So what does it mean, to be or not to be, a Hindu woman? I have been mulling over this question for some time now, and being, or not being,...
So what does it mean, to be or not to be, a Hindu woman? I have been mulling over this question for some time now, and being, or not being, a Hindu woman is something that brings many aspects of one’s existence into play. My body, for a start: in the month of July 2018, when the rains were in full spate, I took myself off to an Ayurvedic resort.
There, this widow’s torso and limbs were oiled and pounded and steamed and massaged while the rain fell gently on the tiled roof, by young women, two at a time, their fingers practiced and skilful, impersonal enough so that I did not feel any intrusion, just a grateful sensuous pleasure. Only on the fourth day did they bring in a transistor radio and ask me, shyly, if I was troubled by the music.
Of course I wasn’t: the contemporary songs in Malayalam and Hindi, tunes I usually listen to in my car, were nice to share. By this time I knew a bit about their lives, or at least their work schedules. Ayurveda is not a uniform science all over India: what I experienced here was a series of techniques, medications and...
