The St. Johns herald., 1893-10-05
THE HIND00 GINEE.
A Well Known Figure in the Fam
 flies of the Orient
She Is a Household Queen Who Leads a Life of Self Sacrifice and Rules Over Her Subjects with a Rod
 or Kindness.

The Ginee is generally the mother or wife of the eldest male member of the family. She rises from her bed about an hour and half before sun rise and looks to the sweeping and cleaning of the house, particularly the door lintels, the yards and the cow shed. She then collects flowers from the shrubs and goes to bathe in the river Bhagira thee, if the river be not more than a mile or so from the house. The sun has not yet appeared in the horizon, but most of the women have left their beds and many join to go to bathe in the river, talking on their way, says Kali Prasanna Mul1erji, writing to the Theosophical society.
 They all bathe and perform their de- votional actions called puja on the bank of the river and return home about eight a. m. The Ginee then pre- pares herself for cooking, in which act she is assisted by the younger women of the family, who must have bathed themselves by this time. Out of inex- pensive vegetables, some of which are planted and taken care of by the wo1n- en themselves in little bit of ground near by, the Ginee prepares excellent dishes and the cooking is all complete between eleven and twelve a. m. The children take their meals first, then the men,. then the younger wom- en, then the servants and last of all the Ginee herself. As a rule she never enjoys anything that is liked by either the children or the male members, and she has to distrib- ute and superintend the partaking of food by every member of the fam fly, the servants included. It is very seldom that she condescends to take food cooked by any other woman, even of her own family.
 Taking meals is generally over @ lit tie before two D. m. The female mem bers then congregate in a long room, where some lie down for rest, some knit and sew and some are engaged in talking about the incidents mentioned in the Ramayana and the Mahabarats.
 At about four D. m. the sGinee goes to her neighbors, for chat or any trifing business that she might think of, and for the purpose of washing her self. She must return before dusk to see watering and sweeping done tothe rooms, the shed and the door lintels, and that the cows are properly looked after. Just at sunset every room is lighted, and then cooking again begins little later. In the afternoon some of the male members partake of Q lit tie refreshment, consisting generally of fresh fruits and sweetmeats, but this is managed by others.
 At about eight o'clock p. m. the chill dren, having partaken of their meals, go with the Ginee to lie down in their beds. Here the Ginee begins to tell them stories till they are asleep. These stories arc almost all of them common to all the families of the village. A king had two queens; one much be- loved by him, the other neglected; kind Providence favored the latter and the former was humbled. A prince, minister's son, a commander in chiefs son and a merchants son were great friends; they started to see the corners of the world; saw many wonderful things; had many hairbreadth escapes and at last all returned home safe and sound. d princess of great beauty lay enchanted in castle by the CyclOps; a prince goes there by chance, kills the monster in some remarkable manner through the advice of the disenchanted princess, falls in love with her and marries her. Such, in substance, are the stories told by the Ginee to her de lighted little audience, who are all DF IAo,.;-,or 1,o then takes them over to their mothers and comes to the cook-room again. Tie younger women take food, then the men, the servants, and, last of all, the Ginee herself. She goes to bed at about eleven o'clock p. m.
 The Ginee is little tall1ative, rather hard on the weakness of her neighbors, partial to the members of her family, and is not much loved byyoung daugh- ters-in-law of the family, who have often to invent excuses for rising late and going to bed early. The Ginee has a fair knowledge of domestic med icines for small complaints and often irritates the family priest by presum- ing to correct him when he happens to omit anything in a family religious ceremony. The Ginee is no respecter of persons and often tells disagreeable truths to ones face. She is kind to the servants and beggars and loves to feed Brahmins on particular suspicious days of the year. She generally spells the young children by always taking their sides and often makes them ill by overlooking them.
 Thus pass the lives of many middle class ladies of lower Bengal; in indus try, peace, self-denial and devotion, beloved by all, teaching others to do their household duties.
 But perhaps twenty-five years hence this will be thing of the past. Sel- fishness and irreligiousness are mal- ing sad inroads in families, and dis union, want of peace and patience are driving members of the Hindoo family to find happiness and comfort in that will-o'-the-wisp, western civilization.