Evening journal., 1902-04-10
PARSEE TALKS
TO CLUB WOMEN
Depicts Life Of the Women
Of India
GOOD FIELD FOR AMERICANS
Subject Of Lectures and Other Inter
CStiUg Topics Discussed at Meet
Ing Of Century Club

AZ the regular monthly meeting OF
the New-Century Club yesterday, The
members were addressed by Miss
Sorabii, a native OF India. Her sub
iect was THE Women of India" and
she told many curious and pitiul
things regarding the dOwn-trodden sex
in uhe far East. Miss Sorabjl is a
typical Oriental in appearance. She is
tall and slender and willowy, with
raven hair and big, black eyes. Her
skin Is OF the smooth. dark, golden
hue OF uhc native India woman. She
speaks pure English with scarcely any
accent. her voice being clear and
swoet-tOned. She was attirod In Orl-
entail costume, the white and yellow
draperies of which we're In startling
contrast to the modern attire of the
women who listened to her
She gave a Vivid word picture of the
city of Bombay, of its Kaleidoscope
street scenes, its people and It's archi-
lecture. The women of the city. how
ever, are secluded Within the four walls
of their homes, their only knowledge
of the outside world being gathered
In scraps of the conversation of hus-
bands and their guests at dinners pre-
pared by their deft fingers. overhead
In adjoining rooms. Tho HindoO re-
CARDS a woman as on the same plane
as a reptile. and is barely tolerated,
except She be the mother of son, In
which case she is regarded as being OF
! Importance. Girl babies are unwel
come in every family, and in some dis
trlcts not a girl baby is TO be found. An
English Oificial once was informed by
a native in authority OF one OF the
districts THAT 300 girl babies had been
carried on by iackals In a single year.
The suffering the women Of India
suffer for lack of medical attention is
awful.
The most popular age for the mar
riage of India girls is between 4 and 3
p years, and the average HindoO father
b thinks that he has a great burden on
r his hands If he has an unmarried
daughter OF the age of IL years.
But the most needy class, according
10 Miss Sorabji, is the child widows. OF
J whom There are over 22,000,00O, more
than 10000 being below the age OF 4
years. These poor little things, who
are widows even before they are
wives, are submitted to all sorts of in
dignities Their heads are shaved.
they are clad in Cast-of garments, and
they cat only of the fragments left by
/, lothers, and are obliged TO fast twenty
four hours every month. They are al
lowed TO take part i'm no festivities, and
they always are kept in the back
/. ground. They dare not show their
faces in the morning to either husband
or wife. lest evil fall upon them. They
are lOlled upon as a curse. IL Is little
wonder that some of them so to the
funeral pyre of their husbands willing
b lly. Priests are all powerful in THAT
] faraway land, and when they tell The
q child widow that If she dies on the
q funeral pyre of her husband she will
p live with him in Paradise for thirty
G. five million years, she offers herself a
- willing sacrifice. Sometimes. her cour-
age may fail her at the last moment,
in which case she is kept on the pyre
by force.
Miss Sorabji has one sister who Is
n teacher i'm a school in India, and
another who Is a practicing lawyer.
Besides these. she says there is wide
field for women doctors among the
women of India.
Previous to the address of Miss
sorabu, considerable business was
transacted. The most interesting sub
iect brought up for discussion was
whether on not the club lectures should
be in the afternoon or evening, OF
whether they should be exclusively Tor
members or open to the public. The
: matter was left to the discretion OF
Mrs. Vandegrift chairman OF the En-
tertainment Committee.