Defeated Devadasi

The memorable event of today was time that we spent in a village that is filled with Devadassi women, both former and current. After meeting the community (there are SO MANY children!) we split into small groups (one group with each staff member) and visited the women in their homes. My group was all female (except for one member of the media group) and this was a gift because I believe that the sprit of womanhood that was present encouraged our hostess to open up a little more than normal in our conversation.

However, this doesn’t mean that the conversation was rewarding or encouraging. The woman (I’ve forgotten her name) was just one year my senior, yet the look in her eyes spoke volumes of life I have not known…and many parts of that life I will never know. She was dedicated as a devadasi as a young girl; her elder sister also is dedicated, and they are fighting the system so that her younger sister will never be. She has three children; one is eight. Which means she gave birth to her first child at the age of sixteen; her youngest was diaperless and being played with by her grandmother outside of their hut.

We asked about her life, about “the system”, if she thought it was good or bad. The system is evil, she said, and it is a good thing that it has been abolished. What is the difference between her generation of devadasis and her mother’s generation, we asked. The difference, she said, is that her mother’s generation didn’t realize that “the system” was wrong, they didn’t realize their rights. Why did that change with her generation? Because they had exposure to the outside through self-help groups, through rallies and programs. (While some would champion this as a victory, I still question: clearly these self-help groups, these rallies and programs are in place because someone outside has judged the system as wrong; it is an opinion that these women have been subjected to..is it a western culture being thrust upon the eastern? Or is it true?) We asked what she gets from these self-help groups etc., and she told us that she gets money (Does money bring empowerment?). We ask what the government has done for her, and she says not that much. What would she like the government to do for her? Giver her another house for her mother and sister, giver her money so that she can buy more sheep. What are her dreams for her children? That they can go to school and get outside the village. What are her dreams for the future? That her sister will go to school, get married, and leave the village.

This is her life. She is resigned to it, she has been defeated by it. She has no personal ambitions or dreams; for her, it seems, her life is over. Her life is over at the age of 25, and all she can do is work and hope that her children will have a better life than she has had.