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The folkloristic today, especially the feminist-folkloristic study till now is majorly
occupied with the study of myths and legends, which form the core of any oral tale or
qissah, predominantly in the context of time. The focus of studying a folk narrative is
This is because, as argued by Foucault, “Space [still tends to be] treated as the dead,
the fixed, the undialectical, the mobile. Time, on the contrary is [seen as] richness,
fecundity, life, dialectic” (Soja 10). But the life of being is not only constitutive of its
temporality per se, ‘making of history’ through time, but also affected by the social
construction of human geographies. As Soja puts it, “[the]se ‘life stories’ have a
which affect thought and action. The historical imagination is never completely
spaceless . . .” (14).
the dialectics of space and time, existing in the select four ragnis from the creative
oeuvre of Pandit Lakhmi Chand and his contemporaries. However, in order to delve
understand the problematics of space which runs parallel with that of time. As Rekha
dialectic, by eclectically making use of the theories and arguments given by Henri
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Lefebvre, Michel Foucault, and Edward Soja, which give new interpretations to these
The Cartesian notion of space views it as a tangible, physical, constant and reified,
concept within which materialistic things/objects are placed. It is more often than not
sequentiality. To quote Paul Carter, Wegner talks about dominant narrative mode,
“which reduces space to a stage, that pays attention to events unfolding in time alone .
. . [r]ather than focus on the intentional world of historical individuals, the world of
active, spatial choices, empirical history of this kind has as its focus facts which, in a
sense, come after the event” (emphasis original) (Wegner 180). Reading a narrative in
an essentially temporal domain makes space appear as only a stage, a concrete place
or mere locale setting which is fixed and unmoved which does not, in any way,
influence and affect the social life. The characters are merely seen ‘located’ in certain
But the emerging preoccupation of many thinkers since last two decades have
led to some serious insights into the problematics of ‘space’, ‘place’ and ‘socio-
cultural geography’. Space has now come to be seen as ‘value-filled’ entity rather
than what it was earlier seen as a neutral entity. Lefebvre, the French social theorist,
which impacted many disciplines including cultural studies and feminism among
others. Lefebvre, in his theory of spatiality, rejects the older notion of space as “a pre-
existing void, endowed with formal properties alone” and maintains that “To criticize
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puts up an argument that, “(Social) space is a (social) product”—i.e. it is socially
autonomous power which this ‘socially produced’ space achieves when he claims
space to be “a reality of its own, a reality clearly distinct from, yet much like, . . .
space thus produced also serves as a tool of thought and of action; that in addition to
power . . .” (26).
Lefebvre makes alive the space, so long reified, and makes possible for it to
exercise power on humans and influence their actions. Lefebvre gives three
which on the other hand refers to “perceived”, “conceived” and “lived” spaces. The
three terms can further be broken down to physical, mental and social aspect of space.
When we seek to understand female body through this triad, we see that a female
Women in their day to day life carry out certain tasks which involve the use of
their body. In other words, their body acts as space where certain actions and
activities takes place which acts as the realm of perceived. But in carrying out these
dominant ideology, or social milieu in which they are placed and the relationships that
are produced in there. This makes them conceived bodies. The lived experiences of
body are more complex structures because one finds the interference of culture and its
norms and traditions here. For example, in rural or semi-urban places we often find
men freely socialising in public spaces but women on the other hand, are seen
accessing these ‘male zones’ very sparingly or with apprehensions. The spatial
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practice of having access to public spaces more often by men than women is based on
the conceived idea of public places marked majorly for the use of men. And if any
woman accesses these male spaces with certain familiarity, it should be with male
consent. But the lived spaces completely deny the official representation of spaces or
as they are perceived in spatial practices. In their lived experiences of space, women
In Haryana, for example, we often see women labouring in fields more than
men. The field, a male arena, a male property, is often seen accessed by women which
gives them some power to exert their freedom, if not much. The body is thus situated
within the interplay of this triad of perceived (seen), conceived (thought), and lived
(carried out). Therefore through this triad of perceived, conceived and lived, female
bodies ‘re-present’ the socio-cultural space as seen in the myths and reiterated through
folk tales. Philip E. Wegner calls the production of social space, as conceptualised by
this triad, as “the space of the embodied individual’s cultural experiences and the
by, and in turn influencing human action and intervention; Michel Foucault,
especially in his seminal work, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, claims
space to be the site of power praxis and control. Foucault puts his focus upon the body
and analyse it keeping in view the spatial order in which a society is organised.
According to him, the body is regulated through the mechanism of discipline and this
discipline is achieved through the organisation of space, time and peoples’ activities
and behaviours. The system of surveillance comes to aide to enforce this discipline
among people. But this system of surveillance is not the sole property of the state or
the government rather power is present at the most micro levels and in every social
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relation and it is our body through which we exercise power. If we look at the
patriarchal society of Haryana, we find men exercising power over women in their
day to day activities. But this power is not the power exercised through coercion,
rather, it is the power exerted through surveillance and disciplinary actions. The
women have, over the time, inherited or internalised the norms which are associated
to their sex. Their bodies are engaged in spatial practices that are carried out in
accordance to male regulated norms and customs. For example, women avoid going
out of the home after it gets dark because ideologically it is considered ‘unsafe’ for
them to venture out in a ‘public space’ at that hour. Gramsci calls it hegemony, which
is exercised over institutions, ideas and society as a whole. The ruling/dominant class
(the men) seek to maintain hegemony over the subordinate class (the women) by all
space becomes a power-filled entity. But wherever power exists, there exists an equal
resistance to that power and this resistance to every single oppression occurs in a
given time and space. The woman’s body as space, acts out resistance through certain
‘bodily practices’ and creates a space of her own which we shall see in the ragnis
under consideration.
spatialising the gender, or say, the genderisation of space under patriarchy in order to
run cultural normativity. For the purpose analysis in this chapter would focus on the
chosen four mythical and legendary women: Heer, Meneka, Loona and Savitri. The
four female characters are the protagonists of the ragnis selected for the present study.
The idea is to explore how these women are gendered in ragni as a mythical space
and the way they negotiate these spaces through their body. The present chapter does
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not solely focus on the geographical aspect of space rather it extends its scope to other
dimension of space i.e. social space which contains the lived body of women. The
society with which women negotiate everyday. The above argument is contested
through the assumption that the gendered spaces do not pre-exist but socially
between the sexes. For conceptualising the above assumption, the study would
and Michael Foucault along with the arguments given by later commentators like,
spaces operating in the given folk narratives that are a part of an individual’s life.
Since ages women have been striving hard to seek space for themselves in a
male dominated society. They are muted through cultural norms and ideals that are
incorporated into myths and legends which are considered the keepers of patriarchal
values. The mythical stories being told from generations establish and legitimise the
inferior status of women except that of mothers and goddesses. The folk tales are
daughter, and so on and so forth. Any attempt on their part to liberate themselves
from these stereotypes leads to their downfall from a virtuous woman to that of an
evil witch. The folktales in fact justify the inferiority of women to that of men by
projecting them as vulnerable and therefore to be protected at any cost. They are seen
as ‘space invaders’ and are made to realise their ‘ever present conventional
subordination’. In the tradition of sangs, ragnis and other folklores, women are seen
through the eyes of men which objectifies them and this objectification makes them
feel their ‘place/space’ in society. This gendering of space and place effects the ways
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in which we understand and construct the gender biases in the societies in which we
live. Those who comply with the given male dominance are idolised where as those
who do not are shunned. They are regarded as keepers of the culture. The women
keep on negotiating to claim a space for themselves where they can claim their
freedom. But even this space is supervised and controlled by men and regulated from
time to time in order to make sure the smooth running of male normativity.
When we talk about spatialisation of gender, the first and foremost is the
physical space where women negotiate each day through rules of physical movement
and female morality. Her body becomes a tool through which she is sexualised in her
movement in that physical space. A woman’s body is seen in ways similar to how we
see space- empty, reified, lacking solidity and in oppositional stance to male. Thus we
geographical site where a woman carries out spatial practices is not solely a dead or
fixed entity but in fact, a site, a place where cultural ideas and practices are carried
out. The physical space of women is socially constructed through various parameters
like, social behaviour, daily chores, caste, hierarchy within a family etc. Her space is
emerge as the principles orienting their daily practices, the axes along which
the world is ordered into one’s own or other, female and male, familiar and
strange, proper and improper, and so on. Yet these lines are neither rigidly nor
43
essentially defined, since the parameters of what is inside (olage) and what is
The spatial boundaries between women and men are divided into these very
home, private space, a female territory and outside to field, public space, a male
territory. Observing closely, one finds a woman’s movement inside the household
being regulated by certain rules laid down regarding the use of space. She is
commonly seen occupied with the task of fulfilling the needs of her family. Her main
preoccupation is to provide her family with food and other taking care of day to day
needs. In course of fulfilling these needs, she has to make use of the space inside the
household like kitchen, courtyard, and inner chambers etc. which are primarily female
domains. But her responsibilities sometimes require her to access the outer spaces as
well. For example, she needs to go to fields to collect wood for fire, fodder for the
cattle, to fetch water from the wells, and also help her male counterpart on the fields
etc.
But the spaces thus accessed by her, whether inside or outside, are
conventionally rubricated by men. The concept of ‘threshold’ comes into play here
which is not measured in terms of geographical boundaries but it has deeper symbolic
implications.
It denotes a strong sense of that which is ‘inside’ and that which is ‘out there’.
Men have, traditionally; passed over the threshold unchallenged and partaken
of both worlds . . . women have been expected to inhabit only the one world
contained by the boundaries of home. For women, a step over the bar is an act
of transgression. Having committed that act, they may never re-enter their
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designated first world . . . making the other world their permanent space. The
law therefore allows multiple existences for men, a single for women
For example, the kitchen though being a female territory, the choice of food to be
prepared lies with the male; the use of courtyard by women is only for the time when
the male members go out to work while during their presence the women recede to
inner chambers. The use of outer space too is restricted and governed by men, for
example, women can only be seen on fields during the presence of a male accomplice.
The wells too are located at the centre of the village where women are clearly visible
to men and thus avoiding any kind of ‘misdemeanour’ from them. They can not
venture out too deep into the woods to collect fuel and that too at odd hours. And
most of all, they must go to ‘relieve’ themselves outside before sunrise and after
But threshold is not only seen in the terms of geographical location, but it is
also a psychologically contested site where women find themselves trapped in the
dichotomies of ‘an alluring and safe inside’ on the one hand, and on the other hand,
‘an outside with the possibilities of freedom and individual identity’. The ragnis into
question bring out this dichotomy of inside and outside where women are either seen
as giving in to the allurements of a safe inside or else, they are seen resisting the
inside and taking a leap in the outside world. For example, in “Hoor Meneka”, the
protagonist Meneka is seen regretting her position outside to which she sees as a site
of dishonour, wrath, risk and death. The allurements of a ‘secure and safe’ inside
space/place are clearly seen through her discourse which shows her accepting of
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Indralok mein mze kru thi, kit mrityulok mein agyi
..........................................
Bina soche samjhe tyar hui mein, bhool mein dhokha kha gyi
..................................................
Loss of honour will cost me my social status and respect. (PLC 234).
Meneka takes for granted her inferior position as a reified entity and conforms
to her position/place inside the threshold. She submits to the ever present male
supremacy of Indra inside the home (Indralok) where she accepts his sexual authority
over her to which she considers far better than being under the control of Vishwamitra
who, as per her, can throw her out whenever he wants, in which case, she can least
expect to come back to regain her ‘social standing’ (if any) in the court of Indra—a
...................................
Kade iss ban mein chhor digarjya, jib tera peta sara bharjya
And leave me in this dark forest once you are done with me (238).
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Heer on the other hand is well aware of her reified position ‘inside’ and is
ready to challenge it and cross over the threshold. She is determined to face the male
favouring environment outside and knows the threats posited out there. For example,
in “Heer Ranjha”, the movement of Heer outside the home late in the evening
……………………………………………………..
Heer is being questioned by her sister-in-law for crossing the threshold at ‘odd hours’
and going outside. In other words, she is being questioned because of her ‘audacity’ to
cross the boundaries laid down for her and entering into male zone—outside the
home. She is put to trial because of breaking the norms set for her by men and
regulated with the help of other senior female members of her family. But Heer
contends and challenges the ‘inside’ and is fully aware of the consequences out there
in the male zone. She is adamant to cross the threshold and face the challenges that
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the male world outside has to offer her. She is fully aware of the unidirectional
And women like Heer are also aware of the hegemonised female bodies like her
sister-in-law who is in position of authority to make sure the smooth running of the
household which her husband expects her to do. But the psychological threshold
which Heer has already crossed in her decision to quit home separates her from these
kinds of women. Her sister-in-law, who passively assumes her subordinate role under
patriarchy, warns Heer against the consequences of ruining her brother’s caste and
repute.
How can you ruin your brother’s (Patmal) reputation by indulging in an affair?
You are not on your own to involve yourself in such mean acts (MR 331-32).
So the inside is not always a female domain rather it is as very much a male domain
as the outside is, the only difference is that it gives a momentary relief to women till
men are away. And even during that time, the domestic space is being controlled by
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women at the top of hierarchy in that household and women at the lowest levels keep
The separating of the inside from outside is thus a way of clearly marking of
the territories of women and men where men can enter and interfere with the ‘inside’
but women can only do so with due permission. The outside is an ‘unknown’ territory
for women and risking oneself for the unknown is not an acceptable behaviour for
them. Any women using the outside space all by her then otherwise permitted is
supposed to put a blot on the whole caste and community to which she belongs.
Meneka’s ‘helplessly’ venturing out in the woods all by her is taken as an excuse by
Vishwamitra and he decides to immediately take charge of her. As Malashri Lal puts
it, “According to patriarchal tradition she is ‘protected’ from the outer energy of
action . . . the woman is said to be incapable to guarding her body, exercising her
intellect. . .” (13). Vishwamitra questions her about her benefactor and the negation of
which makes him ‘take’ her as his property. In one of the excerpt he asks her:
………………………………………………………
From which place have you come and where are you going ahead?
The space outside is thus a male domain which Meneka is unable to negotiate and she
has no other alternative but to submit to his dominance. As soon as she accepts it as
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her fate, the saint, a male in charge here, domesticates her and again starts to draw
boundaries of inside-outside for her. He defines the kuti (hut) as her space whereas
outside the hut (where she was till now roaming freely) becomes no more accessible
for her. He even assigns her duties like cooking and other household chores which
………………………………………………
……………………………………………
……………………………………………
Thus projecting of inner spaces as safe and outer spaces as unsafe is another way of
controlling and regulating the sexuality of women. It is another way to put patriarchal
control over women and their behaviour. But ironically, when a woman makes an
attempt to access the male territory, the outside, with the permission of male, it is
never regarded as immoral on her part. For example, in “Satyavan Savitri”, Savitri’s
father king Asvapati after failing to find a suitable husband for his daughter, asks her
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to find one for herself. She is granted permission to go out and look for a suitable
………………………………………………….
Savitri being a stereotype of ideal woman is given the liberty to choose a husband for
herself. She steps out of her threshold and enters into male realm to seek a partner of
her choice. For a moment it seems she becomes successful in claiming her sexuality
and deciding for herself but the folk bard does not give complete freedom to Savitri
as well. On a closer reading we see that she was sent ‘outside’ but not all alone. It is
the old and faithful minister, Vali, who is assigned the task to accompany her in her
search for a husband. The minister is like a father-figure to her, ‘wise’ and ‘old’
enough to be in charge of her during her expedition. It seems that neither the poet nor
the patriarchal society of Haryana could let a woman go out and choose a husband for
herself all alone. So, it is clearly evident that no matter whether it is Meneka, Heer, or
Savitri, the women in a rigidly patriarchal society of Haryana are not freed of the
male regulated and male dominated spaces that they are confined with. They keep on
negotiating with these socio-spatial boundaries but nothing much has changed and all
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these spatial boundaries set for them are being reinforced through the discourse of
ragnis.
Body as Space
(Spatialization of Bodies):
Contemporary India, Meenkashi Thapan contends that, “We are embodied socially
through our location in a socio-cultural and political space. In this sense, we are
located in time and space, race, ethnicity and gender, and history and culture which
everyday lives as lived and communicative bodies. . . . we use our bodily senses to
The physical space or say, geographical space does not completely constitute
the concept of space, but rather is achieved through socio-cultural practices where a
woman’s lived body contests for its place in a male dominated society everyday. Her
body becomes a site of contestation where culturally constructed beliefs and practices
mannerisms are specified by a cultural group and are carried out by her day to day
(Prakriti), which is in itself a space. The way nature is cultivated by man to exploit its
(Shetra) which is cultivated, tamed, and domesticated to suit the physical and sexual
needs of man. The female bodies in action in the given ragnis are not only reified
spaces where men execute their violence and control but they are also sites of
question are not only mythical bodies being relived in time but they represent the
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embodiments of women being controlled and regulated in certain spatio-temporal
settings. Where Heer and Loona represent ‘resisting’ and ‘deviant’ bodies; Savitri and
under the excuse of ‘norms’ and ‘cultural values’ makes sure to discipline and control
The idea is well expressed and reinforced in the folk tradition of Haryana. In
“Pooranmal”, the poet codifies the sexuality of Loona with ripe fruits to be partaken
by Pooranmal. In one of the excerpts, Loona invites Pooranmal for the sexual alliance
by saying that:
Suan ban ke khale yo bag samay pe phal aya hai, pake hue seb, santre, akhrot
Partake my youth,
The poet’s compares the sexuality of Loona with ripe fruits like Apple (symbolic of
forbidden fruit), Orange (juicy fruit), and Walnut (a kind of dry fruit scarcely
available) hints towards the commodification of a woman’s body. On the other side,
Pooranmal’s comparison to suan (“a big needle”) again hints towards his sexuality
either seen as dangerous or docile. In many rituals and customs it is often seen that a
from participating in any kind of religious activities during that physical condition. In
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and deviant body when she leaves her just born child and disappears into the deep
She took pains till nine months before delivering the child
The poet is here reinforcing the dominant ideology where a pregnant woman must not
venture out of the house. He has already voiced this opinion in the same ragni where
Vishwamitra asks Meneka to not to go out during her pregnancy. He says, “Ashaband
lugai ka kite jana theek nhi/ ‘An expecting mother should not go anywhere except
home’” (240). The condition remains similar for any woman who has just delivered a
required for her to remain ‘indoors’. An ‘obedient’ and ‘docile’ woman would comply
to these norms, but here, Meneka who is projected as promiscuous and sexually
dangerous, the poet, instead of taking the original myth (where Meneka goes back to
heaven), leaves her ‘leaking-impure body’ to roam about in the forest. She becomes a
‘fallen body’, one who has attained ‘motherhood out of wedlock’, hence, displaced
from heaven to earth with no chance of going back. Janet Chawla rightfully argues in
this regard where she says, “Brahmanic pollution ideology devalues and de-sacralises
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body becomes a space where man can control, play with, and later discard her as a
plaything.
Similarly, the body of Loona in “Pooranmal”, too becomes a battle ground for
men like Pooranmal and his father who fight for their rights over a woman’s
sexuality. Though Pooranmal is not the one claiming any right over Loona but his
father’s insecurity for her ruins the life of not only his son but also Loona. Loona tries
to assert her sexual desire and fulfil them by expecting an alliance with her step-son
Pooranmal. Though she is unable to materialise her desire but Pooranmal is sentenced
to death by his father on the basis of false accusations laid by her. (Though he is later
saved of death row but made handicapped by cutting his limbs and thrown into a
well.) Loona is also, like Meneka, viewed as deviant sexuality because she becomes
the reason behind a man’s (Pooranmal) death. But if we look at the re-telling of the
present myth as narrated by Shiv Kumar Batalavi in his book titled, Loona, it becomes
clear that the Haryanvi folk bards did not do justice to her as a woman who later
repents for her deed. The Loona in Haryanvi folklore disappears as soon as
Pooranmal’s limbs are chopped off and he is thrown into the well. The ragni abruptly
ends at this turn of the story. In fact the very title of this Haryanvi folklore is named
after the male protagonist that signals to the patriarchal ideology that it is the male
body which emerges out as all victorious and truthful from the clutches of a
destructive force like Loona. But the reality is that it is Loona who is not given space
in the folk narrative to justify or even repent for her actions. Loona’s body is given
agency to exercise her will but she is not given chance to defend herself. Her body is
also a ‘silent body’ just like Meneka. Both, Meneka and Loona are silenced at the end
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impending death. Both are of an inferior position because they bring destruction and
Unlike Meneka and Loona, who are viewed as ‘destructive bodies’, Savitri on
the other hand is viewed as ‘reproductive body’. Savitri is at the pinnacle of an ideal
woman. She is projected as the role model to all other women. The poets reinforce
this belief through their ragnis. The body of Savitri is projected as to have access to
places beyond geographical space i.e. her physical movement between heaven and
earth. Where Meneka and Loona are seen as female bodies bent on destroying
Vishwamitra and Pooranmal, respectively. Savitri is projected as one who has the
‘abilities to resurrect’ her husband back to life. She is the woman who, unlike
Meneka, can shuffle between heaven and earth to save her husband’s life. She
therefore enjoys a superior position than the other two. She is the one who conquers
524).
embodiment of truth and virtue. Savitri becomes the mouthpiece of poet here when
she invokes her (Saraswati) to gain strength and courage to conquer death. It is also a
way of glorifying the prevalent image of a chaste woman who is only capable of
achieving strength above a powerful male, rest other are futile and lowly.
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Her body gets maximum space in the re-telling of the popular myth because
she is the ‘pure body’. Her sexuality is not dangerous like Meneka and Loona rather it
is ‘in service’ to a man and that too her husband as sanctioned by society. Savitri
overpowers, or say, is able to convince Yamraj to give back Satyavan’s life because
of her being a ‘pativrata’. She is an archetype of normativity i.e. an ideal wife and an
obedient daughter. Meneka and Loona are ‘muted’ at the closing of the sangs but
Savitri is clearly seen voicing out her opinion and reasonably arguing with Yamraj to
convince him. Finally, she asks for a last and normatively logical boon which even
Yamraj couldn’t refuse to grant. She asks for motherhood i.e. one hundred sons from
Satyavan which was not possible without his resurrection. She does not claim for
anything that relates to her individuality rather she seeks a boon which makes her
body available for her husband’s progeny which is viewed as a greater good. She is
accepted and reinforced as an ideal woman who upholds motherhood than any kind of
bodily desires. Her heroism is seen as emanating from her desire to attain
mother arises from the fact that she has subsumed her role as ‘a womb carrying her
man’s progeny’. Meneka too attains motherhood but of the fact that she has no choice.
She is not given the agency to challenge her right over child bearing. Besides her
motherhood is not normative and culturally acceptable as she is unable to give the
parentage to her child. Loona’s body on the other hand is seen as a “vacant/free
……………………………………………….
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I am of eighteen years and you are my best match
Baje ram pati ka manne var de, jholi meri suhag ki bhar de
O Pooran! Fulfil my wish, this time will not come again (BB 241).
But Loona is expecting that womb to be filled not out of wedlock but from an ‘other
man’. Thus her vacant womb becomes the “deviant womb” because of her desire to
exert her right over her sexuality which is regarded as “inappropriate femininity”
(Ahall 112).
Thus, a female body that by choice does not assume maternity challenges
traditional ideas about the capacities of, and expectations for, female bodies; it
homogenized and because of the ‘natural’ link between femininity and sexual
It is because of these paradoxes of motherhood that Meneka and Loona are labelled as
Other than marking the heroine’s body as battleground for pure and impure, it
is also viewed as site of male gaze, eroticism and love. The way the folk bards
female. The way the poet(s) describes the beauty, charms and gestures of Meneka,
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Meneka:
……………………………………………….
Loona:
Janu nache mor saman ke jhad mein kisne karna nach sikhave sai
…………………………………………………………………….
Chale lambe-lambe saans tere dhad mein, kyu tirchchi nazar lakhawe sai
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Your heavy breathing shows in your bosom, why you look at me coquettishly
(455).
Heer:
…………………………………………………………..
With a saucer full of milk in her hand, Heer left to meet Ranjha
Her skirt was from Gujrat and hair with a southern parting
She carried a love-chain that could imprison any lover (DP 371).
In the above descriptions of Meneka, Loona and Heer, one can see the use of sexual
innuendos by the poet(s) to bring forth the sensual beauty of each woman.
Comparison of the heroine’s beauty with a dancing peacock, swan, and parrot and her
way of looking at the hero coquettishly, are all metaphors used in nakh-shikh
tradition. But the poet also peppers his narrative by certain cultural metaphors and
similes that make her more than the traditional/mythical heroine. He calls her “keshar
kyari” (Plot of saffron) and “Kela” (banana) which are symbolic of items meant for
consumption, thereby, commodifying her in the process. And, the way poet hints
towards the heroine’s immorality and lack of virtue is seen because of the choice of
phrases he use, for example, “tirchchi nazar” , “naina ke ishare” and “dakkhani
cheer” which are not regarded as ‘proper behavioural attributes’ for a good woman.
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On the other hand, if we look at the way Savitri is introduced and described by
the poet, we find an alarmingly different detailing. Let us look at the following
……………………………………………………..
Lakhmi Chand dhang jawani kaisa, dusra nhi tha iss shaani kaisa
She sat down with eyes cast down and uttered not even a single word
Says Lakhmi Chand, no other young woman is more graceful than her (PLC
500).
Savitri, an archetype of ideal woman, is described with metaphors like “sunder roop
Bhvani kaisa” where the poet compares her to goddess Bhvani which is another name
for goddess Parvati. Bhvani is also regarded as the internal power of Lord Shiva who
gives moksha to those who worship her. Savitri is thus believed to be an incarnation
of the same. The poet deifies Savitri’s stature by giving a hint towards her unearthly
birth. She is described to be born as a young woman from the blessings of Goddess
Savitri, after which she was named. Savitri’s nakh-shikh shows her to be a woman of
virtue and shame. It can be understood with the way she sat beside her father with
‘her eyes cast down’ which is otherwise not the case with either of the three- Meneka,
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Loona and Heer. Their demeanour is lacking in that virtue and shame that the
Loona, Heer or Savitri, the attributes of good and bad attached to a woman are after
all the doings of society, largely of men. It is the male voyeurism that sneaks its way
rustic and culturally given metaphors to it. By doing so, a male gives vent to his
hidden sexual desires for women at large. Whether a woman is assumed ‘good’ (like
Savitri) or ‘bad’ (like Meneka, Loona and Heer), they can not escape the ‘male gaze’
which secularises them into common woman emasculating under patriarchy. Their
body becomes the site of ‘seductive’ and ‘ever penetrating’ male gaze.
Resisting Bodies
Ragni might be a text narrating stories about mythical and legendary women but it is
not more than a way of legitimising, appropriating and reinforcing the normative
boundaries and binaries of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ for common women folk. These mythical
women, the very subject of folk songs and stories for centuries, never get liberated
from their mythical space. They continue to be ‘fixed’ and ‘freeze’ in that time. For
example, in Mahaswetadevi’s Draupadi, the writer has tried to subvert the myth of
Kauravas. But Mahasweta Devi’s Dopdi refuses to be robed by her oppressors. She
devalues the patriarchal notions of ‘shame’ and ‘honour’ attached with women and
fight against the system. As Monika Dhillon puts it, “Dopdi is truly the face of
postcolonial feminist assertion as she uses her wholeness of mind and body to fight
against exploitation” (74). But there is not even a single ragni where we find the
poets subverting the myth of either Meneka as a victim of male sexual desire, and
Loona and Heer as women exercising their free will. The folk bards instead, through
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their discourse embedded in ragnis, reinforce, legitimise, appropriate, and disseminate
gets converted into secular space by setting up archetype of Savitri as ideal woman
In short, the folk bards delimit the women and lay down rules for them by
positioning the given mythical women in a certain socio-spatial context. The shift in
normativity. Their adjustments to customs or lack of it directly make them either ideal
or deviant bodies. These women become the carriers of cultural values and ideals
which then become the prototypes to be followed by the rest. Their life is
marked but is also psychologically imbibed into their psyche which they follow with
self-restrain.
But it is also true that women constantly show resistance through these
women’s lives, one with which they constantly articulate and exhibit their struggle but
one which does not always enable complete success. Resistance, nonetheless, remains
central to their lives whether or not it achieves social transformation” (Thapan 15).
Perplexed by Loona’s audacious behaviour to reject her older husband’s right over
her, and demanding love and sexual satisfaction by her step-son, Pooranmal dubs her
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But you are a shameless woman
Loona has through her unashamed conduct has threatened the very concept of marital
and bodily shame which is ‘a must’ for every woman. In fact her very act of doing
purdah (veil) from Pooranmal itself becomes symbolic of her desire to see herself as
his wife:
.......................................
The veil shows the sexual desire of the female body which it contains. Her clothing
and her coquettish female gaze makes explicit her sexual desires which even Loona
does not try to hide. Her sexual desires are counter-attacked by Pooranmal’s moral
ethics stating:
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But Loona revels in her bodily desires and celebrates her sexuality unhesitatingly. She
compares her body and its desires with sexual innuendos like ‘rose’ and ‘bottle of
wine’ which hints towards her resistance against conventional images attached to
.............................................
In offering her youth and sexuality to Pooranmal, Loona somewhere rejects the
normative compulsions of marital life and also exposes the hypocrisy of society in
Loona’s audacious and unapologetic discourse and her choice of explicit sexual
innuendos regarding her body and its desires itself hint towards her resisting against
patriarchy. She comfortably brings out her sexual desires out in the public and
celebrates them. Her continuously pushing Pooranmal for a sexual union brings out
her unfulfilled sexuality and her frankness in demanding for it. Though she is unable
to convince Pooranmal to make a sexual union with her, but in trying to do so, she
has, for a while, dismantled the patriarchy and its control over women’s sexual
desires. Unlike Meneka, who stakes her sexuality as bait against Indra’s throne, and
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Savitri, who finds a match in accordance with her father’s wishes and social standing,
Meneka’s body on the other hand is already branded as ‘morally loose’ by all
the four folk bards because of her being an apsara. She is ‘bad’ because she uses her
sexuality against other men to bring favours to Indra. But that very same society,
insensitive to her plight, forgets that whatever she does, it is done at the command and
wish of Indra and not her own. All the men, whether Narad Muni, Indra, Vishwamitra
or the folk bards and the audience target her physically as well as psychologically.
They displace her first, from her physical space—heaven to earth and second, from
gives up to her misfortune at last and instead of choosing over her desire, she
Endnotes
1
The concepts of vacant/free womb and deviant womb are well argued and explained by Linda Ahall
in her paper “Motherhood, Myth and Gendered Agency in political violence”.
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Works Cited
Chand, Pandit Lakhmi. Pandit Lakhmi Chand Granthavali. Ed. Pooran Chand
Chawla, Janet. “Mythic Origins of Menstrual Taboo in Rig Veda”. Economic and
Web. <www.ajms.co.in>.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/23340331>.
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Wegner, Philip E., “Spatial Criticism”. Introducing Criticism at the 21st Century. Ed.
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