Sunday, November 3, 2002		Books

Traditions, dogmas and lives of Marwari women
Priyanka Singh

Stolen Sunshine
by Smita Jhavar. New Age Books. Pages 149. Rs 150.

STOLEN Sunshine is an attempt to delineate the lives of Marwari women bound by tradition and limitations imposed by society which only wants to see them as meek bahus, incapable of any reasoning other than which helps in the efficient running of a household.

Being a Marwari herself, Smita Jhavar's insight into the Marwari mindset is that much more authentic and penetrative. Her concern over the lack of education and awareness among the women of her community finds expression in her work. In the preface, she says she dreaded being asked if she was a Marwari, a term synonymous with being parsimonious.

The author, Director of Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan's Public School, Gwalior, primarily weaves the story around three generations of Marwari women - grandmother Kesar Maa, mother Radha and granddaughters Krishna and Rukmini - and their stoic acceptance or determined rejection of the dogmas that reduced women to being nothing more than a piece of furniture with a "knack of disappearing behind doors, curtains and mirrors...quite out of sight."

Rukmini's takes over the reins of a flagging business after the death of her husband in a conscious effort to prove her mettle and unshackle herself from the presumption that a woman is incapable of having an identity outside her home and hearth, the only place for her to be.

Even as a child Rukmini exhibits independent thinking and a curious mind. Her "exuberance and fearlessness" are thought of as sin. She, on her part, is unrelenting. Rukmini's faith in her potential pays off when she is felicitated by the same society which had at the outset scorned her, seeking to crush her spirit.

Krishna, on the other hand, is the cynosure of all eyes. Her unquestioning disposition makes her an ideal daughter and a virtuous bahu at only 14. She tries to look as inconspicuous as possible and hunches to look smaller for her mother's sake who fears she is growing up too fast!

Radha's dilemma is the worst. "Demonstration of anger, hate and love was not the right behaviour. It was instilled in her so deeply that it was difficult to disregard it now. She would be called shameless so she crushed her desire to share any physical bond with her own children." Ironically, she forges a bond with her daughter only after her marriage because she is no longer seen as a responsibility.

At one level, Stolen Sunshine is a plea for the uplift of women and reinforces the fact that the multi-faceted development of women is essential for the existence of a healthy, dynamic society.

Marwari men, with their unsurpassed business acumen, come across as open-minded and hardworking, insusceptible to pressure and far more sensitive to women than perhaps even the women themselves.

Some parts of the book that talk of the freedom struggle are evocative but not integral to the storyline. Even without these the plot would not have been affected.