IN SEARCH OF AN IDENTITY

Close to the city of Paithan, in a small village called Sauviragram, which lay along the banks of the great river Godavari, lived a woman named Ilaa. Being cotton farmers, her family was well to do, but not among the richest in their area. It was the harvest season, and cotton had to be picked from the plants. The wholesalers and traders from Paithan would be arriving in just a few weeks, carrying gold and goods for barter. They would exchange what they carried for the cotton that the farmers grew. The bales of cotton had to be ready in time! Work was at its peak!

But Ilaa was not to be found in the fields. She wasn’t working. Instead she was sitting by the banks of the great river Godavri.

‘I am sick of this!’ she grunted loudly. Cotton harvesting was a labour intensive exercise that was left to women folk of the village. After completing their household chores, the women folk would reach their fields early in the morning for collection of cotton cultivated in acres and acres of land. They spent their whole day on the field, back bended forward in picking cotton and collecting in the fold of their saree. It was a tedious job. Over the years Ilaabai had developed the expertise to identify matured bolls which opened up by a gentle pressure of her fingers. She kept such harvested cotton separately from cotton whose bolls had opened up naturally after maturing. Through experience and a sense of keen observance, Ilaa had come to the conclusion that cotton collected through manual intervention was of a better quality compared to that which opened naturally and was left to vagaries of nature and overnight dew as it affected the quality, colour, tenderness and texture of cotton. Hence rarely would a cotton boll open naturally and Ilaabai took great pains in harvesting of cotton. Ilaa was quite meticulous in her job and harvested and kept cotton collected by her in two separate heaps- those she collected by opening the bolls and those collected from the naturally opened bolls. Her field mates would often ridicule her for her effort but she did not pay head to their words. While she was unmindful of the ridicule of her field-mates, she felt hurt when even her husband Vithal did not acknowledge her effort. He regarded Ilaa’s effort as sheer waste of time and would often mix up both the types of cotton while preparing the bales, without the knowledge of his wife and sell them to traders during their visit. Even today Ilaabai had an altercation with her husband on the issue and had left her field for the river banks to spend some time alone.

Ilaa loved her husband who was quite supportive to her. She was married at the age of 16 and had no formal education at her parental home as her father was against educating girl child. However, her husband Vithal supported her in her endeavour and tutored her at home. As a result Ilaa was now able to read books and sacred scriptures and was also able to write in vernacular language. Today she was 25 years old and a mother of 3. Her first two issues were daughters and naturally her in-laws became wary and also chastised Ilaa for not bearing a male child. Once again Vithal provided her the emotional support whose words of wisdom kept Ilaa in good stead and helped her withstand the pressure. Fortunately their third issue was a son whom they named Vishu.

Hence when Ilaa announced her firm desire to send their daughters, Sheela and Leela, to the village school run at the local Vithoba temple, expecting support from Vithal, even Vithal was taken aback. To teach a girl child at home was a different matter but sending them to school was quite another- even if the priest who taught at the temple school was an old sadhu who was known to Vithal personally. Ilaa also felt bad for her daughters as they were not treated properly by her in laws. Every time the demand of the son was fulfilled but the plea of the daughter was left unheard. This troubled her a lot. She wanted to do something for her daughters. But she was unable to decide on what she should do. However, she made all effort to inculcate good human values in all her three children. At night as a responsible mother she told bedtime stories to her children. Her stories were usually spun around the early Vedic age when the women were given equal respect as men. Females were as free as their male counterparts. Education was equally open for boys and girls. Girls studied the Vedas and fine arts. Women were also allowed to take part in the proceedings of the state. There were no restrictions imposed on the women. Women had their own authority to take decisions. She would narrate the stories of Vedic scholars such as Lopamudra, Gargi and Maitrayi to boost her daughters’ morale. Ilaa would also narrate stories of noted bhakti saints such as Muktabai and Bahinabai. She was especially drawn towards the abhangas written by these two women saints as they inspired her to take decisions in her own life. One day Sheela had questioned her mother “Ma, when women were given respect in the early Vedic age then what has happened now that we cannot study? “Sorry dear, even I don’t know the answer”- Ilaa had said while leaving the room. But the questions posed by her daughters did not allow Ilaa to sleep whole night. She kept on thinking whether she has any identity in this family? Whether her daughters would be able to have an identity in the society? These questions created a wave of thoughts in her mind.

Suddenly her thoughts were broken as she heard someone calling her name. It was Indira, her best friend and a close confidant. The manner she came running towards her, Ilaa could sense that something was wrong.

“Ilaa, you are here and your husband has hurt yourself in the field. He is bleeding profusely and people have taken him to the local vaid (village doctor).”- Indira informed her.

Ilaa ran to the vaid’s house. She saw a huge crowd at the vaid’s house. Her husband was lying unconscious. His bleeding had stopped but the injury had left a huge scar on both his legs. The vaid gave Ilaa some herbs and asked her to use its paste on the scar till they healed. He was however a bit apprehensive of Vithal’s health as he had not gained conscious. Ilaa spent the whole night nursing her husband and at the same time reading out the verses from the sacred text “Jnaneshwari’, hoping that Lord Vithoba would save her husband’s life.

Vithal could regain consciousness only the next morning. Ilaa ran to the temple to express her gratitude to Lord Vithoba.

Lord Vithoba had heard Ilaa’s prayers and Vithal survived the accident. However, he was totally incapacitated for a couple of months, given the seriousness of his injury. Moreover, it was apprehended that if went to field, his wound might get infected and may delay the process of healing. To help it heal fast and keep away the danger of possible amputation, he was advised complete rest by the vaid. Everyone got tensed on hearing vaid’s advice. The time of sale of cotton was coming close. Now since Vithal had hurt himself who would go to the trade centre to sell his cotton. Cotton trade was the main source of income for the family. If cotton sale didn’t go well then how the family survive? Where will they get food, how they will buy the essential household things? It was question of survival. Everyone was gloomy. Her mother-in-law rushed to the temple of her house and started crying “O Lord! What bad did I do that I have to face such a day? Now what will happen to us?”

”Ma, this is not the time to react like this”- Ilaa consoled her mother-in-law. “We need to do something. Sitting idly will just result in loss of time which we can’t afford to.”

“What can you do?”- Asked her mother-in-law in an irritating tone.

“Mother please have faith in me. I will do something good and make you proud.”- Ilaa assured her mother-in-law.

Ilaa’s mother-in-law was uncertain but she had no choice. “I leave it to you Ilaa”- her mother-in-law said in a resigned tone. Ilaa thanked her mother-in-law and left the scene.

Now Ilaa had lots of work to do. Apart from the household chores she also had to support her family business. Ilaa listed her priorities in order to tackle the issues one by one. She divided her time for all her works equally. Sheela and Leela also pitched in to help their mother to make things happen quickly and ease their mother’s burden. At night Ilaa used to learn tricks of the trade from her husband which might come useful in negotiating the price and sale of her products. As the day of sale come closer everyone got tensed except Ilaa. It was because she always wanted one chance to prove herself and this was a golden chance which had come knocking at her door after so many years. Ilaa was in no mood to let this opportunity go.

Finally the day of sale came when traders from Paithan visited Sauviragram to purchase cotton. Ilaa had been waiting for this day. In the early morning she loaded her product on two bullock carts and left for the market along with all her three children and their pet dog. On reaching the market she unloaded the cart and prepared her shop. She kept her products in two heaps- one had the cotton which had bolls harvested by her while the other heap had cotton whose bolls had opened naturally. The colour and texture of the first heap was far superior to the other heap and it was distinctly recognizable when kept separately. On the other hand, other farmers had one single heap of cotton bales. Traders and wholesalers had come from Paithan and many other faraway places to buy cotton. They were amazed to see such good quality cotton and were equally surprised to find a woman selling the stuff. The crowd of merchants gathered like a swarm of bee at Ilaa’s stall to bargain the price of cotton. They had never seen a woman selling cotton, in a market filled with men, with such ease and confidence. A few of them did pose a couple of question about the better quality of the cotton which Ilaa turned down as secret of trade which, she said, she cannot disclose. A few traders questioned her about the trade which Ilaa answered with considerable ease. Ilaa was prepared to answer their entire query as she had rehearsed the art of trade with the help of her husband quite well before coming to the market. She was bubbling with confidence. The traders from Paithan were much impressed by the business skills of Ilaa, not to speak of the better quality of the cotton harvested by her. Cotton bales brought by Ilaa sold like hot cakes and the better stuff fetched double the market price and though the second heap went at a lower price yet the overall gain was substantial- much more than what Vithal used to bring home. Traders were all praise for Ilaa as the quality of her cotton could help them fetch higher price in the western market. Soon all of her goods were sold out.

After selling all her goods Ilaabai left for home. On the way she stopped at the temple to thank Lord Vithoba. On reaching home when she showed the wealth brought by her through sale of cotton, her husband as well as her in-laws was taken aback by surprise. When she disclosed the secret of the cotton harvesting to her husband that had led to such high returns even Vithal was forced to accept her wisdom.

At night she confided her wish again to send their daughters-Sheela and Leela to study in the village school. This time Vithal had no reservations to her request. He happily acceded to her request. Next day even Ilaa’s mother-in-law accepted Ilaa’s decision to send their daughters to school. It opened a new chapter in the history of the small village Sauviragram as other farmers also followed suit and girls began their formal education in the local temple school. Ilaa’s joy knew no bounds as she had ultimately succeeded in her endeavour. She was thankful to Saint Bahinibai whose example before her had made her to balance the various duties of a married woman- the merits of a pativrata, and her responsibilities towards the society by helping it enlighten itself and allowing education to the girl child. She was thankful to Vithoba who gave her the strength to find and identity for her daughters in a male dominated society.