An ode to women

We are coming to the end of Navratras, a period of wonderful nine days when the Divine is worshipped in the form of women — knowledge manifested as Saraswati, wealth manifested as Lakshmi and prowess and valour as manifested in Durga.
As many among us know, in the Hindu worldview “purushartha”, or the purpose of human life (purusha = human), is achieved in the framework of dharma, artha, kama and moksha. Some would even find a symbolic importance in this very sequence of couching artha and kama between dharma and moksha: acquisition of wealth and gratification of our earthly desires are to be guided by the universal and eternal law, dharma, and all actions would thereby steer us towards attaining moksha, freedom from the cycle of births and death.
Again, within each human being we recognise a female and a male form. Lest we miss the point, the accent in the expression ardha nari is on women.
After the nine days of worship are over, there is celebration marking the victory of the Devi vanquishing Banda, the asura. In several parts of India, the 10th day is when Lord Rama decimated Ravana. Ravana’s sin (violation of dharma) was that he had attempted to gratify his earthly desire to possess someone else’s wife.
The noble ideals of ardha nari and the worship-worthy have, since time immemorial, co-existed with the likes of Ravana, Dushassana and Keechaka. The ideals have repeatedly been threatened and reasserted. In their reassertion, the role of women has been only grudgingly recognised.
While reasserting the ideals as visualised by the great seers of the ancient, women have adopted strategies that have factored in the desha and kala realities. This, in itself, requires an understanding of dharma in all its subtleties. Jabala, Savitri, Kannagi, Draupadi of ancient India were followed by Mira, Rani Padmini, Rani Rudramma and Rani Ahilya Bai, and in the last two centuries by Pandita Ramabai, M.S. Subbulakshmi and many more who have shown a rare kind of inner strength to face the challenges thrown at them.
It is well known that each of them excelled in their chosen fields; more important is to note the way in which they reasserted the dharmic ideals in their own lives, notwithstanding the scorn and contempt shown by the orthodoxy. In each of their lives, their understanding of dharma, in all its subtlety, has been so conveyed with refinement that we are muted but only with admiration. They are the Saraswati, Lakshmi and Durga who lived among us and it is they we should commemorate during these nine sacred days.
In Tamil Nadu, most houses hold a “Kolu” (a display of dolls) during the Navaratras. The themes displayed in these doll arrangements are essentially the forms of the Devi, the Dasavataras and some flora and fauna. It was fashionable to have a small enclave displaying figurines of freedom fighters and patriots. I remember Shakuntala, Mira and Rani of Jhansi finding a place of honour in a few houses but most other great women were simply not remembered.
In contemporary India, the indignity that women face is reported every day in the print and electronic media. We are almost indifferent to them until in the “rarest of rare cases” a sensational reporting draws our attention. Women have fought for their honour and lost their lives or are still chasing the elusive justice for a daughter, sister or a friend. Even powerful social movements such as the anti-arrack agitation in Andhra Pradesh, were spearheaded by women.
Our women have claimed and found their place with quiet dignity. The single mother in Jabala and Shakuntala, Kunti and her abandoned son, had their place, albeit after trials and tribulations.
Our civilisation was not embarrassed to handle aberrations, exceptions or those out of the ordinary. Among the commonplace, the bright and challenging stars like Maitreyi and Gargi were not put down, even though cursed by an enraged husband an Ahilya was restored, Satyavati, the fisherman’s daughter and later the Queen of Indraprastha maintained with honour her son Parasara and so on.
The inclusive and catholic nature of this civilisation especially in matters related to women can be noticed in a few shrarddha mantras too. Offering pinda or the cooked rice to the dead parents and forefathers is a solemn duty of a son. It is relevant here to notice that the number of pinda offered to one’s mother is far more than those offered to the father. Along with this, the great detail with which the relevant mantras recall the sacrifices made by the mother in bearing and delivering the child and subsequently, during the child’s upbringing show a rare sensitivity in understanding and recognising the woman.
Have all these become the unrealisable ideals? Centuries of corrosion have made patriarchy firmer, the caste more rigid and oppressive, poverty more abject and commercialisation greedier. As a result, in our society today, the status of women differs widely: urban vs rural, religion vs religion and caste vs caste. It is as easy as it is difficult for the women of today.
A while ago, I read somewhere that on becoming the CEO of one of the world’s largest MNC, an Indian lady came back home and shared the joy of her elevation with her family. Her mother who was on a visit was staying with her then. Without much ado, the mother told the new CEO daughter that she better rush to the neighbourhood store before it closes for the day as there was no milk in the house, for the son-in-law needs his coffee as soon as he wakes up, every morning.
The mind of this mother — who is proverbially behind this successful CEO — can be best understood as the blend of tradition and modernity. “The relativism of dharma supports tradition and modernity, innovation and conformity”, say Sudhir and Katharina Kakkar in their book The Indians: Portrait of a People.

Nirmala Sitharaman is spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The views expressed in this column are her own.