THE CHILD-WIVES OF INDIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2375, 7 September 1899, Page 55

THE CHILD-WIVES OF INDIA.

LD?E IN THE ZENANAS. {EJ3SI« ii little doubt £|i»t with tlie ffia-

jority of Hindoos matrimony is only a matter of business, arranged by the " Chataks," or brokers. As for the girl who is transferred as any other household chattel, from one guardian to another, she generally quietly acquiesces in the custom that her mother and grandmother have practised and approved. Usually between the first and second ceremony, she is sent on a visit to her future mother-in-law, and then, before she can possibly know the meaning of the word marriage or wife, the great day which makes one of the few breaks in the monotony of life in a zenana arrives, and she finds herself an ephemeral queen. She is arrayed in all the jewellery that her limbs can carry, and sometimes more — for the weight makes it impossible for her to stand vp — and rites, more or less elaborate, and varying according to the orthodoxy and district, ratify the bonds which are already recognised by law. The appearance in an orthodox " zenana " of a white woman is sometimes alarming. What makes her such a strange ghostly colour? She comes from England, she explains, she has crossed the sea in a ship. What is a ship? She finds that she is talking far above their heads. What is that in her hand? It is a flower. They have never seen one, and proceed to pick it to pieces to find out how it is made. She has an ordinary little doll in her pocket. They cry out for this marvel. " Give it to me, says one. " Let me have it for a little while, only just to see if it will grow." " Give it to me and I will give you my baby instead," says another persuasively. The poor baby! It might echo that' cry when handled by a young mother who is more fit to play with a toy. But the child is a title of honour, especially if it is a son. From the day of its birth the wife is called the " mother of Jehanghirer of Shusliilla," or whatever the name of her offspring may be, and she is treated with respect. If she should fail to bring her husband an heir, she will probably be superseded and neglected. A Hindoo who ha.«, sons is usually content with one wife,, unless he is a Brahmin priest, who may divide the favours amongst a hundred, and live at the expense of his numerous fathers-in-law. The cries that resound in these zenanas are never more sad and terrible that when death carries away an only son. His mother in her anguish bids farewell to hope and favour. It is not uncommon for women to cry till they are blind under such circumstances. They are children in mind and self-control, and there is nothing m their religion to give them comfort. The lot of a child-wife, even under the rno3t severe mothers-in-law, is happy compared with that of a child-widow. Some Hindoo women lament the abolition of " suttee." The short, though sharp suffering was honourable, and it was a means of blessing to themselves and their husband. The alternatives are a life of penance or shame. A widow must never eat«more than one meal a day, and that of coarse food ; she must fast for 24 hours every month, or in the religious district of Krishnagur, every eleventh day, and then no crumb must pass her lips, and if she desires merit, no drop of water. She must not sleep on a bedstead lest this indulgence should cause her husband to fall from a realm of joy ; and her shadow must not cross any festivity, lest it bring ill-luck. Is it any wonder that when a girl's dead body is found in a well, her friends' inquest 's quickly concluded with the verdict, " only a window "?-D. L. WOOLMER, in the Royal Magazine.