Saturday, December 15, 2012

Balika Badhu


a child bride


The subject of the child bride must be part of almost all human cultures, manifesting itself in different forms, like, at best, marriage; at worst kidnapping, molestation, rape, purchase, prostitution, enslavement, etc.

In India, while myriads of writers have dealt with the subject, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhya, arguably one of the best writers of prose of whom India, and particularly Bengal, are proud, wrote most movingly on the subject, to emancipate the girl child as well as women.

There have been countless books on the subject. The ones that have been filmed in India have, among them, one which recurs again and again because of its name, Balika Bodhu (English: Child Bride), written by Bimal Kar, who received the Sahitya Akademi award, India's highest award for literature, in 1975.

In reality, the premium on virginity or on very young females continues to fascinate the so-called virility and sexual dominance of men throughout the world, whether through marriage or without it.

Indeed, human sexuality, at best, is the most unfair among all living creatures. At worst, it is 'inhuman'. Apart from Men being the main benefactors, in a lighter vein, the second biggest beneficiary is the profession of psychiatry.

My picture is a contrast to what I have written about, because of the tranquility and joy of anticipation in the eyes of the subject.

Pardon me if I have been unfair to the fair or unfair.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bhai,

Your “Fertility” is the perfect segway to “Balika Bodhu”.

Under Fertility you mentioned women’s trials and tribulations for carrying a female fetus. Ultimately, mothers, especially in those cultures (and times) where (and when) to bear female gender is (and was) not only unwelcome but also shameful, will make sure that those female seeds do not come to fruitions. (Henry the VIII beheaded his wife Anne for bearing him a daughter, Elizabeth, I. Little did big fat Henry know that it was only him who sowed the seed of Elizabeth). And if mothers or “caring” relatives failed in that attempt, they will achieve the goals after the facts, by drowning or poisoning the girls. If they fail even in that, then the girls will be gotten rid off by early marriages, as Balika Bodhus. Mothers have contributed to this travesty in equal measures. Only Mothers, not award winning writers, can emancipate females and improve their lot. Although it is good to know that some men do care (and even write about) what happens to the “fairer of the two sexes”.

Yes, men are “unfair” in more than one way. I just heard a medical female intern was gang-raped on a Delhi bus. It is possible she may lose her life. Human sexuality as you referenced it, I will refine it further and say human MALE sexuality is not only inhuman, but is also “inhumane”.

As I understand it, the term Balika-Bodhu applies within the realm of marriage when an underage girl is married off to a vastly older man. If the girl and the boy both are under age and are of similar ages, they are called child-marriages.

Here is my two cents worth!

charu

Anonymous said...

Bhai,

And one more thing.

Being a child bride will give her a long fertile period to have lots of children, multiple wombs, so to speak.

And those wistful innocent eyes, will they ever wonder, at the end, whether that is all they long for in life?

Would she have known any different?

charu

Correction above: Henry did not behead Anne for having a girl, but not giving him a divorce to marry a boy producing girl.