VEILED WOMEN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 May 1939, Page 8

VEILED WOMEN

POWER BEHIND THE THRONE IN INDIA MAHARANEE VISITS LONDON. OBSERVANCES IN THE EAST. A car with blue-tinted windows drove through the congested traffic of London, Seated in the back, heavily veiled, was a woman. Her kohl dinted eyes gazed curiously upon the hurrying crowds. “One of the richest women in the world." my friend explained. “She is the Maharanee of Jodhpur. Her husband rules 2,500,000 people. She can command anything she Wants." “Except the privilege of Walking Unveiled on this pavement like any ordinary typist,” I remarked. The outstretched arm of a policeman held up the car. We stared at the tinted windows curiously. We could see very little, but those inside could see us. With a sudden gesture the blind Was drawn down. After the car had disappeared into the maze of traffic’my friend, who was from. India, told me something of the Maharanee of Jodhpur. Although in purdah, this Wealthy queen came to London for the Coronation festivities. She is 31, small and slender. Women who have gazed upon her face Unveiled describe it as round and of great beauty. She has a perfect olive complexion. All the langour of the Orient is in her attitudes. She prefers to lie on a couch rather than sit stiffly on a chair.

The only males permitted to gaze upon her beauty are her relatives and 5 the Maharajah. Her presence in London ), caused many complications. She could not enter the lounge of any other public room at Claridge’s Hotel, where she stayed. She had to hurry along corridors that had previously been cleared of hotel servants. She left her suite by a back staircase, and, oh her return to the hotel, had to sit in her motor-car until the way to her boUdbir was cleared. Unless it could be arranged that the box at the theatre was heavily curtained, she could not go to a stage performance. She shopped from her room - at the hotel, and no male salesman was ) permitted to enter her room. She saw - the Coronation from a flat overlookI ing the processional route. The windows were smothered with gauze. It seems a very unnecessary complication of life to Westerners. I admit that it seemed fantastic to me during my first months in India. It suggested that women were the slaves of the harem, or the zenana, as it is called in India. Actually, however, I soon discovered that these veiled and hidden women of India have more power than their ( white sisters, who openly bare their 1 faces to all men. From the zenana they i direct all their husband’s activities. Many a time, with a law officer, I have had occasion to discuss business' with some Indian potentate. “You will have my answer in three days’ time,” the potentate would say. “Which means that he’s going into the zenana to discuss it with his wife,” the law officer would explain to me. Because of the all-powerful purdah, one had to tread warily in India. The one great sin in the East is to approach an Indian of consequence and say, jovially: “How is your wife?” Etiquette demands that neither the Wife nor any other woman be mentioned ih conversation. A White Womah ffifty enter the zenana and talk with the , wife, but never a male. i At the same time, during these con- . versations with famous Indians I have . always had the suspicion that the! . woman was present. Looking round the audience Charnber you discover’ a lattice-work screen. Sbffiewhere behind . that screen eyes are flashing and ears arc Open. Everything yoU say is being > heard by the Woftian. Maybe She has r already decided What her husband will j say in reply. I know there is a Widespread impres- > sion that Indian Women are legs than ’ the dust. Katherine Mayo’s book, “Mother India," added to this impresi sion. But some day a discerning Writer • Will show that women in purdah are ■ the real, powerful rulers of India to- ’ day. The practice of purdah is reserved only to high-caste women. It is, one might say. an aristocrat privilege. .Even so. I noticed on niy rides through 'the Indian countryside that eVfen the lowest •caste Woman sweeping the road or grovelling for fuel, would coVer her face with rags at the approach of a stranger. Although many modern, democratic

princes of India now permit their wives to go forth in Europe unveiled, there are still many Indian husbands who believe fervently in veiling their wives. I was once with an English doctor who wished to operate on a wealthy Punjabi’s wife. She was suffering from appendicitis. Her husband bustled us out of the house. “I would cut into small pieces the man who would uncover my wife to perform an operation,” he exclaimed. It so happened there Was ho Womah doctor in the Village. The patient died of peritonitis. But these purdah women know that i they still retain the great love of their husbands, the same undying love which induced Shah Jehan to build the Taj Mahal tomb for the woman who was the queen of his life. And should these purdah women discover that their husbands do not love them, it is easy enough to cause the death of the man from the veiled secrecy of the zenana. Many Indian princes have decreed ’.hat the purddh shall no longer exist in their domains. They set the example by allowing their own wives to go forth unveiled. It is a daring innovation for India, and so far has not met with great success. It is not easy to overthrow the Oriental tradition of centuries. A few Indian princes have married women of other races. One or two have been known to marry white women. In such cases, the woman probably insists upon going unveiled. Some of them decide to go unveiled only when they are iway from India. During the Coronation festivities in London, for example, some of us gazed upon the face of the beautiful Maharanee of Jaipur. She appeared on ceremonial occasions decked out ih £200.000 worth of jewels. The Maharanee of Jaipur broke even further with tradition by arriving in London before her husband. When 1 saw her she was wearing a magnificcn sari of costly silk, and her jet-black hair was covered with a gorgeous scars. She is a princess from the desert plains of Rajputana, a niece of th< great Indian sportsman. •Ranji." anc has given her husband three beautiful’ young children.

Actually, her husband is shyer than ’.erself. probably the shyest millionlire in the world. The 26-year-old daharajar of Jaipur was educated at Voolwich and made a great name for limself at polo. He and his wife stayed at a certain hotel in Surrey, because t has a well in the garden. The ruling icuse of Jaipur must never drink water which lias passed through a metal pipe!