Dr. B R Ambedkar, November 4 1948:
“Constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated. We must realise that our people have yet to learn it. Democracy in India is only top dressing on an Indian soil, which is essentially undemocratic”
The month of Chaitra (चैत्र) of the Saka-era (शक संवत) 1937, marking the end of the winter and the start of the spring, began on March 21 2015. Chaitra in Maharashtra is known for women's gatherings (हळदीकुंकू).
My wife has never called such a gathering but my mother always called one at Miraj (मिरज) and it used to be a festive occasion. Until my sister grew up, I used to go around door to door and extend the invitations for the same with some enthusiasm.
We used to create an arrangement with the goddess at the center surrounded by all kinds of decorations (आरास) - fruits, figurines, sweetmeats, oil-lamps (समया)....The goddess always looked stunning.
The women and kids- men not invited- who came were served a roughly crushed mix of Bengal gram and raw mango (आंब्याची डाळ) and a cardamom-saffron scented sweet-sour drink of boiled raw mango (पन्ह).
Most of the invited women used to be Brahmins but there also were a few non-Brahmin from our immediate neighborhood.
I think the tradition of holding such events 'Haldi-Kunku' (हळदी-कुंकू) goes back a long way.
Of course. there was hardly an aspect of Indian life not affected by segregation and discrimination. I did not know even Haldi-Kunku was not spared.
Even when the invitees were only Brahmins, there used to be deep discrimination.
"... एकदा मी चैत्रगौरीच फार सुंदर हळदीकुंकू केला होत…व्हायच काय पूर्वी, की श्रीमंतांच्या घरी चैत्रगौरीच्या हळदीकुंकवाचे खूप मोठे समारंभ व्हायचे; पण सगळा भेदभाव असयचा, हळदीकुंकवाला आलेल्या बायकांपैकी खूप श्रीमंतांच्या ज्या बायका असत त्यांच्या हाताला केशर लावीत; मधल्या-आधल्या असत, त्यांच्या हाताला अष्टगंध लावीत आणि अगदी गरिबांच्या असत, त्यांना नुसतच हळदीकुंकू देत!…"
[from preface to 'Shreemati Kashibai Kanitkar: aatmacharitra aani charitra (1861-1948)' by Sarojini Vaidya first published in 1979 {'श्रीमती काशीबाई कानिटकर: आत्मचरित्र आणि चरित्र (१८६१-१९४८)' सरोजिनी वैद्य}]
All this was narrated to the author (Ms. Vaidya) by Mrs. Abhyankar.
Was there an aspect of Indian life that had no segregation or discrimination? Is it there now? Have old prejudices now been replaced by new?
Artist: Mike Twohy, The New Yorker, 19 July 1993
My caption: "The courts ruled that we had to apply saffron or ashtagandha to all or nothing at all."
“Constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated. We must realise that our people have yet to learn it. Democracy in India is only top dressing on an Indian soil, which is essentially undemocratic”
The month of Chaitra (चैत्र) of the Saka-era (शक संवत) 1937, marking the end of the winter and the start of the spring, began on March 21 2015. Chaitra in Maharashtra is known for women's gatherings (हळदीकुंकू).
My wife has never called such a gathering but my mother always called one at Miraj (मिरज) and it used to be a festive occasion. Until my sister grew up, I used to go around door to door and extend the invitations for the same with some enthusiasm.
We used to create an arrangement with the goddess at the center surrounded by all kinds of decorations (आरास) - fruits, figurines, sweetmeats, oil-lamps (समया)....The goddess always looked stunning.
The women and kids- men not invited- who came were served a roughly crushed mix of Bengal gram and raw mango (आंब्याची डाळ) and a cardamom-saffron scented sweet-sour drink of boiled raw mango (पन्ह).
Most of the invited women used to be Brahmins but there also were a few non-Brahmin from our immediate neighborhood.
I think the tradition of holding such events 'Haldi-Kunku' (हळदी-कुंकू) goes back a long way.
Of course. there was hardly an aspect of Indian life not affected by segregation and discrimination. I did not know even Haldi-Kunku was not spared.
Even when the invitees were only Brahmins, there used to be deep discrimination.
"... एकदा मी चैत्रगौरीच फार सुंदर हळदीकुंकू केला होत…व्हायच काय पूर्वी, की श्रीमंतांच्या घरी चैत्रगौरीच्या हळदीकुंकवाचे खूप मोठे समारंभ व्हायचे; पण सगळा भेदभाव असयचा, हळदीकुंकवाला आलेल्या बायकांपैकी खूप श्रीमंतांच्या ज्या बायका असत त्यांच्या हाताला केशर लावीत; मधल्या-आधल्या असत, त्यांच्या हाताला अष्टगंध लावीत आणि अगदी गरिबांच्या असत, त्यांना नुसतच हळदीकुंकू देत!…"
[from preface to 'Shreemati Kashibai Kanitkar: aatmacharitra aani charitra (1861-1948)' by Sarojini Vaidya first published in 1979 {'श्रीमती काशीबाई कानिटकर: आत्मचरित्र आणि चरित्र (१८६१-१९४८)' सरोजिनी वैद्य}]
Ladies, all Brahmins, from the rich households were applied saffron on their hands, those from the (upper) middle-class were applied 'ashtagandha' (a mixture of
eight fragrant herbs) on their hands and the rest were not applied anything at all! (All married women, regardless of their class, were applied vermillion and turmeric on their foreheads.)
This used to happen even in early decades of 20th century.
This used to happen even in early decades of 20th century.
Inspired by Ms. Kashibai Kanitkar, some time during 1919-1924, Mrs. Sakhutai Abhyankar (सखुताई अभ्यंकर) supposedly rebelled against such a practice and held a 'classless' Haldikunku, which some three hundred women attended and the wife of Mr. N C Kelkar (न चि केळकर) presided. Unfortunately, Mrs. Kanitkar could not be present because she was away at Banaras (Varanasi).
All this was narrated to the author (Ms. Vaidya) by Mrs. Abhyankar.
Was there an aspect of Indian life that had no segregation or discrimination? Is it there now? Have old prejudices now been replaced by new?
My caption: "The courts ruled that we had to apply saffron or ashtagandha to all or nothing at all."
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