Videha ‘िवदेह’

Videha ‘िवदेह’ थम मैिथली पािक्षक ई पिका १ नवम्बर अक्टूबर २००८ (वषर् १ मास ११ अंक२१) িরেদহ' পািkক পিtকা Videha Maithili Fortnightly e Magazine িরেদহ िवदेह Videha িবেদহhttp://www.videha.co.in/ मानुषीिमह संस्कृ ताम्di sci pl i nar y r i t ual s! Wh at woul d got t ouched?On whatmat t er she woul d get angr y!Her gr and mot her t houghtt hat t he unmar r i ed and mar r i ed havi ng husband bot h wer econt ami nat ed. She at e f ood cooked by men or wi dow onl y.Among men t he wi dowed wer e al so not debar r ed.She r emember s t hat when she was chi l d, dur i ng herar r i val and depar t ur e t o vi l l age f r om Hyder abad,when shewoul d vi si t ot her ’s home on i nvi t at i on,peopl e woul di ndul ge af t er i ndi cat i ng t owar ds her i n sl ow-voi cetalking. Al t hough she was a l i t t l e chi l d even t hen sheunder st ood t hat t hey had been t al ki ng about her al so.Lat er on she knew t hat t hey wer e t al ki ng about her gr andmot her . Among t he whi sper maker wer e al l t he mar r i edwomen whose husband wer e al i ve.Those days she was nott hat much mat ur e but l at er on she knew t hat i n hersoci et y peopl e r egar d wi dow as bad-omen.So most of t hetime, among t hemsel ves,t hose married women whose husbandwer e al i ve cr i t i ci zed wi dows . They r egar ded t he l ook ofwi dows as bad-omen.No men l ook t owar ds ot her man i n t hi sway nor do t he women l ook t owar ds wi dower i n t hi s manner .Today Kal yani r emember s t he hawk of a st or y of a f owl erwhi ch hunt ed and br ought f owl s f or t he f owl er . Evenl at er on when t he f owl er r emai ned asl eep t hen al so woul dhunt even wi t hout get t i ng any pr ovocat i onThe hawk hunt ed f awl s. She t hought t hat men wer e f owl er sand t he l adi es wer e hawks . The women hunt i ng t he women.She f el t uneasi ness.She f el t t hat somebody has enf l amedher body.See, mot her di d not i nvi t e her ? Who car es.Fr om t hi swhat i s goi ng t o happen? But i n t he i nvest i t ur ecer emony of her br ot her i t sel f she was not i nvi t ed?Notf or any ot her r eason,but si mpl y f or t he sake ofenj oyment , f or f eel i ng t he sat i sf act i on t o havepar t i ci pat ed i n t he f unct i on al ongwi t h t he br i des and142