(Editor’s note: The following is a commentary by Rajeshwari Godbole on a recent article entitled “Hindu Women: May the Hypocrisy Rest in Peace” published in INDIA New England News on Oct. 3, 2021.)
I’m writing about this article published in India New England News which has been very distressing and disturbing for me to read as a Hindu woman. I do not share the bitterness nor the bad experience that the author seems to paint the entire Hindu diaspora with. I’ve never been ill-treated as a daughter or a daughter-in-law, not even in passing, nor expected to fast or sacrifice in any way.
On the contrary I have only enjoyed love, respect and equal treatment on both sides. I know I am blessed, but I’ve also seen firsthand the same treatment across my extended family, neighborhoods and surrounding communities growing up in India.
Bharat has a rich tradition of respecting women right from worshipping the female divine as the mother of the universe, to the ancient women scholars like Gargi and Ubhaya Bharati who presided as judges for scholarly debates (known in the ancient tradition as Shastraartha), to the women saints across the length and breadth of India, to the modern Indian women who have not only held several high positions in the government, (including the topmost of prime minister and president) but also worked as top scientists in missions like Mangalyaan.
How many other countries/civilizations can boast of this kind of women power? Would any of the above accomplishments be possible if Bharatiya women were oppressed? There is no denying that there are some portions of society where oppression of women does happen. Very much like it happens everywhere else in the world.
Why is this portrayed as something particular to Hinduism maligning an entire ideology that is very much universal and all-inclusive in its thought?
I’m part of a women’s group at work where the discussion regularly evolves around glass ceilings for women, how women get paid less, how they are hesitant to assert themselves etc. I also see domestic violence is quite a big problem in Western countries too. So, to exclusively make this a “Hindu” problem is simply wrong.
What we need to instead do is inspect our history, study it and figure out when and why certain patterns emerged and behaviors changed.
It is ironic that this article comes at a time when Naari Shakti is being celebrated in a 9-day festival of the mother Goddess, who on the one hand, can be the docile, gentle, nurturing Annapurna but on the other can also take the form of Kali or Durga to fight evil when the circumstance demands it. What she is capable of, not even the Gods can do! What this teaches us women is that we can be gentle and nurturing to our near and dear ones but when required can be as fierce as any warrior to eliminate evil within and without.
Let that Devi Saraswati give us wisdom and inspire us to reach our true full potential!
यत्र नार्यस्तु पूज्यन्ते रमन्ते तत्र देवताः।
यत्रैतास्तु न पूज्यन्ते सर्वास्तत्राफला क्रिया:॥
“Where women are honoured, divinity blossoms there, the gods reside there.
And where they are dishonoured, all actions, however good, prove unfruitful.”
Rajeshwari Godbole, Massachusetts
