Chapter 2 A -A Historical Perspective on the Position of the Women in the Indian Society
The history of the changing status of the Indian woman may be divided into the following six divisions-
1) The age of the Rigveda (From c.2500 B.C. to c.1500 B.C.)
2)The age of the later Samhitas, Brahmanas and Upanishads (From c.1500 B.C. to 500 B.C.)
3)The age of the Sutras, Epics and early Smrities ( From c.500 B.C. to c.500
A.D.)
4)The age of later Smrities,Commentators and Digest-writers (From c.500 A.D. toe. 1800 A.D.)
5)The age of the British rule (From 1857 to 1947)
6)The post-Tndependence period
The following is a brief review of the position of the Indian woman in each period.
1) The age of the Rigveda :-
The position of the Indian woman in the age of the Rigveda was highly satisfactory. This is rather surprising because-as Dr. P.S. Altekar rightly points out in his book The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation-generallv the condition of women improves as society advances to modem times but the case
45 of Hindu women is an exception. According to Dr.Altekar, this satisfactory position was partly due to political and partly to religious causes. The political cause was that as the Non-Aryans were probably outnumbering the Aryans at that time, the Aryans wanted to have as strong and numerous an army as possible. In this situation, the Aryans could not go in for the sati custom or prohibit widow remarriages. The religious reason was that asceticism was at a discount in the Vedic age- instead, according to the Aryans, maidens and bachelors could have no admission to heaven. They also believed that gods accepted no oblations offered by the unmarried , that it is necessary to offer sacrifices to Gods for prosperity and happiness and that those sacrifices could be offered only by the husband and wife officiating together. In this situation, the status of the Indian woman was bound to be high. Another reason, advanced by Dr.Altekar, is that in the Vedic age, women used to take an active part in agriculture and they also manufactured clothes, bows, arrows and other war material. Being useful members of society, they could not be treated with an air of patronage or contempt.
Due to all these reasons, the Vedic woman enjoyed a lot of freedom and a high social position. Though girls were generally less welcome than boys, some parents performed special religious rituals to have intelligent daughters. A verse in the Brihadaranyakopanishada tells us that a particular kind of food was given to a pregnant woman so that she could give birth to a talented daughter \ Girls'
46 education was not a taboo- instead, the Vedic society set a great store by female education, as evidenced by the Atharvaveda which observes that a maiden can succeed in her marriage only if she has been properly trained during the period of 'brahmacharya' (studentship). ^ Dr.Altekar's book informs us that some
Vedic women excelled in a difficult science called 'Purvamimansa', which discussed the diverse problems related with Vedic sacrifices. The same book also informs us that a theologian called 'Kasakritsna' had written a work on
Mimansa called 'Kasakritsni' and women scholars, who specialized in it, were called as 'Kasakritsnas'. It is not surprising that in such a situation, some women distinguished themselves as poetesses and that some of their poems had the great fortune of being included in the canonical literature. The Rigveda contains some hymns by female seers like Lopamudra, Surya etc. There were lOio child marriages in the Vedic age. Educated brides of the age of 16 or 17 naturally had a significant voice in the selection of their life-partners. Love-
/marriages were not taboos- instead, women could freely move in society, often even in the company of their lovers. They were accorded a prominent position in religious and social gatherings. Sacrifices could not be performed without women-they could even perform some sacrifices independently, which shows that there was complete gender equality in the eyes of religion. The wife had
friendly relations with the husband. Though in theory, she was the joint owner
of the household with her husband but never in reality. In rich and royal
47 families, polygamy prevailed to some extent but this practice was confined to
' some few families only. A widow could go in for a remarriage, either regularly
or through the custom of 'Niyoga'.
The only drawback in this situation was that women could not hold or
inherit property but that was quite understandable. Even male members of the
family could not hold or inherit property- it was only the patriarch who was the
sole owner and guardian of the family's property. As the idea of the rights of
the different members of the family was yet to come, it was not surprising that
women had no special rights. Except this she enjoyed a respectable position in
the society.
2) The age of the Later Samhitas, Brahmanas and Upanishads (From c. 1500 to c.500 B.C)
There was a gradual decline in female education as this period advanced,
' as the custom of sending out girls to famous teachers or centres of education
discontinued. Since it came to be prescribed that only near relations like the
father, the brother or the uncle should teach them at home only, female
education got confined to rich and cultured families only. In the result, there
arose a tendency to curtail the religious rights of the woman. Many functions in
the sacrifice, which formerly could be performed by the wife alone, now came
to be assigned to male substitutes. Of course, some sacrifices like Rudrayaga
and Sitayaga were still performed by women alone. In cultured families, women
48 still used to recite their Vedic prayers morning and evening. They still performed sacrifices on behalf of the husband when he was otherwise preoccupied. However, the overall religious position of women began to dwindle.
3) The age of the Sutras, the Epics and the Early Smrities (c.500 B.C. to c. 500 A.D.)
The position of women further deteriorated in this period. As a semi- servile status was assigned to the Shudras, the tasks of making clothes, bows, arrows and other war material - which were formerly performed by women - were now given to the Shudras. Women thus ceased to contribute to society, which naturally degraded their position.
Intermarriages of the Aryans and the non-Aryans also began to take place. With her ignorance of Sanskrit and Hinduism, the non-Aryan wife could not perform religious sacrifices properly. However, as the non-Aryan wife alone could not be prohibited from performing rituals, the whole class of women was prohibited from it. The growing complexity of Vedic rituals also caused this prohibition, as even the slightest mistake in the performance of a
Vedic ritual came to be regarded as dangerous. It required a long training to perform these complicated rituals and the average women did not have time for
it. In the Rigvedic age, a son was required for secular purposes but in the days
of the Later Samhitas, the son became a religious necessity. Performing post-
49 death rituals became the prerogative of the son and so in their anxiety to get a son as early as possible, people began to lower the marriageable age for girls, which naturally discouraged female education.
During the first half of this period, widow remarriages and Niyoga continued to be allowed. However, in the second half, both these things went down in the public opinion and so they gradually began to go out of vogue at about 500 A.D. While the husband could easily discard his wife for a trivial reason, the wife could not even dream of taking a similar step. Nor could she marry again. As women were kept uneducated, they were ignorant of their former position and so they could not effectively oppose such things.
As the Hindu kingdoms in this period became fairly extensive and the harems of Hindu kings also increased, their example was imitated by their rich subjects. This had adverse effects on the status of the vast majority of women in the upper classes. Far from being a companion of the husband, the woman became just an object to enjoy, which had natural repercussions on the status of wives in ordinary families.
During the period of 500 years between 200B.C. and 300A.D., the plains of Punjab and the Gangetic valley were firstly invaded by the Greeks, then by the Scythians and the Parthians. These invasions reduced the Hindu population by one half, 25 % being killed and 25 % being carried away. Then came the
Kushanas, who practically overran the whole of Northen India. A wave of
50 despondency swept over the Hindu society as a result of political reverses, war atrocities and the decline of population and prosperity. So the ideal of renunciation (sanyasa) began to find acceptance, which strengthened the hands of those who were opposed to Niyoga or widow remarriage. They began to argue that a widow should lead an ascetic life instead of going in for a remarriage, which naturally ruined the position of the widow. A greater calamity that the widow had in store was the revival of the 'sati' custom.
Though basically confined to the warrior class, the custom of sati came to be regarded as a supreme religious sacrifice and so it began to spread wider in society in the course of time.
The tendency to regard women as morally weak by nature strengthened during this period, as evidenced by Manu's declaration in the Manusmruti,
A woman often spoils a man by luring him. So a knowledgeable person should always remain beware of them ^.
However, women were loved and respected in the roles of a mother, a daughter, a wife or a sister. Manu himself had high respect for all such forms, as evinced by his statements like
Having a daughter is a great grace of God. A mother is greater than a thousand fathers.^ The family in which the husband keeps the wife satisfied and the wife keeps the husband satisfied has permanent welfare ^.
51 The theory of the 'perpetual tutelage of the woman' also came to be advanced during this period. Manu declares,
The father should protect the woman when she is a maiden, the husband when she is married, the son when the husband is no more. Women should always remain dependent^.
However, it needs to be remembered that those who advocated this theory did not mean so much to deny freedom to women as to give them adequate and continuous protection. Manu tells us in the next verse that
The father should be blamed if he does not marry his daughter in time, the husband, if he does not look after his wife properly ,and the son, if he does not protect his mother in her old age.^
It also needs to be remembered that Manu wanted the wife to have proper share in the management of the household. He says that it is the wife who should control the expenditure of the household and supervise the general arrangements of the kitchen, furniture and periodical religious and secular functions '. Manu also do^s^ot does not allow even a major son to lay claim to the father's property after the death of the father so long as the mother is alive
^". Narada, another smriti-writer of the same age, also advocated the theory of the perpetual tutelage of the woman. He says that at the death of the father, the
mother should be preferred as the guardian of the minor children to any other
male relative. It all means that those who advocated the theory of the perpetual
tutelage of the woman were themselves not very serious about it. Nor did the
52 Hindu society take it very seriously. After the death of the husband, the son did
not control the mother- it was often the other way round. The overall condition
of the Indian woman certainly deteriorated during this period.
The only matter in which the condition of the Indian woman improved
^ in this period was proprietory rights. As widow remarriages and Niyoga began
to go out of vogue, there arose a class of young widows and so the proprietory
rights of the widow came to be recognized. The general condition of the Indian
woman became highly unsatisfactory during this period.
4] The age of the Later Smrities, Commentators and Digest-writers [c.500 A.D. to C.1800A.D.]
Just like the earlier age, this one also witnessed improvement in the
position of women in the matter of proprietory rights. Though the right of the
widow to inherit the share of her husband's property came to be recognized all
over the country by c.1200 A.D., the condition of women continued to
, degenerate in another spheres. The 'upanayana' [the threading ceremony] of
; women went out of vogue. The contemporary society set a great store by this
ceremony- even a Brahmin was supposed to be a Shudra unless and until he
had gone through it. Now that the 'upanayana' of the Indian woman went out of
,' vogue, women came to be regarded as equivalent to the Shudras. Thus, she
\ became a 'dasi' of the husband and the in-laws.
53 In this age, the marriageable age of girls was lowered down still further, though in Kshatriya families , girls continued to be married at about the age of
14 or 15. As non-Kshatriya girls were married at the age of 10 or 11, naturally they could not have education worth the name. About 1200 A.D., daughters in rich families could get some literary education through special teachers- a few of them could even become distinguished poetesses or critics down to the 10^*^ century A.D. However, this tradition also discontinued after the old aristocracy perished or declined in significance after the establishment of the Muslim mle.
Being illiterate and inexperienced, women naturally ceased to inspire respect and so the tendency to make cynical remarks about women became common.
Child-marriages gave rise to marital faithlessness on the part of the husband and polygamy also became more fashionable due to the evil example set by royal harems. The mortality rate increased due to early pregnancy.
Till 500 A.D. child widows were allowed to remarry but the practice gradually discontinued. From about 9000 A.D. no widow in a respectable family could even dream of going in for a remarriage but a widower of 25 or 30 could marry a bride of 9 or 10. The custom of tonsuring widows also became an accepted norm in the society in the 8'^ century.
Since the purdah system was staunchly opposed till the 12' century, it could not be popular even among royal families till that time. After the
54 establishment of the Mushm rule, the purdah system was adopted by the
feudatories and nobles and then by higher classes in Northern India. As the
Muslim influence was weak in the South, the system found no general acceptance there- only a few ruling families adopted it. However, in Northern
India, the purdah system confined the life of the Indian woman to the domestic world.
Down to about 800 A.D. Smrities emphatically declared that women, who were forcibly taken into captivity or dishonored, should be admitted back to their families. However, pseudo-puritanical ideas distorted social vision in this matter after c. 1,000 A.D. Then the Hindu society came to believe that once a woman was converted or taken into captivity, she was permanently 'defiled' and so she could not be admitted back to her family and religion.
Vedic education had become inaccessible for women. The Puranas fulfilled their intellectual needs consummately by explaining the principles of
Hinduism in a simple, attractive way and illustrating those principles with a
number of suitable stories. The stories from the Puranas made women irrational
and superstitious.
All these factors contributed to the further degeneration of the position
of women during this period.
55 5] The age of the British rule
The condition of women completely changed during this period. With the spread of English education and growing colonial interaction, there arose a class of social reformers, which made a lot of efforts to improve the lot of the women. The following were some of the individuals or institutions which played a major role in bringing about the emancipation of the Indian woman.
Brahmo Samaj
This organization was formed by Raja Rammohan Roy at Calcutta in
1828.The leaders of this organization got enacted a law against the sati custom
[1829] and the Brahmo Marriage Act [1872], which aimed at abolishing child marriages. They also raised their voice in favor of widow remarriages and also set up schools for girls. Eradication of polygamy and the purdah system also received their attention. This organization thus paved the way for female emancipation.
Arya Samaj
This organization was founded by Swami Dayananda Saraswati at
Mumbai on V"" April 1875.It set up 'gurukuls' for educating girls, where girls were given training in domestic science. Instructions in religious ceremonies were also a part of their curriculum, which enabled women to take part in
56 religious rites on equal terms with men. The samaj raised its voice against the purdah system and its constitution made provision that women could be on any administrative or general body of the organization. In this way, this organization also contributed to the emancipation of women.
Ramakrishna Mission
This organization was founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1897 and subsequently its branches were formed all over the country. This organization set up schools for both boys and girls. The centres of this organization made women not only aware of their own importance but also conscious of the slavery of their motherland, thereby raising the social and
political consciousness of Indian women.
All India Women's Conference
This organization was founded by Margaret Cousins in 1927. Its branches were established at various parts in India. Educated women like
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Sarojini Naidu, Muthulakshmi Reddi,
Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Amrita Kaur were associated with it. This was the first organization to bring women together on all-India level and to raise their
demands for various rights.
57 Pandit Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar
Pandit Vidyasagar was a famous Bengali writer, a Sanskrit scholar and a social reformer. A staunch advocate of female education, he set up as many as
35 schools for girls in Bengal. Being firmly against child marriages, he did not marry off his own daughters till they were 14 or 15. He was a firm exponent of widow remarriages, he married off his own son with a widow. He wrote a book on widow remarriages called Vidhava Vivaha in 1855. By a Sanskrit scholar, the book silenced the opponents of widow remarriages by adducing scriptural references in its support. It was mainly due to the efforts of Pandit Vidyasagar that the British government passed the law permitting widow remarriages in
1856.
Annie Beasant
Mrs. Annie Beasant was a firm exponent of female emancipation, who believed that the progress of India depended upon the emancipation of the
Indian woman. She established an organization called the Home Rule League in
1914, the membership of which was open for men and women above 18 years of age and which even had a special cell for women. During the period 1914-
1917, this organization made an agitation - known as the Home Rule agitation , which made women wake up to the fact that they had been excluded from political life so far and inspired them to freely participate in it. As the first 58 president of an organization called Indian Women's Association, Mrs. Beasant pressed for the demand of political rights for women. She was also a member of a deputation of women, led by Sarojini Naidu, which visited England in 1917.It called upon Mr. Edward Montagu, the Secretary of State, and presented a memorandum asking for voting rights for women. As mentioned earlier, Mrs.
Beasant was also one of the prominent leaders of the 'Theosophical Society'.
Mr.Agarkar was a great patriot and a social reformer, who was a close friend and an associate of Lokmanya Tilak in the beginning. He was the principal of Fergusson college -the educational institute which Tilak and his associates had founded for imparting nationalistic education. He was also the editor of Kesari, the nationalistic Marathi newspaper founded by Tilak.
However, later on he had differences with Tilak, as he opined that social reforms should precede political ones while Tilak believed that it should be the other way round. So he parted ways with Tilak and founded his own Marathi newspaper called Sudharka. In its editorials, he heavily came down upon practices like child marriages or tonsuring widows, while advocating things like female education or widow remarriages. He had to face a lot of public opposition for expressing such progressive views - some conservative people even arranged a funeral procession of him under his own eyes. Unfazed by all
59 such opposition, he continued to hold progressive views and express them through his editorials.
Mahatma Phule and Savitribai Phule
Mahatma Jyotiba Phule was a Marathi writer, a poet, a thinker and a social reformer. He was a staunch advocate of female education and so in 1848, he set up a school for girls at Pune, where both he and Savitribai- his wife- worked as teachers. When the couple went to the school for teaching, some conservative people used to sling mud, cowdung or stones at them. Undettered by this kind of opposition, the couple went on running the school- it even set up two more schools for girls at Pune. As widow remarriages were not allowed, some widows went in for illicit relationships, the products of which were often discarded or killed at birth. So Mahatma Phule established an institute called
'Balhatya Pratibandhak Gruha', which made adequate arrangements for the maternity of a widow. Mahatma Phule even adopted a boy called Yashwanta- the illegitimate son of a widow. He fought against untouchability, making a well in his own house accessible for Dalits. His wife was a great help for him in all the missions he undertook- she even carried on his legacy after his death.
60 Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve
Maharashi Karve was a staunch advocate of widow remarriages, who himself married a widow in the teeth of social opposition. He set up an intitute called 'Vidhavavivaha Pratibandha Nivaran Parishad' in order to promote widow remarriages in 1896. As he later on felt that it was more important to educate widows rather than simply promoting their remarriages, he established an institute called 'Anath Balikashrama' for educating widows at Pune in
1896.Through his efforts, the institute developed into a university for women in the course of twenty years. Then named as 'Bharatiya Mahila Vidyapeeth' and now known as 'Shrimati Nathibai Damodar Thakarsy Mahila Vidyapeeth', this university has imparted education as well as professional training to thousands of women.
Pandita Ramabai
Pandita Ramabai was a great Sanskrit scholar, an eloquent orator and a firm exponent of gender equality. In spite of being steeped in Hinduism, she converted to Christanity. She established two institutues - 'Sharada Sadan'at
Pune and 'Mukti Sadan'at Kedgaon- for educating women and also for
providing an asylum for widows. Many girls were imparted education by these
institutes-many pr secuted widows found an asylum in them.
61 Ramabai Ranade
Ramabai Ranade was the wife of Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade, who was a great social reformer. Being all for female education, Justice Ranade educated his wife at home even though some conservative members of his family opposed it. As he also encouraged his wife to participate in public life against the wishes of those members of the family, Ramabai became an active participant in public life. She established an institute called 'Hindu Ladies
Social Club' at Pune in 1902.When a famine or Plague struck Pune, the volunteers of this club rendered a yeoman service to the affected people. In
1909, Ramabai became the president of an institute called 'Seva Sadan', the institute in which 'Hindu Ladies Social Club' was merged. Some branches of
'Seva Sadan' were also established at places like Baramati or Solapur. This institute aimed at educating women and enabling them to actively and intelligently participate in public life. Apart from presiding over this institute,
Ramabai was always in the forefront of all the movements that aimed at improving the lot of the Indian woman. She was the leader of the agitation for compulsory primary education for girls and also presided over meetings demanding the right to vote for women.
Swarn Kumari Debi
Swam Kumari Debi was a famous social reformer from Bengal. Her husband helped her to discard purdah and freely participate in public life. She
62 became the editor of a famous Bengali journal called 'Bambhadini Patrika' in
1884- she had the distinction of being the first Indian woman editor. She was
also the first Indian woman to attend the Indian National Congress as a delegate
from Bengal in its session held at Calcutta in 1900. In 1886, she estabhshed an
organization called 'Ladies Association', which tried to spread female
education, to enable women to stand on their own feet and also to make them
take an active and enlightened interest in the welfare of their country.
Rani Shurnomoyee
Rani Shurnomoyee was another social reformer from Bengal, who helped
the cause of female education a lot by opening a hostel for the girl students of
Grant Medical College, Calcutta as well as giving a lot of financial help to i many schools for girls. Poor students, orphans and widows received her special
care.
Mahatma Gandhi
No account of the Indian woman's emancipation can be complete without
dwelling on the Mahatma's glorious contribution to it. The Mahatma played a
pivotal role in it during the period 1920-1947,the period in which he led the
nation. He was a firm exponent of gender equality, though some of his views
regarding the matter were conservative. He , for example, believed that the man
should earn for the family while the woman should look after it. However, on
the whole his outlook upon women was fairly progressive. In spite of being an 'orthodox Hindu'-as he hked to call himself-he firmly denounced all those
passages of the Hindu smrities which make derogatory remarks about women.
He was firmly against practices like child marriages or widow burning. He was
for female education, but he believed that male education should be distinct
from "female education and that in female education, more emphasis should be
placed upon domestic sciences than on other matters. It was his firm conviction
that though in physical might, men may be superior to women, in matters like
patience, tolerance, moral courage, it is women who are superior to men and as
such they are more suitable for a non-violent struggle than men. Led by a man
of such a progressive outlook upon women, it was not surprising that the
I freedom-struggle allowed a lot of scope for women. Besides, women could
easily join it without any great fear beyond that of occasional lathi blows or
imprisonment. The movement was on such a wide scale that women could
easily participate in it wherever they were- in villages, towns and cities-
working largely with other women and men they knew as their neighbors.
Besides, as Apama Basu observes,
' Gandhi's personality inspired confidence not only in women but in their guardians- husbands, fathers, brothers who did not object to their women-folk coming out of their sheltered homes to march i in the streets. If Gandhi's leadership had not been ( there, such a large number of women might not have come out ^\
64 The result of all these factors was that the Nationalist movement brought
. thousands of women out of their sheltered, narrow domestic world, made them \
fight for their motherland, brought them into contact with various kinds of
people and thereby expanded their world of experience.
; In 1921,the Mahatma launched the Civil Disobedience movement, in
which women took a significant part , picketing shops selling foreign clothes.
Picketing went on spreading from city to city, gradually paralysing the foreign
cloth market. Women also picketed liquor shops- they showed even more
initiative and began to cut down the sweet date-palm trees from which the
liquor known as 'toddy' is tapped. Cutting down these trees became something
like a crusade- thousands of these trees were cut down by women. Women's
participation in this movement was not on a large scale. It was mainly confined
to those women whose husbands, fathers, brothers or sons had already joined
the struggle and were in jail.
In 1924,a No-tax campaign was launched in Bardoli under the leadership
,of Sardar Patel. Unlike the earlier movement, women participated in this
/campaign in large numbers. Not only the literate but the illiterate women of
Bardoli also participated in this movement. They attended the meetings of the
leaders of this movement, even if it meant covering long distances on foot.They
had composed some patriotic songs and singing those songs, they would trudge
miles and miles to attend the meetings. Women outnumbered men in such
65 meetings, they held their separate meetings also. The peasants of Bardoli were forced to leave their land; their buffaloes and cows were confiscated; their household goods were auctioned in order to make them pay taxes. The peasants refused to pay taxes, in which they were fully supported by women. In fact, women displayed greater courage than men when the police confiscated their cows, buffaloes and other property. The Bardoli satyagraha successfully completed after five and a half months of struggle. It served as a training
) ground for female participants and also an inspiration for other women of the nation to join the freedom struggle.
The Mahatma launched his famous Salt satyagraha in 1930. Women wholeheartedly plunged in the movement; breaking salt laws; taking out processions; picketing schools, colleges, legislative councils and clubs; burning foreign clothes; spinning khadi and hawking it from door to door. They had to stand up to things like lathi-charges, arrests, shooting for doing all such things.
In prisons, they had to face many hardships like unhygenic meals and living conditions, humiliations . They bore with all such things without a murmur of protest. Women like Sarojini Naidu, Kamla Nehru, Kamla Devi Chattopadhyay^ actively in this movement. They afforded leadership to thousands of uneducated women living in villages. They toured rural areas in difficult circumstances, delivered speeches among women, apprised them of all the aspects of the
Freedom movement, organised them in batches under a dynamic local leader,
66 persuaded them to leave purdah, their hearths and homes and implement
various programmes. In this way, the role played by women in the Salt I
I satyagraha was certainly remarkable. During this satyagraha, over 80,000
persons were arrested, out of whom more than 17,000 were women!
The Freedom movement not only allowed women a large scope for
participation in public life but it also provided them with opportunities of
contesting elections and winning them, coming to power and working as
adminstrators. In the elections of the State Legistlatures of 1937, eight women
were elected from the general constituencies and forty-two from the reserved
constituencies.
In 1940,Gandhi launched the Individual Satyagraha movement, in which
women like Vijayalakshmi Pandit and Sucheta Kriplani participated and
I courted arrest.
The Mahatma launched the Quit India movement at Gawalia Tank,
Mumbai on the 8'^ of August 1942. Aruna Asafali hoisted the national flag at
the same place and was promptly arrested for it on the next day. Thus, the first
major participant in this movement was a woman. Thousands of other women
momentously contributed to this movement. In Madhya Pradesh, women
approached officials and members of the Bar on the Rakshabandhan day and
requested the former to resign and the latter to refrain from attending courts. In
Mumbai, Usha Mehta ran a secret transmitting radio station. In Bengal, women
67 even formed a National Government within the Hmits laid down by the
Congress committes. This Government went on functioning till the 8"" of
August 1944 and was then dissolved at the instance of the Mahatma. Some women went underground and directed the movement from there. Aruna
Asafali was one of the most prominent leaders of this movement.
In this way, the Nationalist movement momentously contributed to the emancipation of the Indian woman.
Dr.B.R.Ambedkar
Dr.B.R.Ambedkar was a great intellectual, a scholar and a social reformer who dedicated all his life to the cause of Dalit emancipation.Apart from being a champion of the Dalit community, he was also a staunch advocate of gender equality. He established as many as 28 educational institutes like
Milind college in Aurangabad, Siddhartha college in Mumbai for educating both Dalit men and women. Thus, Dr.Ambedkar gave a great boost to women's education in the Dalit community.
Similarly, Dr.Ambedkar launched movements like the Kala Ram Mandir satyagraha in Nashik or the Chavdar Tale satyagraha in Mahad for Dalit emancipation. Some Dalit women also participated in such movements. So just like the Nationalist movement, this one also allowed women scope for participating in public life.
68 Due to the efforts of all such individuals or organization, the condition of the Indian woman underwent a lot of modifications during the pre-
Independence era.
6]The Post-Independence era ( after 1947) -
The following factors brought about further improvement in the condition of women in the post-Independence age :-
Pandit Nehru
In 1947, Pandit Nehru became the first prime-minister of India. He believed that women should be trained in every department of human activity so that they can play an effective part in every sphere of life. Unlike the
Mahatma, he did not think that women should not work. Instead, he believed that women should be financially independent- that so long as they are financially dependent upon their husbands, they can never be free. Nehru was the president of the Karachi Congress, held in March 1931, which passed a resolution on fundamental rights. As Nehru saw to it that this resolution laid special emphasis on women's rights, one of the main points of the resolution was that' in a planned society, women's place shall be equal to that of men'.
Nehru involved women in the important task of constitution-making and so women like Sarojini Naidu, Hansa Mehta, Renuka Roy, Durgabai
Deshmukh, Begum Aziaz Rasul took part in the making of the constitution. As
Nehru also saw to it that the constitution ensured an equitable treatment and a
69 honoured position for women in new India, the chapter on fundamental rights of the constitution gave women a status of equaUty with men. It specifically laid down that there would be no discrimination whatsoever on the grounds of gender. One of the significant clauses of the Directive Principles dealt with the securing of a just social, political and economic order for both men and women on the basis of equality. The constitution also prescribed that men and women should have equal pay for equal work and that women should have just and humane conditions at the place of work as well as maternity relief
Nehru placed a proposal to amend the Hindu Code Bill before the i Parliament in 1950.He wanted to modify the Bill in such a way that it would give more legal rights to women. Unfortunately, the Bill was opposed even by the likes of Dr.Rajendra Prasad, who was the President of India at that time.
The self-same people who had accepted the principle of gender equality at the time of framing the constitution could not accept the logical consequences of that principle. Nehru was keen upon getting the Bill passed by the Parliament and so was Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, who was the Law Minister in the Nehru Ministry and a champion of gender equality. Even though both he and Nehru made a lot of efforts to get the Bill passed, the Bill was so much opposed by the
Parliamentarians that Nehru had to finally drop it. This frustrated Dr. Ambedkar to such an extent that he resigned as the Law Minister. However, Nehru again placed the Bill before the Parliament and got it passed in a changed atmosphere
70 after five years. Three laws were made out of it- 1] the Hindu Marriage and
Divorce Act 2] the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 3] the Hindu
Women's Right of Succession to Property Act. Nehru also got 'the Dowry
Restraint Act' passed in 1961.
Girls' education :-
The spread of girls' education improved their position in the society.
Primary education was neglected under the British rule but the Article 45 of the
Indian constitution made primary education compulsory for children. The
Indian government also promoted girls' education. It was given priority consideration by the State Education Development Programme for 1950-57, to which the Centre gave financial assistance. Due to all such factors, women's education received a great boost in Independent India. The number of girls' institutions, for example, was 16,951 in 1947-48 but it rose up to 24,872 in
1955-56. The total enrolment of girl students in different institutions of all kinds in the country was 3,550,503 in 1947-48 but it rose up to 9,117,115 in 1956-57.
Expenditure on institutions for women during this period rose up from
Rs.76,566,300 to Rs. 193,549,963 ^\
The year 1975 was declared as the 'International Women's Year' by the
UNO. From 1975 onwards, many states introduced special schemes to lure parents to send their daughters to school. As the television reached a vast rural audience, it was used to spread the message that education for girls was free,
71 and that literacy was essential for every woman. As a result of all such factors, in the 1980 census, the Uteracy rate among women had risen up to 18 percent from 9 percent ten years before. In 1990, it rose twice as much again to nearly
36 percent.^"*
Education helped women to be widely conversant with the world, rational-thinking, independent-minded and conscious of their rights
Women's employment :-
Under the leadership of Pandit Nehru, Independent India made a lot of scientific, industrial, technological progress, which opened up a number of employment opportunities for women. Some organizations like Sangeet Natak
Akademy, Lalit Kala Akademy, Sahitya Akademy- set up by the Indian government- also provided women with employment opportunities. So today women workers are found in every field.
Women's magazines like 'Femina' encouraged professionalism among women, publishing a number of articles and supplements on business possibilities and facilities. Now women got opportunities to be entrepreneurs and did business in making things like pickles, sauces, wines, handicrafts, handmade paper, stationary, machine parts, export garments etc. Besides, some organizations in Independent India like 'Cross' in Andhra Pradesh, 'Lijjat
Papad' in Pune, 'Seva' in Ahmadabad have been imparting professional
training to women, which has also encouraged professionalism among women.
72 Thus, the post-Independence period has made women financially independent and an independent entity.
The International Year of Women
The United Nations declared the year 1975 as 'The International Year of
Women'. In this year, many issues regarding women came to be discussed.
Oppression of women, dowry deaths, female foeticide, job discrimination, medical neglect, lack of education, divorce and maintenance, child custody, property laws began to hit the headlines. In the same year, Indira Gandhi declared Emergency and imposed many curbs on the freedom of the media, which made it difficult for journalists to write about political events. A good result of this bad thing was that women's issues began to receive wide attention in the media and it made people widely aware of the problems faced by women.
From this year onwards, women all over the world established their networking systems and women also built a common platform to fight for their causes. They learnt to unite under various banners and to march in the streets for their demands. In the following twenty years, there came various nation wide issues like the Shah Bano case, the sati case of Roop Kunwar that helped women to come together and fight for their rights again and again.
In this year, the Indian government launched various schemes for the
welfare of Indian women and also established a committee called 'Rashtriya
Mahila Samiti' to see to it that all such schemes were properly implemented.
73 The government also set up a special section for women and children in the
ministry of 'The development of Human Resources'.
In short, the year 1975 proved to be a watershed year in the history of
Indian women.
Women's organizations
A number of women's organizations like 'Rural Women's Liberation
Movement' in Tamil Nadu, 'Sanchetana' in Calcutta were established in Post-
Independence India, especially after 1975.
These organizations have always opposed any kind of injustice that has
been done to women, raising their voice against things like rapes, molestations,
dowry deaths, wife-beating, commercial exploitation of women's beauty and
fought for women's rights. i Due to the efforts of these organizations, 33 percent of seats were ireserved for women in panchayats, muncipalities, corporations etc. in 1993.
Some of these organizations have also got new laws enacted for women
or amended the existing laws regarding them. They got the Dowry Restraint
Act amended in 1993, the laws regarding rape cases in 1985.They made the
Indian Government enact a new law prohibiting female foeticide in 1996.
Feminism John Stuart Mill's The Subjection of Women, Virginia Woolf's A Room
of One's Own, Simon De Beauvoir's Second Sex, Kate Millet's Sexual Politics,
74 \ Betty Friedon's Feminine Mystique. Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch, I
\ Shulamith Firestone's The Dialectic of Sex are the major works of Feminism.
The basic principles of this philosophy are that men and women are only
physically- not qualitatively- distinct from each other. There are no such things
as 'masculine' or 'feminine' qualities-masculine qualities have been
,' unnecessarily attributed to men, 'feminine' qualities to women. Women have
been unnecessarily and unjustly discriminated against on account of their
imaginary 'feminine' qualities- they have been ruled over by men in every walk
of life. Women are basically human beings and they should be recognized as
such and given equal rights and an equal position in family and public life.
\ Though this ideology became popular in the world in the sixties and also
influenced Indian thinking during that period, it found a wider acceptance in
India after 1975. It made many women aware of their inferior position in family
and social life and inspired them to unitedly fight for their rights, apart from
leading some people to reinterpret and reevaluate Indian cultural traditions and
literature. Though a feminist point of view at times leads a person to take a one
sided view of things, this ideology has certainly proved to be a great help for
women- it has given some kind of ideological orientation to the women's
movement in India.
As a result of all these factors, women- at least those in urban areas-
have become well-educated, well-experienced, widely exposed to the world, 75 !• bold, assertive, independent-minded, rational in thinking .She is no longer i
' looked upon merely as the shadow of her husband. She has evolved into an
independent individual- a distinct human being and won recognition as such.
Like Nora in Ibsen's A Doll's House, she tells her husband . I believe that before everything else I'm an individual- just as much as you are.. .or at any rate I shall try to become one. ^^
76 References
1 As quoted by Dr.P.S.Altekar. The Position of Women in Hindu
Civilization.Bcnaies-.BenarQs Hindu University, 1938.8.
2 Ibid.8.
3 Ibid.15.
4Shri Vishnushastri Bapat,ed. Manusmruti Pune'.Rajesh Prakashan,n.d.
42.
5 Ibid. 105.
6 Ibid.35.
7 Ibid.54.
8 Ibid.239.
9 Ibid.239.
lOIbid.240.
11 Aparna Basu. "The Role of Women in the Indian Struggle for
Freedom". Indian Women- From Purdah to Modernity. Delhi: Vikas
PubHshing House Pvt. Ltd., 1976. 37.
12 As quoted by Bimla Luthra. "Nehru and the Place of Women in the
Indian Society". Indian Women- From Purdah to Modernity. Delhi: Vikas
Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., 1976. 13.
13 As quoted by Padmini Sengupta. Women Workers of India. Mumbai:
Asia Publishing House, 1960. 248. 77 14 As quoted by Vimla Patil. My Times- Memoirs. Delhi- UBS
Publishers Distributors Ltd., 1997.55.
15 Ibsen. A Doll's House .Mumbai:Oxford University Press, 1961.84.
78 Chapter 2B- A History of the Indian Autobiography
The history of the Indian autobiography may be roughly divided into two periods- 1] The pre- Independence period 2] The post-Independence period.
In the middle age, very few autobiographies were written in the Indian languages. The first Indian autobiography was probably Ardhakathanaka. a
Hindi autobiography by Mr.Banarasidas Jain, written in 1641. In the 17'^ century, Bahinabai, a Marathi saint-poetess, wrote her autobiography in verse. The Dasam Granth, a Punjabi religious book written in the same century, has a section called 'Bachitrar Natak', which is an incomplete autobiography of Guru Govind Singh. In Indian culture, the collective psyche has been given more precedence than the self and the feudal and patriarchal system prevalent in India was also detrimental to the free expression of the individual spirit, which could have hampered the growth of autobiography in India.
After the Colonial interaction, the individual identity assumed more importance than the collective psyche and so the focus of literature shifted from the collective psyche to the individual identity. The Indian autobiography began to bloom. Some remarkable autobiographies were
79 written in the Indian languages during the pre-Independence period but their number was limited. The condition of autobiography underwent a lot of modifications in the post-Independence period.
In this age, with the establishment of democracy in India, it was the common individual rather than the eminent person who assumed a place of importance and so the focus of literature also shifted from the life of a high caste, high positioned person to a common individual. As K.M.George has rightly pointed out while writing on Kazina Kalam. a Sahitya Akademi award winning Malyalam autobiography by K.P.Kesava Menon,
Biographies used to be written only about persons of high parentage and extraordinary life. But times have changed and now the reader is more interested in the lives of people who have risen high from low beginnings. ^
With the wide spread of education in the post-Independence India, certain
weaker sections of the Indian society, which were denied access to education
so far, got educated and began to write. Writing an autobiography became a
means of self- assertion for them, because of which the autobiography now
began to explore those aspects of social life that had so far remained
untouched in Indian literature. With the wide spread of women's education
and the rise of feminism in the post-Independence India, writing an
autobiography became a means of self-expression for women also. The self
80 of the Indian woman that had generally remained silent so far, began to find expression in the autobiography on a wider scale. Autobiographical writings were acknowledged as literary achievements and recognised by giving annual awards by Sahitya Akadami from 1959. As a result of all such factors, a number of good autobiographies came to be written in the Indian languages. As the present study is mainly concerned with Marathi, English and Punjabi autobiographies, a brief historical survey of the development of the genre in these languages is relevant.
Indian English autobiography
Raja Rammohan Roy, an eminent social reformer who got the 'sati' custom banned, wrote the first autobiographical vignette in 1832. The first extensive Indian English autobiography was written by Lutufallah, a tutor in
Persian, Arabic and Hindustani to British officers, in 1857. This autobiography is remarkable for its reflection of the writer's well-read character and also for the writer's bold judgement of the British society and character. Recollections of My Scool Days by Lai Behari Day is another important autobiography of the earlier period.The autobiography only reveals the period of his school days .It portrays a honest self-portrait.
By the year 1885 English language had been absorbed in the Indian way of life, with the establishment of universities at Calcutta, Mumbai, Madras and Allahabad. The emergence of the new Indian, who had received education in English and who was conversant with the Western thoughts and ideas, enriched the Indian English autobiography. The language came to handled with more proficiency. The autobiography came to give glimpses into the writer's mind as well as reflecting the national consciousness. Lala
Lajpatrai's autobiographical works like The Story of My Deportation (
1908) and The Story of My Life (1914) reflect these changes.
With the arrival of Gandhi on the national scene, the language of
Indian English autobiographies became simple and unartificial- the autobiography began to deploy matter-of-fact words and phrases.
Surendranath Bannerji autobiography A Nation in Making ( 1925) is significant in this context.
In the first half of the 20"^ century, various kinds of autobiographers contributed to this genre- they included freedom-fighters like Nehru [An
Autobiography. 1936], Vijalakshmi Pandit, [ So I Became a Minister. 1936 and Prison Days. 1945], Krishna Hutheesingh [ With No Regrets, 1944], litterateurs like Dhan Gopal Mukherji [Caste and Outcaste, 1923] ,Mulk Raj
Anand [ Apology for Heroism, 1946], a social reformer like Mr.D.K.Karve [
Looking Back, 1936], holy men like Swami Ramdas [ In Quest of God,
1923], Paramhansa Yogananda [Autobiography of a Yogi, 19461, an official
82 like A.Balkrishna Mudaliar [ Reminiscences of a Retired Hindu Official.
1905], an educationist like Mr.G.K.Chettur [The Last Enchantment. 1933], a jurist like Chimanlal Setalvad [ Recollections and Reflections- An
Autobiography. 1946], a queen like Suniti Devi, the queen of Cooch Behar [
Autobiography of an Indian Princess. 1923]. Most of these autobiographers
were Western-educated and belonging to rich and powerful families.
Among these autobiographies, Nehru's autobiography is certainly the
most important one- it has been considered a world classic. Written in a
simple style, which occasionally rises to poetic heights, the book delineates a
honest self-portrait with a keen psychological insight. Apart from being a
personal history of a sensitive individual, it is also 'a testament of a whole
generation', as Prof. Iyengar rightly calls it. ^ Autobiography of an Indian
Princess by Suniti Devi is also important for the fact that it is the first
autobiography in English by an Indian woman. The book reveals certain
characteristics of the writer, which were peculiar to all women of the age. It
shows that women were conditioned to accept male domination over
themselves, either in the form of parental or filial supremacy. With No
Regrets by Krishna Hutheesingh is also significant because it shows how
the freedom movement raised the social and political consciousness of the
women.
83 The post-Independence autobiography written in Enghsh has a rich harvest, with a number of men in public from different walks of life writing their autobiographies in English. Among these autobiographers, there are eminent politicians [ The Story of Mv Life by Morarji Desai ,Vol 1-3, 1974,
1979] and Bliss was in that Dawn by M.R.Misani, 1977], diplomats
Many Worlds bv K.P.S.Menon. 1965 and A Moment in Time by Appa Pant,
1974], distinguished jurists [Looking Back by M.C.Mahajan, 1963 and
Roses in December by M.C.Chagla, 1973], ciyil servants and officials [
Punjabi Century , The Steel Frame and I- Life in the I.C.S. , Beyond Punjab by Prakash Tandon, 1961, 1962, 1971], Women [ The City of Two Gates by
Savitri Devi, 1950,An Unfinished Autobiography by Indira Goswami], litterateurs [ Autobiography of an Unknown Indian by Nirad Chaudhari ,
1951, Ved Mehta's Face to Face, 1963, Dom Moraes' Mv Son's Father
1968, R.K.Narayan's Mv Days. 1974] , academicians [ D.C.Pavate's
Memories of an Educational Administrator, 1964, D.S.Sarma's From
Literature to Religion, 1964, C.D.Narasimaiah's N for Nobody. 1991], journalists [ K.Rama Rao's The Pen as Mv Sword, 1960, Kedar Ghosh's No
Apology, 1971, Frank Morris' Witness to an Era, 1973 ], artists [ Ravi
Shankar's Mv Music, My Life, 1968], holy men [ Pilgrims of the Stars bv
Dilip Kumar Ray and Indira Devi, 1973]. An autobiography has come from
84 even an anthropologist [ The Tribal World of Verrier Elwin by Verrier
Elwin, 1964] . Hazari's An Indian Outcaste [1951] may be considered the first Dalit autobiography in English.
Among these autobiographies, the major ones include Chagla's
Roses in December. It absorbingly brings out the writer's varied experiences of various areas of life, though it fails to sufficiently reveal the writer's personal life. As Prof.Iyengar comments on it-
... [it] is written with candour, clarity and charity"'
Dom Moraes' Mv Sons Father is also remarkable for its candid and vivid self-portrait.
A mention needs to be made of The Citv of Two Gatewavs by Savitri
Devi, which reveals the writer's fiery self It opens with a note of discontent against God Himself-
Panditji, if God is just as you say He is, then why did he become a God Himself and not make me a God ?
See how I suffer !.'*
Beyond the Jungle by Sita Rathnamani is also a notable autobiography, as it reveals a tribal woman's search for identity. Mv Story by Kamla Das caused a stir in the literary world because of its unabashed revelation of her extra marital affairs. Written in a highly poetic style, the book is remarkable for its bold and honest self-portrait. All these autobiographies show that women
85 writers have used an autobiography as a tool for boldly raising their voice.
An Unfinished Autobiography by Indira Goswami moves back and forth in memory, treating time not in a linear but in a circular form.
Nirad Chaudhari's Autobiography of an Unknown Indian is specially important. Though the book is intended to be a historical work and its historical aspect is controversial, it is certainly remarkable for its comprehensive self-projection, excellent style and evocative description of the cultural milieu in which the writer grew up. As Glasgow Herald comments on the book,
This is an extraordinary book. It is written by a Hindu of East Bengal who has never been to Europe, yet with a command of English that is not exceeded by Mr.Nehru himself. No other self-portrait can compete, for interest or challenge, with this self-portrait of a tortured and assertive spirit ^.
The second volume of this autobiography was published as Thy Hand-
Great Anarch 1931- 1952 in 1987. Running into thousand pages, the book unsparingly comes down upon the leading figures of the Nationalist movement.
C.D.Narasimaiah's N for Nobody is interesting for its insights into human life. Its account of the untimely death of the writer's son is especially remarkable, as style and rhythm enact the theme in it.
86 Marathi autobiography
Though in the l?"" century, Bahinabai, a Marathi saint-poetess, wrote her autobiography in verse and Nana Phadnis, a finance minister of the
Maratha kingdom in the 18'^ century,also wrote his autobiography, Marathi autobiography truly flourished after the colonial interaction.
The autobiographers included scholars [ Nivedan by Dharmanand
Kosambi 1924, Charitra Chandra by Mr.L.R.Pangarkar, 1938], patriots [
Mazi Janmathep by Veer Savarkar, 1927], women [ Ramabai Ranade's
Amachva Avushvatil Kahi Athavani, 1910, Lakshmibai Tilak's Smruti
Chitre, 1934-36, Mazi Kahani by Parvatibai Athavale, 1928, Smaran Sakhali by Kamalabai Deshpande, Amchi Akra Varshe by Lilabai Patwardhan,
1945], princes [Atmacharitra by Balasaheb Pant Pratindidhi, the then ruler of the princely state of Aundh, 1945], writers [ Gatagoshti or Mazi Jeevanvatra by Mr.N.C.Kelkar,1939] and even a cricketer [ Maze Krida Jivan by
P.Vitthal, 1944].
Among these autobiographies, the most notable ones included
Amachva Avushvatil Kahi Athavani by Ramabai Ranade, an eminent social worker and the wife of the social reformer Justice Mahadeo Govind Ranade.
It was the first Marathi autobiography by a woman. In spite of being
87 husband-centred in nature, the book is memorable for its bold and vivid ^ portrait of the husband and the husband-wife relationship. The book shows I ft how with her gaining individuality, the women got the courage to depict the husband and her relationship with him.
Another important autobiography of the period was Smruti Chitre by
Lakshmibai Tilak. In spite of drawing a comprehensive portrait of the husband, this book gives equal prominence to the self-portrait. Kusumavati
Deshpande and Mr.M.V.Rajadhyaksha have rightly described the book as
'the high water-mark in autobiography'. According to them,
.. .the narration is utterly unselfconscious and it keeps bubbling with a mischievous humor that is no respecter of persons. Her husband, of course, gets a liberal share of it; but she does not spare herself either! The book is an undisguised portrait of the Tilaks and a slice of social history.^
The field of the post-Independence Marathi autobiography abounds in variety. Among the autobiographers, there are litterateurs [ Me
Kasa Jhalo by Acharya Atre, 1953, S.N.Pendse-Lekhak ani Manus by
S.N.Pendse,1974, Zombie and Nangarani by Anand Yadav, 1990 and 1991,
Eka Mungiche Mahabharat by Gangadhar Gadgil, 1992, Mati, Pankh ani
Akash by Dnyaneshwar Mulay, 2000], women [ Ahe Manohar Tari by
Suneeta Deshpande, 1990, Bandh Anubandh by Kamal Padhye, Nach ga
Ghuma by Madhavi Desai, Kunastav Konitari by Yashoda Padgaonkar, Athavale Tase by Durga Bhagwat,1991], actors [ Bahurupi by Chintamanrao
Kolhatkar, 1957, Chitra ani Charitra by Baburao Pendharkar, 1968], social reformers [ Mr.K.C.Thackarey's Mazi Jeevangatha. 1973], social workers
[Eka Ranraginichi Hakikat by Parvatibai Bhor, 1978, Kosbadchva
Tekadiwarun by Anutai Wagh, 1980], Dalit writers [ Balute by Daya Pawar,
1978, Athavaninche Pakshi by P.E.Sonkamble, 1979, Upara by Lakshman
Mane, 1980, Taral Antaral by Shankarrao Kharat, 1981,Gabal by Dadasaheb
More, 1983, Abharan by Parth Polake, 1984, Uchalaya by Lakshman
Gaikwad, 1987], painters [Rapan by Mr.Prahlad Anant Dhond, 1979], publishers rEk Sarvamangal Kshipra by Mr.H.V.Mote,1980], medical practitioners [ Chloroform by Dr.Arun Limaye, 1980, Shalva-Kaushalva by
Dr.B.N.Purandare, 1983], a director [ Ek Jhad ani Don Pakshi by Vishram
Bedekar, 1983], a postman [ Amhi Postateel Manse by Sitaram Manjoge,
1984], politicians
[ Krishna Kath by Yashwantrao Chavan, 1984, Me-S.M. by S.M.Joshi,
1984], ring masters
[ Wagh Sinha Maze Sakhe Sobati by Damu Dhotre, 1982] and even a porter
[ Me to Hamal by Appa Korpe]
Some of these autobiographies are shockingly frank in nature.
Sangate Aika by Hansa Wadkar caused a furore in the Marathi literary world
89 with its projection of her sexual life. So did Arun Limaye's Chloroform, as it made a scathing attack on the current corrupt practices in the medical profession.
Some autobiographies are noteworthy for their unconventional nature.
Shri.Na.Pendse- Lekhak ani Manus by Shri.Na.Pendse has been written in the form of a biography of the writer ,written by 'a friend', which lends some innovativeness and objectivity to the book. Smaran Gatha by
G.N.Dandekar reads like an absorbing novel, thereby blurring the distinction between the Marathi novel and autobiography. Zombi bv Anand Yadav has been called as 'an autobiographical novel' by the writer as it uses all techniques of fiction. Ek Jhad ani Don Pakshi by Vishram Bedekar, which won the Sahitya Akademi award in 1984, is in the form of a dialogue of the subjective and the objective mind. The flow of the memories is constantly punctuated by the conmients of the objective mind. As a result the flow of the narrative is loosely chronological, constantly moving backwards and forwards. Mati. Pankh ani Akash by Dnyaneshwar Mulay is also interesting for its use of the stream-of-consciousness technique.
Eka Mungiche Mahabharat by Ganagadhar Gadgil, which won the
Sahitya Akademi award in 1996, explores the relationship between his subconscious psyche and writings.
90 The autobiography is no longer confined to the upper castes- Daya
Pawar changed the course of Marathi literature by publishing his autobiography Balute, which does not succeed either in reviving the physical details of the environment or in exploring the inner mind of a Dalit writer.
Yet the value of the book hes in its presentation of Dalit life, which had so far remained untouched in Marathi literature. Upara. a Dalit autobiography by Lakshman Mane, won the Sahitya Akademi award in 1981. While portraying the nomadic life of a tribe called Kaikadi , he shifts his style and language from time to time. In the beginning of the book, the language he uses is colloquial and very often vulgar. Afterwards, he uses mixed language, part colloquial and part chaste, during the stage of his adolescence and in the end, he employs only sophisticated literary language. Uchalva by
Mr.Lakshman Gaikwad, another Dalit autobiography, won the Sahitya
Akademi award in 1989. The book has a constant dialectic of a purely personal experience forever being a social reality that in turn again becomes personal.
As with Dahts, the autobiography has become a tool of self-assertion for women.Ahe Manohar Tari[19911, an autobiography by Suneeta
Deshpande caused a stir in the Marathi literary world because of its candid portrayal of her husband, the late Mr.P.L.Deshpande and her inferior
9] position vis-a-vis the husband. Suneeta Deshpande virtually blazed a trail in making this kind of presentation- her autobiography was followed by other autobiographies by women, with unflattering portraits of the husbands and the treatment meted out by him- Kamla Padhye's Bandh Anubandh.
Madhavi Desai's Nach Ga Ghuma. Yashoda Padgaonkar's Kunastav
Kunitari . Suneeta Deshpande's book has wonderful psychological and philosophical depth, honest and bold self-exploration, interesting pen- portraits and a very unusual narrative- technique. All these qualities make the book one of the best autobiographies in Marathi. Athavale Tase by
Durga Bhagwat, another autobiography by a woman, boldly comes down upon many people, without hiding their identity.
Punjabi autobiography
Nanak Sigh's Meri Duniva (1949) was the earliest autobiography written in Punjab. He was followed by various kinds of autobiographers like litterateurs [ Meri Jivan Kahani , 1959, Manzil dis Pai and 'Meri Jivan Kahani by Gurubaksh Singh, 1979, Kis Deh Kholeo
Gandhri by Kartar Singh Duggal, 1985, Chalive Chikkor Door Ghar by
Wanjara Bedi, Meri Sahitik Jivani by Surjeet Singh Sethi, 1990, Umar De
Pandh by Sant Singh Sekhon, 1990], freedom- fighters [Oh Vi Din San by
Mr.Gurucharan Singh Sansra, 1963, Mera Apna Aap by Mr.Arjan Singh
92 Gargaj, 1975, Mein Te Mera Ask by Rajwant Rana, 1982], women [Rasidi
Ticket by Amrita Pritam, 1976, Khanadadosh by Ajit Kaur, 1982], Dalit writers [ Gair Hazar Admi by Prem Gorkhi, 1994], film actors [Meri Filmi
Atma Katha by Balraj Sahani]
Rasidi Ticket by Amrita Pritam proved to be a trend-setting book- it set the trend of a candid self-presentation in Punjabi autobiography. The book has been written without chronological order. Khanadadosh by Ajit
Cour is one of the best autobiographies in Punjab- it won the Sahitya
Akadami award in 1985. It presents a tragic picture of the present day woman in India in an impressive style and also suggests ways to liberate women.
Other fascinating autobiographies include Mein te Mera Ask by
Mr.Rajwant Singh Rana, which deals with only some selected interesting events of the writer's life. The book reads like a novel. Chalive Chikkor
Door Ghar by Mr.Wanjara Bedi, which one the Sahitya Akademi award in
1988, is an outstanding autobiography. Taking the reader into total
confidence, Bedi explores the dark recesses of his soul. He exposes even the
dark, weak moments of his life, when he even managed to steal four rupees
from the accounts because his employer did not pay him the monthly salary,
and the family was on the verge of starvation. This ability to laugh at himself
93 makes the book a memorable one. Meri Sahitak Jeevni is another remarkable autobiography by Mr.Surjit Singh Sethi, which is interesting because of the unusual narrative method. He relates the incidents of his life not in the time sequence but as and when they come to his mind. In a way the book follows the fictional mode. Umar de Pandh by Sant Singh Sekhon has been described as 'the first intellectual autobiography in Punjabi' by Mr.Amrik
Singh Punni ^. Its significance lies in the fact that Sekhon gives a peep into the history of Punjab as well as the world history of the times. Gair Hazir
Adami by Mr.Prem Gorkhi was the first Dalit autobiography in Punjabi.
While Marathi Dalit autobiographies are a matter-of-fact depiction of Dalit life, the first Punjabi Dalit autobiography is more of a romantic depiction of the same. Though painful and anguished, it has been presented in an artful, dramatic form.
Thus, people from different areas of life- doctors, politicians, postmen even porters- have contributed to the field of autobiography.
Naturally enough, the autobiography now reveals various aspects of human life, which had so far remained unexplored in literature. The autobiography can now deal with taboo subjects like sexual life. The autobiography is also becoming unconventional in character. Many of the autobiographies
discussed above have been written in the fictional mode, which means that
94 there is some similitude in the evolution of the novel and the autobiography. Just as the novel evolved from memoirs, diaries, letters, essays to novels, the autobiography also seems to be evolving from diaries and memoirs to meta-fiction and fiction. The autobiography has also evolved from a mere life-history to a psychological self-reflection.
In conclusion, it can be said that the Indian autobiography has now properly established itself and is getting a form which is unique in itself.
95 References
1 K.M.George. Indian Literature.2.2. (1959): 93.
2 Prof. K.R.Srinivasa Iyengar. Indian Writing in English. 4'*^ ed. Delhi: Sterling
Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 1984.303.
3 Ibid.269.
4 As quoted by Ranjana Harish. "Pen and Needle- The Changing Metaphors of
Self in Autobiographies by Women in Post-Independence India". The Literary
Criterion. xxxi.( 1996): 166
5 As quoted on the front page of the book Nirad Chaudhary.r/it' Autobiography of
the Unknown Indian. 4'^ ed. Mumbai:Jaico Publishing House. 1998.
6 Kusumavati Deshpande and M.V.Rajadhyaksha, A History ofMarathi Literature.
Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. 1988.195-198.
7 Amrik Sigh Punni. " Bleeding Punjab and Feminism"^ Indian Literature,
xxixv.2. ( 1991): 156. , ^- " ^
' •>> ^ V. V;M
96