23-UpanyAsam
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https://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=204663#p204663
by arasi »
TWENTY THREE
UpanyAsam
(The Speech)
In the month of Chitra in the year kALayukti, on a friday, Bharathi had a gathering at his house.
He started with vandE mAtaram and sang the peNgaL viDudalai kummi. He had asked us to speak on any subject we chose to. I spoke on the rewards of effort. Bharathi published this in svadESa Mitran. In Chennai, our relatives subscribed only to English papers and journals. The women in the family of judge M.O.Parthasarathy used to get the svadESa Mitran.They read it and decried it. 'The world has come to an end!', they moaned. It was the talk of the town in tiruvallikkENi's ManDyam community.
The week after, TiruvaLLuvar Day was celebrated in Iyer's house. They fed the poor. Bhagyalakshmi Ammal and Chellamma did all the cooking. Iyer spoke of VaLLuvar's life and works. Bharathi sang. I spoke about the advancement of women. I quoted Gandhiji and spoke about satyAgrahA. I ended my speech by saying, 'Women are their own enemies in their progress'.This angered the older generation of women no end. My father told me that they read about it in the svadESa Mitran.
Soon after reading both my speeches, my grandmother, my elder aunt and her daughter happened to be in Puduvai. My aunt said that they couldn't show their faces in TrtuvallikkENi because of my women's emancipation speeches! They argued against my taking part in them with my father and finally made me put a stop to my speaking in public.
The week after, we gathered in Bharathi's house. Bharathi had invited my grandmother and aunt. My aunt spoke instead of me and she said that women should not learn English but should stay home and be good housewives. Bharathi spoke after her, with quotes which supported women's education. They did not agree with him. They also asked Bharathi not to print what was said by my aunt that day. Bharathi did not, but in his own essay, he has quoted my aunt without mentioning her name, in a humorous way!
* * * * *
(The Speech)
In the month of Chitra in the year kALayukti, on a friday, Bharathi had a gathering at his house.
He started with vandE mAtaram and sang the peNgaL viDudalai kummi. He had asked us to speak on any subject we chose to. I spoke on the rewards of effort. Bharathi published this in svadESa Mitran. In Chennai, our relatives subscribed only to English papers and journals. The women in the family of judge M.O.Parthasarathy used to get the svadESa Mitran.They read it and decried it. 'The world has come to an end!', they moaned. It was the talk of the town in tiruvallikkENi's ManDyam community.
The week after, TiruvaLLuvar Day was celebrated in Iyer's house. They fed the poor. Bhagyalakshmi Ammal and Chellamma did all the cooking. Iyer spoke of VaLLuvar's life and works. Bharathi sang. I spoke about the advancement of women. I quoted Gandhiji and spoke about satyAgrahA. I ended my speech by saying, 'Women are their own enemies in their progress'.This angered the older generation of women no end. My father told me that they read about it in the svadESa Mitran.
Soon after reading both my speeches, my grandmother, my elder aunt and her daughter happened to be in Puduvai. My aunt said that they couldn't show their faces in TrtuvallikkENi because of my women's emancipation speeches! They argued against my taking part in them with my father and finally made me put a stop to my speaking in public.
The week after, we gathered in Bharathi's house. Bharathi had invited my grandmother and aunt. My aunt spoke instead of me and she said that women should not learn English but should stay home and be good housewives. Bharathi spoke after her, with quotes which supported women's education. They did not agree with him. They also asked Bharathi not to print what was said by my aunt that day. Bharathi did not, but in his own essay, he has quoted my aunt without mentioning her name, in a humorous way!
* * * * *
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