Generating Past

Theme : GENDERING THE PAST

Title: THE CHANGING FACE OF WOMAN IN INDIAN LITERATURE. PROF. PRATIBHA RAY, MEMBER, ORISSA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.

There is a charming myth associated with the creation of woman by the Supreme Creator, "Bramha". Bramha first created man and in his generosity, wished to give man a companion. But by then he had exhausted all the material in the creation of man and hence he borrowed several components from the beautiful creation of nature and made woman out of them. Hence the reference of woman as Prakriti. Bramha presented woman to his earlier creation man saying "She will serve you lifelong and if you cannot live with her, neither can you live without her". The primordial myth carries an unmistakable implication of woman's image in life and literature for centuries. The Christian creation myth is contrastively male dominated as woman is made out of the male rib-cage. The man nature symbiosis suggested by the Hindu myth is absent in the Biblical myth. But both myths indicate that woman is either an "after thought" of a male God or a play-mate created for man as a psychic compensation for his innate loneliness.

World's two primordial great epics, Ramayan by Valmiki and Mahabharat by Vyasdev, both by men have been written around two central characters Sita & Draupadi, both women. The key role women played in literature and life in the past and present in both parts of the globe is equally significant. In ancient Vedic literature, women were elevated to Devis (Goddesses). They were turned into myths and legends. But in reality a contradictory state of affairs exists in India, who is the real woman ? Where is the real woman - What is her real entity ? Has she an identity of her own ? The primordial myth gave woman her identity, that is social stereotypes which have been reinforced by archetypes for ages. Sita of Ramayana and Draupadi of the Mahabharat as has been suggested, are two poles of feminine experience in the world. Sita absorbs all inflicted misery and humiliation of the male ego whereas Draupadi challenges the male ego to the epitonic limits of human excellence. Sita accepts, accommodates and withdraws. Draupadi resents, rejects and involves herself in the process of life as a protagonist. These two feminine archetypes define the limits of feminine experience in reality, especially the Indian Reality. Even in the present day literature where woman is no more a door-mat or

an unprotesting tolerate-all goodie goodie type, the traditional values of feminine grace and order are not totally eschewed. She is now a more dignified Sita who shows her strength of character by absorbing all male filth or an intellectual Draupadi protesting and revolting against all humiliation. The gender divide in modern Indian literature moves between new iconizations of these two bold and primordial figures. The image of woman in literature emerges out of the existing world. The existing world obtains in the mind and imagination of the visualizers of reality.

In India, which has been regarded by sociologists as a traditionally male dominated society, both men and women writers have seen woman in this relationship with man, primarily as mother, wife, mistress and sex objects. woman as an achiever is either nonexistent or considered an exception. A woman's individual self has very little recognition.

Vedic literature depicted two images of women - "Brahmhavadini" and "Sadyobadhu". The first type was the ascetic type in quest of truth, knowledge and spiritual pursuits : which sacrifices life for the society and the second one the "Sadyobadhu" was the domestic woman the daughter, wife and mother who dedicates herself to the welfare of the family. The images of woman in society and in Indian Literature in the past and present mostly belong to the second category.

It is an accepted fact that in the Vedic age, a high concept of womanhood prevailed in India. Manu, the Law-giver of pre-historic India, who blamed women entirely as inferior human beings has also exhorted "where women are honoured, there the gods exist". But man has often been guilty in history of doing violence to women and has invited women's protest covertly or overtly, like Sita in Ramayan and Draupadi in Mahabharat respectively. The social law has always maintained a double standard for man and woman from Vedic age to electronic age. But the present order of civilization envisages a society where the women enjoy a higher status : Socio-political and psychological.

After introduction of western education, reformist movements, promotion of women's institutions, the freedom movement and so on life had started changing. In post independence India, when education of women had already commenced, the New woman had started emerging.

Education inculcated a sense of individuality among women and aroused an interest in their human rights. Then Feminist trend appeared on the horizon and women came into conflict with the double standards of social law through ages and the conventional moral code. Feminist ideology which came to India from the west and the women's liberation movement are not widely spread into India as fighting for human rights of women has been misinterpreted as movement against Indian womanhood. In post-independence India, the educated New woman with economic independence and a search for identity does not belong totally to either of the two former categories Brahmavadini or Sadyobadhu. She belongs to a new category, more down to earth, more human. It is indeed fascinating to watch the unveiling of the face of woman in Indian literature. Ancient Indian literature has an esthetic vision and it goes beyond the hard reality of socio-economic facts.

PURANIC LITERATURE :

In ancient Puranic literature Sita the heroine of the Great epic Ramayan and wife of Ram was the embodied form of love devotion and purity. But she was also a rebellion, who revolted against the society's distrust and entered into fire. This should not be misunderstood as suicide but rejection of the dogma ridden society.

Draupadi the heroine of Mahabharat is a challenge of womanhood, the embodied form of action, knowledge, devotion and power.

Such woman- who has faced torment, insult, mental and emotional dilemma like (Yajnaseni) Draupadi has not yet been born on this earth.

Beautiful women have been tormented and insulted through the ages by lust-blind men. But that the bride of one's own family should be stripped before many wise, qualified and honourable elders who all keep sitting silently to gaze at her naked beauty - a darker chapter than this will not be found anywhere in the written or unwritten history of the

world. Infact, no account of such an outrageous incident can be found even in epics, poetry, novels and drama. Not only this because of the words which slipped inadvertently from the lips of the mother-in-law, Princess Draupadi was compelled to take five husbands. There are a few such instances in the Purans, but in the history of civilized world it is a gooseflesh - raising event. On account of her outstanding chastity, Draupadi remains one of the five Satis. But on account of having accepted five husbands, Draupadi was abused again and again by the Kauravas and Karna as a harlot, enjoyed by many men. In the life of Draupadi, the unfailing companion of the Pandavas in their joys and sorrows, a series of griefs of various types came. But her self confidence never gave way. Another woman character of the Mahabharat time though she is more a myth than a person in history was Radha the wife of Chandrasena, the impotent husband, who fell in love with Krishna. She did not care for the dogma ridden social code. Love was worship and love was the driving force of life for her. She was a liberated woman. Though she was allegedly guilty of extra marital affair, India worships her as Devi.

SANSKRIT LITERATURE :

Classical sanskrit literature which spans four millennia in time looks upon woman as the embodiment of beauty and woman finds fulfillment only as wife and life-partner. If there were paragons of moral perfection in Kalidasa's plays, there are also portraits of ordinary women, in Sanskrti literature. The ugly side of women finds expression in Padma Purana where women are portrayed as vicious characters. Though women are worshipped as Devis (Goddesses) the status of woman indeed in ancient literature is shown to be less than that of man in social, political and religious life.

There had been a perceptible change in the images of woman during the last part of the medieval period (17th & 18th century). Poetry was very much close to religion before that. Slowly it started becoming non-religious. therefore the most beautiful face and every part of woman's body become poetic. It brought woman closer to man. The woman's soul became visible through her body. This is what Upendra Bhanja, the great Oriya Poet in his epic "Baidehish Vilash" and "Kotibramhand Sundary" had crafted. Man discovers fragrance of woman and thus elevates both to unattainable heights.

TAMIL :

Tamil literature where patriarchal society existed harps upon the concept of purity & chastity. But Seethalai Sathunar, the great epic poet ponders over the problems as to whether women should be coerced to conform to the rigid compartmentalism. There was a degradation of woman in the 17th and 18th centuries where women were marginalised in Tamil literature by male writers. Strong streaks of individuality can be seen in the poetess like Avaiyar. But Mayuram Vedantam Pillai wrote the first Tamil novel to open the eyes of women to show that women could be achievers (Prathapa Mudaliyar Charitham).

The heroic woman has been present in Bharati Vaduvur Doraiswamy Iyengar, V.K.Kothainayalli Amal and others. The new woman is trying to emerge.

But the present century in Tamil literature has been the women's century. The new woman is trying to emerge and probably the new century will see her as reality.

BENGALI :

Feminism is not an intoxication in Bengali literature for here the women traditionally steps out of proscriptive boundaries.

To Shri Ramakrishna woman was the universal mother. To the great novelist, Tarashankar Bandopadhay the women's role is three fold, the daughter, the mother and the most seductive, the consort. But most often, these roles overlap, because in Bengali literature, the woman exerts in the real dignity and a material compassion, which makes her the motivating force within the society or household. In Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's novel sometimes the woman is an activist who wields justice and power with self

controlled detachment. Mahasveta Devi's woman characters are activists though Mahasveta Devi is not professedly a feminist. Men and women in her novels fight shoulder to shoulder against a common foe, the establishment. The women break through the tradition of home, hearth and veil to fight the establishment with whatever weapons they can wield-the sickle, the hatchet or with sulking detachment. They remain undefiled. In Ashaparna Devi's novels women are all domestic characters who of course revolt against the dogma ridden society. Though their voice is echoed in the far horizon the rebellion remains in side the four wall of the household.

KANNAD :

In Kannad literature alongside male writers who have written with great imaginative understanding of women, Kannad can boast of a long tradition of women writers who write as it were from inside. The image of women that emerges from literature in Kannad both ancient and modern is an image at once of great dignity and dynamism, a combination of the virtues of Sita and Draupadi, now suitably updated.

GUJARATI :

Images of woman in Gujarati fiction reflect the prevalent contradiction in contemporary society about woman's position, her glorification and exploitation. During the forties and fifties women seeking pleasure outside wedlock were portrayed and this was a bold departure from conventional morality.

ORIYA :

Oriya literature from a practical point of view is considered to have emerged with the great epic poem, the Mahabharat (1470 AD) by Sarala Das whose women characters were impressive. Fakir Mohan Senapati was the pioneer of the modern Oriya fiction.

During the last hundred years after Fakir Mohan there have been a number of brilliant fiction writers in Orissa like Gopinath Mohanty, Surendra Mohanty, Kalandi Charan Panigrahi, Kanhu Charan Mohanty, Santanu Acharya and Pratibha Ray et. al. Gopinath Mohanty, a classical artist, excels his contemporary fiction writers by depicting his male characters as extremely powerful. His woman characters are comparatively weak and meek. They either live upto the expectation of the archetypal male characters like Chhabi in Matimatal lives upto the expectation of Rabi the hero or they are an exploited lot in the flesh market of male dominated class society. Kanhu Charan and Surendra Mohanty, portrayed their women characters with depth and sensibility but they are virtuous women, more Devis than human.

Pratibha Ray in her novel "Jajnaseni" and "Mahamoh", "Shila Padma" combined in her woman characters the poise and elegance of the older values with progressive social changes which are concomitant of the post-war society. She depicted through her bold and reformist woman characters the declining values and transformative adjustment between tradition and modernity, between desire and decision, with natural psychological stress associated with it. Pratibha Ray's woman characters are not mute, they are ever questioning and cannot be crushed on any pretext. However Oriya literature has grown steadily in technical self-assurance and thematic range and complexity. Certain writers have indicated that the woman characters aspire to something higher and beyond, that transcends the sphere of mundane existence. This spiritual urge has been the unique message of the civilisation that has attributed Divinity to woman - that may safely harbour humanity against the roaring tide of materialism .

MALAYALAM :

The two pioneering novelists of Malayalam mainly O-Chandu Menon (1847-89) and C.V.Raman Pillai (1858-1922) have created some unforgettable women characters in their novels. Indulekha, the heroine of the novel of the same name is the typical model of a progressive English educated modern girl. She is unconventional and revolutionary in outlook. N.Balamani Amma (1909) is known as Amma or Mother in Malayalam poetry. There is no other poet who has brought out the nobility of motherhood with all its

tenderness and beauty as Balamani amma. She has been the world and the worldly life to the benevolent eyes of the mother. Madhavi Kutty or Kamala Das (1932-34) as she is known outside Kerala is the most outstanding and outspoken woman writer of the present generation who has given birth to a host of women characters of unique distinction. Her women characters are all modern, independent or unconventional, uninhibited and protesting individuals. She even seems to go to the extent of justifying free sex. As we traverse the whole gamut of Malayalam literature we are stunned by the variety and diversity of images of women reflected in it.

HINDI :

In the last fifty years or so there have been significant even startling changes in theme types or major characters and resolution. The problems and dilemmas of women in Hindi fiction with all their fascination for modernity however most of the writers see woman basically in the role of an ideal wife and mother. Most of the woman writers themselves attach utmost value and dignity to their biological and social roles. Only while retaliating or taking revenge does she transcend all limits of dignity even probability. There are ofcourse many writers projecting the image of the new woman and there are as many writers writing in the traditional vein about the meek suffering, devoted wife and self abnegating mother. Literature of rebellion in India has to be therefore understood with great care in the context of the heritage of our social laws, our literary audience and its relationship to the inherent social code. It was Prem Chand who was the first to put the Hindi novel on a realistic social base. In the early fifties Ajneya had portrayed love relationship of any restrictive inhibitions and promiscuity Rekha the heroine of "Nadi ke Dweep" (1951) is the unparalleled heroine, strong independent and rebellious in her attitude towards love, fulfillment and social and moral code. In "Ateet Ke Chal Chitra" (1948) Mahadevi Verma finds the limits of dignity imposed by a woman's own soul much more definitive than any social parameters of her virtue. That's why a woman professing Dharma with all its social and moral inhibition may be indulging in sin while the one trading her flesh with the knowledge of the whole world still have her chastity untainted.

It is not possible to discuss the various Bhasa (regional) literatures in this short paper. Shri S.Radhakrishnan had observed that Indian Literature was one though written in several regional languages. Indian literature written in twenty two regional languages and numerous dialects not only reflect a common culture and a uniquely Indian version and way of life but surprisingly the face of Indian woman in all Indian literatures impressed us a pan-Indian psyche with of course inevitable local touches and variations.

Women have inspired literature and the feminine theme has been a pivotal importance too. She herself is also a creator of literature and is all pervading. This is true of Indian literature also. Indian literature spans a rich variety of themes - from the theme of a conventional woman to that of the new woman, reflecting in the process the changes that have been going on in the society. Post - independence literature in India portrays all these trends and voices, the clamorings of women for a new and just way of life. Over years, the age old image of the woman seems to be slowly blurring and gradually shading off in to a new image. What is now needed is that a new man must arise and then with an equal partner the change that is going on in the new woman at home and outside home could be portrayed with fulfilling experience. Where is the new man who must welcome the new women whole heartedly ? Yes, there should be a search for new man in literature from right now.

Comparatively speaking women characters of women writers boldly protest and assert their right in the society with firmness and dignity. They have depicted the inner characters of woman with all its conflicts and contradictions with authenticity and truthfulness in such a way as to carry our conviction. We must also remember that mostly it is the middle class educated urban woman who has carved a niche for herself. Woman in the rest of the country are for the most part still dogma ridden due to lack of education. We have the enlightened brave new woman and we have the helpless, illiterate male-dominated woman existing side by side in life and in literature.

Images of woman in Indian literature is characterised by contradiction - there is a conventional image and there is a protesting voice. Post independence literature reveals the woman's quest for her identity giving rise to a number of issues. The new woman is emerging and there are a number of new themes and issues to be taken by the future. However, two overall views of woman dominating Indian literature from ages. The Sita and the Draupadi archetypes. There is silent suffering with utmost loyalty to man in the Sita type and woman as an Individual demanding social justice in the Draupadi types. The later has got greater appreciation. But we have to remember that family plays a pivotal role in the Indian scheme of life. The new woman in Indian literature does not break the family but dreams to make the family "Home Sweet Home". Be it small or big, be it in the courtyard or in the courtroom woman is the cause of all action. If woman is absent, there is no poetry, no song, no drama, no tears, no laughter and ultimately no life in this world. But they are still walking on a tight rope to achieve their human rights and social justice. Indian woman at the turn of the century are in a transitional phase via-a-vis the interface of tradition and modernity. Though women writers are tolerant and

respectful towards the rich traditional they are still confident of their own newself and sensitive to the dogmatization of traditional values.

At the turn of the new millennium Indian literature, as far as the feminist thrust is concerned, is not free from family, history and social modernism. The women in Indian literature are more educated, sophisticated and even rebellious but the woman herself is wary of shedding off the traditional values which forms part of her inherited consciousness. Moreover western culture, which has had a dominating influence on India in the pre and post independence years, is not necessarily the alternative "heaven' for the new generation in India. Arundhati Roy's "God of Small things", in spite of the sophistication of the Kerala women does not advocate a "jumping off" for personal fulfillment. Velutha and his woman still wait for a "tomorrow" without trying to ride rough on traditions. Indian women often are pre occupied with the idea of soul, moksa and bliss. these militate against concepts of freedom, self-fulfillment and personal moksa. The result is a new debate in all bhasa and pan-Indian literature in India.