Curtain Raiser - A sneak peek at what's coming soon on Ionosphere!

(This is a brief introduction to the topic, theme and mood of the next few blogs I will be writing)

I am not a feminist. Well, at least not the hardcore bra-burning type feminist.

   Oh yes, I totally agree that men have ruled the earth and fought terrible and violent wars. Men have been great heroes and greater anti-heroes. Men have, since time immemorial, laid down rules for other men and definitely for all the women.  Men have had their stories told and retold in epics and other great documents that have passed the test of time. People like Alexander, Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka, Akbar not to forget Lord Rama and the Pandava brothers. 

It certainly cannot be denied that through the ages Men, their motives, thoughts and actions have shaped our society as we know it today.

(Oh come on, for every female scientist you name I can name five male worshippers of science and for every  queen, ten better known kings. For example, who was Queen Devi? Who was Queen Tishyarakshita? Without Googling please. No? Not in any book you read in school on Indian history? Of course you know who King Ashoka was! The women I named were two of his wives. But who cares, really! )

I pay my respects and genuflect in awe, for these men have left no stone unturned to see to it that they will forever be deemed as no less than Gods walking on earth.

    And yet, for some strange reason, whenever I indulge in history and/or mythology, I tend to gravitate more towards HER-story than HIS-story. 

   To some women scribes have been kind, to others very harsh. For example, while you may still find a rare Sita or Janaki (mostly down South), it is next to impossible to find a girl named Draupadi. (The only time someone has that name is when her parents have been advised by the astrologer that the name "Draupadi" is an “upaya” - a way to ward off  ill luck by using the name of an ill fated one.). Most of our mythical women have been avoided meticulously at least in names. In North India, it’s very rare to find names like Sita, Draupadi, Kunti, Shakuntala, Damayanti. Not that you absolutely can’t, but if you do, there is always a story on how that name was given to the person bearing it. (In sharp contrast are the Westerners. While Eve, I grant you, is rare, Helen is very common although Helen of Troy was a siren at the root of a great and devastating war. )

    Cutting a long story short, I want to write the next few entries about women. But fear not! I am not writing about women you have never heard of. Because it is very likely that I haven’t heard of them myself.

 I will be giving my time to four very well known, legendary, extraordinary Indian women. Two are from the ever so hazy realm of mythology touching the edges of history and the other two are shining jewels of documented Indian history. Two are very well known figures of Hinduism and the other two outstanding women in Islamic society.

    Of course all historical and mythological ladies have been written about umpteen times. But this time, I’ll go beyond facts and dates, I will humbly delve into their psyche and try to understand the very essence of their nature. Why they did what they did and how they managed to carve out niches for themselves in our very volatile memories and short attention spans.

   These four women, two mythical and two historical,have always been quite the darlings of researchers, thinkers and authors. One has been put on the pedestal of eternal maternity and worshipped, her needs and wants totally obliterated. Another has been either harshly criticized or valiantly glorified. The third lady has been held as an example of what not to be and what not to do in a male dominated society too egoistic to acknowledge her fine talents and the last one has been loved by a man like no other woman in history, present and may be even the future.

    Whatever be the differences of their respective natures, their approaches to life, their world views and their responses to situations, one common thread binds these four women I am going to meet…they were destined to become famous and have their names etched in gold and fire, across time.

I sincerely hope you will enjoy reading about them as much as I enjoyed researching and writing about them.