First
Part
One evening I was lounging in an easy chair in my bed
room and thinking lazily of the condition of
Indian womanhood. I am not sure whether I dozed off or not.
But, as far as I remember, I was wide awake. I saw the moonlit
sky sparkling with thousands of diamond like stars, very
distinctly.
All on a sudden a lady stood before me, how she came in, I
do not Know. I took her for my friend, Sister
Sara. "Good morning" said Sister Sara. I smiled
inwardly as I knew it was not morning, but starry night.
However, I replied to her , saying, "How do you do?"
" I am all right, thank you. Will you please come out
and have a look at our garden?"
I looked again at the moon through the open window,
and though there was no harm in going out at that time. The
men servants outside were fast asleep just then, and I
could have a pleasant walk with Sister Sara.
I used to have my walks with Sister Sara, When we were at Darjeeling
. Many a time did we walk hand in hand and talk light -
heartedly in the botanical gardens there. I fancied, Sister
Sara had probably came to take me to some such garden
and I readily accepted her offer and went out with her.
When walking I found to my surprise that it was a fine
morning. The town was fully awake and the streets alive very
shy. thinking I was walking in the street in broad
daylight, but there was not a single man visible. Some of the passers by made jokes at me. Though I could not
understand their language, yet I felt sure they were
joking. I asked my friend, "What do they say?"
"The woman say that you look very mannish"
"Mannish?" said I, What do they mean by
that?"
" They mean that you are shy and timid like men."
"Shy and timid like men?"
It was really a joke . I
become very nervous, when I found that my companion was
not Sister Sara, but a stranger. Oh, what a fool had I been to
mistake this lady for my dear old friend, Sister Sara. She felt my fingers Tremble in her hand , as we were
walking hand in hand .
" What is the matter, dear , dear ?" she said affectionately
. " I feel somewhat awkward" , I said in a rather apologizing
tone, "as being a Purdahnishin woman I am not accustomed
to walking about unveiled."
" You need not be afraid of coming across a man here.
This is Lady land, free from sin and harm. virtue herself
reigns here."
By and By I was enjoying the scenery.
Really it was very
grand. I mistook a patch of green grass for a velvet cushion. Feeling as if
I were walking on a soft carpet, I looked
down and found the path covered with moss and flowers.
" How nice it is, " Said I.
"Do you like it?' asked Sister Sara. ( I continued calling
her " Sister Sara," and she kept calling me by my
name).
" Yes, very much; but I do not like to tread on
the tender and sweet flowers."
" Never mind, dear Sultana; your treading will not harm
them ' they are street flower"
" The whole place looks like a garden" Said I
admiringly.
" You have
arranged every plant so skillfully. Your Calcutta could become a
nicer garden than
this if only your countrymen wanted to make it so."
" They would think it useless to give so much
attention to horticulture, while they have so many other
things to do."
" They could not find a better excuse, "
said she
with smile.
I became very curious to know where the men were. I
met more than a hundred women while walking there, but not a
single man.
" Where are the men?" I asked her.
" In their proper places, where they ought to
be."
" Pray let me Know what you mean by their proper
places.
" O, I see my mistake, you cannot know our customs, as
you were never here before. We shut our men indoors."
" Just as we are Kept in the
zenana?"
"Exactly so."
" How funny, " I burst into a laugh. Sister Sara
laughed too.
" But dear Sultana, how unfair it is to
shut in the harmless women and let loose the men."
" Why? It is not safe for us to come out of the
zenana,
as we are naturally weak."
" Yes, it is not safe so long as there are men
about the streets, nor is it so when a wild animal enters a market
place."
" Of course not."
" Suppose , some lunatics escape from the asylum and
begin to do all sorts of mischief to men , horses
and other creatures, in that case what will you
countrymen do?"
" They will try to capture them and put them back into
their asylum."
"Thank you! And
you do not think it wise to keep
sane people inside an asylum and let loose the insane?"
" Of course not ! said I laughing lightly.
" As a matter of fact, in your country this very
things is done! Men, who do or at least are capable of doing
no end of mischief, are let loose and the innocent women, shut
up in the zenana! How can you trust those untrained men out of
doors?"
We have no hand or voice in the management of our social
affairs. In India man is lord and master. he has taken
to himself all powers and privileges and shut up
the women in the zenana. "
" Why do you allow yourselves to be shut
up?"
" Because it cannot be helped as they are stronger
than women."
" A lion is stronger than a man, but it does not
enable him to dominate the human race. You have neglected
the duty you owe to yourselves and you have lost your
natural rights by shutting your eyes to your own
interests."
" But my dear sister Sara, If we do
everything by ourselves, what will the men do
then?"
" They should not do anything, excuse me, they
are fit for nothing, . Only catch them and put them into the
zenana.
"
But would it be very easy to catch and put
them inside the four walls?" said I, " And even
if this were done, would all their business, political
and commercial --- also go with them into the zenana!"
Sister Sara made no reply. She only smiled sweetly.
Perhaps she thought it useless to argue with one who
was no better than a frog in a well.
more
in next issue....
