Indian women - types ......

Publication: The Times Of India Mumbai;

Date: Mar 6, 2011;

Section: Intersections;

Page: 21

CLASSIC MAKEOVER

Is the Punjabi kudi as brash as some make her out to be? What lies beyond the Kashmiri’s serene beauty? Ahead of Women’s Day, Sunday Times examines five stereotypical views that make or mar their image

KERALA’S NAIRS 

    League of extraordinary women

    Strong-willed and independent – the common perception of Kerala’s Nair women. But does the image have anything to do with reality? Certainly, once upon a time, they headed households, owned property, had the freedom to remarry if they were widow or divorcee, and even had the right to terminate an unsatisfactory marriage. The Nairs’ matrilineal system gave them lifelong shelter and security in their maternal home. But now, it’s history. Even so, does the 21st century Nair woman retain her “independent” spirit?

    G S Jayasree, director of Kerala University’s Centre for Women’s Studies, says “they have a natural advantage (of history).” She adds that ideologically too, “Nair women have a certain empowerment, compared to other communities”.

But the inherent progressiveness of a matrilineal society has had a powerful – and positive – impact on Kerala. It has better health, literacy and education than other states. This is thought to be largely on account of Kerala’s matrilineal history and female access to education. Traditionally, Kerala has never believed that daughters are liabilities.

    What has this meant for the typical Nair woman? “Generally speaking, she is modern, outward looking, progressive and receptive to ideas,” says journalist V S Prabhakaran. He says Nair and Christian are the only communities in Kerala to work outside the home. “Even today, many Nair parents try to give the daughter the house, even if the total assets are divided equally among sons and daughters.”

    Author Jaishree Misra nee Nair agrees that Nair women “are treated better, they still get the lion’s share; they are getting more independent and finding their own way.”

    But the stereotypical Nair woman may increasingly be going the way of women in other parts of India. The community is moving towards a patrilineal system. A 2003 survey by researchers from three American universities and Thiruvananthapuram’s Centre for Development Studies found evidence that the Nairs were starting to give and take dowry and “housewifize” their women.

    Sociologists say the Nair woman failed to take advantage of her historical rights by using high literacy levels and traditional authority to translate into political participation. But they have a significant cultural presence, having “emerged as writers etc in the public space,” points out Jayasree.

    – Saira Kurup PUNJABI 

    The bold & beautiful

    Think Punjabi women and the image that comes to mind is feisty beauties – robust, proud, standing shoulder-to shoulder with their men. It’s an image that is constantly reinforced in popular culture. “Sohni, Heer, Sahiba – ravishing beauties in folklore, were no shrinking violets, but equal partners to their lovers, Mahiwal, Ranjha and Mirza respectively,” points out New Jersey-based researcher Hina Agarwal. In love or war, the image has persisted. There are numerous accounts of Sikh women leading troops into battle. Sada Kaur, motherin-law of Ranjit Singh, was grudgingly acknowledged by the Afghans as ‘one of the greatest generals of the time.’ Even in contemporary times, film and television serials have reiterated the stereotype. From the coy but no-nonsense Simran in ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’ to the brash in-your-face Dolly Bindra in ‘Bigg Boss’, Punjabi women are perceived – and portrayed – as aggressive, tough and some would say, loud-mouthed. Does the stereotype hold true?

    Veteran writer Ajeet Cour admits the truth of the stereotype but insists that the Punjabi’s legendary aggression is not necessarily negative. It stems from a long history as a martial race. “All Punjabis – both men and women – learnt to face life ‘aggressively’ over the centuries because of constant foreign invasions through Khyber Pass. Had they not been aggressive, the great Alexander wouldn’t have had to face the worst defeat of his life, and loss of his men in Punjab.”

    She insists she is “proud to be an ‘aggressive’, ‘bold’, but very cultured, and not exactly loud – mouthed Punjabi woman.” Cour admits she easily “becomes loud-mouthed even, when I fight Public Interest Litigations; when historical heritage is threatened, when thousands of trees are slaughtered, when birds are exiled or when slums are bull-dozed.”

    Not everyone agrees the Punjabi woman is true to type. Actor Kabir Bedi, whose partner is Punjabi, insists that “just because Punjabi men are perceived as aggressive, tough and loud doesn’t mean their women are the same. On the contrary, most of them are defensive and repressed, though they rule the roost at home. Since my lady love is a Punjabi ‘sherni’ I also know they have their strengths and irresistible charms.”

    Psychologist Aruna Broota says the loud Punjabi stereotype

    is the result “of over-generalization, based on prejudices that are culture-based.”Director Jagmohan Mundhra agrees. His film “Provoked” tells the story of British woman Kiranjit Ahluwalia, who waged a long battle against marital abuse. Mundhra says, “From Kiran Bedi to Kiranjit Ahluwalia and from Priyanka Chopra to Preity Zinta, there is a whole gamut of Punjabi women. Generally speaking, they represent good looks, fair complexion and robust health. But no matter how you define them, there will always be exceptions.”

– Atul Sethi BENGALI 

    Calcutta chromosome

    In Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Devdas”, Aishwarya Rai probably used method acting for the first time. Playing Paro in Sarat Chandra’s early 20th century story, Aishwarya made sure that her pale skin, light brown hair and hazel eyes didn’t make her out to be a foreigner in Bengal. Throughout the film, she said “eeesh” at every given opportunity. She used the words “shotti” (really) and “Ei, ma” (oh, mother). The movie became a huge success.

    No one knows who told Aishwarya about “eeesh”, but it part of the stereotype of the Bengali woman. On average, she is said to use it 10,000 times a year. “Shotti” is a close second, followed by “Ei morechhey”.

Jokes about the stereotypical Bengali woman abound – and so, it seems does prejudice. On the internet, a vicious chain mail, titled “Why one should not marry a Bengali girl”, lists her character flaws:

    She expects that all expressions of love be accompanied by Tagore in his various moods

    She sings Rabindrasangeet and Nazrulgeeti, and dances, paints and recites poetry and expects the same from you

    She will force Hilsa down your gullet every day even if you’re allergic to the fish

    She will buy you a monkey cap and bed socks for winter

    Last, but not least, she will never let you forget that “What Bengal thinks today, the rest of India will think tomorrow”.

    The stereotype may be founded on facts – albeit outdated ones. “I am sure most of these myths about Bengali women emerge from the idle chatter of bored men at the addas of Kolkata,” says Nupur Ghosh, 35, a copywriter who moved from Kolkata to Delhi more than 20 years ago. “Like other parts of India, Bengali women are soft and strong at the same time. We need to bust these myths for a better understanding of women. It can be done only by men who are not scared of women.”

Satyajit Ray went some way towards this. Not only did his films make some female characters immortal, he broke down the stereotypes. While in “Charulata”, he beautifully captured the agony of a lonely upper-middle-class woman who begins an affair with her brother-in-law, in whom she finds a person with like interests and tastes; in “Ghare Baire”, Bimala emerges out of her shell when her upper-middle-class husband defies social norms to arrange an English education for her. And in his second Hindi film, “Sadgati”, he made a Dalit woman – portrayed by Smita Patil – take on oppression by upper caste men.

“Ray used women to portray larger social issues and values and that’s why his female characters are so strong but normal. Unfortunately, the majority of Indian audiences are unaware of his films like “Devi” and “Agantuk”, which show the Bengali women as they are, and not as caricatures that are portrayed in internet mails,” says Priya Chatterjee, an MNC worker in Gurgaon. Chatterjee admits she faces such “stereotyping at work and among friends and colleagues place every day, but I fight it.”

Bengal’s women have long had to do so. In 1883, Calcutta’s English memsahibs opposed the Ilbert bill, which gave Indians the right to try criminal cases involving British offenders. The English argued that that Bengali women were “ignorant” and neglected by their men, so Bengali babus should not have the right to try cases involving English women. But Bengali women supported the bill and pointed out that more Indian women had academic degrees than British women at the time. They had the facts on their side. The University of Calcutta was admitting girls to degree programmes as far back as 1878, much before any British university.

In Bimal Roy’s “Devdas” (1955), Suchitra Sen immortalized Paro without uttering “eeesh” or “shotti” even once. Unlike Aishwarya, Suchitra didn’t try to be a Bengali.Nupur Ghosh, the copywriter, says stereotypes reflect a certain lack of imagination. “All Bengali women don’t say “eeesh” thousands a time a year. That’s Bollywood’s lack of imagination”.

– Shobhan Saxena KASHMIRI 

    A thing of beauty

    Sharmila Tagore’s winsome ways in “Kashmir ki kali”. Shammi Kapoor romancing Saira Banu in “Junglee”. The famously beautiful Kashmiri woman remains frozen in India’s collective imagination as beautiful, shy and somewhat unattainable.

    But the stereotype may no longer fit the Kashmiri woman, who has weathered two decades of violence in her state. Education appears to have become more desirable than anything else she can have.

    And yet, she remains very shy. “They are generally shy,” says Tanveer Jehan, secretary, higher education, J & K. “They prefer to take up medicine or academics rather than tinsel town or modelling where it is believed they might bring a bad name to their family.” Widows are respected and one doesn’t hear of dowry demands. Meera Kaul, a Kashmiri entrepreneur in Dubai says women of a certain class are emancipated and well-read. “Kashmir has many women writers, poets and rulers such as Queen Didda in medieval times”.

    Rahul Dholakia, director of “Lamhaa”, a film about the troubles in the Valley, believes Kashmir’s inherent respect for women makes its women more secure. “The new generation of Kashmiri women, between 18-25 who left the state for higher studies, is bright, vocal, active on social networking sites and politically aware,” he says. “They know their mind, yet are hypersensitive. They seem shy, yet are not submissive. That’s what Bipasha Basu is in ‘Lamhaa’ – beautiful with a core of steel. They will be more visible in the coming years.”

    It is this strength of character that may have helped many half-widows or women whose husbands are missing, raise their families single-handedly. Justine Hardy who runs an NGO in Kashmir says that “while most women are largely conservative, they can be rebellious as they try to keep husbands, sons and brothers off the streets when violence escalates.”

    That’s when they are “seen” by the outside world. “She only enters history when she throws stones at the soldier,” says sociologist Shiv Visvanathan. “She has only emerged in the collectivity of a crowd, as a mourn er, a stone-thrower, a protester, but never as individual, never as a person. It might be the first sign of a democratic process.” Visvanathan adds that “perhaps one day, her diary, photographs, doodles or paintings may break her anonymity giving the world outside a different understanding of war and violence. Then the Kashmiri woman might look different.”

– Shobha John NAGA 

    Tribal instinct

    Like her sisters in the rest of the Northeast, the Naga woman is held fast by tradition. She has always played an enormous role in Nagaland’s tribal society. “This traditional role has allowed her to become entrepreneurial, which in turn has allowed her an even larger role in Naga society,” says Suhas Chakma, director of the Asian Centre for Human Rights.

    To the outsider, Naga society appears more egalitarian than, say, northern India. But scratch the surface and it’s not always true. Aienla is in her early 30s and the oldest child of the family. She says that Nagaland’s patriarchal society regards the birth of a girl as a disaster. If she is the first child of the family, her birth is accompanied by much shaking of heads and entreaties to the parents to produce a boy as quickly as possible.

    The Hoho, the Nagas’ highest decision-making body, has always been an all-male affair. The Naga woman is allowed to play a key role in the home, the church and in business because she is entrepreneurial, but not in politics or in community decision-making.

    Naga law customarily hands an inheritance down to sons, not daughters. Women are ignored in other key areas too.

    Suhas Chakma points out that the Naga Mothers’ Association, like its better-known counterpart in Manipur, has done much to draw attention to human rights violations in the state, but women have had almost no role in peace talks between insurgent groups and the Indian state.

Today’s young Naga woman, however, is very different from her mother and grandmother. Asen, who is in her early 20s, says, “there is no avenue that the young Naga woman has not stepped into. She has joined the old professions like the civil services, the newer professions like the media, and a very large number are keenly interested in the fashion industry.”

– Parakram Rautela 

‘Bani Thani’, a recreation of the Mona Lisa by Rajasthani artist Gopal Swami Khetanchi whose work is executed in many styles from romanticism to realism