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| This is an interesting article. The author quotes poet, Naushad, "Where has our [Indian] culture gone?" The author provides a historical picture of mistreatment of women among various Indian religions. Could it be that women who were denied basic dignity through religious sanctions are today rebelling against traditions that have enslaved them for centuries. Could this be the genesis of the problem. Maybe Naushad should look back into history and get a clearer picture. The author is right in saying: I prefer looking back at our own history to see if at any stage woman's body was not for sale. It is time everyone understands the message Sikhism preaches: from the woman is our birth, in the woman's womb are we shaped; To the woman we are engaged, to the woman we are wedded; The woman is our friend and from woman is the family; Through the woman are the bonds of the world; Why call woman evil who gives birth to the leaders of the World? From the woman is the woman, without woman there is none. (Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 473) Sikhism brought a revolution in the Indian society by making people aware of EQUALITY and DIGNITY. As I had written in my response to Varsha Bhosle's post: ....No other religion considers women equal to men. Sikhism does. If a non-Sikh woman embraces Sikhism she will be proud that henceforth she's part of a community where women have played an active role, walking shoulder-to-shoulder with men. Not only have they presided over religious functions they have also led Sikh men into battle. As Alice basarke write: ".....By the time Jacques Cartier was raising the cross on Mount Royal, Guru Amar Das was putting Sikh philsosphy into a practical guide for daily living. His innovations were based on equality, and raised the status of women in a manner that was never known before... "He organized the new religion by establishing 22 manjis or parishes for his followers to preach the word of God. Four of these were headed by women. This would be the equivalent of Bishop, for it conferred economic power, decision making and status. Thus, Sikhism had four women Bishops in the late 16th century. What other religion can claim such an accomplishment?...He trained 146 persons to go out as missionaries. Of these, 94 were men and 52 were women. Sikhism had 52 women missionaries at the time of the third Guru...."(ref: The Champion of Women, Alice Basarke) And, ....the author here differentiates Sikhism from traditional Indian thought to show how women are preceived in these two different lines of thinking. Orthodox religious systems considered women below the status of a sudra. But Sikhism says that woman is the conscience of man. The author, Ameena Parveen, goes on to say that Sikhism gave equal rights to women in 15th century, which the Indian society hesitates to give to its women even in the 20th century...."(Review of a Tamil book: Seekiyamum Tamilum (Sikhism and Tamil Culture), Ms A Tamil Selvi) ******************************************************************************** THE LAND OF KAMASUTRA The Indian debate of feminine fad, obscenity, alternate life style, transition from tradition to modernity, etc are constant sexual stimulations that must have been flagged off thousands of years ago but unfortunately there has been no meeting ground or a compromise. The Indian film industry churns out a song, the prime minister feels appalled and he indicates some sort of censorship which he soon forgets after the press conference. Another song sweeps the market and it is dragged to the court where it lingers for a while and then becomes the country's second national anthem. A magazine comes up with an obscene cover which is followed by the usual outcry, routine replay of the courts follow and soon the matter melts down until the eruption of another volcano in some form or the other. Half of India is happy with the welcome change that has ushered in the fashion shows and beauty contests. They rejoice the availability of porno products and are glad with the clear reception of satellite channels. Their leisurely pursuits include surfing the internet and discovering the world's who's who and where?s what in the cupid?s nest. Magazines like Cosmopolitan and Readers Digest are obsessed with features like "How to make love to your wife" and "Countdowns in your bedroom" . These articles are like lessons on Windows 95 that no one knew until 94. Weekend glossies and magazines seem to compete with each other on titillation fronts. The other half of India is drowned in the whirlpool of every day news that includes the killing of girls, incest, rape, female infanticide, family suicide, marital discord, spiralling rate of divorce and similar ground realities. They vent their anger through protests, threats and letters to the editor. Some intellectuals get excited and organize a seminar to remind us the story of Draupdi and Sita as the epitome of womanhood and simultaneously criticise the growing commercialization of women's body, blaming the Europeans or Americans for all our ills. Veteran music director, Naushad, laments, " Where has our culture gone?", Poet Majrooh Sultanpuri observes, "Everything has turned vulgar today, songs have gotten out of hand and film makers are solely responsible for this. " Nida Fazli, lyricist, sums it up, " Today songs prostitute our culture and preach that the female body is for sale. " I prefer looking back at our own history to see if at any stage woman's body was not for sale. If Miss Calcutta '92 allegedly sells herself for Rs 20,000 , Ms. Ambapali during the fifth century B.C. sold herself for 50 kahapanas. Caste ridden society at that time was as good as today. Brahmins considered it unlawful to accept food by unchaste women while Buddha along with his retinue of Bikku Sangha (monks) accepted Ambapali's invitation and enjoyed their meals. Ambapali was the ganika or the state courteasan of the Lichhavi republic in Vaishali. This prompted the rival king of Magadha to introduce a ganika at their capital at Rajgriha. The panel of judges selected Salavati, who charged 100 kahapanas. (Magadh had a higher per capita income compared to Vaishali). Beauty was encashed and every girl was free to go in for a try. There were titles like Janpada Kalyani or Nagara Sobhini (lady of the land) which sounds not very different from the titles awarded today. Kautilya/ Chanakya, the author of Arthashastra, very much supported the move of exploiting the pretty women for increasing the revenue! This was in addition to his logic of women being employed for espionage purposes. Vesiya is often confused with Ganika. While Ganika resembled the labelled class like Miss India, Miss world, Miss Universe, accessible only to the top echelon of the society where wealth was immense. Vesiyas were the untitled red light pimps catering to the commoners and were certainly looked down in the society as it is today. Buddha and Mahavira, both shunned the introduction of women into their religious order. Jain works like Uttradhyanana refer to women as female demons who entice man and then make a sport of them while Sutraktanga suggests not to trust women for they are full of deceit. Buddha was doubtful about the life of his religion once women were introduced and ordained as nuns. Most reluctantly he relented after proddings and recommendations from relatives and followers. In the age of penance and non violence there was another contemporary sect which went parallel to the religious order of Buddha and Mahavira. Not so well known, Ajivikas (under western influence!) were given to the free reins to the cravings of the flesh. They are said to have reaped all the advantages of married life withour incurring any responsibility of a house holder (upgraded version of the western single parent family !). Unlike Mahavira or Buddha, they never objected the company of a woman in solitude. A merry go round like the much sought after emancipation of the west. Wonder not that they had a great following including the kings and they are credited with the earliest rock cut caves in India. Vedic period is often quoted as a landmark in the history of Indian womanhood. True, that things worked well in the early Vedic period when the society was monogamous and female folks were equal partners in conjugal life but soon unrestricted polygamy prevailed and so did the degradation. Manusmriti considers women to be fickle and treacherous and thus should never be independent. Even Yudhishtra?s intellect regards women as the root of all evil ! Anusasana-parvan, a late book of the Mahabharata portrays women as treacherous, lecherous and good for nothing beings.... Among a thousand women or perhaps among hundred thousands, sometimes only one may be found who is devouted to her husband. Vedic age and Buddhism was followed by the practice of having Devdasis (temple prostitutes) for their service of the temple that spread throughout India. Matsya Purana on the duties of prostitutes sanctifies them by declaring them to be Gopis - the milkmaid girls of the Krishna story. Indra lays down that a prostitute who makes the proper gifts and follows other observances, and "with all her heart and soul and with a smile on her face" yields herself to a Brahman every Sunday, will go to heaven. Teenage girls and even younger girls were married to the deities but in truth exploited by the priests and the so called guests of the temple. This institution flourished in India throughout the centuries and it was only some decades back that it was abolished, however the tradition of Devdasis in Puri and prostitutes in temples of Ujjain still continues. Does it differ much from the deeds of Freddy Peat's child prostituion racket that was run in Goa? The connection of the prostitutes (lexicon of our times prefer to use the words sex worker) with the temples is very old and in vogue from very ancient times. Sanskrit poet, Kalidas in his "Meghduta" gives a graphics description of the Veshiyas in the temples of Mahakala in Ujjain. Today free sex and physical relationship with men irrespective of marital status are the two Western aspirations of universal human rights. India of yesterday can boast of this unwritten right that already existed. These days marriage is referred to as domestic incarceration, the new word for nudity is clothing optional lifestyle, welfare mothers are unempowered females, girlfriend and boyfriends are termed as significant other (Indian influence of the term Ardhangini), husbands have been labelled as legalised rapist while love has become emotional association of mutual interdependence. Discos of today are certainly the revised edition of Mujras and Kothas of yesterday. No doubt with cultural variation and scientific innovotion the settings have been altered but the objectives remain the same. What if the light went off at the discos? This is exactly what used to happen during the 13th and 14th century gatherings of medieval India when Vama Margis / Karamathians / Mulhahidans cultivated a more daring disco. People of this sect collected in a hall, irrespective of age or sex. After a sumptuous meal, the lamp was put off and the female garments taken off and bundled in a heap. Next, the male members were asked to draw a garment each and spend the night with that particular woman, irrespective of her age, status or relationship. The year 1398 was the year of lovers when Hari Hara, the king of Vijayanagar created a record with 12,000 wives putting to shame all the Mughal harems. His greed and quest for 12001 resulted in the loss of his kingdom, life and all his wives. His greed had spilled beyond his dominion and the fight proved fatal. However, 2000 of them were Valentines who had pledged to immolate themselves but the remaining 10,000 were possibly influenced by western thoughts. Padmavati, the 16th century work of Malik Muhammad Jaisi, in his description of the kinds of women enlists four classfications: * "She does not take any notice of her own husband, her life is devoted to other men." * "She is full of pride and shows no hesitancy in her mind. Much to her wrath, she is ready to slay her husband, she counts non worth a straw." * "she knows how to worship her own husband, she will not leave her own man and take another." * "she is the epitome of Pativrata with all 16 qualities of beauty and dedication to her husband like that of the former." The same classification holds good today. A section of the society is given to free sex, adultery, premarital affairs while a fairly good number of population gathers for the Karva Chauth (Hindu wives observing a ritualistic fast for the life and well being of her husband) and the Varaths are still in vogue. Fortunately / unfortunately the scales are tilting and the ratio is fast becoming alarming as evident by daily news. Japan is doing well with sex through the mail box, B-52 bombers in America are surcharged with adultery and Somalians are giving birth to blue eyed babies. Sex before marriage is becoming de riguer in the middle class as well. To some, it is a matter of grave concern but for others "we are changing with times, you know. The buzzword is liberalisation and why do you over look those Konark and Khajuraho temple walls that advocates the same." I wonder if these historic temple walls give a license to sexual permissiveness of which we feel so proud to quote. Can't we take a lesson or two from the drainage system or sanitation of town planning from the historical sites of Lothal or Indus Valley? Some of the temples walls in Kathmandu depict much more sexually aggressive scenarios but the Nepalese blame the gods. They believe that the erotic figures are there to keep the temple safe from lightening. The virgin goddess of lightening cannot withstand anything vulgar. For the same reason, the same goddess will never kill anyone while indulging in the amorous play ! Today Bollywood can't survive without those provocative lyrics of songs; the press won't run without those funny, agony aunt columns that is a rundown on adultery and a live commentary on remaining single and sexually active. The advertising agencies will be doomed if they don't create those advertisements without displaying the abbreviated dresses or sexy slogans. Our satellite channels will be delinked if they don't come up with serials and scenes highlighting the sexual drive. Our leaders won't be elected if they don't talk of Indian culture and value on one hand and promote Michael Jackson on the other. Our honourable judges won't be doing justice until they think of passing on the veto on their subordinates who may be clamouring for action against the prevailing immorality. Newspapers go to the extent of providing addresses of lesbian centres and homosexual clubs. Wonder not at their international conferences that tend to demystify certain notions. Some of these clubs are named after Firaq Gorakpuri, Aubrey Menon, Oscar Wilde, Alexander the great. Why leave the naughty Julius Caesar who was taunted as every woman's man and every woman's woman. "Virginity is no longer precious for Delhi university girls" runs a newspaper headline and the hostel rooms in Jawaharlal Lal Nehru University are no different. At school level one should come down to Chandigarh where a newspaper report quotes a gynecologist, "Earlier we had college students in their late teens and early twenties coming in for stray abortions - embarrassed, shattered, repentant. But today we have school girls coming in with boy friends, father, mother and friends - embarrassed, yes but not sorry enough because they come back with frightening regularity." The figure of 5,00,000 prostitutes under the age of 18 certainly concerns us all. It will have its repercussions on the society. A further degradation is in the offing. Before it is too late, we should wake up to the numerous causes contributing to this figure that puts us to shame. For queries contact Yatraindia.com at: snailmail: 1036, Sector-A Pocket-A, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110070 India email: hexadeci@vsnl.com |
