[Reader-list] Role of Gita Press in the Life and Progress of Women

[Jitendra Srivastava]

Even today Gorakhpur is a city of cultural importance. It is known for the Nath Sect of Gorakhnath, poetry of Firaq, and literature of Prem Chand.It is alos known for Gita Press and Kalyan. While in Gorakhpur, Prem Chand wrote novels like Seva Sadan in which he raised the issue of slavery and sufferings of women. Prem Chand fought for liberation of women. But the special issue of Kalyan on women liberation does’nt provide the same solution as that given by Prem Chand. Kalyan favours the same approach as that mentioned in the Vedas. It advocates the teachings of Manu for women liberation. It needs to be seen, whether women in and around Gorakhpur follow the approach of Kalyan. Let us study the situation for women residing in rural and urban areas respectively.



In rural areas, not only in Gorakhpur but all over India, women remain under the control of menfolk. It is a type of slavery. Women remain under the control of father, husband, or brother. There is a view that women in labour class are independent which is a partial truth. Their husbands also beat these women. No sacred book, not even Kalyan, saves them from this torture. Most of these women are illiterate and they don’t know about Kalyan or Gita Press.



On the other hand, are educated women living in Gorakhpur, Devariya, Maharanjganj, Basti, Gonda, Siddharth Nagar, and Kushinagar. Some of these are even working. Some might have read the special issue of Kalyan on women. They are very dutiful towards their husbands. But, if you pause on the busy streets of these cities, you find women violating the norms set by the Vedas. The question that comes to mind is what is the effect of Kalyan on the lives of women in and around Gorakhpur. A retired, 65-year old lady teacher, living in a village Ahiroli says, " Polluted feelings get purified on reading Kalyan. Kalyan has affected the life of a Hindu. It was our routine to read Kalyan during our chilhood." Mrs. Shruti who spent her childhood in Lucknow knew the place by Gita Press, Kalyan, and Gorakhnath temple. She later shifted to Gorakhpur after marriage and wanted to see Gita Press in addition to other places. Women feel Gita Press is synonymous to Gorakhpur but are not able to describe
 it. Another teacher feels Gorakhpur owes a lot to Gita Press. Gita Press has a lot of contribution towards spreading religion. A doctor also supports this view. All cross sections of the society acknowledge the contribution of Gita press for Gorakhpur. Like books, clothes produced by Gita Press are also very famous among the people. They buy sarees, shawls, bedsheets of Gita Press. The clothes are also a trademark of Gorakhpur. Religion doesn’t come onto picture here. 



Jitendra Srivastava

Independent Fellow, Sarai

IGNOU



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050322/7d318a4b/attachment.html