Devon's Ethnography: An interview with Kaladharan

Our interview with Kaladharan provided insight into several different aspects of Indian culture. One of the most fascinating things that we discussed was why women in the society of Kerala are kept segregated from and subservient to men. We had observed this cultural phenomenon during our numerous encounters with the local population. During our excursion to the beach, the women gingerly dipped their toes into the water and wet only the hems of their saris, while the men splashed, quite carefree, amongst the waves. At the festival, while the men enjoyed their celebration of inebriation, the women remained on the sidelines, collected and demure. We were curious about how such a difference came to be. Kaladharan began by telling us that before the British colonized India, women enjoyed much freedom. Some of these liberties included the ability to entertain male guests, the ability to have free sexual relations, and the right to polygamy. We were surprised to find that it was quite common for a woman to take multiple husbands.

After taking notice of the conservative style of dress that modern Indian women abide by, Shanna asked if the clothing underwent any changes with British colonization. Following the arrival of the British, women continued to blacken their eyes, dress up, draw on their eyebrows, and wear jewelry. Things like clothing did not go through any drastic changes. However, this “free movement” that Kaladharan described did not last. Even before British colonization, Kaladharan said that “[Indian society] was conservative in one sense because the wealth and power: the political economic power, and the cultural power, in a sense, were controlled by men. Women at the same time enjoyed liberal space in terms of their movements, expressions, entertainment techniques and dealings with the opposite sex.” According to Kaladharan, the change in how society dealt with the female sex was due to the arrival of the British, and the morals that they brought with them.

The way people began to view sex and the female human body underwent a tremendous transformation after the establishment of the British colonies. Kaladharan told us “most of the women took baths in the river close by, bare breasted, and nobody looked at them-because it was so spontaneous, so natural.” Because it was such a natural element of the local culture, nobody took notice. Whole communities in Kerala only wore cloth around their waists. This custom continued until the beginning of the twentieth century, when British morals like modesty began to permeate the society of Kerala. At this point in the interview, I couldn’t help but recollect our excursion to the beach, where the girls couldn’t remove their cover-ups without attracting droves of sexually repressed men.

After our talk with Kaladharan, Juliet, Shanna and I concluded that the conservative nature of the local culture was not an ancient practice, but in fact, a borrowed custom. Our encounters with the locals gave us a context for this knowledge, a way to observe the after effects of British colonization in modern Indian society. Not all of our observations were pleasant ones—being ogled isn’t exactly comfortable—but our talk with Kaladharan allowed us to understand the origins of these customs.