NANGELI -REBEL WITH A CAUSE.

 

There are no memorials built for this courageous lady Nangeli (The beautiful one), nor does her name figure in any history book. But in the village of Cherthala in Kerala, there is an area called Mulachiperambu (Land of women’s breasts), which is popularly known as Manorama Kavala. The exact spot where her hut stood is bare, but surrounded by a patch of green, adjoining a pond. The local people are only too willing to share the story of this brave women to anyone who is willing to listen.

Nangeli and her husband Cherukandan lived in this village in the early 19^th century. They belonged to the Ezhava community of low caste toddy tappers. They had no children.

Before the advent of Colonial rule, the women of Kerala went about with bare torsos. It was their way of life and was not considered immoral. But in the 19^th century, British missionaries introduced their sense of morality and women began to cover their bare breasts with loose blouses or shawls. Nangeli too believed that she had the right to cover her breasts when she was outdoors.

The Rajah of Travancore was fleecing people with all kinds of taxes to fill his coffers and the poor lower castes suffered the most. A new tax called Mulakkaran (breast tax) was levied on women of the lower castes who wanted to cover their breasts. It was a standard tax not dependent on the size or attractiveness of the breasts.

One day when Nangeli was alone at home, the tax collectors arrived at her house to collect her Breast Tax which was due. These men started leering at the size and shape of her breasts to calculate the Mulakkaram that she should pay. Nangeli told them to wait outside. She went inside, lit a lamp and placed a plantain leaf on the floor and said a quick prayer. Then taking a sharp knife she chopped off both her breasts. She gathered the bloody lumps on the plantain leaf and took them to the tax collectors. Then she fell to the floor and died an agonizing death. The men panicked and ran away. Her husband came home to find Nangeli dead. Cuddling the corpse in his arms and weeping bitterly, Cherukandan jumped into her pyre and perished.

When the Rajah of Travancore heard about this tragic event he was filled with remorse and he scrapped the Breast Tax immediately. Nangeli the brave woman chose death to preserve her honour and dignity. She died in 1803.

 

           

ANNA CHANDY - FIRST FEMALE JUDGE IN INDIA.

 

                     

Anna Chandy made her mark in the pre-Independence era of India as a first generation feminist, who strived for equality of the sexes in all walks of life.

Anna was born on 4^th May 1905 in Trivandrum. She lost after father soon after her birth and was brought up in the matrilineal tradition, by her mother a brave and capable woman, who imbued her with a sense of self-esteem and independence.

Anna grew up during the reign of Maharani Sethu Lakshmi Bayi – the Regent of Travancore, who encouraged the education of women. Anna was the first woman in Kerala to obtain a Law degree, and went on to do her postgraduation in 1926, at the Government College of Trivandrum. She became a practising Barrister in 1929 and specialized in Criminal Law.

In 1930, Anna stood for elections to the Shree Mulam Popular Assembly. Needless to say there was much opposition from the narrow-minded men of that time, who believed that a woman’s place was in the home, and she was created for the domestic pleasure of her spouse. Their patriarchal minds believed that when women ventured out of their homes it brought about chaos and unhappiness in the family. They even started a smear campaign insinuating an affair with the Dewan of Travancore. But Anna was made of sterner stuff. She stood again for the elections in 1931. This time she won a place in the Assembly for a tenure of two years from 1932 – 1934.

In 1937, Anna was appointed by the Dewan, as the first female District Judge in Travancore. Of course her opponents were determined to prove that she being a woman could not make logical unbiased decisions. But Anna worked sincerely, determined to make a success of her career. Her efficiency was rewarded by her elevation to be the Judge of the Kerala High Court in 1959. She continued to hold this post till 1967, proving to her male antagonists that here career had been nothing but illustrious.

Anna fought tirelessly for the rights of women who were held in subjugation by the tenets of patriarchy. Women were prevented from pursuing higher education. They had no voting rights. Every profession was male dominated, so that jobs for women were scarce.

Anna started a magazine called “Shrimathi,’ which served as a platform for the advancement of women’s rights. She fought for reservation in government jobs and against wage discrimination among labourers. She championed laws to permit widows to remarry. Though she never married, Anna fought for Women’s Reproductive Rights, insisting that women’s bodies were not toys for the pleasure of men. According to Travancore Law of that time, men were allowed conjugal rights without consent from wives. She insisted that every woman must have control over her own body.

Anna was a champion of Gender Equality. By equality she did not mean concessions for women. In 1035, she raised objections against women being exempted from the death penalty and this must have surprised the judiciary.

Anna was the first woman among Commonwealth nations to become a High Court judge. She was the second female judge in the world, the first being Florence Allan of USA who became a judge in 1922. After her retirement, she served on the Law Commission of India.

Anna wrote her biography ‘Atmakatha’ leaving behind her story of courage and determination, from which women can draw inspiration. She died at the ripe old age of 91 in the year 1996. Though she was born a Syrian Christian, Anna Chandy was interred as a Catholic.

 

 

TORU DUTT – THE FORGOTTEN INDIAN POETESS.

 

                                    

 

Toru Dutt the young woman who blazed across the literary firmament like a shooting star is all but forgotten today. She was a translator and poet who wrote in English and French in British India. Some even called her a pioneer of Indian women writing in English.

Born Tarulatta Dutt on March 1856, she was the youngest of three children born to Goven Chandra and Kshetramoni Dutt. Her family was upper caste, well educated, progressive in outlook and influenced by Western culture. Toru grew up in aa environment where poetry was loved an appreciated. Her father too dabbled in poetry. In his anthology “Dutt Family Album” he described Toru as “Puny and elf-like with dishevelled tresses, self-willed and shy, intent to pay her tenderest addresses to bird and cat, but most intelligent.”

Toru and her siblings were privately tutored in French, English, Bengali and Sanskrit.

When Toru was six years old, the family converted to Christianity. Because of their conversion, they were socially isolated. So they moved to France in 1862, but returned to Calcutta in 1864. Soon after, her brother Abju succumbed to Tuberculosis.

The family again moved to France in 1869. Toru and her sister Aru were educated in French, History and Arts by private tutors. Toru had a fascination for French and her favourite authors were Victor Hugo and Pierre Jean de Beranger. Toru was the first Indian writer in French.

The family moved to England in 1870 where Toru studied at the University of Cambridge from 1871- 1873. Music, History and Scripture were the subjects of her choice. She was exposed to British intellectual life and attended ‘Higher lectures for women.’ She even came in contact with women suffragettes. During her time in Cambridge she became a friend of Mary Martin. They kept in touch even after the family moved back to India in 1873.

Toru remained a Christian all her life though the influence of Hindu literature was reflected in her works like ‘Sita’ and ‘Lakshman.’ Her writing was a mix of her Bengali background as well of her foreign influence. She was also a lover of Nature as expressed in her poems ‘Our Casuarina Tree’ and ‘Tree of Life.’

Toru’s book of poetry “A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields” was written in French but translated into English by the two sisters. It was published in 1876 by a little known publisher in Bhawanipore, and printed on cheap paper. It did not hit the headlines.

But in 1877, it was favourably reviewed by an English critic Edmund Gosse, in the Examiner. “The verse is exquisite,” he wrote. It went into second and third editions.

Toru lost her sister Aru to Tuberculosis. She died of the same disease in 1877, at the age of 21 years.

Toru’s book “Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan” was published posthumously in 1882. Edmund Gosse in his preface to the book wrote, “She would have brought from Europe a storehouse of knowledge that would have made an English or French girl seem learned, but in her case was simply miraculous.”

He also wrote, “Literature has no honours which need have been beyond the grasp of a girl, who at the age of 21 and in a language that separated from her own by so deep a chasm, had produced so much of lasting worth.”

James Darmesteter a French critic paid her a beautiful tribute, “Died in the full bloom of her talent and on the eve of the awakening of her genius.”

In 1921, Harihar Das an Indian author was so impressed by her poem “Buttoo” that he went on to publish a slim volume “Life and letters of Toru Dutt.”

It is tragic that a young talented girl should die so soon. She had the potential to interpret East to West through her beautiful verse. Almost forgotten today, she died on 30^th August 1877 and lies in a simple grave at the Maniktalla Christian cemetery in Kolkata.