26. a Daughter Remembers

A Daughter Remembers Kamini Ray’s Shraddhiki1 Malavika Karlekar teaching Kamini. In the evenings he ments, the issue became an area of would call his daughter to his side, considerable debate in the print choose a passage from the Bible and media, discussion groups and in Conway’s Sacred Anthology, note homes. Questions were raised as to them down in a copy-book and explain the function of this new education and the meaning to her. The next day, how it could adapt to other predomi- nant requirements such as feminine Kamini Ray Kamini was expected to recite these passages to Sen who also introduced seclusion, division of labour within the her to history and English literature. home and a belief about the different HEN, in 1906, for her father During the day, while her lawyer natures of men and women. At the WChandi Charan Sen’s memorial father was away at court, Kamini had same time, the rejection of social service, Kamini chose to write at to do a certain amount of translation practices such as sati, child marriage length on the nature of her relation- and parsing. A grateful Kamini and polygamy by social reformers and ship with him, she was reinforcing an acknowledged that for her father, other concerned individuals brought established tradition among an elite knowledge was “the main ingredient with it an appreciation of the need to section of Bengali women: from the of humanity” while ignorance “the improve the status of women. Osten- middle of the nineteenth century on- spawning ground of superstition and sibly the issue was about the position wards, a handful of these women had evil”. Clearly Sen was not as well off of women, but in actual fact it went been writing about themselves, their as many other men who chose to edu- far beyond. It was not only a question families, and their responses to a cate their daughters; for Kamini com- of granting access to a privilege or changing environment. Over the last mented that she did not know of “any- abolishing derogatory rituals, but century, there is a record of at least one else who has spent the amount of involved thinking afresh on the entire fifty autobiographies, journals and time, energy and money that he has ideological and structural foundations autobiographical sketches having been on the education of his daughters”.3 of upper caste, middle class Bengali written by Bengali women.2 Kamini Hindu society. Ray (nee Sen, 1864-1933) who Sen was representative of a grow- The stress on women’s education became an early woman poet in the ing section of the Bengali middle class was intrinsically related to the emer- region used Shraddhiki (memorial which put great value on profes- gence of a city-oriented style of life pamphlet) to paint a compellingly sionalism, education and social which consciously sought to replace honest picture of a father - daughter mobility. When Western education that of the zamindars or landowning relationship. Paternal rectitude and came to India at the beginning of the class. The rural zamindari family at times excessive strictness are last century, the early recipients were system flourished in large establish- matched by a daughter’s ambivalent middle class boys and men. Going to ments where at least three generations emotions: anger at being dictated to school and college became increas- and a substantial assembly of prajas and judged harshly gives way soon to ingly popular, particularly in the or subjects lived together; a distinct an overwhelming sense of gratitude to urban areas, and white collar jobs were and segregated woman’s world had a man who had invested much in his the preferred ones. worked out its own patterns of hierar- eldest child’s education. As learning for girls involved a chy and dominance based on age, kin- Before she went to school in completely different set of responses, ship, and affinal categories. In large Calcutta, Sen spent considerable time and necessitated special arrange- part, a life of indulgence, dissipation 26 MANUSHI and ease characterised the male world. This started changing rapidly with the break-up of feudal estates and the lure of white collar jobs in the Calcutta area.4 The British who needed clerks and lower officials to help them in the running of their establishments were willingly obliged by the new generation of middle class Bengalis known increasingly as the bhadralok, or “gentle folk”. Consisting mainly of the Brahmin, Baidya and Kayastha castes, some prominent members of whom became members of the reform- ist Brahmo Samaj, the bhadralok were by no means an internally cohesive group. Sharp cleavages in opinion were, for instance, brought out in the Chowringhee Road, Calcutta at the turn of the century approach to femininity.5 The bhadralok took keenly to dual aim of reinforcing the conven- woman.8 What was of paramount Western-style education as well as to tional home-oriented stereotype for importance was her ability to be a some re-definition of family roles and girls as well as training them for the competent mother and housewife. For functions. A shift to Calcutta meant, the changing times. this, instruction in literature, some in many cases, living in smaller, more household accounts and hygiene was In fact, the bhadramahila was, in regarded as ideal. compact homes when not unusually, most senses, modelled on the Victo- the older generation remained behind rian prototype of the genteel middle- Thus, the historical roots of preju- in the villages. In marital relation- class woman. In Britain and in other dice against the expansion of women’s ships, and in attitudes towards parts of the English-speaking world, education in certain areas lay in a women,there was growing emulation this prototype had emerged after con- basic conviction that there was some- of the British model of enlightened siderable debate, much of which was thing special about a woman’s nature, companionship. In Bengal, while related to the role and extent of edu- which would be destroyed by exces- marriages were determined by family cation. Arguments focused on the sive exposure to education. The rudi- and kinship networks according to smaller size of the female brain, the ments of reading, writing and a little prescribed sub-caste norms, the notion proneness of women - and particularly arithmetic, hygiene, needlework, of companionship in marriage was educated women to hysteria - and the embroidery and, in Bengal, the ver- increasingly seen as essential for the view that the body was a closed en- nacular as well as English, were re- success - as well as survival - of the ergy system; hence, if one region was garded as being more than adequate bhadralok caught up in a fast chang- developed, others, in particular the for them. While concern about the ing environment. Necessary for the reproductive organs, remained under- special requirements of women cultivated bhadramahila (gentle developed. As growth of both the resulted in much public debate on woman)6 was the spread of education. brain and the uterus were regarded as syllabi, textbooks and the place where The establishment of women’s edu- consuming substantial energy, it was girls should be educated, it also suc- cational institutions as well as that of clearly more important to develop a cessfully concealed, in part, a consid- zenana7 or home-centred instruction, woman’s reproductive organs by erable ambivalence towards the either by male guardians or employed putting minimal stress on her system. entire issue. The education of one’s women tutors shared the specific yet The study of science and mathemat- own womenfolk involved a very limited goal of making women ics were regarded as more taxing, and different set of values from the ratio- adequate life companions for the hence unsuitable for women. In any nale, for instance, behind agitating for bhadralok and better mothers for the case, these were not needed in the evo- home rule, and later, legislative new generation. Education had the lution of the cultured and well-versed representation. There was no No. 85 27 guarantee that, if excessively liberated, viously very close to this group. The collaboration with the visiting Unitar- women would accept either the moral progressives then set up the ian, Annette Akroyd. The philosophy straitjacket imposed on them or the Samadarshi Dal (1874) which formed of the school was to accord girls the sexual double standard allowed for the nucleus of the Sadharan Brahmo same kind of education as was avail- men. Samaj established in 1878. able to boys. Dwarakanath Ganguly argued convincingly in support of his Between the years 1863 and 1890, One of the major points of differ- educational practices even as Victo- the number of girls’ schools went up ence of this group with Keshub rian England grappled with the issue from 95 to 2238 and the number of Chunder Sen was over the role of of a separate curriculum for girls. school-going girls from 2,486 to women and the kind of education they With single-minded devotion, 78,865.9 The majority were primary should have access to. In the Indian Dwarakanath took on the organisation school students. Clearly, a certain Reform Association of which he was of the Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya, and amount of deliberation in many homes a founder, Keshub did not permit the its successor, the Banga Mahila Vidya- lay behind this expansion. The teaching of geometry, logic, natural laya (1876); he not only supervised the Brahmo Samaj,10 of which Kamini science and history to girls. Sivanath running of the classes but also swept Ray’s father was a diligent member, Sastri who taught in a school for girls and cleaned the school premises after was deeply involved in the issue of founded by Keshub, argued unsuccess- a full day’s work.

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