Like a man, God, if you believe, also created woman. When they came on this earth, they were equal in status. But as the wheel of time got moving, things started getting settled for the better. But a few of them took an ugly turn and continue to be so even today. Her baby child, with the age became a daughter, a wife, a mother, a grand-mother … So far so good. However, it caused a great concern when things started taking dirty turns. The dominating male subjugated her to the extent that she became a commodity at his command and relegated to three additional inhuman categories for which the Creator had never meant her to be. Today, definitely we should castigate none other than ourselves for compelling her to a demeaning status.
It is strange that the man did so also in the name of God. On May 1. 2015 I was reading an article in an English daily on the death of the last Devdasi named Shashimani in the Jagannath temple Odisha. History says that the Devdasi system, mostly prevalent in the South Indian temples is older than a thousand of years. Godmen would impress upon the devotees to donate a daughter to the Lord. The parents, generally out of blind faith or just under the pressure of poverty would oblige them. These girls learnt dance and singing for performing before the deity as prescribed by the ‘bhakti-marg’. Thus the system gave renownrd artists including the world famous M.S. Subbulakshmi to the society. But later on it deteriorated to sexuality. They started being treated as the kept of senior ‘pujaris’. Having a big number of beautiful Devdasis started being attached with the glory of a temple. Like slaves of middle ages in Europe, the authorities exchanged them with other temples. Without going still deeper into it, let us be happy that the practice is counting its days and will disappear in near future.
The second category is that of the professional pross, but let us be clear that the practice must have been started by man. It is on the record that the flesh trade is treated as the oldest profession. That clearly mentions that the profession is as old as the civilization itself. Who are these poor ladies? Definitely they did not drop from the sky. A Hindi film song adequately defines this nasty system: ‘aurat ne janam diya mardon ko, mardon ne use bazaar diya, jab jee chaha masla kuchla, jab jee chaha dutkar diya’. How the children and young girls are cheated or compelled to adopt it is a long story. Well oiled networks are operated by mafiosis. Despite being illegal, it goes on as a well run business, which ashames the society. The people who demand ban on cow slaughter, can not stop it too? Think over.
The third face is associated with marriage. The society which launched this excellent method of allowing a male and a female to live together legally, nipped in the bud the sexual crimes to a great extent. In this wedlock, when the wife died, the husband had freedom to go for further marriages. On the other hand, after the death of the husband, the wife remained a widow for life under very strict regime of life-style, worse than a stoik. The matter took a still more despicable turn when perhaps under economic pressure, sons started mercilessly chasing away their mothers. These hapless ladies took refuge in pilgrimages at Mathura, Vrindavan, Varanasi etc. A reasonable person cannot stand the pitiable condition of these widows having hardly any roof on head, proper clothing and minimum two meals daily. Humanity should virtually weep after knowing that instead of proper funeral, their dead bodies are crudely disposed of. How their sons and daughters might be sleeping peacefully with their own children hoping them of not being equally shameless?
All these three conditions are man-made. Did we ever sit to take notice of the said predicament of our mothers and sisters? How much ‘punya’ we can earn by worshipping in temples without ever having any mercy on womanhood ? ‘Butkhana tor daliye masjid ko dhaye, par dil na toriye ye khuda ka muqam hai’.
It is strange that the man did so also in the name of God. On May 1. 2015 I was reading an article in an English daily on the death of the last Devdasi named Shashimani in the Jagannath temple Odisha. History says that the Devdasi system, mostly prevalent in the South Indian temples is older than a thousand of years. Godmen would impress upon the devotees to donate a daughter to the Lord. The parents, generally out of blind faith or just under the pressure of poverty would oblige them. These girls learnt dance and singing for performing before the deity as prescribed by the ‘bhakti-marg’. Thus the system gave renownrd artists including the world famous M.S. Subbulakshmi to the society. But later on it deteriorated to sexuality. They started being treated as the kept of senior ‘pujaris’. Having a big number of beautiful Devdasis started being attached with the glory of a temple. Like slaves of middle ages in Europe, the authorities exchanged them with other temples. Without going still deeper into it, let us be happy that the practice is counting its days and will disappear in near future.
The second category is that of the professional pross, but let us be clear that the practice must have been started by man. It is on the record that the flesh trade is treated as the oldest profession. That clearly mentions that the profession is as old as the civilization itself. Who are these poor ladies? Definitely they did not drop from the sky. A Hindi film song adequately defines this nasty system: ‘aurat ne janam diya mardon ko, mardon ne use bazaar diya, jab jee chaha masla kuchla, jab jee chaha dutkar diya’. How the children and young girls are cheated or compelled to adopt it is a long story. Well oiled networks are operated by mafiosis. Despite being illegal, it goes on as a well run business, which ashames the society. The people who demand ban on cow slaughter, can not stop it too? Think over.
The third face is associated with marriage. The society which launched this excellent method of allowing a male and a female to live together legally, nipped in the bud the sexual crimes to a great extent. In this wedlock, when the wife died, the husband had freedom to go for further marriages. On the other hand, after the death of the husband, the wife remained a widow for life under very strict regime of life-style, worse than a stoik. The matter took a still more despicable turn when perhaps under economic pressure, sons started mercilessly chasing away their mothers. These hapless ladies took refuge in pilgrimages at Mathura, Vrindavan, Varanasi etc. A reasonable person cannot stand the pitiable condition of these widows having hardly any roof on head, proper clothing and minimum two meals daily. Humanity should virtually weep after knowing that instead of proper funeral, their dead bodies are crudely disposed of. How their sons and daughters might be sleeping peacefully with their own children hoping them of not being equally shameless?
All these three conditions are man-made. Did we ever sit to take notice of the said predicament of our mothers and sisters? How much ‘punya’ we can earn by worshipping in temples without ever having any mercy on womanhood ? ‘Butkhana tor daliye masjid ko dhaye, par dil na toriye ye khuda ka muqam hai’.
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