N E W S L E T T E R

Monthly Newsletter Featuring Activities of the Church and its Associate Units

WOMEN IN INDIA

BY 
Mrs. Indira Singh, 
P.O.Box 13351, Birmingham, AL 35202, U.S.A.

* * * * * * * 

Indian Civilization has been centuries old. It goes back to about 5000-6000 B.C. that we find the proofs of ancient Indian Civilization at Harappa and Mohanjodaro at the Indus Valley. Ever since, Indian society has been a 4-tier social strata - the Brahmins (Priest Class) , the Kshatriyas (Warrior class), the Vaishyas (Business Class), and the Shudras (the ‘untouchables’ - or all those who performed menial jobs for the upper three classes), The Brahmins ruled the country, and also performed the religious duties, rites and ceremonies. The Kshatriya defended, and protected, the country from Internal and External threats and disorders. The vaishyas tooks care of the daily trading and commerce of the country. The Shudras looked after all the rest of the business in the country, e.g. cleanliness, washing, blacksmithry, carpentry, woodcutting, running on errands, and the like. They worked for all the three upper classes. 

In such a social set up, India has always been a‘Male-Dominated’ society, and continues even today. India has always had a ‘Joint-Family’ system, where ‘All’ brothers, sisters, uncle and aunts, and their children, even grandchildren, lived together. It was necessitated due to the exigencies of time in the past. As is well-known, India has been a  pastoral and agricultural society. The role of men has been to look after the out-of-the-house affairs, like working in fields, hunting, protecting the country, running the daily business, and the like.

Women were mainly confined to the house. They played a three-pronged role in the society, and it is believed that a woman is ‘born’ three times in her life-time. When she is born in a family, she takes birth as a  ‘daughter’. After she matures, she is sent out of the home, given in marriage to another person, and she is born the second time, in a different home, as a  ‘wife’  of someone else. Later, when she bears a child, and gives birth to a baby, that is her ‘third’ birth, as a “Mother”. Thus, a woman changes her roles in three different forms, in her entire life. Out of all the three different roles of women, the role of a “MOTHER” is highly significant in the Indian Culture and Civilization. Mother is the person who gives birth to a child, she brings a new life into this world, so she is highly respected. This has a religious significance too in Hinduism. The Hindu goddesses have the role of ‘Mother’, providing help, shelter, consolation to everyone, whoever comes into their fold. These goddesses are known as, ‘Kali’, ‘Durga’, ‘Sheron Wali’, ‘Vaishno Devi’, and the like. If their devotes are in trouble, these goddesses play the role of a mother. They also destroy the enemy, and protect their devotees, like their children.

On the other hand, there have been some malpractices too, in the Indian culture and civilization. In the ancient past, women who were once married to a persons, were married for the whole life. They considered the husband as their ‘god’ and took all the care of the husband. When the husband died, the wife used to immolate herself in the pier, alongwith the body of the husband who was being cremated. For them the husband was the beginning and the end of their lives. This practice was known as the  “SATI”  , which was abolished by the British during their colonization period of India. 

Another malpractice has been the  “Dowry”  system in India. When a girl was being married to a boy, the parents of the girl were obligated to provide dowry to the boy’s parents. The dowry is not specific. It goes according to the social status of both the families, and may run into thousand of dollars, at times. In the past, it was limited to providing all the necessities of life to the young couple, like a new well furnished house, some cash, and other needs of the daily life. The Dowry system still prevails in modern India. Though it has been outlawed by the Indian Government, it still sneaks into by some kind of dubious means. A few years back, there have been even “dowry deaths”, when the parents of the girl failed to provide the required dowry to the groom’s family, in a specified period of time, and , as a result of this, the bride was tortured and killed by the groom’s family. Though the law takes its own course against such criminal acts, the point is that the system is so deep-rooted in the society that it still continues, in several forms. Today, the dowry is assessed according to the “CLASS’ of the groom, the caste he belongs to. The higher the caste, the more the dowry. Secondly, “Education” of the groom is another factor. The more highly educated groom expects more dowry from the girl’s parents. Thirdly, the “Type of Job” plays another role. If the groom is working in the prestigious positions , like in the ‘public services’ or an officer in the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, etc., the dowry will be much more. Recently, all those grooms working or settled out of India, they have much higher expectations of dowry, than those living and working in India. 

Due to the dowry system in ancient India, the birth of a girl was considered as a  “CURSE”  to the family. It was so because the poor parents had to sacrifice all their life savings for the sake of the wedding of this girl, and they still remained poorer. If the family had several girls, it was worse, as the parents lived in debt and died in debt. They were forced to pay the dowry, regardless of the fact whether they had enough resources to sustain it or not. If they did not have these resources to provide dowry for the daughter’s wedding, they had to borrow money, etc. in large sums, which they could not repay during their lifetime. Due to this evil system, in the ancient past, as said earlier, the birth of a girl-child was considered as a curse. Due to this curse, there was another evil practice in ancient India. They used to kill the girl immediately after her birth in order to relieve the family with its ensuing problems, which arise due to the girl. However, again, during the British rule in India, this practice was brought to an end. In the modern India, the families do not kill the girl-child but they have to arrange for the dowry for her marriage. With the process of modernization, the form of dowry has also changed. For instance, about 50 years ago, an average Indian middle class family would have given a small house, utensils, some furniture, and a bicycle, along with some cash to the groom’s family. It has now gone up to a modern flat, possibly with a scooter or a car, color TV, refrigerator, and all the amenities of life. However, with the process of modernization, with more education of women today, the gradual fading away of the joint-family system, the growth of nuclear families, more educated girls taking up out-of-home jobs for financial gains, the interaction with the international media and travel, the development of a ‘global culture’, the services of counseling and guidance provided by churches, and other NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), these evil practices are slowly dying out. However, it may still take years before it is uprooted completely.

The above is only a partial picture of the country. The literacy rate is still very less among women in India. Again, the majority of Indian women live in rural areas, because India is basically an agricultural and pastoral society. Rural women, or the women belonging to the lowest strata of the society are still suppressed. They have to do all the household chores, and at times work in the fields or look after the cattle. In most cases they are overworked. The family web is run with the direction of the oldest male, e.g. the grandfather, or the father, or any senior-most male of the family. His word is the final word, which all the family respects and obeys. Women can differ, and may differ, but very little is done to implement their advice. The situation becomes worse in some families where the husband is involved with some evil and sinful habits, like drinking, prostitution, or extra-marital affairs. In such cases, some women even suffer torture at the hands of their husbands, but cannot do anything to get out of the system. In some cases, they have become only a child-bearing machine. In others, they have no life of their own. To put it correctly, some women are reduced to being ‘household slaves’. Such evils still do persist, and mainly among the lowest strata of the society. 

A woman cannot break these shackles, because, as stated above, once married to a man, she has to live her whole life with that person. It is a common practice in India that when a women enters the home of her husband the first day when she is brought in as a newly-wed wife, she does not, and cannot leave her husband’s home during her life-time. The only time she is taken out of the husband’s home is her dead-body, after her death. This has religious significance too. Thus, those women who face torture in their life at the hands of their husbands, they are totally helpless, and cannot do anything. Moreover, there is another taboo in India, unlike the West, and that is, if a woman has left the home of her husband, on her own volition, she will NOT be accepted by anyone in the society. She cannot return to the parents, as after her marriage, her home is the husband’s home. They will also not accept her. No one will marry her again, because there is a social taboo that such runaway women are considered as characterless. No one will provide her shelter, because those who will shelter her, will become the enemies of the society. Thus , in the end, the woman finds herself totally helpless, and decides to stay with the husband, regardless of all problems she faces in her lifetime. The same fate is of a widow, and it becomes worse for a young-widow. She has a dark future. 

In the recent years, there have been efforts through the Government of India, and other NGOs and Voluntary Organizations, and Christian Churches and Missionaries to assist such women. But these efforts are still far-fetched. India, being a developing country, the focus of development is multi-faceted which requires enormous amounts of funds for an overall development of the country. Obviously, very insignificant amount comes in the share for the upliftment of women. Some denominational churches have started their voluntary organizations to assist women in education, adult education, adult literacy, community development, health and hygiene projects, pre- and anti-natal cares, abolition of child labor - more specially that of a girl-child, child education, child care, creation of orphanages and homes for women and girl-child, old-age homes for women, women in prison, and a host of other projects related with women and children. 

Christian churches can do a lot of work in this field, as it has been totally neglected. It is agreed that the prime concern of a missionary is to ‘Save’ the soul. And that needs teaching and preaching of the Gospel. There is no contradiction in this regard. However, one should also look at the socio-economic conditions of the group of people one is preaching to. For instance, if Christianity is preached to an average Western family, it will be easily understood by the members of the family because they all have a Christian Foundation of this country. They have all heard the name of ‘Jesus’, whether they believe on Him or not. But if one goes to a village in India, or Tibet, or Nepal, and starts talking about the ‘saving of the souls’, no one will catch the head and tail. Jesus will be like a story-telling to these people. Thus, in order to disseminate the correct message to the people of a certain society, one must know the historical, cultural, social, psychological, and other environmental backgrounds, through which they must attempt the penetration of their ideas. 

For instance, if one wants to preach about ‘salvation’ in India, through Jesus Christ, to a village woman, such a preacher will fail, because one has to start first with ‘Jesus’ Himself. Who He is? Where He was born? Where did He live? Etc. Etc. Then, one must have the thorough knowledge of the social background of the people, their cultural and social practices, taboos, their traditional religion, and the like. They must be able to point out the differences between their practices and the teachings of Jesus Christ, with a logical comparison, in their own language, showing the merits of Christianity. Once the people will be convinced, then only you can ask them for ‘Baptism” or ‘Salvation’. Unfortunately, the current Western preaching, huge Crusades, large Conventions, distribution of Western-oriented tracts and literature is highly “UNSUITABLE” to the Indian environment. For Indians, all literature should be prepared from Indian standpoint, looking into the socio-cultural-economic background of the people. 

An average Indian woman has no concern about ‘salvation’  . She has been taught from her childhood that she must first serve her husband. Husband is like ‘god’ to her. Then, she must pray to her deities daily, which involves idol worship, burn incense in front of them, take a holy dip once a year, or in a lifetime, in the Holy River Ganges, to wash away sins (similar to baptism), worship the ancient saints of Hinduism (about 5000 years old, whereas Christianity is only 2000 years old), etc. A Western preacher has to first understand these things, know about them thoroughly, then be able to argue about these in a cohesive and logical manner to make them understand that Christianity is the ‘True” religion., If one does not do it, it is a waste of time and money. Being a lip-service, the neo-convert may say that he/she has understood about Christianity, whereas, in reality, he hasn't. 

Thus, if one is interested in India, and more specifically in the true upliftment of Indian women, they are welcome to join us in this gigantic task. We need good volunteers, who are able to sacrifice their time, money, and even their life , like Mother Teresa, for the upliftment of Indian Women and the Girl-child. If you need more information, you are free to contact us. We hope and trust that together we shall be able to do a lot for millions of marginalized women and their families. If you have saved only ‘one’ soul in India, you have achieved much more. Ironically, we need more preachers for North India, which has been hitherto neglected by the Western Missionaries. Most of the preaching has been done in the Southern part of India. Numerically it sounds great, but in actual fact, as to how many souls have been actually, and truthfully saved, is questionable. The Indian background is difficult to either predict or assess. 

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.