial.
• Articles should be 5000-7000 words in length. Papers that greatly exceed this
will be critically reviewed with respect to length.
• Articles may express the personal voice of creative writing, or a reflection on a
transforming text or event in the field of gender, or an impersonal presentation
of data useful to researchers in that field.
• A short biographical note about the author must be supplied on a separate
page.
• Authors whose work has been accepted for publication will receive a
complimentary copy of the issue containing their article.
165
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS OF
SOPHIA CENTRE FOR WOMEN’S STUDIES & DEVELOPMENT
Working Paper Series:
1.1 Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace

1.2 Endometriosis: A Pilot Study
1.3 Survey on Food and Nutrition
1.4 Understanding Menopause
1.5 A Study of the Cognitive and Attitudinal Impact, and AIDS
Awareness Educational Intervention on College Students
Research Paper Series:
2.1 Stress and Health Implications of Domestic Violence

2.2 Women and Environment: Bangles of Fire
2.3 Women and Environment: Women in Panchayat
2.4 Women and Environment: Misrepresentation of Women
in Advertising
2.5 The Psychological Symbiosis between Man and Nature
2.6 All the World’s a Peep Show
2.7 A survey on the Ecological Footprints
Urdhva Mula: An Interdisciplinary Bi-annual Journal on

Women’s/ Gender Studies
----------------
166

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Urdhva Mula 2015 vol.

An Interdisciplinary Women’s Studies Journal

Editors Dr. (Sr.) Ananda Amritmahal

Editorial Advisor Dr. (Sr.) Anila Verghese

Editorial Assistance Ms. Deepti Anil

Layout and Design Ms Lata Pujari

Lady sings the Blues When Women retell the Ramayana 7

Reflections of Gender Concerns in Election

Radical Discourse: A Consideration of Hildegard of 41

Histories from the Borderlands 49

Mahatma Phule and Women’s Liberation 63

Socio Cultural & Gender Barriers to Health Access 78

A Study of Influence of Stress on Physical and 85

Intervention for Combating Gender Violence 95

Women’s Movement and Crimes concerning ‘Honour’ 101

The Role of Indian Government in Socio-Economic 135

Gender and Reproductive Health of the Women 142

All India Democratic Women’s Association 158

Sex-Selective Abortion Myths Debunked in New Report 160

Radical Socialist Statement on Starvation Death of 163

One People, united in our plurality? 165

Towards Politics of the (Im) Possible – The Body in Third 168

I am Malala: The girl who stood up for Education and 171

Dynamics of Women’s Studies and Women’s Movement 173

Pravinaben Natubhai Patel (6-8-1935 to 1-1-2015) 180

Prof. Jasodhara Bagchi (17-8-1937 to 9-1-2015) 189

ABOUT AUTHORS 191

List of Publications of Sophia Centre for Women’s

As a signatory to the MDG, India is faced with the mind-boggling issue of

In this issue of Urdhva Mula, rigorously researched articles by Nabaneeta Dev

LADY SINGS THE BLUES

For me it all started in 1989 with an accidental re-reading of the text of

writing a perfect classical Ramayana. Chandrabati, on the other hand,

In the women's retellings, the Brahminical Rama myth is blasted automatically

It is natural in women's retellings of the Ramayana for them to pick and

1. Sita, the foundling - The girl child as the essential orphan.

These themes, obviously, have no religious significance, and do not concern

The foundling: the girl child as the essential orphan

One can feel the eagerness of an isolated woman to communicate. This

"I have no father, no mother.

In a contemporary Marathi work song, Sita echoes her 400-year-old Bengali

Here is one song about looking for a groom.

"Don't visit your neighbours after sunset.

Here is a taste of Sita's sasurbas:

"Rama gave Sita his love

The description gets pretty graphic from time to time:

"Sita is going to the forest.

The golden deer: the value of male life

An alternative reasoning is found in a Bengali women's song. Ravana

"How did they do it??

Child birth in exile

"Sita leaves the palace, opening the golden gates.

"Where is the smoke coming from, in the dense forest?

And sleep on it.

"For twelve years she has been alone in the forest.

"Rama has given me this gift of exile

"Sita is nine months pregnant and in forest exile.

That a woman's identity is defined by her husband is beautifully stated in a

It is a humiliation experienced by all women.

The good housewife

themselves: the homeless female, the foundling, unloved, rejected and

REFLECTIONS OF GENDER CONCERNS IN

Getting a Foothold in Politics: