Against the Current: Sita and Her Foils in - Bad Request
Against the Current: Sita and Her Foils in - Bad Request Against the Current: Sita and Her Foils in - Bad Request
family in Sri Rangam. Educated at home in religious texts and languages, she became a follower of Gandhi and shocked people by wearing cotton khadi (homespun cloth) even to weddings. While raising her own family in a large joint-family, she awoke earlier than anyone else to write stories before she began her daily household chores. Her masterly use of humor and brevity made her a pioneer in modern Tamil fiction, while her deep knowledge of traditional religious characters enabled her to interpret familiar tales in original ways. The Tamil short story “Letters of Lady Sita” appeared in Kumudini’s multi-part series about women in puranas titled “Mail from the Inner Palace” in the popular Tamil weekly magazine Anantha Vigathan in 1934. 12 “Letters of Lady Sita” consists of correspondence that the princess ostensibly wrote from Ayodhya to her mother shortly after her marriage. Sita never acts in a way that is anything but respectful, obedient, and devoted to her husband, her father, and her father-in-law. Kumudini portrays the new bride as carefully conforming to the proper behavior and comportment expected of a young daughter-in-law. Yet as events unfold, the dutiful daughter feels pressure to dress so as to broadcast her marital family’s status and prestige. In her letters to her mother, she expresses deep anxiety about gendered expectations about clothing in her new home. In Sita’s first letter, Kumudini emphasizes how Sita’s in-laws ridicule her unsophisticated clothing. Cosmopolitan Ayodhya, a major center on the north Indian trade route, boasts the latest women’s fashions. In contrast, in Sita’s conservative homeland of Mithila (in today's Bihar near the Indian border with Nepal), clothing styles have not changed much over the years. Sita arrives at her husband's home with a trousseau of clothes woven by Mithila’s finest artisans, but those saris have wide borders, 6
while current fashion in Ayodhya calls for narrow ones. Women in court mock Sita’s terribly out-of-style saris. In her first letter, Sita asks her mother for a narrow-bordered blue sari, just like the one that won her sister-in-law Shanta, compliments in the court. 13 Sita’s second letter to her mother, however, records her disillusionment with the sky-blue sari because its color bleeds in the wash. Sita labels Shanta’s sari, astiramaka, not permanent or "firm." The term stiramaka, when not used in the negative form, alludes to the firmness of mind that a highly disciplined person gains by cultivating detachment from desires and possessions. Here Kumudini deftly transforms a seemingly trivial story of sartorial preference into a political lesson about the flaws of craving imported goods over locally-made items. The foreign-made sari acts as an emblem of consumer desires that, according to Gandhi, undermine India’s economic wellbeing. Kumudini's critique of over-emphasis on external appearances develops more fully in Sita's third letter, which reveals her in panic over what to wear to Rama’s coronation. Soon to be on view before the kingdom as a representation of Lakshmi, Sita worries that her wardrobe is inadequate for the ritual that elevates her from a relatively low-status daughter-in-law to queen of Ayodhya. She asks her for a very grand sari so that citizens will consider her worthy, confessing that she is consumed by anxiety about wearing the correct sari. Here Kumudini ridicules excessive social pressures about appearance, showing how they undermine Sita's peace of mind. Sita's hurried fourth letter indicates that Sita has regained equanimity of mind. She informs her mother that she will leave immediately with Rama for the forest. As before, Kumudini has Sita ask her mother to send appropriate sartorial furnishings. Her request for bark cloth, however, indicates a major conceptual breakthrough. Instead of 7
- Page 1 and 2: 1 AGAINST/TAMRAM/feb,dr3,nn9may04 A
- Page 3 and 4: number of Indians assume that whate
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- Page 11 and 12: disheartened her, but Ravana’s of
- Page 13 and 14: Ramu: What? Forfeit my hakku for a
- Page 15 and 16: anthology of Sanskrit animal fables
- Page 17 and 18: Ramayana functions to justify a set
- Page 19 and 20: Ranganayakamma tells Ramkatha in a
- Page 21 and 22: own grievances man-to-man perpetrat
- Page 23 and 24: First, could Ahalya and her husband
- Page 25 and 26: wondering whether he made “[a] ju
- Page 27 and 28: outstanding writers offer depiction
- Page 29 and 30: 1 Pradip Kumar Datta, “VHP’s Ra
- Page 31 and 32: was born with Ravana sneezed in A.K
- Page 33 and 34: 29 “Illage jaigimdi” appears as
family <strong>in</strong> Sri Rangam. Educated at home <strong>in</strong> religious texts <strong>and</strong> languages, she became a<br />
follower of G<strong>and</strong>hi <strong>and</strong> shocked people by wear<strong>in</strong>g cotton khadi (homespun cloth) even<br />
to wedd<strong>in</strong>gs. While rais<strong>in</strong>g her own family <strong>in</strong> a large jo<strong>in</strong>t-family, she awoke earlier than<br />
anyone else to write stories before she began her daily household chores. <strong>Her</strong> masterly<br />
use of humor <strong>and</strong> brevity made her a pioneer <strong>in</strong> modern Tamil fiction, while her deep<br />
knowledge of traditional religious characters enabled her to <strong>in</strong>terpret familiar tales <strong>in</strong><br />
orig<strong>in</strong>al ways. The Tamil short story “Letters of Lady <strong>Sita</strong>” appeared <strong>in</strong> Kumud<strong>in</strong>i’s<br />
multi-part series about women <strong>in</strong> puranas titled “Mail from <strong>the</strong> Inner Palace” <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
popular Tamil weekly magaz<strong>in</strong>e Anantha Vigathan <strong>in</strong> 1934. 12<br />
“Letters of Lady <strong>Sita</strong>” consists of correspondence that <strong>the</strong> pr<strong>in</strong>cess ostensibly<br />
wrote from Ayodhya to her mo<strong>the</strong>r shortly after her marriage. <strong>Sita</strong> never acts <strong>in</strong> a way<br />
that is anyth<strong>in</strong>g but respectful, obedient, <strong>and</strong> devoted to her husb<strong>and</strong>, her fa<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>and</strong> her<br />
fa<strong>the</strong>r-<strong>in</strong>-law. Kumud<strong>in</strong>i portrays <strong>the</strong> new bride as carefully conform<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>the</strong> proper<br />
behavior <strong>and</strong> comportment expected of a young daughter-<strong>in</strong>-law. Yet as events unfold,<br />
<strong>the</strong> dutiful daughter feels pressure to dress so as to broadcast her marital family’s status<br />
<strong>and</strong> prestige. In her letters to her mo<strong>the</strong>r, she expresses deep anxiety about gendered<br />
expectations about cloth<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> her new home.<br />
In <strong>Sita</strong>’s first letter, Kumud<strong>in</strong>i emphasizes how <strong>Sita</strong>’s <strong>in</strong>-laws ridicule her<br />
unsophisticated cloth<strong>in</strong>g. Cosmopolitan Ayodhya, a major center on <strong>the</strong> north Indian<br />
trade route, boasts <strong>the</strong> latest women’s fashions. In contrast, <strong>in</strong> <strong>Sita</strong>’s conservative<br />
homel<strong>and</strong> of Mithila (<strong>in</strong> today's Bihar near <strong>the</strong> Indian border with Nepal), cloth<strong>in</strong>g styles<br />
have not changed much over <strong>the</strong> years. <strong>Sita</strong> arrives at her husb<strong>and</strong>'s home with a<br />
trousseau of clo<strong>the</strong>s woven by Mithila’s f<strong>in</strong>est artisans, but those saris have wide borders,<br />
6
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