There are two distinct views about the Indian woman. One is the typical old Indian viewpoint of the Indian woman being a symbol of purity, faithfulness and submission and devotion to her husband (or patideva). Sita and Savitri happen to be the archetypes of this view. The other view, mostly typical of western scholars, is that the Indian woman is backward, suppressed and treated almost as a chattel.
These two extreme views or myths have forced many serious scholars to explore and explicate the realities about the womenfolk, and consequently, a considerable body of literature on the Indian woman has burgeoned, especially during the last two-three decades. Thus, women's studies, as in the West, has emerged as a very fascinating area of research in the realm of social sciences in India. Nevertheless, works based on rigorous research with a clear theoretical framework are still very few and far between. Our knowledge of the Indian woman continues to be quite inadequate and, in some ways, superficial, too. The fact that issues relating to women are quite vast and of bewildering complexity has greatly hampered our understanding of the womenfolk. Furthermore, considerable variations between different regions, between rural and urban areas, between classes and also between different religions, ethnic and caste groups, have made our task enormously arduous, if not impossible.
Considering the facts stated above, over two hundred experts from various disciplines, both from India and abroad, were invited to contribute a detailed and scholarly account of the Indian woman on any of the topics listed below. The contributors were requested to identify the real issues about the Indian woman, focus the attention upon them bring evidence to bear upon the situation, and investigate the whole matter in a logical and rigorous way.
Hindu (933)
Agriculture (118)
Ancient (1085)
Archaeology (754)
Architecture (563)
Art & Culture (911)
Biography (702)
Buddhist (544)
Cookery (167)
Emperor & Queen (565)
Islam (242)
Jainism (307)
Literary (896)
Mahatma Gandhi (373)
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