The Irony Of Being A Girl

Most Indians believe that a man’s life is immensely blessed if two women come into his life - Goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswathi. After all, what more can you ask for than education and prosperity? But then, we also kill our girl children, if possible in the womb itself. Clearly, we are a country of cultural contradictions.

Achi is pregnant for the eleventh time and is a mother of seven girls. The rest of the girls have passed away thanks to lack of resources of the family. The one and only wish of her life is to deliver a baby boy, although by the looks of it, she is not in a state of health to go through such a demanding experience for the umpteenth time. She is confident while declaring that if her eleventh child turns out to be a girl, she will either kill it or sell it.

Out of the two tribal communities that are prevalent in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh – the Chenchus and the Lambadas – the latter is a more enterprising bunch whose roots can be traced back to Rajasthan. They live in communes by the name Thanda and the one that Achi belongs to is called Katrawath.

Achi’s husband is indifferent about the whole issue. He seems to completely have submitted it to his wife to take the decision she wants. He disagrees with Achi when she says that their eldest daughter is 22. How she can be 22 while he himself is just 32, he asks. Going by the fact that the daughter in question herself is pregnant and looked old enough to be 22, the man could hardly be believed.

Dressed in elaborate Rajasthani costumes adorned with white plastic bangles running through the length of their hands, the older women of the community also care less. It is most likely that they too subscribe to Achi’s philosophy. Because of the lighter tone of their skin, a lot of Lambada women have been forced into flesh trade as well.

A couple of government paid social workers do try their best in spreading awareness. Shailu, an ASHA worker and a member of the community herself, tried to tell Achi how her girls could reach heights just like boys and that killing them is not the solution for anything. Achi snapped back asking her to provide for their upbringing and later for their dowry. Another Lambada woman Redi Bai, who is pursuing graduation through Open University and working in the Thanda anganwadi, also tried her level best to convince Achi that educating her girls was the answer to her problems; but in vain.

Not just that Achi is not apologetic about it, she thinks female infanticide is justified given the poor living conditions she has to deal with, day in and day out. That is the striking aspect of the rural parts of our country, where ironically half of the deities are female.