Post # 071
When culture stagnates, it stinks...!
In 1853, in Calcutta, there were an estimate of 12,718 prostitutes. Wow! Someone took a census of prostitutes! This amazing bit of statistics, though, has a sad background.
We are talking about 18th and 19th century Bengal. Politically, like the rest of the country, Bengal was firmly in the grip of the East India Company. Economically, it's back was broken, trying to serve its plundering masters.
But socially, it still maintained its stiff upper lip. The upper-class Hindu gentry, who posed as if they were created by Brahma himself, allowed, supported, followed and even enforced "customs and traditions" like polygamy, purdah system, child marriage and Sati. Now let's see what these customs did to a girl's life.
On one hand was polygamy. A upper caste Kulin Hindu brahmin male (descendant of one of five gotras - Shandilya, Bharadwaj, Kashyap, Vatsya and Saavarna) was allowed to have multiple spouses or concubines.
On the other hand was child marriage. Often teenage or even pre-pubescent girls were married off to elderly men, some of whom were on their deathbed, supposedly to spare parents the shame of having an unmarried girl in their house attain puberty (bojh).
So very often, a teenage girl would find herself to be a widow immediately after her marriage. Just imagine her life.
She had to shave off her head and don a white sari, supposedly to discourage attention from men. She lived in semi-starvation, did hard domestic labour and had restrictions of leaving the house or being seen by strangers. God only knows how much physical and mental trauma she must have faced.
Unable to tolerate the ill-treatment, many of these girls would run away from their houses and turn to prostitution to support themselves. Ironically, the economic prosperity of the city made it possible for many of them to have successful careers once they stepped out of the sanctions of society. Hence the staggering results of the census!
One man was not ok with this situation. His name was Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. He resolved to change it. So, he started a signature campaign and petitioned to the Legislative council to allow Widow remarriage.
Do you know who opposed him? No, not the East India Company, but a fellow Hindu organization called Dharma Sabha, and its leader - Sir Raja Ratnakanta Deb Bahadur. He launched a parallel signature campaign against the petition and got four times as many signatures.
Yet, the Hindu Widows Remarriage Act was drafted by none other than Lord Dalhousie and passed by Lord Canning on 26th July, 1856.
This was exactly 24 years after the practice of Sati was legally abolished in 1832. Do you know who had opposed that Act and lost? The Dharma Sabha again!
Culture is like flowing water. It is clean, beautiful and pristine, as long as it evolves. When it stagnates, it decays and stinks. In the past millineum, this great culture called Hinduism stagnated, decayed and became self-defeating for most of its population. I think it is Karmic justice that even Hindus are ignorant of what Hinduism truly stands for!
In 2004, BBC did a survey to find out the Greatest Bengalis of all time. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar came 9th on that list. If you are curious to know who was 1st, click on this link.
Credits: World wide web.
