Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-02-15
WOMEN OF INDIA.
By ELLA BARTLETT SIMMONS.


Zenanas,-LowC Caste, in Hohullahs.
Entering a small arched doorway in
store wall we hnd ourselves in a
Quadrangular court on all sides OF
which the ladies apartments are situa-
ted.
This is the Zenans "The house of
he women" You will be quite aston
sled at the number of women and
children who, at sight of us, will pour
into the court, from the various rooms
There are sometimes as high as fifty
or sixty under the same roof, including
mothersin Law, aunts, cousins and all
manner OF relations.
They are indeed gregarious people
aud live together in this patriarchsl
! way, grandfathers sons and sons sons
IN the same house.
If the women know beforehand OF
our coming they will be decked in their
finest clothing and glitter with jew
elry.
Finger rings, ear rings, nose rings
and toe rings will be very abundant.
Bracelets, armlets and snklets will
be seen. 1t certainly is quite amusing
TO see the women seated upon the
ground or on a charpai-low corded
bed-admiring themselves in the small
looking glass which forms the "set"
Of the great toe ring.
This love OF iewelry causes a great
leal of friction among the sisters-in-
law. If one cannot have as much as
another she is jealous and spiteful.
With all the pride of motherhood
fh hey will exhibit their children, saying
that they are especially favored of the
! gods, if the eldest be boy.
Many Of the little ones will be
dressed in a coat of cocoanut oil, lace
cap and jewelry. Clothing is thought
unnecessary ;but iewelry they must have.
Tie poor little child widows are
bereft of all beautiful clothing or
jewelry and clothed in dark, dirty
rags They are not only the slaves OF
the mother-in-law, but of all the other
relatives as well. The little one must
suffer all this If she had never lived
with her husband, but merely been
betrothed to him. She is told that in
former lives she was very wicked and
that this is her punishment. She Is
also made TO believe that her sins have
caused the death OF her husband
The little child wives appear very
coy In our presence, but we soon learn
! that they are not allowed to speak I'M
/ less spoken to, that they must yield the
most unques tioning submission, not
only to their husbands but to the
mothers-in-law, and in fact to all the
older sisters.
They are not allowed to fordle or
pet their babies in the presence of
their elders. All this is hard to bear,
even if they have kind, loving hus-
bands which in niIety-nine out of one
hundred cases they have not.
A husband Is very often old enough
! to be the grandfather or his little wife.
1t is usually a man in whose heart
neither love, nor sympathy for her
childhood and innocency has place.
Her sUferings in many respects are
often intense. There are mothers in
India not twelve years of age.
If We are visiting a very wealthy,
high caste family, We expect to see the
the woman's rooms, at least neat, clean
and comfortable-but are certainly dis
appointed. They are bare and COM
FORTRESS in the extreme. II the walls
have ever been white washed they do
, not now show it, for they are dingy,
spotted, and literally garnished with
co bwebs; it being a sin to kill a spider.
! A tiny window high up grated with
iron stanchIons. looks on the tiled
roofs of other houses.
The floors are of mud, and but few
of them are covered with mating.
The low corded bed stands IN one
corner, II it has not been brought out
in the court, TO sit on. 1t is devoid Of
mattress, sheets or pillows. There is
generally rude box for their cloth
ing, a portable mud stove and the
household goddess. .-Gausha. This is
sll. Never having known different
life, never having seen their husba nd s
! elegant apartments, they do not real
iLe how poor and meagre are their lit
tie rooms. These little dark rooms,
the court and the tiled house
tops, make up the whole view which
these poor women have, from dav to
day. They have naught TO occupy
their time or minds from morning till
night. Being High Caste" women,
they cannot do any of the little work
that is done.
They are usually-and what wonder?
"A selfish, unhappy, bigoted, trynn-
nical set of women. AMahommed wo-
man does their cooking. The "Bishti"
brings the water. The "Meter" sweeps
the floor.
The women worship the gods and
nurse their troubles day after dav.
The MohulIoh or Low Caste wo-
man lead a very different sort of life.
Rising before dawn, they bssten-
often without morsel to eat, to their
daily toll. Spinning, weaving, cut
ting grass, working in the fields, max
ing clay vessels, sweeping, carrying
water upon their backs IN goat skins,
bringing heavy loads of wood also
upon their heads from the mountains,
and indeed, doing whatever their castle
lines will permit.
Some of them feed their tiny babes
enough opium to keep them sleep until
their return at noon, for their midday
meal. Husbands of families in India
can afford but one meal day, many
have not even that. regularly.
a Mohuilah Is o collection OF mud
huts, generally occupied by families
closely related. The women are free
to go unveiled in the street, but their
lives are embittered by heavy toll and
they are greatly locked down upon for
haipn .Dy NaSta runpoan