Relating to Dahigauri is a translation of the diary of the celebrated Gujarati poet, essayist and critic Narmadashankar Dave (1833-1886) a...
Relating to Dahigauri is a translation of the diary of the celebrated Gujarati poet, essayist and critic Narmadashankar Dave (1833-1886) and records his stormy interaction with his wife Dahigauri from September 1882 to October 1884 in Mumbai. The diary, which was suppressed at first was finally published in its entirety in Gujrati nearly a hundred years after Narmad’s death by the renowned scholar Ramesh Shukla in 1994.
The book gives the reader a rare look into the troubled relationship between a highly respected poet and a woman whom he has more or less abandoned for ten years in favour of a second wife; a woman who has become addicted to bhang and has possibly had an affair with a lower-caste man. Written in the form of a dialogue, interspersed with Narmad’s private thoughts, the diary gives us a portrait of an intelligent, spirited woman who holds her own in the face of relentless questioning, and of a man who, once a leading advocate of social reform, has now reverted to traditional Hindu beliefs, and is threatened by his wife’s defiance. He is determined to establish his authority over her. Financially and emotionally dependent on her husband, Dahi is ultimately forced to capitulate.
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