PANDITA RAMABAI.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 183, 28 April 1908, Page 3

PANDITA RAMABAI.

A HINDOO PATRIOT 1 v '■ 'One of the. finest, women- of the coMmy-is i .Pandita Ramabai, for .whose.'rtiission the Wellington College 'pupils "intend shojtly to,hold a 1 bazaar.: caste ;Hindu woman, and_' therefore subject to .countless cruel.;restrictions, ■ Rapiabai vhafc'cast aside the; iron ' fetters of custom and/ iii' the -face of tho most'-'strenuous opposition,: has'gone steadily, on in her, great' and' mighty ,work\of alleviating the "lot of India's child-widows."; In India, as.iin, most Eastern cpuntrieis, it is the, greatest .misfortune in the- world;: to .'be born, a girl. l : oii the' birth of a 'femalo child', the father informs the assembled relatives that "nothing'.' has been born' and tliey return to' their homes with bowed, heads arid ,sorrowful looks. . Had it been a boy, .what music and rejoicing- there would hare-been 1 Why is the advent of, girls'thus-regarded? Miainly because they are such a responsibility to their parents. Religion enjoins' that every girl must, be married to a her "own .caste or of a ; superior one,'to whom, a ■ substantial dowry must' be paid. -Whero : a father has two or three daughters- this/often means ruin for himself and tho remaining members of. his family. - Henco has arisen' $9 frightful ■ practice of female infanticide. In Amritsa otio'year 300 children'were cairied'off'by wolves, dainty palates they must have, for npt.'ono of these malo child ! (3irls. are'; married from the age.-of.oight years upwards, for, thoV earlier a parent can -botroth' his child the greater will bo his reward in Heaven. Woo to tho girl that ro-. mains single after tho marriageable ago! for tho popular belief is'that no woman can'have salvation unless slie be' formally married; Hence . the. axiety- of parents' to get their daughters' married often results, in. their ' giving' them to utterly worthless ■ mon ■ who mako their lives intolerable. ■ ' • The women's court is' at tho back- .of the house, where darkness reigns perpetually. There tho child bride is brought, to be for ever, confined. .' She enters her husband's house as the lowest of its members,-.and to occupy.; the .humblest position. . She - must never talk or laugh loudly, must never speak before her male relatives' unless commanded-

to. She must cover , her'face'with a veil, whens'they appear,; or ruii into another .room. And alas for hoi' if .her mother-in-law;.: hap-' pons, as sS often she docs, to he unkind; hard arid abusive; then will tho poor 'little brido be': occupicd tho livelong day with the hardest and most'irksbmo of the' household tasks. But tho misery of-wifehood is as nothing compared with that of widowhood/ v the worst and most dreaded period in'a high •caste Hiiidu woman's life, and well indeed may she dread it. ■ Throughout India widowhood is regarded as tho punishment for a horrible crime or crimes committed by the wjdow.in her former existence on earth/Tho widow who is fortunato enough , to possess sons is treated with respect, but on tho child: widow or childless young widow falls the abuse and hatred of the entiro community. Sho is. deprived -of every ornament and of every bright coloured garment. Every fortnight her head is shaved — and to a Hindu woman it, is worse than death' .to lose her beautiful hair. She must wear a single coarse garment and I 'eat only one .meal in 24 hours. She must never take part in ■ family feasts and jubilees, nor must sho show herself to people on'auspicioiis occasions. Every day sho is cursed as the cause 'of her ; husband's death. Her life then "destitute of tho least literary knowledge, void of all hope, empty of every pleasure and social advantage, becomes intolerable, a curse to herself and to .society at large." What can she do? Nothing. If she escapes, how is sho to live, never .having been taught any art by ,which to make an honest : living? Hundreds of widows in such ..case' commit 'suicide, or, worse stillj- accept a < life •of shame. Cruel is the religion'that has such'heartrending re-, suits! '^/-,- . . /•. / - .■/ ■V. In the wide/world:could.one;,find > a sadder, .more desolate, or more Hdpeless picture than : that of the'life of a child-widow? . It is these young .girls and famine-stricken children that .Pandita'Ramabai is working for.' i She hag' now/about 2000 "in her homes, and she endeavours/ by education, by love and by teaching them some useful life work, to bring brightness and gladness. and hope into .their sadly darkened hearts, and/lives. It costs .between'£4 ;and t £6?to keep a widow for on 6 year,»so /that/ the''annual' expenses now amount to over. £71000. In .this great and wonderful work >one; may;/join and so show, thait they think of'others not in word,' neither in .tongue, but-in deed and truth.