The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-07-28
WOMEN IN INDIA.
The Life of IdIeness TO Which the Women
of India are Consigned.

pronounce hopelessly irremediable. One
hundred millions OF women, supposed
to be actual subjects of the British en-
pire, are, with few exceptions, sunk in
absolute ignorance. They are unable
to read a syllable Of their mother tongue,
they are never taught the rules OF life
and health, the laws Of God, or the
most rudimentary truths Of science. In
fact feeling exists in most Hindoo
families that girl who has learned to
read and write has committed q sin
which is sure to bring down judg-
ment upon herself and her husband.
She will probably have to atone
for her crime by early widow
hood. And to be a young
widow is believed to be the greatest
misfortune that can possibly befall her,
Not indeed that an Indian woman's
married life can be described as q bliss
full asylum. The women of India are
victims Of the worst form OF social
tyranny. They are allowed no voice in
the selection of their own husbands.
According to DIR. Hunters statistics,
infants are sometimes betrothed when
but two or three months old. LAS soon
as q daughter (of q particular tribe Of
Brahmans) Is born, the father tmme-
diately looks out for q male child be-
longing to q family equal in rank with
his search, and obtained the consent
OF its parents, he returns to his house,
summons his relatives and neighbors
to feast, and solemnly affirms before
them that his daughter is betrothed to
such and such q mans babe. Nothing
will induce him to break the oath
which he thus takes" This is excep-
tional. AS q rule, girls are betTothed
1t three or four Ia barber being some
times the match maker) and married at
six or seven to boys of whom they know
nothing. They are taken to their boy
husbands homes at the age of ten or
eleven. From that moment they lose
their freedom and even their PERSONAL
| ty. They merge their individuality in
| the persons of their husbands. They
may be loved, and they are rarely ill
used, as they too frequently are in
Christian countries, but they are ig
nOred as separate units In, society. They
never pronounce their husbands
names, and they are never directly al"
luded to by their husbands in CONVERSE
ton. For another person to mention
their names or inquire after their
etiquette. They never appear unveiled
b fore their husbands in the presence
If q third person. They often
b come mothers at eleven or
twelve. Their life Is then spent in petty
| household duties, in cooking for their
families, In g0ssiping with female
| friends. in arranging the marriages of
their children, in domestic jealOusies
and enVyings, in a thousand foolish
friVolities, in wearisome round OF bur.
densome religious ceremonies imposed
by exaCing priests. Add to this that
the upper classes are coOped up behind
| DIR In he in hn OF ut
of bananas. There they are prisoners
in apartments set apart for their ex-
elusive occupation. They have no OPP
portunity Of listening to the intelleC-
tual conversation Of educated men.
They are shut out from every whole
some influence, and debarred from every
healty occupation likely to GonduCe to
the improvement Of their physical con
dition, or to their social, moral and in
teIlectual elevation: They become en-
feebled in mind and worn out
in body at period in life when
European women have barely reached
their prime. They are neither
fit for independence, nor have they any
desire for it. And what of the young
widows? If young wife has no indi-
viduality apart from her husband, a
young widow has practically no exist
ence. 1t is true that our law has pro-
hibited widow from being burned with
her dead husband. It Is true, too, that
an old widow is cared for by her chill
dren il she has remained wife long
enough to have large family. She is
even more than cared for. Every
mother in India is an object Of venera-
ton to her offspring. AS wife she may
be nothing. But rs a mother, even
though q widow, she is all in all to her
children. It is only q young widow OF
childless widow who is regarded as
worse than dead. But nearly every
household possesses q widow Of this
kind Such widow belongs forever tC
her dead husband. A widower may mar
ry again, but widow never. She is made
, household drudge. She is expected tC
get up at 4 q. M, before the servants
Of the family. No one will supply her
with water. She must go to the well
and fetch water for herself. It is uu.
lucky to meet her. She is supposed tC
be in eternal mourning for her deceased
} lord, though she may never have seen
him except at her child wedding. She
: must practice q perpetual fast, and only
: eat one meal day. Ii her young hus'
before his death and the household is
still undivided, all such property is
taken by her brother-in-law. She re-
tains nothing but her ornaments, which
r she must on no account wear. She is
told that she cannot have food given tC
her till she has 'eaten her Jewels" In
r other words, she is expected to sell hel
? ornaments to prevent herself from
starving. In short, she suffers o living
: death, and would often cheerfulIy give
herself up to be burned, il the
law would allow her. OF course there
are exceptions to this. In some parts O
) Iudia-as for instance in the Maratha
| country women of all classes are more
independent, and assert themselves
with more holiness. There is also {
bright side to the picture of female life
and character. Hindoo women must bt
{ allowed full credit for their strict dis
: charge of household duties, for theil
) personal cleanliness, thrift, activity
! and practical fidelity to the doctrines
: and precepts Of their religion. They
are generally loved by their husbands
and are never brutally treated. A wife
beating drunkard is unknown in India
T In return. Indian wives and mothers