Of survival and negotiation
IN RADHA’S NAME — Widows and Other Women in Brindaban: Malini Bhattacharya; West Bengal Commission for Women and Tulika Books, 35A/1, (III Floor), Shahpur Jat, New Delhi-110049. Rs. 200.
A. Mangai
Malini Bhattacharya, an academician, artist and an activist, has written this book based on the field visits she had undertaken as Member of the West Bengal Commission for Women. The book lays out an interesting matrix of nation versus state interests, history of the Gaudiya Vaishnava Bhakti tradition, life-stories of women that reveal survival and negotiation, and the violent morphing of poverty and displacement as faith.
The book is divided into six chapters with a foreword by Jasodhara Bagchi and a glossary.
The chapters begin with the making of this book and then to a historical context of the Vaishnava faith, the experience of the survey, the varied voices of these women, the hidden violence of faith and a postscript. In a way, the book spans a history of five centuries from the spread of Gaudiya Vaishnavism in Bengal in the 16th century. The immediate context was however a small study undertaken by the National Commission for Women in 1996. When the report pointed out the large number of Bengali speaking widows and other women in Brindavan, the problem was brought to the notice of the government of Uttar Pradesh and the Central government. However, this triggered off the political blame game, and the parochial argument that Bengalis were not interested in taking care of their widows was levied against the West Bengal government and the Bengali community.
The genesis of the book owes to this heated debate about the political fate of the poor widows. The second chapter traces the formation of the new Vaishnavite sect formed by Chaitanya and the way the movement drew men and women alike into its fold. The women were drawn to it with a sense of liberation from domestic tribulations.
Migration
The pilgrimage to Brindavan and the “bhajanashrams” were present for a long time and have always remained in Brindavan. Today, the women found in Brindavan are those who have migrated for spiritual and economic reasons, and the second generation young women who are daughters of Bengali women have remained residents of Brindavan ever since they were born. Not all of them are widows; there are deserted women, orphans or younger generation of women settled in Brindavan. “The stark white uniforms of widowhood” as a symbol hide beneath it infinite permutations and combinations. The fragility of their lives is masked by their regular participation in daily rituals. Abusive marriages, betrayal by the Gurus, sexual morality and economic migration are some of the other reasons for the exodus of women to Brindavan. Friendships formed in Brindavan, the respectability religion gives to these women and the diversion into a routine life of bhajan and prayer offer a kind of autonomy not articulated as one in the lives of these women.
Vulnerabilities
The changes brought about in the temple economy are causing havoc in the lives of women, who are already struggling under utter poverty. The growing fundamentalism is taking the form of more violent outbursts like the banning of the shooting of Water or attack on the other community. The crass commercialism and exhibitionism of Hindu austerity is writ on the bodies and lives of these women.
The author rightly points out how the discussion of religion as faith and religion as ideology works in the abstract. In reality she points out, “The quietism of the woman of faith, her perception of her devoutness as a private virtue imbibed through tradition, often acts as the silent backdrop from which communal ideology reinforces itself.” The three institutions of “chhatra” (where free meals is provided) and “madhukari” (seeking alms), “sevadasis” (part of the everyday life of the “aksharas”) and “brajawasis” (priestly class of Brindavan) provide both shelter and a mission of service to destitute women in lieu of the iconic representation of selfless piety. The irony of the radical Chaitanya Vaishnavism that questioned caste hierarchy having paid the way for such hegemonic practices and newer vulnerabilities deserve a total reformulation of practices of widowhood in the country. As a last word, it is good to know that the Commission for Women can engage in studies of this kind, which are locally resonant to evolve complex arguments with gender dimensions. Evolving our parameters on the basis of the grounded realities is essential to enrich our understanding and doing of gender research.
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