Cheeru muthachi

PRIVACY

The room was in the northern side of the house. It was a small bedroom like any other in the house. Janu noticed it was the same with other old houses she had visited; a lot of small bedrooms, narrow corridors and large common rooms. It was suitable for joint families with lots of members. A lot of families that existed at that time were such joint families. She has heard her cousins from the town complaining about lack of privacy in such houses. But she never felt a need for such things. May be because she was accustomed to this kind of living for her whole life. Or may be because a situation demanding such things never happened in her life. She doesn't know. 

Unlike her cousins she has lived her whole life in the village; always surrounded by people. And individual privacy was not a well-accepted concept in a village like hers- especially for a woman. Men can go anywhere if he felt like he needed some alone time, be it day or night. It's not like there is a lack of space outside home. There are usually only one or two houses in between acres of land. The rest is vast areas of fields, wastelands, river banks etc. 

But it's not the case for women. They don't have such freedom. They are usually confined to the walls of their homes; even though the degree of freedom may vary from family to family and caste to caste. The higher the status of the family, the more restricted the women in the family are. She never understood that though. But women in the families of lower status faced other problems like caste discriminations. One thing she knew was whatever may be the problem, the women in the family are most affected. Her mother always said that is why woman should learn to have the qualities such as patience, tolerance, endurance etc. But she sometimes wondered if it is the other way around.   She could imagine the look on others faces if she suddenly demanded she need some privacy. They might leave you alone when you are reading or studying if there are no chores to do. Otherwise people will say you have gone crazy or you are possessed.