Women in India

Stature of Women--Ancient to Medieval---

The position of women have always been a topic of high debate among many. To study the evolution of their status in the society, we need to start our discussion right from the Indus Valley civilization, --which is still date the only recorded settlement belonging to the pre-historic era. 


As we further proceed in our discussion, we will see their role in the society in the Vedic age and the Medieval ages too.

Indus valley civilization primarily saw the evolution of the worship of Mother Goddess--thus depicting that women were held on the high altars of reverence. While on the other hand the Bronze Dancing girl found in Mohenjodaro is a masterpiece. The vivacity of this figurine has drawn attention from scholars throughout ages. with hand on hip, and the expression of self-assurance on her face, it represents a respected & confident woman of Harappan society
The figure also depicts that the contemporary people had an open mind who were neither shy of nakedness nor of explicit sensuality.


Rig Vedic Age--
As we scroll down to the Vedic age--The Vedic period is divided into 2 broad stages---namely the Early Vedic period which starts from 2000 BC and lasts till 600 BC. 

Women enjoyed an equally respectable position in the society as men as there had been no social discrimination on the basis of gender. Even the birth of a girl child was considered desired as can be seen from some texts in Rigveda asking for a birth of girl child. The birth of a female was not seen as a curse. Girls were treated with kindness and consideration.

Women received education as par with their male counterparts, even to the extent that some among then devoted their entire life to gather knowledge while they remained unmarried. They were known as Brahmavadinis, who even could take part in the Upanayana ceremony.These devoted their lives to scriptural study, expounded the Vedas and wrote some of the Vedic hymns. Women of the Kshatriya (warrior) caste received martial arts coaching and arms training.

The Rig Veda says, “The wife and husband, being the equal halves of one substance, are equal in every respect; therefore, both should join and take equal parts in all works, religious and secular.”

And this is the open-mindedness of Hinduism which is (sorry to say) not seen in other religion. Apart from Islam, even the New Testament, too, is partial to men: 

“A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God” (1 Corinthians 11:7). “And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner” (1 Timothy 2:14).

The prophetess Gargi composed several Vedic hymns questioning the origin of all existence. Other Vedic hymns are attributed to Vishwawara, Sikta and others. Hymns by Lopamudra are present in Rig Veda. 

----This shows that --women were respected and treated with high regard. They did not have any restrictions upon education. Maitreyi, who rejected half her husband Yajnavalkya’s wealth in favor of spiritual knowledge. It also contains long philosophical conversations between the sage Agasthya and his highly educated wife Lopamudra.

They could remain Brahmavadinis whole life and pursue knowledge. They could marry, and even not get married while becoming rishis, authors, poets and teachers according to their preference.

Brahmavadinis during the Second Century BC

During the Vedic Age, highest esteem has been bestowed to the women as a whole, as individuals and members of both the family and addition to this, women have also been portrayed as having affinity to the Cosmic and the creative world --As having the symbols of power and glory, placing them as the same complementary podium with men. This belief led to the evolution ofArdhanarishwara, where Godess Parvati and Shiva have been depicted as the same form of each other. 


Marriages in the early Vedic and Post Vedic ages---

I would also like to add here--one more thing about marriage. Marriage in the early and the Later Vedic  period had seen a hell lot of evolution (degeneration to be precise) Like in the early Vedic period mainly relented on four forms of Marriages---

1. Brahma Marriage--where the girls father gave marriage to a groom-of-choice without any Dowry, apart from ornaments to his daughter.
2. Daivya---where the girl's father gave marriage with a Priest (also a sort of Divine marriage)
3. Arsya---where the girl's side received Cow/oxen as a substitute for the girl's service after marriage to her husband's household
4. Prajapatya--Where some code-of-conduct followed for marriages and father of the boy asked for the girls hand to the father of the bride

---the above four forms of marriages were considered to be ideal forms and also denoted with Dharma marriage. Like as specified in the Griha sutras(Saptapadi, the seven elements of marriage )and also the Panigraha--that is the girl's hand in the Grooms. The explicit example of this form has been profoundly expressed in the Shiva-Parvati Ardhanarishwara Bronze sculpture near Vijaynagara.

During the Post Vedic age, many changes appeared in the society regarding other forms of marriages as well.

Four more forms have been added whatsoever..
5. Asura---dowry Marriage
6. Gandharva--Consent marriage (the archaic' form of one night stands may be :p)
7. Rakshasa---forcefully abduction of the girl
and the worst form whatsoever--
8. Paishacha--where the girl was abducted and forcefully married in an inebriated condition.

Apart from what has been told above, post Vedic forms of marriages were also pre-pubertal (and one source is the Baudhayan Dharmasutras--where he mentions the girl needs to be a Nagnika, or before attaining puberty )


Mahabharata--
Also cult of Syambhara and  other form of independence of women were curtailed.
Sati started to be practiced,where the earliest form is found in Mahabharata (Madri)

Eran inscription of Brahmagupta was in the Gupta age, that was way after that. In the Mahabharata we have the first mention of Sati performed by Madri, however intentional. This gradually underwent transition, better to say regression as we saw Post Medeival ages, where women were forced to perform Sati, much against their own will after the death of their husband.

We also find the evidence of both Polygamy and Polyandry---and in both the cases both sexes enjoyed the same respectable position. In the Mahabharata, Krishna accepted the curse of Gandhari, whose 100 sons were killed on the Kurukshetra battlefield. The bereaved woman blamed Krishna for not stopping the war. Krishna did not rebuke her—he listened respectfully and addressed her as Mother, accepted the curse and departed from the Earth--again bearing proof to the above mentioned revered position of women.

Ramayana---
Two incidents from the Ramayana are frequently cited to indicate the subjugation of women: Sita’s Agni Pariksha, trial by fire, and herbanishment to the forest.---this has been mentioned in theUttarakhanda, which as claimed has been inserted into the original Ramayana much later.But even Ramayana actually glorifies Sita, ---Valmiki, who wrote the Ramayana, speaks of it as the “magnificent history of Sita” (“Sitayah charitam Mahat”) 


In the Manusmritis--
Although in the Manusmriti holistic respect of womanhood prevails, but it went much deterioration after the glorified ages of Ramayana and Mahabharata.
The Manu Samhita, written long after the Vedic period, is one of the Dharma Shastras. Its derogatory statements about women have been highly publicized by those who would denigrate and destroy Hinduism.

 Some of the ideologies that Manusmriti preached were
1. “Swabhav ev narinam …..” – It is the nature of women to seduce men in this world; for that reason the wise are never unguarded in the company of females.
2. “Avidvam samlam………..” . Women, true to their class character, are capable of leading astray men in this world, not only a fool but even a learned and wise man. Both become slaves of desire.
3.  “Matra swastra ………..” . Wise people should avoid sitting alone with one’s mother, daughter or sister. Since carnal desire is always strong, it can lead to temptation
4. “Yasto na bhavet ….. …..” – Wise men should not marry women who do not have a brother and whose parents are not socially well known.
5. “Balya va………………….” – . A female child, young woman or old woman is not supposed to work independently even at her place of residence.
6. “Asheela  kamvrto………” – . Men may be lacking virtue, be sexual perverts, immoral and devoid of any good qualities, and yet women must constantly worship and serve their husbands.
7. “Ya to kanya…………….” – . In case a woman tears the membrane [hymen] of her Vagina, she shall instantly have her head shaved or two fingers cut off and made to ride on Donkey.

There are many more obnoxious "do-s and dont dos" which cannot be shred all in a while due to space constraint.The most paramount thing was Manu depicted women as lacking strengths and knowledge of Vedic texts. Women are impure and represent falsehood.

Apart from these facts mentioned. one must also consider that homosexuality existed among women in the ancient ages, and this was never a taboo in that prevalent society. 
Reference---Kamasutra not only states homosexuality as a mainstream sexual orientation but also provides effective eight step way to have an intercourse. Indian mythology has several stories of alternate sexual choices or even of men turning into women or vice-versa--and my main intentiosn of mentioning this is to make you fathom the broad base of tolerance that prevailed in the soceity. Now we are living in the same soceity--but survival is petrified to unsurmountable levels, which deserves mention.

Homosexuality in Ancient India Sculpture

Yakshini at Didarganj

Mithuna at Khajuraho
---------------------------------------------------------
Art in India was never scrutinized under the label of morality and one can see its boldness on the walls of Khajurao and Markandeswar temples--and also the voluptuous Yakshinis in Didarganj, the Mithuna poses all across most of the walls when temple architecture began in India speaks volumes for the open-ness. Ancient India even acknowledged that the intactness of the hymen has nothing to do with the virginity.



Medieval India--;---

India’s customs regarding women were severely impacted by the centuries of invasions and foreign occupation, when the careful protection of Hindu women became essential.

The status of women in India deteriorated during the medieval period with the entrance of the Muslims. ---

Several evil practices such as female infanticide, Sati and child marriage were practiced during this  period. ‘Purdah’ was introduced to the society. Women were also forced to practice ‘zenana.’ Polygamy was also common during this period. 

Women also excelled in literature, music and arts. They were also rulers during this period. ---Some great-women rulers were Razia Sultana who was the only women-monarch to-rule-the throne of Delhi, Nur Jahan, Gond queen Durgavati who ruled for fifteen years before she was defeated in a battle by Ali emperor Akbar’s. Nur Jahan is still considered as the most effective ruler by the society. 

In spite of these powerful women, the condition of poor women remained the same. At this time girl were forced to get married at a very tender age. The society also practiced Sati where women were forced to jump over 

the burning bodies of their husbands during funerals. The southern India also practiced Devdasi --tradition where girls were forced get married to trees or deity. Even at the loss of war, the worst impact were imposed on women where the Queen of the demised King would invariable have to become the begum of the Muslim ruler, lest she performs a Jauhar. Else they were taken as concubine or slaves and their children are treated as illegitimate brats.

Loss of life, culture, self esteem was huge.  From contemporary historical data, often written by the court chronicles / kings themselves, 80 million Hindus were killed during the Islamic rule over India.  

These imparted some changes in the women which were like (and this continues even today as we see the local Rajasthani women )

1. Women began to cover their body all the very more. Imagine the style of women as they changes from not even daring to be boldly nude in Harappa to sensuous Yakshis in Mauryan age to semi covered during the Ramayana and the Mahabharata till when the Muslim rule crept in --women covered almost their whole body. Emergence of the Antarmahal. they began to wear blouses and veils.  The veils were drawn ever tighter as Muslim rule covered most of North India.  At the height of muslim power in India, women of the wealthy merchant class and aristocrats used to go out totally covered, head to tow . Even now, the poor women of Rajasthan wear their veils close, gripping its end tightly between their teeth.

2. Hindus began to marry their children young in order to avoid their daughters being carried away.  The safety of the girl was than the responsibility of two communities – that of the husband as well as the father.

3. Rajput women mounted the funeral pyres of their husbands.  Later they killed themselves in mass funeral pyres to avoid being raped and enslaved.  The tradition of becoming “sutee” came about as the only way to preserve one’s honour in those difficult times.  

4. Changes in architecture--Architecture changed to accommodate the new realities of living under Muslim threat.  No longer could the inner apartments of the houses be visible from the outer door.  The women no longer sat in the same room as their menfolk.  Where possible, men and women had separate living and working quarters.  

5. Even travel became difficult for women.  Women’s palanquins and carts were covered over in suffocating layers of material.  They had to be accompanied by servants and guards to make sure no one harassed them during their travel.Yet sometimes even these proved insufficient as I have heard many cases from my granny of Hindu women being taken and raped by Muslims from their Palanquins

Palki Ride of Rajput Women

6. Invasion and pro-active conversion by Muslims impacted the eating habits of Hindus too.  Infact, it made them more confirmed vegetarians and cut out any possibility of eating in large communal kitchens.  The family kitchen area was now segregated and no one from outside the immediate family was allowed in.

7. Hindu women no longer frequented in temples. rather as we see all rajput ladies had their own temple in their royal palaces. Temples were no longer safe for their congregation as they were often targeted by invaders.  People began to worship more at home than in the temples.  The size of temples shrinked to avoid the ire of the iconoclastic Muslim overlords.  Size of idols also shrunk, as did the divine retinue that accompanied traditional temples.


-As we compare the synthesis of the status of women in different ages in India, and here I stop myself from discussing the modern age as this itself is so vast and huge that it is beyond my scope of squeezing the same with the ancient and the medieval ages. Considering the fact, that Modern age women are still undergoing genesis in their role in the society, I decided to bereft it from this discussion.

Corruption and India

Who needs to be blamed for the spread of corruption in India to stratospheric levels--.

 --Is it the British Raj, the License Raj or the Economic Boom following that?

As corruption is the omen dealt under as a sub-branch of Economics, we will try to deal with it step-by-step right from the British Raj till the effects of Liberalization.

Indian economy can broadly be categorized according to three different economic regimes --British Raj, followed by the License raj and finally the Economic Liberalization post 1991.

As we talk about corruption, it will not be wise for us to limit our discussion only within the boundaries of finding the main driving factor that lead to corruption, instead let us broaden our horizon into a deep retrospection of each of these three Economic parameters.

The British Raj---
As we begin our discussion with the British Raj, India was a stark victim ofcolonization and domination. We were deprived of almost all basic rights as a citizen in out own nation. And to add to the misery of the Indians, the colonial power deprived the Indians of their own raw materials, this flooding Indian markets with their own finished products. indians were given low post, as the top-notch positions wer held by the British officials. Corruption was not as much rampart as it is today, as the Indians held low posts and the Britishers were against corruption, Moreover, they were micro-managed, hence reducing the least possible chances of corruption

But to add to it and an entirely different view is that the colonial power almost legalized bribery in the Indian society. As quoted by a company official making proposals to an Indian engineer--

I know normally a contractor pays five per cent as commission to the engineer supervising his work but this is a big project and it is difficult to calculate each engineer's share. You being the seniormost among them, I shall bring you on the first of every month a packet containing an amount equal to twice the salary of each member of the engineering staff here and you can distribute it among them.”

--thus while fact is a government official accepting bribes or favors rendered in his official capacity was as legal as the unwritten British Constitution, regardless of the stringent punishment provided against it in the written law.

Not only that, even  marrying off a daughter to a government employee the parents always enquired openly about the “outside income” of the prospective bridegroom. Historians specialising in British rule in India are aware of how East India Company agents worked their way into the hearts and minds of Moghul kings and other sovereign potentates throughout the country by liberally bribing the courtiers.

Thus, “Keep the officers and men happy to win their loyalty” was their motto. What is called bribe today was then called a “fee” or “commission”, and was given openly across the table and not, as now, under it.

--the above policy proved to be a Boon for the British Raj which sustained them through the Sepoy Mutiny and even the World War II, while bane for the indian society is well accessed. In the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, the British rulers could not have succeeded in crushing the Mutiny without the active support of their loyal Indian employees.

The strategy was applied manifold during World War II when all that the Viceroy had to do was to print currency notes in unlimited numbers and leave it to the Indians to spend them on the “War Effort.” 

This War Effort was mainly the construction of all infrastructure facilities across the British empire in India to sustain them in the WWII. Indians worked at break-neck speeds to build these facilities to feed the War machine that had developed on the Western front.

Bribery was not an issue at all--so far it was able to content the government employees with small salaries (the average salary of an average governemnt Indian employee in the mid-19th Century was Rs 2)

Post Independence--
License Raj

The Independence and the consequent partition of India in 1947 saw a plethora of changes in the economic front. Socialist infrastrcuture was the base of the till-then poverty-stricken Indian economy which was trying hard to come out of the British Raj by purging out the ill-effects.

But this was not so easy. The British Raj had almost smashed the Indian economy to the ground level, while Partition and the mass genocide that followed it opened the floodgates of corruption on a massive scale. 

Refugee issues, Pakistan, China war were some of the biggest issues. Coupled with these rehabilitation efforts, providing temporary camps and permanent townships, cleaning vast tracts of forest land, rebuilding swathes of marshes to make them cultivable, expansion of health education, transport and other facilities. 
---All these invariably provided impetus to corruption, where one involved in the refugee relief work was a shortest possible way to become rich and gain wealth. 
If World War II bred large-scale corruption during the British rule, the aftermath of Partition institutionalized and formalised it. The same administration which had ‘delivered' results during the War came in handy for repeating and multiplying its ingenious practices

India was thus not able to harp the benefits, even to the smallest amount that Hong Kong manipulated to insurmountable levels, staying under the same British raj and once ruled from Calcutta.

Eventually came the License Raj (Nehru;s policy) where industries were heavily clamped down, restricted the private players and thus they had to resort to corrupt ways to obtain licences.
Thus a mixed and controlled economy played the role towards leading India to corruption
India gradually became more and more corrupt-stricken and economically weak.Also, Skewed tax structure introduced post independence, led to tax evasion especially high earners.

Some of the factors that screwed up the License raj eventually giving rise to corruption were--
1. In the late 1980s India's political system was imploding. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was involved in a series of troubles - Bofors scandal, IPKF misadventure, Shah Bano case that eventually led to his ousting in 1989. What followed were two more terrible leaders who were as unstable as they were incompetent

2. Now, India is a consumption based economy unlike China (export based) which grossly depends on local markets. So there are three factors playing an interconnected  role here..---

3. Primary buyer---, we depend on West Asia for our oil, South Africa for our gold, US for our technology, South East Asia for vegetable oil 

Primary Sellers--Mainly Soviet Union, which was crampled due to its Dissolution. . In late 1980s, Soviet Union started to crack and by 1991they were split into 15 nations (Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, etc). Now, India had a major problem because our primary buyer was in turmoil. Exports were down significantly

4. With the shrinkage of exports, US dollars were shrinking as well, amking us difficult to buy anything from the aforesaid nations.

5. To top it all, The Gulf war and the 1990s Oil Price Shock lead to the destruction of our oil imports and the prices shot up substantially - doubling in a few months--again giving rise to more corruption.

We were running out of dollars to buy essential items like crude oil and food from the rest of the world. This is termed a "Balance of Payments Crisis--again giving rise to corruption.

India thus took loans from the IMF, paying for its gold reserves on the basis of an emergency Loan. Thus even the gold stock of India was moving out of India. ---this gave rise to GOld smuggling, invariably accentuating corruption.

Though these Socialist based corruption were aimed at aleviating poverty, it never actually happened. India faces huge food shortages and lead to massive food shortages in many parts of the country.

Finally the Economic Liberalization in 1991--

Rapid shift in policies based on the following--
1. Socialism to Capitalism
2. Import restriction and Export Liberalization
3. Devaluating rupee a couple of times
4. Industrial de-licensing followed shortly afterward
5. The MRTP Act (that protected businesses from monopolies) was reformed and India could finally be on the path to producing competitive and productive industries  
6. Gradual reduction of import duties followed, allowing foreign investments to slowly start flowing in. More clearance was given to capital goods
7. Slowly, taxes were lowered (income and corporate taxes) and Foreign Technology Agreements started getting signed 
8. cities having populations less than a million even did not need a Government permit, for a new start-up

Liberalization of industries, accepting foreign technology, free movement of goods and capitals, foreign investments were allowed in large numbers.

But these did not however were able to put a stop to the prevalent corruption in the society, which took a turn to a different level. Stratospheric levels of real estate, education, items of daily consumption made the actual ideals of a Democratic polity invalid. This is evident as we take a look into the latest amount incurred in the Elections. Political parties and administration are examples which speaks much of the  extent of corruption and black money in our country. The unending list of scams bears a testimony to the above fact.

The transition of India from an agrarian based economy rapidly to a service led economy has purged in all the related ill-effetcs of corruption. 

And thus agriculture is the worst affected sector for corruption--
This is mainly because imbalance in economic and political power in hands of farmers of developed and developing countries. In developed countries, commercial and capitalistic agriculture is in place which is owned by influential Agri corporations. They easily influence policies of WTO and extract a better deal for themselves at cost of farmers of developing world.

Farming in developing world is subsistence and supports large number of poor people. With globalization there has been high fluctuation in commodity prices which put them in massive risk. This is particularly true for cash crops like Cotton and Sugarcane. Recent crises in both crops indicate towards this conclusively.



---With all in a gist, although India is still not able to purge out the ill-effects of corruption, which is a Bane to its economy from 2500 years now, it has accentuated to stratospheric levels with the Economic Liberalization post 1991.
 The process of reforms was initiated to unshackle the economy to lead to higher growth and also remove the impediments of licence -permit raj that was leading to corruption
The increase of GDP at one hand has led to the greater distortion of the economy of India on the other.

And here the main role is played by politics. the economy of India is used as a device to garner as much wealth as possible, also increasing the gap of the economic disparity.Worse still, businessmen are increasingly taking to politics (the reverse is also true, politicians are also becoming businessmen) and today many are adorning the portals of Parliament or state assemblies. Many of them are using their political clout to corner economic benefits for themselves.

With liberalization, businessman are playing an important role in accentuating the GDP while elaborating their own profits, thereby harming the economy. Secondly, we have to change the way that we elect our public representatives. This aggregates at a macro nation-wide level to create more distortions because parties come to power on the basis of minority number of votes. 

Way out--
1. The way out is to change the electoral system. --like the double electoral system in France or the proportional representation list system in germany. But these has to be well-tested before implementing in the Indian democracy.

2. RTI and technological innovations are doing much justice to fight corruption .
3. Economic reforms without political reforms will lead to further distortions in the political economy of the country. So the need for political reforms is the need of the hour. Like the fight for the Lokpal bill. 

We can win this war against corruption but for that to happen we have to change our attitude and strive for transparency in our day to day dealings. We should pressurize our political class to accept our demand to come under RTI. Transparency in political funding is sine qua non for this fight against corruption to succeed. We have to create a new environment through better education because education and awareness are the most effective weapons in our fight against corruption.

Chanakya has rightly said---It is as difficult to find out whether an officer is dishonest or otherwise as it is to figure out whether a fish in a tank drank water or not."