Release of the book "Women in Hindu Society" on 13th March 2011

Release of book “Women in Hindu Society” on 13^th March 2011 at Culture hall, Nehru Centre Worli Mumbai at 6 pm.

Left to right: Ms. Sonavi Desai-Publisher and Editor, Indus Source Books, Ms. Arundhati Hoskeri- Principal SaS Billabong High School, Ms. Vibhuti Patel  - Director and Head of dept of Economics, SNDT Mumbai, Ms. Supriya Sule- Member of Parliament,  Mr. S K Kulkarni-Author of the book,  Mr Ujjwal Nikam-Senior Public Prosecuter,  Mr. R. D.  Pradhan-Ex. I.A.S.officer,  Mr. Satish Sahney-IPS (Rtd) Chief executive Nehru Centre

On Sunday evening, the Culture Hall of Nehru Centre was overflowing with people, and it was such a good feeling for me that in the present era of Gizmos when most have lost the habit of reading, still there are some who love books. The best part of the show was each one of the audience was keenly listening to all the speakers with interest and curiosity, and the 90 minutes of pin drop silence was amazing.

Mr. Parth Kulkarni, grandson of the author compered the program very well and spoke in brief about the 5 books of the author published so far, spoke about how his grandfather took to journalism after retirement.

Ms. Sonavi Desai spoke about Indus Source Books and also gave a brief synopsis of each chapter of the book and expressed her own views about women in Hindu society. She also spoke about the difficulties faced by women and atrocities committed against them, even as India is trying to move towards, true empowerment of women.

Ms. Arundhati Hoskeri  gave a synopsis of each chapter. She compared the status of women in Hindu society with contemporary western society, covering the Vedic era, ancient Greek Society, and the 17^th century Victorian era where even William Shakespeare who held his women characters in high esteem had to show them disguised as men in his plays, when they had to prove their intelligence and rescue the protagonist as in Merchant of Venice, As you like it or any of his other plays, as he could not go against the society where women were considered un intelligent! She quoted women writers like Mary Anne Evans who wrote as “George Elliot” using a male pen name, with the fear of rejection from society if she disclosed her identity as a woman!  Some of her famous  works are “Middle March” and “Silas Mariner”. She also quoted the verses of Manu Smruti, and Swami Vivekananda, Sanatan Dharma  and spoke about the plight of widows in today’s modern society.

She said actually man and woman are the two faces of the same coin, inseparable, intertwined so much so that one is incomplete without the other. The relation between a man and a woman in any form is marvellous and so she does not promote any idea of feminism, for she believes there is a man in every woman and a woman in every man and that she is proud to be born as a woman.

She concluded her speech with her view that, the mindset of society about women that has roots dating back to many centuries ago is of course going to take its own time for its complete eradication. But the change has started long back, and women are emerging stronger each day. A society where men and women are truly equal, can be called as the mark of true progress and emancipation.

Dr. Vibhuti Patel gave a critical analysis of each chapter of the book in detail and spoke about the plight of women in male dominated society. It was a detailed look at the book, and served as a classical critique of the book’s contents, which brought out areas where the book worked, and could have done better.

Ms. Supriya Sule spoke about how women are held responsible and blamed for anything that goes wrong even at family level, quoting an example of even teachers blaming the mother if the child is not doing well academically, with allegation that when the mother is too busy with her career and neglect her home the children are affected. She also spoke about how women have yet to be considered as equals in our society, and the difficulties that they face in their day to day lives because of discriminatory practices.

Mr. Pradhan expressed his concern about delayed justice in our country and showed his regard for women and congratulated  Mr. S K Kulkarni  for writing a wonderful book on such a sensitive subject.

Mr. Nikam spoke about his experiences as a criminal law practitioner and agreed that women have more intelligence and endurance than men. He talked about how he was able to get justice for wronged women in his illustrious career, by citing an example of the Dara Singh rape case, where he inspired and emboldened the victims to step up and testify in court against the criminals involved. He also gave an interesting example to differentiate between intelligence and wisdom, to know that tomato is a vegetable not a fruit is intelligence and the awareness of not using tomato for fruit salad is wisdom! He expressed his concern about the crime against women and assured that he will always be there if his service is needed for fighting wrongs against women.

Mr. Satish Sahney spoke about the injustice to women right from ancient times, exemplifying the women from Mahabharata, right from Amba, Ambalika, Ambika, who were won by Bhisma for his sick brothers, how they were forced to cohabit a stranger when they were widowed and issueless, the blindfolding of Gandhari,  who did not even know her husband was blind by birth till she met him, Kunti  be getting her children from others when her husband failed to procreate. His sensitive  speech provided fodder to thinking minds. What made it more special, was it was totally impromptu, since he didn’t have enough time to prepare for the occasion!

Mr S K Kulkarni expressed his gratitude to the guests of honour and everyone  who attended  the function. He said he never considers himself as a great intellectual, but a common man who observes the world keenly and tries to study, collect facts and write about the something that appeals to his mind.

Overall, the function went off very well. This book published by Indus Source books is very well edited, without spelling or punctuation errors, the font size is suitable for all age groups, and the printing is very clear, leading to a very classy product overall.

 My request to everyone is, if you want to read any book, please do not borrow it, but buy it if  you can afford it, so that more and more authors are encouraged to publish their works. “Women in Hindu Society” and also the earlier book “Hinduism: Trials and Tribulations” are well worth your personal as well as institutional collection.

International women’s day 2011...

I am very proud to be born as a woman. Man and woman are absolutely interdependent; one is incomplete without the other. The most beautiful relationship in this world is the relationship between a woman and a man, be it beloved-lover, wife-husband, mother –son, sister-brother or just two soul mates, so I do not promote any idea of feminism, for me  there is a man in every woman and a woman in every man.

Well now coming to the point: on this occasion of International women’s day Mr S K Kulkarni is releasing his book titled” WOMEN IN HINDU SOCIETY” on 13^th March at Nehru Centre at 6 pm the book is worth your collection.

THE AUTHOR:

 Mr Kulkarni has an interesting writing career! He retired from Indian audit and accounts service and took up as the Director of Finance and Administration at the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai.

He accidently wrote a column for a news paper, which his friends liked and encouraged him to go ahead with more such columns, lo an author was born! Sometimes we ourselves do not know our hidden talents! He wrote many articles for two news papers “The Daily” and “ Free Press Journal” and a monthly magazine “ One India One People” His articles cover a wide range of topics and have been highly appreciated by readers. So far he has authored four books:  Perceptions, Challenges, Focus and Hinduism: Triumphs and Tribulations. The last book is translated into Kannada and Marathi. After  his full time work profile this octogenarian puts in consistent efforts and takes almost two years to bring out his work. A very warm, dignified person open to suggestions and discussions, Mr Kulkarni generates respect in whomever he comes across.

I was privileged to go through the manuscripts of Hinduism and also this latest work “Women in Hindu Society”

THE BOOK : WOMEN IN HINDU SOCIETY

It is a very systematic study and careful critical analysis of the status of women in India from the ancient Vedic period to modern times. His style of narration is simple, supported with facts and figures and references, which makes it a passionate read.

THE FIRST CHAPTER:  “The Girl Child: Birth and Education” covers the status of a girl child, female infanticide and female education from the ancient period to the twentieth century, review of education policy of 1886 and role of Social reformers like Gurudev Tagore ( whom I hold in great esteem), Jyotiba Phule and Maharshi Karve.

THE SECOND CHAPTER: “Marriage and Widowhood” begins with reference to Biblical story of Adam and Eve, how natural instinct of co-habitation was bestowed upon animals and humans, how humans thought of relationships culminating in family using their intellectual ability is fascinating. He also describes different forms marriages and rituals, covering different communities in India, then widowhood and the plight of widows.

As I went through this chapter I could not help thinking about the plight of women even today when we brag of moving shoulder to shoulder with men in almost every sphere of life. Still women are ill treated and subdued, incidents like rape, dowry death, wife battering, physical torture, female foeticide and infanticide are at least reported sometimes but what about the un reported torture in every woman’s life? Single woman whether she is a spinster, a divorcee, or a widow is not safe at all. Her very status of loneliness is taken as her desperation and any man young or old, married or un married is eager to exploit her, why? Married women are raped in bed rooms by their own husbands, working women are molested..... But why,  I really fail to understand. Only way out I think is up to every woman to stand up for her dignity and protect herself, rather than blaming men or society.

THE THIRD and FOURTH  CHAPTER : Repression and exploitation of women I   and II covers extensively such facts that are really disturbing.

THE FIFTH CHAPTER: Empowerment of women highlights the constitutional as well as legal provisions and economic and political empowerment.

THE SIXTH AND LAST CHAPTER : Manu on Women,  is really interesting. It has been my experience that everybody for sure knows one statement of Manu, “ Na Stree Swatantryam Arhati” which translates to “NO woman deserves freedom /  independence” even though they may not know who Manu is!

 Yes Manu did say “ Pita Rakshati Koumare Bharta Rakshati Youvane . Rakshanti Sthavire Putra Na Stree Swatantryamarhati” ( Manu : 9.3) which means “ A woman needs to be protected by her father in her childhood, by her husband in youth, by her son in her old age and so a woman does not deserve any freedom”  we have to view this in the social context that existed in 5^th Century BC which is obviously not relevant or acceptable today. But the same Manu has said “ Yatra Naryastu Pujyante Ramante Tatra Devataha. Yatraitasrtu Na Pujyante Sarvastatraphalaha Kriyaha,( manu Smriti 3.56) which translates to “ wherever ( family / household) women are worshiped or held in high esteem, the Gods and Deities reside there happily and where they are not respected all actions remain un fruitful” thus Manu’s views on women create a lot of controversies in our minds.

 Why only Manu or other Indian sages like Angirasa, Yagnyvalka are blamed of holding women in poor esteem, even the great philosophers like Plato and Aristotle of the western world too considered women as un intelligent, weak, incapable of taking any worthy decision and Plato kept them just one strata above the slaves, needless to say slaves were never considered as humans.  May be this kind of placement of women was based on the fact that men had greater physical strength and valour than women, physical strength and valour were very important for ancient Greeks. Nevertheless Plato also believed that women were integral part of the society, who made excellent home makers, mothers and care takers without whose support no progress in society was possible.

The mindset of society about women that has its roots dating back to many centuries ago is of course going to take its own time for its complete eradication. But the change has started long back, women are emerging stronger each day with the support of men who are their integral part and all women like me will patiently and definitely wait for that day when women will be equal to men in the real literal sense of the word.