A Modern Indic Manifesto

THE CHALLENGE FOR WOMEN IN INDIA’S 70TH YEAR OF INDEPENDENCE IS TO LEARN FROM THE WOMEN OF THE PAST, AND TAKE INSPIRATION AS IT IS DUE AND APPROPRIATE.

- Sumedha V Ojha

IT IS 70 years since 15 August 1947. The date is significant, not only for the departure of a colonial power, but also as a new dawn for signalling the reawakening of the oldest civilisation.

It may not be wrong to say that a latter-day Indic renaissance is now slowly under way. The elephant moves, but almost imperceptibly.

There is inchoate hunger, even confusion and despair; neither the past nor the future is very clear, and for women, there are, perhaps, as many reasons to despair as to cheer.

Who is the Bhartiya nari? Is she the demure Meena Kumari with a red bindi and pallu draped over her head or the svelte abs-revealing Deepika Padukone, or Priyanka Chopra’s evil Victoria Leeds of the 21st century? Is she the tragic Nirbhaya, the hustler Niira Radia; Indira Gandhi; the murdered Sunanda Pushkar; Sania Mirza or the victim of an honour killing?

How do we make sense of the chaos in India—where the ancient civilisation lives parallel, in several different ages, and where every woman is a palimpsest of past history? Can we draw some essence, an Indic model culled from the confusion of centuries which will help us move forward?

In Indic terms, the purvapaksha or the established narrative is that we need to break free from centuries-old shackles and embrace “progressive”, “feminist”, mostly Western views of the feminine. Going to the past for inspiration, as to the future, is anathema to this way of thinking.