Portrayal of Dalit Women in Baby Kambles The Prisons We Broke Sunil D.Ramteke Santaji Mahavidyalaya, Nagpur

Abstract:Baby Kambles Autobiography The Prisons We Broke highlights the plight of the Dalit Women especially from the Mahar caste of Western Maharashtra. It also depicts the transformation in their life due to Ambedkarite Movement. Dalit Women gave up all the customs and religious beliefs which made them slave for thousand years and they accepted a new way of life which realized their status as Human beings. The self-respect and rejection of Gods and Goddesses of Hindu religion is the key feature of The Prisons We Broke. It is also a critique of Patriarchal order prevalent among Mahars.Key Words: Autobiography, Dalit Women, Patriarchy, Ambedkarite Movement, Chaturvarna System, Dalit Feminist Critique, etc.

The Indian woman is oppressed by the patriarchal order sanctioned by Hindu religion which kept the women at the lowest rung of the Varna System. The Indian woman whatever Varna she may belong to is considered as Shudras.Hence the noted Sanskrit Poet Tulsidas said:Dhol,Shudra,Gawar, Pashu Nari Sab Tadan Ke hain Adhikari i.e. Drum,Shudra,Illiterate,Cattles and Woman all are liable to get punishment.Dalit women constitute a lower section of Indian Society and suffer from dual disadvantages: (i) of being Dalit and (ii) being women. These women suffer all deprivations which their caste groups as a whole suffer. Besides they have to undergo additional hardships because of their gender. Dalit women have to struggle harder to secure basic necessities of life, i.e. food, clothing, fuel, water and education. Hence the quest for identity of Dalit women differs from the quest for identity of women from upper section of society though both are the victims of Hindu Social System. The female Dalit autobiographies narrate the double oppression faced by Dalit women as a Dalit and as a woman. The Dalit women have asserted their identity due to revolutionary movement of Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar.Tanika Sarkar, commenting on Amar Jiban by Rashsundari, observes, Autobiographies as genre confuses the boundaries between the word and the world ()1.However she further goes on to say that,personal narratives of the upper caste women do not appear in the form of a direct speech.It is,on the contrary,narrated in an indirect form of a Bhakti or devotional song. It is here that the dalit womens autobiographies differ from the life stories of the upper caste. Jina Amucha, the Marathi original of The Prisons We Broke, is a milestone in the history of Dalit writing in Marathi. It is probably the first autobiography of a Dalit woman not only in Marathi but in any Indian language. Maya Pandit ,the translator of the Marathi autobiography Jina Amucha of Baby Kamble writes in her introductory note: Baby Kambles Autobiography The Prisons We Broke is a direct self-assertion of a Dalit woman. but it also went two steps ahead: it was a head-on confrontation with bramhinical hegemony on the one hand and patriarchal domination on the other. In one sense it is more of a socio-biography rather than an autobiography1A singularly important aspect of Jina Amucha is Baby Kambles Dalit Feminist critique of patriarchy. She graphically describes the physical and psychological violence women have to undergo in both the public and private spheres.Baby Kamble shows the remarkable dignity and resilience of the Mahar women in their struggle through which they have emerged as the agents of transformation in their community.If the Mahar community is the other for the Bramhins, Mahar women become the other for the Mahar men.Baby Kamble demonstrates how caste and patriarchy converge to perpetuate exploitative practices among women. In her self-narration Baby Kamble portrayas how Dalit Women were the worst sufferers of superstition, hunger, poverty and the exploitative patriarchal order of Dalit Men as well as the Men from higher castes. The male dominance which was prevalent among the men of the higher castes was also prevalent among Dalit men. In her narration Baby Kamble shows how the custom of keeping women at home, behind threshold was prevalent among Dalit Men. It was rather a pride of the Mahar Men to keep their wives behind threshold. Baby Kambles mother was locked in a house by his father to keep his male honour intact. In those days, it was the custom to keep women at home, behind the threshold. The honour enjoyed by a family was in proportion to the restrictions imposed on the women of the house. When no one could see even a nail of the woman thus confined within the four walls of the house,then this honour became the talk of the town- a byword among the relatives and friends in the surrounding villages. Then people would tell each other, how one Pandharinath Mistry kept his wife completely hidden in the house and how even the rays of the sun did not know her. My father had locked up my aai in his house, like a bird in a cage. 3 The child marriages were also prevalent among Mahars. Baby Kamble narrates the plight of Dalit Girs who were married at very young age. The girl married into the family of mahar of the sixteenth share had to work hard. Regarding the sad plight of the daughet-in-law in such a family Baby Kamble writes, The daughter-in-law of that house was kept busy all twenty-four hours of the day. The men folk would bring loads of meat in big baskets on their heads. The meat needed to be preserved. This was a very arduous task. And many a time, the duty fell on the daughter-in-law. More often than not, she would be not more than eight or nine years old.She had to sit down with a sharp knife,cut the huge pieces of meat into smaller ones of about half kilo each, and then stretch these into long snake like strips. 4 Dalits were slaves of Savarnas. But the mentality of enslaving others was deep rooted in the psyche of Dalits too. Hence they used to enslave their daughters-in-law. The tendency of enslaving their daughters-in-laws by Mahars is narrated by Baby Kamble. The other world had bound us with chains of slavery. But we too were human beings. And too desired to dominate, to wield power. But who would let us do that? So we made our own arrangements to find slaves-our very own daughters-in-law! If nobody else, then we could at least enslave them.5 The Dalit women were not only exploited by the caste system but they were also suffered by Dalit women. The mothers-in-law tortures their daughters-in-law to take revenge of the tortures they suffered by their mothers-in-law. It gives them satisfaction and pleasure they could at least dominate someone else.The practice of chopping off the wifes nose with the instigation of mother and to fix her foot in a wooden piece weighing around five kilo with iron bar was prevalent among Mahar community. The women were the enemies of their counterpart. In most cases The mothers-in-law act as the agents of exploitative system against their own daughters-in-law.Baby Kamble narrates the plight of the Dalit women very graphically: In those days, at least one woman in a hundred would have her nose chopped off. You may well ask why. Its because of the sasu, who would poison her sons mind. These sasus ruined lives of innocent women forever. Every day the maharwada would resound with the cries of hapless women some house or the other. Husbands, flogging their wives as if they were beasts, would do so until the sticks broke with the effort.The heads of these women would break open, their backbones would be crushed, and some would collapse unconscious. But there was nobody to care for them.They had no food to eat,no proper clothing to cover their bodies; their hair would remain uncombed and tangled,dry from lack of oil.Women led the most miserable existence.The entire day, the poor daughters-in-law would serve the entire household like a slave.The sasu,sasra,brothers and sisters-in-law, the neighbours- she had to serve one and all.The household chores were no less tortuous. Many daughters-in-law would try to run away to escape this torture. 6Baby Kamble shows her anger towards the unjust system prevalent in Indian society where patriarchy crushed the womanhood under its strong foundation. Women were regarded as Goddesses but in reality they were not treated as the human beings. She speaks in favour of women and also shows her gratefulness towards Babasaheb for introducing Hindu Code Bill in the Parliament to secure rights for the Hindu women: A woman is satwa and sheel incarnate. She can put even her creators to shame. Just as the chaturvarna system created castes and sanctioned discriminatory practices, the cunning creator of the world established the practice of making women dependent on men. Men have therefore dominated women ever since. But a woman is godess Amba on the earth who gives birth to man and sustains that unjust creature with her very life-blood. After having undergone the ordeal of fire for ages she finally gave birth to a divine flame. This flame showed the world what true love and affection is.Then it tore off the net in which men had trapped women for ages, and rescued them. This was what is known as Hindu Code Bill. The man who gave birth to the Hindu Code Bill was my king Bhim,the son of Morality, savior of the world.(Kamble 102) 7There was a custom to pay respect to the men of higher caste by mahars when they see him coming down the road.When he came close,they had to say, The humble mahar woman fall at your feet master. This was like a chant, which they had to repeat innumerable times, even to a small child if it belonged to a higher caste.If Mahar woman failed to pay respect to the man of higher caste she had to undergo a great humiliation not only by the people of the higher castes but also by the mahar men and women. Because the slave mentality were deeply rooted in the psyche of mahar men and women. The narrator also describes such an incident in her autobiography:We children follow the women, holding their pallav.Sometimes there would be young, newly wed girl in the group and she would fail to join the chant out of sheer ignorance or awkwardness.All hell would break loose then.The master would simply explode in rage. He would march straight to the mahar chawdi,summon all the mahars there and kick up a big fuss. Who, just tell me, who the hell is that new girl? Doesnt she know the that she has to bow down to the master? Shameless bitch! How dare she pass me without showing due respect. 8After reconciliation with the men of the higher caste the mahars would return to their hut and then abuse their daughter-in-law who failed to pay respect to the man of higher caste. Everybody then showed their anger towards the poor young gir,the daughter-in-law, and took her to task.The mother-in-law and father-in-law joined each other to hurl abuses towards young girl, You bitch, Paru, will you allow us to stay in this village or not? Do ypu know what havoc youve caused today? Do you know how terrible it was for me today? The whole village has started spitting on my face. We eat their food, dont we? Should we pass by them without bowing? Do your parents belong to the Kolhati caste? Dont they have custom of bowing down before the masters of their village?9Mahar women have to wear the clothes spread over the corpse of the high caste people. Still possessing those white clothes were a thing to be adored by Mahars.Mahar girl used to behave like Bramhin women by wearing the white clothes like a sari. Mahar women by wearing white clothes used to imitate the women of higher castes.A lengthy piece of would be give nto the young daughter who would be elated to get it. She would drape it around herself in various styles and perform a kind of fashion show. One moment she she would drape it around her shoulder like a Bramhin Kaki and imitate her accent, Hey you, Mahar women, shoo, shoo, stand at a distance. Dont touch anything .You will pollute us and our gods and religion. The next moment she would a Gujar woman,draping the pallav in the Gujarati style, and finally a Mahar daughter-in-law, pulling the pallav from her head down her nose.10Baby Kamble narrates further the aspirations of Mahar women to live like a higher caste women.What other evidence does one need to know how the Mahar woman craved to live like a Bramhin or a high caste Maratha or Patil woman? They, like anybody else, aspired for a better life.But they were bound by the chains of slavery.It was on the Mahars labour that these idle parasites lived. The condition of the Mahars was no better than that of bullocks, those beasts of burden, who slogged all their life for a handful of a dry grass. 11The Mahar woman even could not wear the saris like a high caste woman.There was a custom among Mahars to offer the first child to God Khandoba.If he is male then would become Potraja and if she is female child then she would become Muralis or Devdasi.Later the devadasis were put into the trade of flesh by the temple authorities. This custom of offering the first child also narrated by Baby Kamble in her autobiography.To get relief from the life of utter poverty,hunger and exploitation Mahar women find solace in being possessed by ghosts, Goddess Satwai or Mari Aai.It is very interesting amd amusing to know that the Mahar Men possessed by Laman Pathan could be able to drive away the ghosts from mahar woman.Laman Pathan was the brother of Goddess.There was a custom among Mahars of offering goats to the God Laman Pathan.To suffer from hunger and poverty was the fate of Mahars. Most of the Mahar women dies during child birth due to malnutrition and hunger. They could not even afford to buy the cheapest food like Jowar. They suffered from the diseases like tetanus due to careless attitude towards infection. Narrator describes the painful fate of Mahar women during the period of their pregnancy. Of course, it was only the more fortunate who could enjoy the luxury of eating cooked jowar, though this was the cheapest grain available. Many new mothers had to go hungry.They would lie down pining for few morsels while hunger gnawed at their insides. Most women suffered this fate.Labour pains, mishandling by the midwife, wounds inflicted by onlookers nails, ever-gnawing hunger, infected wounds with pus oozing out, hot water baths, hot coals, profuse sweating-everything caused the new mothers condition to worsen and she would end up getting a burning fever. On most occasions it was tetanus. The family would have to look after the infant on the one hand and the suffering mother on the other! There would be neither food and money! Only unlimited grief and suffering! The fever was often called madanvayu. 12In the event of not being able to spend for the treatment of the mother, they sought free treatment which turned fatal for her. The ignorance of the mahars led them to perform the rituals rather than going to doctor.The suffering of the woman would be beyond endurance. Even the onlookers found it difficult to watch her plight. Her family smeared her forehead with ash from the chulha.Two or three days would pass like this. People around her would try to soothe her with kind words. Life in that poor mother gradually diminished and she would finally sink. Many young girls on the threshold of life succumbed to death. One in every ten lost their lives during their lives during childbirth. Infants died as well. The far of death drove people to the goddess Satwai and they would perform all the customary rituals.13 There was a superstition predominant among Mahars that goddess satwai and the god Barama to visit the house of a newly born baby to write the babys future on its forehead. They believed that Barama had a pen with which he made Satwai write the fate of the baby. There was a saying very popular among mahars that Baramas words and Satwais writing are indelible and can never be wiped off.Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkars call for them to convert and to give up religion which bind them into slavery and superstition brought about an immense change in the attitude of Mahars.They are now in a mood to challenge the authority of Hindu religion and its gods and goddesses.Baby Kamble challenged the authority of God Barama and Satwai to write the future of newly born babies:Today, if we come across Barama and Satwai,we would like give them both a sound thrashing and ask, Barama and Satwai, you ruined the lives of generation after generation of the Mahars! You wrote our fates,didnt you? Religion must have bribed you quite well to do this. Otherwise why should you have done this? Religion must have handed over a stamp to Barama instead of a pen to Satwai, you kept sealing our fates with your writing! And yet, our simple folks were loyal to you and your religion! But now we are more than a match for you,do you realize? Fine, you stamped a fate of misery on our foreheads ten times and we suffered a thousand times more. But now we have vanquished you. We have true power, because we have sheel, satwa and neeti, and they stand supreme in the whole world.14Babasaheb ask Mahars to give up dragging dead animals and eating meat of dead animals. That made a positive impact on the Mahars. He asked his men to Educate, Agitate and Unite. Mahars followed Babasahebs words and started sending their children to schools. Education brought about a revolution among Mahars and they realized the cause of their slavery. They gave up all the customs, rituals and religion which made them slaves and accepted a way of life which could make them free and dignified human beings.Ambedkarite movement and conversion of Mahars to Buddhism brought about a revolutionary change in their minds. According to Baby Kamble it is important to follow the principles of Babasaheb rather than worshipping. She writes, I have never worshipped Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar with sandalwood paste, flowers and dhoop sticks. I have never made a public display of my reverence for him. I worshipped, instead, the principles he stood for. I have had to face several adversities in my life and I fought these bravely with the weapons of sheel and satwa.15As per the advice of Babasaheb Mahars educated their sons and daughters. The narrator educated all her sons and daughters. She even started an ashram shala for orphans from the backward castes.Conclusion: In her autobiography Baby Kamble presented the live picture of Mahars life in past 50 years living in Western Maharashtra. She candidly showed her anger toward the Chaturvarna system of Hinduism as well as against the patriarchal order predominant among Mahars which gave a lower status to their women. The autobiography is a self-critique of the patriarchy and superstitions prevalent among Mahars.It is also a document which recorded the poverty and hunger of Mahars.The autobiography is a social critique of the Hindu Social system as well the patriarchal order of Mahars.Baby Kambles self and frank analysis made her autobiography totally different from the autobiographies of higher caste women as well as Dalit male autobiographers where the presence of Dalit women as an independent human being rarely felt.Through her narration Baby Kamble bring to the fore the plight of Dalit Women.Works Cited:Kamble, Baby. The Prisons We Broke. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 2009.Sarkar, Tanika. Hindu Wife,Hindu Nation. New Delhi: Permenant Black, 2001.

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