Teaching History Needs to be Made Interesting

Teaching History Needs to be Made Interesting

Yogesh Snehi

The Tribune, Tuesday, July 27, 2004,

Chandigarh, India

HISTORY is often regarded as a boring subject. It has, indeed, become difficult to grapple with this subject amidst the perennial controversies engulfing it. There are many other factors which have been responsible for distancing the interest of students from history. The neglect of the subject continues to be an area of concern.

Certain perennial notions of unfriendliness have infested the learning of history. Learning history is regarded as ‘digging graves’, ‘chasing ghosts’, ‘things of past’ and has a ‘distancing effect’ on its understanding. This disgusting effect is corroborated by the notion that whatever happened in the past is ‘irrelevant to the present’. Is history banal? Why has history become a thing of the past? How has it become so detached from our everyday lives?

The problem, indeed, lies somewhere in the methods of teaching. Often the practice of class teaching involves the reading of some chapter of the textbook by a student ‘with the assumption that ‘the learning of history is obvious’ and does not require explanation and discussion. Teaching history, however, needs greater objective insight and an empirical dialogue with our day-to-day lives.

The idea that ‘history is our story’ can help in scaling the distance of our past with our present. An object as simple as a pen or a pencil, which is so closely integrated with our everyday lives has a history. Take another example of the schools as they exist today. They have a long unchequered history from ancient gurukuls and madrasas meant for religious teaching to pathsalas and schools which originated in the colonial period. Then, the concept of uniform, the origin of shoes, etc everything has a past so closely related to the present. Can we think of town planning without municipality which caters to our everyday needs of water and sanitation?

Often classroom teaching makes history insensitive. But history can be sensitive and related to the native landscape. There is a common complaint that educational trips, which are closely integrated to the teaching of history, to important historical places are expensive andunaffordable.

This argument dissolves the purpose of ‘creative history teaching’ by locating history in a far-off and remote monument, museum or places of ‘historical importance’. Contrary to this, the selection of places of historical interest can be close to our everyday lives. While teaching a lesson on the architecture of a temple or a mosque, the local shrines can be an important representation of history. Similarly, it won’t be tough to locate Arya Samaj temples, DAV schools, etc to teach about the role of Swami Dayanand in socio-religious reform. Often, the problem symbolic is with teaching skills rather than with monuments and places. Thus, an enquiry into the agrarian, cultural or village history can easily be dealt with a trip to a nearby village.

Sometimes it is much more interesting to read history from Nehru’s ‘Glimpses of World History’ rather than recommended textbooks. Nehru offers some intriguing insights into pedagogy which can be invaluable in bridging the communicative barrier between the student and the teacher. Also, biographies and autobiographies sketch a personal narrative of a historical phase, making it more engaging. Besides this, inculcating the habit of reading historical novels can rejuvenate the idea of teaching history.

It is also important to discuss the choice of textbooks on history. Almost all textbooks are either syllabi-oriented or are supposed to be handy for teachers. There are a few textbooks which are written keeping in mind the interest of students. Unfortunately, NCERT textbooks, which are prescribed throughout the country, also fall in the category of the former. Among the books written with student orientation are the books published by Eklavya, a non-project organisation based in Bhopal. These books are representative of an illustrative and narrative form of creative books of history. Similarly, the books published by SCERT, Delhi, have attempted to inculcate a critical understanding, of history among students.

Technology offers an important tool in the teaching of history. Audio-visual aids based on history, like films, documentaries, etc provide significant gains in informational learning, retention and recall, thinking and seasoning activity, interest, imagination, better assimilation and personal growth and development.

These aids are the stimuli for learning ‘why’, ‘how’, ‘when’ and ‘where’ of history. While on the one hand teaching becomes interesting through audio-visual aids, on the other it creates a virtual reality of historical landscape and brings it closer to classroom understanding. History is, thus, a landscape of our past and its teaching would aim at scaling its complexities and making it relevant for our everyday lives.

Amidst the political controversies over interpretation and representation of history, the task of the teacher has become much more challenging.Teaching of history should help student critically examine these debates and identify its rightful interpretation. This will not be possible unless students develop a creative understanding of the subject and here the role of teacher assumes immense significance.

Mr Sudarshan, Family Planning and Muslim Population

Mr Sudarshan, Family Planning and Muslim Population:

Some Historical and Contemporary Insights

Yogesh Snehi

Abstract

Mr. Sudarshan’s statement on Muslim population has not created much flutter this time, possibly due to Uma Bharti’s episode. Though the issue may look trivial from the point of view of motive behind the statement, it carries larger political implications. Generally these statements lack reason and lead to confusion. A historical insight presents a wider understanding of this issue. The conflict of RSS with the Muslims (and Christians) is a continuation of the discord of brahmanic elites with the ordinary and dissident menial castes, which has historically translated itself into a conflict with Muslims. The development of dalit solidarity among Hindus, Muslims and Christians will facilitate a broader perceptive of the caste question and also help in restricting the communal overtones

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Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh's (RSS) chief has recently expressed his displeasure at the supposedly increasing population of Muslims in India. Mr. Sudarshan has accordingly suggested that Hindus should abandon the family planning, the two child norm. He argues that the Muslim population in India has been rising at a ‘dangerous rate’ and this poses a 'serious threat' for the Hindus. I will argue that although general population growth continues to be serious, the primary reason for the problem is socio-economic depravity of Indian population among whom there is a substantial number of Muslims.

RSS has been irritably syndromic about Muslim population. This issue has not only misled Indians, but has also been responsible for numerous riots in India. At times the issue gets associated with ‘Muslims enticing away Hindu girls, marrying them and stealing away “productive engines” of the Hindus’. It has especially been used in Gujarat in 2002 where we have seen one of the heinous trails of criminality. Muslim populations have also been accused of ignoring family planning, posing a serious threat to the Hindu orthodoxy.

Let us delve on the issue of population first. RSS believes that the growth of Muslim population in India has primarily been the result of the entry of Muslims from outside India and subsequently forced conversion of the Hindus by the Muslim rulers. Fortunately perhaps, conversion for RSS is a non-issue today as far as the Muslim population is concerned, though this has been a major issue in their understanding of medieval and modern Indian history. Conversely, Mr. Sudarshan is all the more vociferous about the growth rate of Muslim population.

This debate goes back to the emergence of Muslims in pre-medieval and medieval India and conversions during that period. It is important to understand the historical account of the emergence of Muslims during this period. Population of Indian Muslims emerged as an outcome of the necessities of trade when a large number of Arab traders flocked the markets in India. This happened much before the establishment of Muslim rule in India, contrary to the belief that the establishment of Muslim rule in India meant the emergence of Muslim population. The native rulers of the subcontinent developed colonies for these traders and often built mosques for them. But this number continued to be insignificant even after the establishment of Muslim rule in India.

The real growth of Muslim population in India started with the entry of Sufis in India. There is ample evidence pointing towards large scale conversion of Indian population, influenced by the simplicity of the Sufis, primarily Chistis. This factor has been significant in the growth of the population of Indian Muslims. Sufi shrines continue to draw people from all faiths. We have parallels of these processes in all parts of India even today. Contemporary history has witnessed the conversion of almost entire population of certain villages in West Bengal to Ramakrishna Mission and to Radhasoamis in Punjab and Haryana. Now the question arises that why is there so much hue and cry over demographic changes then. We will deal with this question in the following discussion.

Firstly, the people in question here are those who converted to Islam in Medieval India. Significantly, these people were primarily Dalits and untouchables. They belonged to the lower segment of the society. But this conversion did not mean a change in their profession. Nor did this mean a change in the antagonism of the elites, including Muslim elites (the people of the royal blood), for this class. In fact, the antagonism increased manifold since these people were no longer bound by the restrictions of caste associated with their menial professions earlier; though they could never abandon it. Thus Shudras and untouchables who were (for example) employed in the professions of weaving and tanning continued to do so for centuries to come. There were some, though insignificant, who moved to urban centres and took up new professions like craftsmanship and worked in royal karkhanas.

This gives a new dimension towards the understanding of this debate. The conflict we see today is perhaps a continuation of these caste conflicts that emerged out of the conversion of menial castes to Islam; which were no longer bound by their caste tags and hence uncontrollable. But this did not solve the problems of their economic deprivations. It is not a surprise that the Muslims in India continue to be among the poorest. The emergence of movement for cow-protection in colonial India gave another turn to these developments. The profession of tanning became a subject of serious conflict. This conflict was not merely limited to the protection of stray and abandoned cows but also included dead cows under its ambit. Thus the tanning castes, among whom there was a significant presence of Muslims, became targets of ‘cow protectors’. Hereafter the issue became communally sensitive. High caste Hindus emerged as the protector of cows and the untouchable Hindu and Muslim tanners became villains. We have seen the eruption of such tensions even in contemporary India. Dulina in Haryana has been the latest successor of these events. Interestingly, the dalits who were lynched for skinning dead cows here were supposedly killed on the pretext of being Muslims. Thus Muslims become villains because they have been the carriers of historically rigid caste tensions. These depravities of caste have continued in independent India.

It is important to understand the above issue in relation to the failure of family planning among the poor segments of Indian society, especially Muslims. Larger families in poorer populations have their own political economy. This perception may not be supported by contemporary studies, but more children signify more earning hands among the sections living at barely subsistence levels. Though this psychological dimension is devoid of reason, it continues to influence the poor segments despite the fact that it may mean loss of education and health to them. Thus, the issue in question is not the religion of the poor but the poverty of these populations. In such cases it is obvious that these sections will move to greener pastures for employment and lead to the diffusion of their population. Interestingly, RSS relates the diffusion of Muslim population in India to the concerns of national security. They project this as a ‘Muslim conspiracy’ to establish Islamic India. How can a nation feel threatened by these poor people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar who work as labourers and rickshawalas throughout northern India? And if these populations, which have a significant number of Muslims in them, subsequently settle at their place of work and construct Mosques for their daily prayers, their places of worship are translated as ‘networks of terror’.

Thus, we see that it is extremely important to relook into the issue of population and family planning in India and critique the ‘communal perspective’ on the population of Indian Muslims. The statements of the RSS are highly speculative and devoid of reason. Their statements lack coherence and are conflicting and confusing at the same time. They claim that they are trying to reason out the arrival of Muslims in India and the threat they pose to Hindus. But their communalized methodology leaves us perplexed. While on the one hand RSS blames the Muslim majority provinces in India for the partition of sub-continent, on the other hand it condemns the diffusion of the population of Indian Muslims.

What I see is that the conflict of the Right with Muslims (and Christians) is nothing but a continuation of the conflict of brahmanic elites with the ordinary and dissident menial castes, which has historically translated itself into a conflict with Muslims. Thus it becomes extremely significant to develop dalit solidarity among Hindus, Muslims and Christians. It will facilitate a broader understanding of the caste question and also help in restricting the communal overtones. In fact composite cultures in India face serious threat from organizations like RSS and also similar wings within Muslim orthodoxy. It is far more important to talk of general poverty among Muslim population and the dire need to device methods to tackle it, which will indirectly help in making family planning acceptable in this inseparable segment of Indian society.

07 December 2005

History Revisited, Rewritten

History Revisited, Rewritten
Yogesh Snehi

The Tribune, Sunday, October 19, 2003
History in the New NCERT Textbooks: A Report and Index of Errors
by Irfan Habib, Suvira Jaiswal and Aditya Mukherjee.
(Indian History Congress, 2003, Kolkata. Pages vi + 130. Rs 50.)

THE Indian History Congress, Kolkata, has recently published History in the New NCERT Textbooks: A Report and Index of Errors. This report is an in-depth study of four NCERT books: Ancient India—Class XI and India and the World—Class VI (II) by Makkhan Lal, Medieval India—Class XI by Meenakshi Jain and Contemporary India—Class IX (I) by Hari Om. These texts have been meticulously examined for historical errors by India’s leading historians Irfan Habib, Suvira Jaiswal and Aditya Mukherjee.

The report shows that these textbooks are not just historically misleading but also infected by poor language, spelling and grammatical errors, infelicitous expressions and obscurities. Above all, they are part of an "ugly project of saffronising the education system" and reflect chauvinism and communal bias of the Sangh Parivar.

Historians are confronted with the challenge of balancing objectivity and truth in history on one hand and the process of nation building on the other. History writing is inclined to focus on the ‘truth’. The report tells us that NCERT texts are marred by extraordinary glorification of the ‘Hindu past’ without any objective basis. The Hindu religion is held superior and the Upanishads are proclaimed the "most profound works of philosophy in any religion". Also, all substantial scientific discoveries are attributed to the Vedic civilisation. Aryans are projected to be indigenous, which is factually incorrect since this argument is not supported by linguistic data. Interestingly, the Indus Civilisation has been clubbed with Vedic civilisation and renamed ‘Indus-Saraswati Civilisation.’

The report says the texts by Makkhan Lal ignore rigidity of the caste system, oppression of lower castes and are neutral towards sati and jauhar (or even adopt an admiring stance). Rakshasa marriages are described as legitimate. Serious attempt has been made to communalise history in these texts.

The NCERT books project that Muslims brought little new, except oppression and temple-destruction. Dark spots in history are attributed to Muslims and the rise of a composite culture is ignored. ‘Muslim separatism’ is highlighted while Hindu Mahasabha leaders are portrayed as patriots.

This report is the result of serious research on the ambiguities in the NCERT textbooks and highlights the importance of understanding the correct perspective in history. It has also necessitated rethinking on the issue of historiography. NCERT has attempted to construct a history inspired by myth. What was earlier considered part of historical criticism is now built into history itself. Ancient India—Class VI by Makkhan Lal is abound with pitiful historical and spelling errors. The serial errors reveal how, by selectively distorting the facts and changing the meanings, Lal has tried to saffronise history. He uses the term ‘Vedic culture’ for ‘Vedic civilisation’ and says that ‘Vedic people know astronomy’. At another point he says ‘Buddha was very critical of this jati system (and not the varna system) and preached simple living’. The selective replacement of ‘caste’ by ‘jati’ is an attempt to not just idealise the varna system but also legitimise the atrocities committed on shudras and outcastes for thousands of years.

The report also highlights an attempt to romanticise ancient Indian history. "The army chief Pushyamitra Sunga killed him (the last Mauryan ruler, Brihadratha) in 187 BC. This is the only incident in the history of India till 12th century AD when a king was killed and replaced." This is meant to convey that Indian kings were not brutes. But ancient history is studded with incidents of usurpation of power through bloodshed. In another reference, Lal says, "From the days of Ramayana Indians had close links with Sri Lanka". Here a mythical attribution is projected as historical evidence. Makkhan Lal’s Ancient India for Class XI eulogises that "the knowledge of history was given a very high place in ancient India. It was accorded sanctity equal to a Veda". The report, however, shows that Rajatarangini of Kalhana is the solitary example of a historical work in ancient India. To add to it, Lal places Mahabharata ‘somewhere around 6377 BC’. This amounts to assigning Mahabharata a pre-Harappan antiquity. Even B.B. Lal won’t assign such an early date to this event. Also, H.C. Raychaudhuri assigns it to the 9th century BC.

There are numerous conscious historical, geographical and linguistic fabrications. Meenakshi Jain’s Medieval India—Class IX has a basic purpose of highlighting the ‘barbarity of the Muslims’. The report explains how Jain has tried to show that Hindus have been wronged and their histories have been distorted in the hands of ‘secular fundamentalists’. She tends to reaffirm the Medieval Age as the ‘dark age’ and that Muslims brought extreme radicalism, exploitation and intolerance. She goes to the extent of suggesting "there is nothing to show that Islam mitigated social discrimination against low-caste Hindu converts. Certainly they did not regard the converts as social equals".

Although there is no agreement on the authorship of Chandi di Var and Chandi Charittar Ukat Bilas, Jain confirms through these texts that ‘Guru (Gobind Singh) was devotee of goddess Chandi’.

In Hari Om’s Contemporary India for Class IX Independence is not attributed to the seamless struggle of the freedom fighters but to US and USSR pressure on Britain, due to which it decided to withdraw. The Indian National Congress is not supposed to be the harbinger of freedom, but a mere ‘safety valve’ in the hands of the British. Every step has been taken to derecognise the role of Muslims in nation building. Instead, they are regarded as ‘wedded to Pan-Islamism’. While so much is said about communalism among Muslims, the author fails to even mention the remarks of the RSS or the Hindu Mahasabha.

The NCERT has proved right the fears of progressive historians. The report by the IHC perhaps gives just an indication of what the Sangh Parivar has in store for Indians.

It’s About Power and Humiliation

It’s About Power and Humiliation

Yogesh Snehi
The Tribune, Sunday, December 8, 2002
Chandigarh, India

ACCORDING to Section 375, a man is said to have committed rape if he has sexual intercourse with a women in circumstances falling under any of the six following descriptions:

· against her will.
· without her consent.
· with her consent when the consent has been obtained by putting her or any person in whom she is interested, in fear of death or hurt.
· with her consent if her consent is given because she believes the man to be her lawfully married husband, when the man knows he is not.
· with her consent if she is unable to recognise 'the nature and consequences' of that to which she gives consent because of intoxication or unsoundness of mind.

. with or without her consent if she is under sixteen years of age.

Rape is not just a legal offence; it is an assault on the dignity of the victims and leaves a permanent scar on their psychology. The fear of rape constitutes a special burden not shared by men. Psychologically, rape devastates many victims. Victims of sexual assault often experience fear, anxiety, and depression in addition to difficulty in sexual relationships and other psychological and physical symptoms that debilitate.

Many women feel that as a wife, they "owe" their husband sex on demand.

"No matter who the people are or what their relationship is—the fault always lies with the person who commits the act." Rape is not sex. Rape is power, aggression, domination, and, always, humiliation. It has to do with all things being unequal. It makes you feel less than human. Just like the family dog." The physical, emotional, and economic scars caused by marital rape can be, and often are, long-lasting and can alter a victim's interpersonal relationships permanently.

Amanpreet, Sourabh, Tajinder and Mool Raj, students of Department of Mass Communication participated in a discussion about reasons for rape.

While Amanpreet felt that separate education for boys and girls creates an atmosphere, which Sourabh further classified as "frustration emerging out of failure to understand women", where men become prone to sexual experimentation.

Tajinder believes that it is the kind of clothes, which women wear these days that incites men, he adds that academic incompetence of boys also leads to incidence of rape. Mool Raj believes that because male attitudes have not been able to cope with the changes in female attitudes, it has led to a rise in frustration levels among men.

Amanpreet think that rapists are men who are not mentally occupied. Tejinder suspects unemployment among men as a reason for this. He also feels that since boys have not been able to control girls these days (which Sourabh remarks as their not been able to dominate female species), it has irked some men.

Mool Raj raises a question about the institution of marriage (if it is a sexual contract). Amanpreet maintains that every woman has a right over her body and consent has to be there, When they were asked if the sexual fantasies amounts to rape, the opinion was shared. Amanpreet felt that thinking of rape is not wrong, but doing it was wrong. Tajinder too accepts this. Amanpreet was of the view that seduction can be allowed.

Mool Raj narrates the case of 65-year-old men raping a teenaged girl and says that rape of minors take place often and that too by known men or guardians.

Sourabh said that law should take its own way. Tajinder emphasises the need for more stringent laws, while Mool Raj believed that males should change their attitudes by demolishing the past dominance.

All of them agreed on the need for enforcement of a sex-education programme and switching over to co-education.

Questioning Development

Questioning Development

Yogesh Snehi
The Tribune, Sunday, March 16, 2003
Chandigarh, India

It is easy to brush off any such arguments in absence of relevant statistics relating to work participation, income generation, spending habits of women and, above all, the ownership of resources. ESO statistics on wages paid to agricultural and skilled labourers in Haryana categorises only men, as if female labourers do not exist there, says Yogesh Snehi.

FOR the last one month I have been frequenting the offices of Haryana government in search of some gender statistics, which are the part of a project undertaken by National Commission for Women (NCW). When I last visited Delhi in December for the purpose of a research grant, Sudha Malaiya, member NCW, gave me the task of collecting the statistics on women entrepreneurs in Haryana. I had to report back after one week with the relevant information. I was also told that I would get this statistics from the Department of Industries of the state.

When I reached the Big Bay building in Sector-17, Chandigarh, which houses many important Haryana government offices, I did not know that I have landed myself in trouble. I started from the clerk level thinking that they would know the details about the data collection at the ground level. I was in the Department of Industries then. The very inquiry about 'women entrepreneurs' sounded strange there. The first thing that I was asked was which state did I belong to. When I told them that I was from Punjab, they responded by saying that such a thing (women entrepreneurs) may exist in Punjab but is unknown in Haryana.

When I contacted the Economic and Statistical Organisation (ESO), I had to wrestle with myself to explain the meaning of the term 'women entrepreneurs'. I translated it into kam dhanda karne wali mahilayen and could sense the air of suspicion around there. Actually, they thought that I had come to collect statistics on 'whores in Haryana'. Such is the level of ignorance and insensitivity about gender issues in the various government departments of Haryana. The scene is all the same in others states also. I thought that probably the labour department would be able to help me. There, I was told that they do not collect data on the basis of gender.

Out of desperation, I went to the Director, Department of Industries, where I was directed to his deputy. He told me that such a survey had never been undertaken in the history of Haryana and according to his oral knowledge there are hardly any women entrepreneurs in Haryana, who actually own and run business enterprises. Even if there are some, they are among rich and influential who, in order to save tax, float women as sleeping partners. This was not abnormal for me because poor condition of women is well documented in national and international reports.

The ESO was good enough to gift me a copy statistical abstracts of Haryana 2000-01. When I looked into it, I found that except for some selected social indicators like literacy rate, school enrolment ratio and sex ratio etc., the whole lot of information was in totals. Interestingly, the hue and cry which has recently been raised about the plight of women in Haryana is closely related to the question of power. It is easy to brush off any such arguments in absence of relevant statistics relating to work participation, income generation, spending habits of women and above all the ownership of resources. Interestingly, ESO statistics on wages paid to agricultural and skilled labourers in Haryana categorises only men, as if female labourers do not exist there!

The issue has gained significance since the evolution of Human Development Index (HDI). Human Development Report, which has been published yearly by UNDP since 1990 has drawn more attention towards social indicators to substantiate the indicators of development. This is significant because any strategy towards improving the standing of women would incline on the development indicators of that region. One would wonder at the level of development planning in the absence of these statistics in Haryana. I can visualise Amartya Sen's views on the 'missing women' in development.

Fortunately, independent agencies like UNFPA have dwelled upon the mortality rates of the state and found the incidence of female foeticide in Haryana. It shows that the state has the worst trends in the world. Census 2001 is doing a commendable job in this respect and has recently come out with statistics on female labour force. It has included women workers in the informal sector in it’s comprehensive surveys. State governments have to learn important lessons from Census 2001 and other international agencies to improve statistical documentation for effective planning of 'real development'.

Patriarchal Attitudes Control Female Bodies

Patriarchal Attitudes Control Female Bodies

Yogesh Snehi
The Tribune, Sunday, September 1, 2002
Chandigarh, India

ONE thing which a woman can perhaps claim to be her own is her body. But sadly , patriarchal attitudes exercise control even overthis from an early age, manifesting themselves in the case of a girl child. To simplify my point, I will raise a question. Have you ever wondered why a male child has an unquestionable right to be naked and why is it that a girl child has no such right?

This is exactly how the 'female bodies' are controlled by the chauvinistic ideas of men. By this 'cover-up operation', a social foundation of its own sort is created. First the body of a girl is to be hidden and later to be sought after when she becomes a woman, in a kind of game of hide and seek. Here, the advertisement of Liril bathing soap strikes my mind. It shows a female bathing below a fountain that portrays a urinating male child. This speaks volumes about male attitudes.

This is an embodiment of the power play for subordination of women. Young men always tend to be highly preferential in their choice of life partner: slim and slender, with curvaceous figure, soft and tender. This reflects the psychological aspects of patriarchy. Men's dislike for strong women shows their contempt for powerful women, who deflect their 'line of control'. Men like women in a supporting role wherein they flaunt their slim and delicate bodies.

Little girls are 'sugar and spice and everything nice'. Too much knowledge defeminises them, endangers their beauty, makes them boyish. Beauty is fragile. It requires protection much like museum art. Beautiful women are priceless treasures, enhancing the power of those who control them, but powerless themselves. Little girls who play boys' games are in danger of letting their physical and intellectual strength develop, while their beauty and sexuality evaporate. Delicate clothes and gentle activities help to protect female fragility and define little girls' gentler hold on society".

There is also a moral linkage, which supersedes the bodily arguments. Women are told that they are more moral, more understanding and humane than men. This tends to suggest that women should be tolerant of any abuse by men, both sexually and mentally. These attributes seem to assert an almost complete control of men over females.

Feminists contend that standards of beauty are socially constructed. One such example comes from anthropological and sociological research that suggests the preference for a certain kind of body shape among women is not random, but is linked to economic factors. When women have access to economic independence, a thin standard is preferred. Where women are denied access to economic power, marriage is favoured and the emphasis is on more curvaceous body form. Thus, it appears that when women are less likely to be controlled by traditional institutions such as marriage, another form of social control is introduced, in this case the expectation of extreme thinness.

These bodily preferences have serious implications in India. Our patriarchal norms are very strictly underlined and adhered to. No matter how much educated a women may become, she finally has to follow patriarchal formulations. For example, a guy, Akash, had conflicting expectations of his life partner. He did not object to his wife wearing jeans when she accompanied him to a public place, but minded if she wore the same in front of his parents. While she becomes a sex and status symbol for men in a public place', tradition subordinates her in the family.

Her treatment as a beauty object is epitomised in the media portrayal of women. It may either be a car or soap, a washing machine or cosmetics, everywhere it is a woman who sells—sells for her subordination.

What it Takes to be a Man

What it Takes to be a Man

Yogesh Snehi
The Tribune, Sunday, August 11, 2002
Chandigarh, India

WHAT does it take to be a man? If someone asks me this question, my answer will be "everything." This may sound cynical to many who perceive the question of being male or female from clearly lined social parameters. These gender norms, which have been ingrained in the social attitudes, cater to the stringent patriarchal formulations. Interestingly gender as an academic field emerged only since 1970s.

I seek to question gender norms from the point of view of identity. This question has been central to me since my early days of childhood. The development of my identity here is contrary to what is generally (believed to be naturally) thought to be standard. Thanks to my parents who have never guided me in the light of social stereotypes, I had the right to cry and have an emotional outburst until the end of my teens. Never had I been tagged "girlish" by my parents. This is one of the most important dimensions to my experiments in realising my identity. Thus the notion that ‘men don’t cry’ does not fit on me.

This approach to myself has indeed helped me a lot in understanding the question of gender better. Long before I was initiated into hostel life, my mother had trained me in every such activity which was considered to be the privilege of only girls; cooking, nurturing, washing, cleaning etc. This was important during those days because when I interacted with my fellow students in the hostel, I found these traits more or less absent in them.

Naturally, this opened a pandora’s box of questions regarding ‘my identity.’ Those initial years were very painful as I found myself an odd man out. The characteristics which my peers considered necessary to constitute their identities—aggression, rude and bullying demeanour—were missing from my personality. I did not conform to the socially acceptable standards of what ‘being a man’ meant. My soft tone and feeble physique added to my woes.

This question of gender was not settled until I was initiated into the subject of gender relations in my postgraduation. I strongly feel that the outline society tends to create in order to regulate the affairs of human beings does no good to their development as human beings. I find men and women pondering over the question of their identities until they die.

It was not until the 1970s that women came forward in sports. Earlier this was only the prerogative of men. Even today ‘work’ at home and outside is divided strictly on gender lines, that is, men’s work and women’s work.

I feel that questioning of gender is important to ensure equity and equality. Education, financial security and work participation have emerged as important tools to ensure empowerment of women, which in turn ensures opportunities in the social sphere. There is hardly any sphere in which women can not contribute.

The losers are only a majority of those men who have not been able to come out of their cocoons and the traditional gender bifurcation still rules their mind.