Whats in a name? the poet may have asked. But the recent judgment by the Supreme
Court (Sobhahymvathi devi case) conveys that there is a lot more than meets the
eye, especially when the debate is around a sensitive issue like caste. We may
well be into a new century, but it is generally accepted that caste is not just
a surname, for it frames identity, defines status, denotes a social role and
implies a certain culture hence appropriately called lineage. Wisdom has
upheld the view, that the fathers caste is decisive of lineage and hence
must prevail and be binding on the children.
The judgment pertains to an individual case, but it is likely to confuse and bother
many women, including those who belong to the Bedia caste in Uttar Pradesh.
As part of an action-research on the Bedin community in Uttar Pradesh, supported
by the UNIFEM, a study was conducted among 100 participants, based on intimate
interviews and discussions with the women. These are not women who theorize on
patriarchy or have the zeal to contest elections. Their sole aim is to procure
enough flour and salt that would feed them and their children at least once a day.
This is managed by singing and dancing for the upper caste folk. Their artistic
skills and talent have for years been part of rural life, but with time they have
also moved to small towns and many have contributed to the Nautanki stage. Yet they
insist they are performers by birth and caste, not by choice.
The institution of marriage, as is known to most of us, does not exist
for them. A man, generally from the upper caste, promising security in
cash and kind would gain access to the body of the woman. As most women
tell us, promises do not imply rights and most of the time, a woman has
had to draw on her own means often with a child born of this intimacy
and who belonged to her alone. The father had his other socially accepted
marriage, family and respectability, one of the reasons why the women of
the community are extremely demoralized, shy and wary of the world outside.
When my first child was to be born, says Kiran, I was not in good health
and had to be admitted to a hospital. While filling up the records, they
asked for the name of the childs father and so I told them the Thakurs
name and they wrote it down. Later, when he came to know of this, he was
upset and angry. By divulging the most obvious information, the woman had
personally betrayed him, infringed on his privacy and hence was pushing the
man too far. The ill-fated infant left the world in eight days time.
However, many children born into the community survive. They grow and in
the process eventually understand the difference between them and most
children. The mother is the base. They can depend on her, cling to her,
fight with her, criticize or disagree with her they know that their relation
with her is a real and a tangible one.
The father is in most cases is conspicuous by his absence in their lives.
Like my friends stay with their father, so I would like to stay with mine,
says a nine-year-old girl. Even where the father does not totally sewer his
links, he remains a shadowy figure, at best one who comes with the occasional
gift or a sack of grain from his inherited fields. I dont use my fathers
name, says Vijay (name changed), Because in front of others he does not
say Im his son but like his son. Sometimes, the child finds consolation
in whatever little connection that can be made with the father. Whenever
someone says that I resemble my father, I feel happy because it proves that
I am his son, says a young boy. Even this fills the heart, for the real
void is so huge that only a pale expectant silence can express it.
The children know that they can never be integrated into the fold of
the father. They remain outsiders at best who in some cases may be
acquainted with the family from a distance. Only in few exceptional
cases, have the fathers provided for the education of their children,
born of a Bedin and left them a small house or land. This is his
generosity. But by and large, none of the children received any
material inheritance from the paternal side. The same society
that is so possessive about blood, lineage and continuity of
family, turns cold when it comes to these children born out of wedlock.
For generations, the children of such women headed households have
borne the brunt of another mans irresponsibility. It is the mother
and her world, and the complexities and the stigma that it entails,
that is the only certainty the children know. Most mothers are pragmatic
enough to understand the value and importance of a scheduled caste
certificate (or S.T., as the case may be in some states). They have
struggled singly or in informal groups to procure this certificate
for their children. It is a tedious affair and dealing with male
officials, who are by no means sympathetic to the women, makes it worse.
The official looks at us and asks fathers name. What shall I write?
remarks Kiran, the most vocal in the whole lot. Does he not know that
no such name exists for a Bedins child? But the women do not give up;
this is the only means for survival. Earlier it was difficult to get
the children into schools, because they insisted on the fathers name.
Now the mothers name alone suffices and so it has become easier, a woman remarks.
The children however have mixed feelings about using their mothers name.
If children from other castes also used their mothers name, then it would
have been different. But as things stand now, when we are the only ones
using it, others find it strange or dont think well of us, explains
Vijay. Most of these children are shy about discussing their family or
interacting intimately with friends.
It may be possible to conceal this fact in towns, but in the village where
everyones caste and family life is an open book, the children face discrimination
and teasing that can lead to grave consequence. A child who was constantly being
called son of a whore retaliated by hitting the classmates and thus earned the
wrath of the teacher. Ultimately, not able to bear such a situation, many children
drop out of school. Yet there are other children like Sonu (name changed) in the
community who says, I take pride in writing my mothers name as that is the way
it runs in our family.
Conflicting attitudes reflect the ambivalence that exists in the childrens lives.
The complexity is evident when one hears statements like, My father writes Singh
in his name. Only in the school form, do I write Bedia (mothers caste), so that I
get the scholarship. Sita, a fourteen-year-old girl says, I dont like my caste.
Despite that I had to mention it in order to get the scholarship. So, its an
identity that brings discrimination along with a promise for the future.
If this too was to be taken away from the child? If the fathers caste is
to be the identity? I have a right to my fathers name and also to use it,
says Surya Prakash with confidence. Why a name and no more? Is it too much
to expect? Surely a parent is more than just a surname.
But what would happen if there was a complete denial? The onus of the proof
falls on the woman. And she loses much of her power and dignity while hankering
for a label that a man does not willingly wish to share. Today there are laws
that can help her to lay claim to the mans property, but she is too exhausted
to make the effort. While conducting the study, we came across only two instances
of the women going to the court. One of the cases has been lingering for 10 to
12 years. In the other, the judgment was in the favour of the woman. The irony
is that the latter was forced to sell the house at a throwaway price to the mans
legal sons, because they refused to vacate the premises.
The fathers caste may give the children a sense of pride to show they are not
born of the body of a low caste woman, that upper caste blood runs in their veins.
But this label does not guarantee the affection, care and responsibility on behalf
of the father. And yet it would take away whatever little advantage the children
can claim today by virtue of belonging to the mothers caste. It must be remembered
that the women have worked and fought hard to make this possible. Replacing certainty
by a vague notion is to dismantle womens initiative and take away an opportunity that
could carve the childrens way. Losing it may imply the loss of truth and a dream.
Charkha Feature
