The Good Wife, A Retelling by Pavitra Srinivasan
Reviewed
by Deeksha Balaji
Featured in Out of Print’s March 2015
journal, Srinivasan’s retelling of a Tamilian folk tale is hauntingly
enamouring and leaves the reader with a buzzing mind. It is a beautiful story
dating the perpetration of violence against women back to the BC Era, showing
the inherent oppression of the woman in marriage and family.
The story tells the tale of a young woman, Neeli
appearing before the council of elders (a bit like the modern Panchayat) in the
Tamil village of Pazhaiyanur. She expresses her grievances- that her husband
Bhuvanapathi refused to recognize her and their daughter- and seeks justice
from the elders. It is revealed in the story that Neeli’s husband and her
in-laws had ousted her from the family after arranging a second marriage for
Bhuvanapathi with a more affluent family. While Neeli herself had no objection
to this marriage, the family was stubborn and forcefully ostracized her.
A woman at the time was compelled to present herself
as a dharampatni or a ‘good wife’ in order to be given
justice, though ideally, it should have been given to her regardless. The same
is the case with Neeli who presents herself as an immaculate follower of the
scriptures and a blind adherent to the Laws of Manu. It is thus that she is
able to convince the elders to sympathise with her and grant her requests.
However, despite being built as a meek character throughout the story, a
shocking twist in the end, reveals a more feminist streak in her character.
More importantly, the story leads the reader to
question several beliefs held dearly even in modern Indian society. What does
it mean to be a good wife? To be ‘seen and not heard’? To be obedient and exist
for the sole purpose of pleasing those around her? To be so immensely dependent
that she cannot survive without her husband? To have no identity of her own?
Srinivasan’s stroke of genius forces us to consider the ramifications of the
‘trophy wife’ stereotype contextualize it. How much has really changed in the
status of wives since the reign of the Pandyas in 300BCE?
In a very poignant way, the story nullifies the
traditional and stereotypical essentials of a ‘good wife’. The idea of
the dharampatni is a mere justification for the age old trends
of domestic violence. In an eerily beautiful manner, Srinivasan’s masterpiece
sheds light on this injustice.
Reviewer Deeksha Balaji is an intern at Out of Print and helped develop the project 'Premise'.
