Feminine Identity and National Ethos in Indian Calendar Art

Author(s): Patricia Uberoi

Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 25, No. 17 (Apr. 28, 1990), pp. WS41-WS48
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4396224
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Feminine Identity
Women have been and still are excluded from the production of and representation in many social and cultural
activities, but even when they are included they do not receive their due recognition. In many genres of representa-
tion however, women are not only visible: they are prominent'objects of attention. The issue is then transformed
into one of the correctness or incorrectness of the representation, or of the socially constraining nature of the
stereotypical imagery, or of the relationship between women's subjectivity and objectivity.
This paper looks at the representation of women in a little discussed genre of Indian popular art-what has
been called 'calendar art' or 'bazaar art'. These representations are seen as instancing two processes, the com-
moditisation of women and the tropising of the feminine, within an overallculturalcontext that was both homogenis-
ing and hegemonising.
I that it is possible to hold to both positions
Problematics of 'Invisibility' and
'Visibility'
IN India, as elsewhere, a Ilmost important
thrust of feminist social science hlas been
that of-makingwoomen'visible',their voices
audible,in historyand society [Sharma1982;
Mazumdar1985;Banerjee1988;Chakravarti
and Roy 1988, etc]. This is a project on
which all are agreed, but it is one which is
not, in fact, quite so straightforwardas it
may at first appear.
Some take the position, for instance,that
women have alwaysmade a very significant
contribution to their societies, but that a
patriarchal conspiracy has prevented
women'scontributionfrom receivingits due
recognition. The reason is that society's
legitimating myths, the creation of written
historical records and the production of
authoritative self-knowledge have all been
enterprisescontrolledby males.The implica-
tion is that a self-conscious effort must be
made to locate women's voices within
patriarchaldiscourse, to 'retrieve'women's'
history, to bear witness to their contem-
poraryproductivityand to ensurethat threir
labour is both recognised and properly
rewarded[Kleinberg 1988; Lerner 1986].
The other proposition is signalled in the
key-term'marginalisation'.Quite to the con-
traryit is maintainedthat women havenever
lbeenallowed to make their full and proper
contributionto society. They are not visible
because, expresslyor by default, they have
been excludedfrom certaindomains of acti-
vity, notably the politica,, and relatively
speaking confined to doniestic space. This
hierarchicaldivision of labour and of social
space constrains feminine activity and ex-
pressionand projectswomen as dependents
of mren In this case the implication is that
women should fight for the right to enter
into those domains from which they were
previouslyexcludedand to ensurethat their
formal legal rights are actually availed of.
The different groundings of these two
arguments (i e, that women are unrecog-
nised, or that women are excluded)are not
usually interrogated.Perhaps the reason is
and National
Calendar Art
Patricia Uberoi
simultaneously in a form such as the follow-
ing: NWomenhave been and still are excluded
from the production of and representation
in many social anid cultural activities, but
even wheni they are included they do not
receive their duc recognition. This double-
barrelled proposition lies at the base of a
great deal of academic feminism and social
activism. It is a plea for inclusion, for equali-
ty and for justice, and the.chief issue is to
decide whether -remedy should be sought in
policies of affirmative action ('reservations)
or in conscientisation: provision trom above
or action from below.
In many genres of representation,
however, women are not only visible: they
are prominent objects of attention-even of
admiration and of worship-and one can
hardly complain of their invisibility and
neglect. The issue is then transformed into
one of the correctness or incorrectniessof the
representation, or of the socially constraini-
ing nature of the stereotypical imagery,
especially for those who do not naturally fit
the bill (see the discussion of deviant per-
sonality types in Mead 1935), or of the rela-
tionship between women's subjectivity and
objectivity. This latter is rather a vexed ques-
tion, for it is patently not the case that all
women at all times speak in women's voices.
They, too, are captives of society's dominant
ideologies, self-alienated as gendered sub-
jects, and very often the most immediate and
conspicuous oppressors of their own sex [see
Nany 1980: 34-35]. The authentic voices and
genres of women, and the modes and
moments of their resistance to patriarchal
domination have to be located and cele-
brated in a self-consciously subaltern pro-
ject [e g, Chakravarti 1983, 1988; Das 1989a,
1989b; Karlekar 1989, etc], while converse-
ly commending those males who, despite
themselves as it were, have succeeded in ex-
pressing a genuinely feminine sensibility [e
g, Millett 1969; ch 81.
More than this, however, the 'objectifica-
tion' of women in those genres where they
are the prominent objects of attention is read
as something problematic in itself, in par-
ticular as an indication that women have
Ethos in Indian
becomeobjectsor thingsto be appropriated,
possessed and exchanigedin the social rela-
tions of co-operation and competition
among men. Of particularinterestfrom this
point of view has been the interpretationof
the representationof womeil in one of the
privilegedgenresof modernEuropeanart-
the traditionof 'nude'painting,coveringthe
period roughly from the 15th to the end of
the 19thcentury.There seems to have been
an historicalconvergenceinvolvingthe sub-
ject matter of painting (the nude female
form being a major type), the establishment
of the new medium of oil painting (giving
texture,depth and a sense of tactility to the
objectsdepicted),the masteryof techniques
of perspective (creating a sense of veri-
similitudeor realism)and the institution of
a new socio-economic order, that is,
capitalism. Indeed, the social order of
capitalismis especially implicatedas one in
which the objectificationand commodifica-
tion of women has reached unprecedented
heights.
Originally,works of art displayed in the'
homes of the aristocraticand the wealthy
functioned as signs of individual rank and
wealth, the nude female body an object of
the privilegedgaze of the male patron and
his friends [Berger 1972:ch 3]. Techniques
of mechanical reproduction (lithography,
oleography and photography) have been
crucialin increasinglygeneralisingthis mode
of appropriation to a class of mass con-
sumers [Benjamin 1973], a process which
reachedits apogee in the inventionof cheap
colour photographya few-decadesago. Col-
our photography, as John Berger has
written:
Can reproducethe colour and textureand
tangibilityof objectsas only oil paint had
beenableto do before.Colourphotography
what oil paintwas
is to the spectator-buyer
to the spectator-owner.Both media use
similar,highlytactilemeansto playuponthe
spectator'ssenseof acquiringthe realthing
whichtheimageshows.Inbothcaseshis feel-
ing that he can almosttouch what is in the
image remindshim how he might or does
possessthe realthing[Berger1972:140-141].
In otherwordsit is arguedthat in modern

Economic and Political Weekly April 28, 1990 WS-41

westernsociety the glossy 'pin-up' has the
same social function as the nude once had,
but on a mass scale, and that this is one of
the characteristicmarkersof modern con-
sumer societies (and of the socio-political
orderof capitalism)in theirconstruLction of
genderrelations.The contemporary'publici-
ty' (i e, advertising)industry and the com-
mercialmass mediadependon and promote
the 'objectification'of womrenas objects of
male desire('sex symbols',so-called) and of
potential possession. WNomen thus tend to
function as insiteria of the wealth, status,
power an1dvirility of the men who possess
themI, arid of the desires of those who would
want to possess thetii. Metonymically co-
associtated\ith a range ot consumerables.
niot only those specitic to womnen-they
snbtlk atid surely *tbcorine coinmoditied
-IThisis all wcll known and widely ac-
cepted, but thie'devalttation'of wornenas
sex objects and as comimiwloditics that is so
strikitilv (a featurc of the corntemporary
nmassmnedtais not the on(! mode of objec-
ot woenmcthat one can
tification/reificat'ion
sce arouind. LquaIly significant is the
veritabledeification of women in certainof
their social roles: the pure virgin, the loyal
aridobedientwife and, most importantlyof
all, the 'mother'. All ot' ;hese figures, of
course, find divine excmplarsin the Hindu
pantheon.
T-hat wotmlenshould be so manifestly
objects of worship seems to be something
of aInesplanatorvembarrassment in an intel-
lectualenvironmentin wvhich the actual and
symbolic denigrationof women ( essential-
ly, their victimisation)is seen as the primary
truth of gender relations.On the one hand,
it is often a soLurceof solace and of pride
that soomewomen(or women'sroles)areheld
in great reverence in India, in contrast
perhapsto the west, suiggestinga ratherdif-
f'erenttrajectoryfor the women'smovement
here [Chitnis 19881.Others see deification
as yet aniother,andi even more insidious,
form of patriarchalconstraint. And others
argue that deification is but the 'flip' side
of 'devaluation'in a bipolar-value scheme
which rests on contrasting stereotypes of
motherversuswhore,wife versusvamp,and
so on [Nandy 1981: 93-941. 'The conceptual
aiialogy h-iereis with Victorian England
where, so it is alleged, the purity of the
upper-class woman and the dignity of
monoganious marriagewere upheld by the
parallel institution of prostitution-as
necessary a featureof Victorian society as
sewers were of their town planning.
But whether the problem is devaluation
or overvaluation,the interpretivemodelsjust
cited tend to take 'objectification'at its face
value. Other writers,however,suggest that
women do not necessarilyrepresentthem-
selves, i e, as a gender. Nor do they simply
index the power of the individual (male
spectator-buyer)whose gaze they return,or
serve as iconic objects of reverencejust on
this account. Rather women serve as
signifiers of some other thing or quality.
WS-42
This is the phenomenon referredto in the
rather inelegant phrase, the 'tropising of
women'.
Anthropologistshavebeen especiallysen-
sitiveto the tropisingof women as signifiers
of caste status in South Asia. They argue
that the caste systemrestsprimarilyon each
community maintaining control over the
purityand sexualityof its women (through
practicessuchas childmarriage,pubertyand
initiation rites, sati, purdah,the regulation
of widows, marriage to divinities, etc
[Yalman1963; Allen 1982: 4-8]. Similarly,
womenmay signifythe religiouscommunity,
the race and the nation,. while these new
identities themselves come into being
through (re)constructions of femininity.
Undoubtedly,the natiosl is the most signi-
ficant focus of identity in modern times.
In this paper I will be looking at the
representationof women in a little discus-
sed genreof Indianpopularart-what I have
called 'calendarart' or 'bazaar art'.' I see
these representationsas instancingthe two
processes referred to above: the 'com-
moditisation'of women and the 'tropising'
of the feminine, within an overall cultural
context that was both homogenising and
hegemonising. I make no apologies for the
fact that these two perspectivesrest on very
different conceptual foundations; one
merely assumes that such synthetic ap-
proaches are justifiable in reference to a
mixed economy/transitionalsociety.
I begin with a discussion of the origins
of the genrein the colonial period-in par-
ticular with a considerationof the work of
the painterRaviVarmawho establishedthe
representational stvle, defined the para-
metersof the archive,anidpioneeredits mass
reproduction.In this historicalcontextI con-
sider also some relevant aspects of the
organisationof the calendarart trade,which
pertainswithinthe modernindustrialsector
of the Indianeconomy.Though I haverefer-
red to calendarart as a 'popular' art form,
one should be clear that it is riota 'folk art'
of the type assigned by anthropologiststo
the localised'LittleTradition'.Likethe Hindi
film, it seeks a mass, pan-Indian audience
of consumerswhose tastesgenerate,and are
simultaneouslymoulded by, the imageryit
purveys.
I then consider how the processes that I
have posited at work in the production of
Calendarart images of women are materia-
lised in the artifacts themselves, Without
presentationof the visuals, this requiresan
act of imagination-to summon up images
which are all around one but which are
mostly unnoticed, unrecalled,unexamined.
I first remark on the aspect of the com-
modification/objectificationof womenand
women'sbodiesthat is so conspicuousin this
medium,and in relatedmediasuchas adver-
tising, film hoardings,etc. I touch on this
only briefly because the theme is, on the
whole, a familiat one [see eg, Bhasin and
Agarwal 1984: Ghadially 198e, section 4;
and papersin Chanana 19881.1 then go on
to consider at greater length the way in
Economic and Pblitical Weekly April 28, 1990
which images of women work as tropes for
the 'nation'. Though I have confined my
attention to calendaror bazaar art, similar
processesmust surelybe seen at work in the
films, too-even in commercialadvertising.
In a recentpaper,Monica Junejahas argued
that nineteenthcenturyEuropeanlandscape
painting performed essentially the same
function (19901,and there is clearly a case
for the extension of these perspectives to
other media, both mass media and elite art
forms.
11
Ravi Varma and 'Invention'
of Calendar Art
Recent writings on the cultuiral and ilntcl-
lectualhistoryof the colonial periodin Indiai
have highlighted the centrality ot the
feminine in theisymbolic representationof
an Indiannationalidentitye g, Nandy 1980;
Sangari and Vaid 19891. Conversely, the
attributesof modern Indianfemininiti were
also being actively negotiated at this timlie.
The suggestiQnis that thiecolonialencouniter
shapedthe constructionof Indianfeminiinity
in waysthat areof relevancestill, today,an)d
that an interrogation ot that process of
becoming has to be an essential input into
its ultimate undoing.
The ingredients in this Anglo-Indian joilnt
ventureweremultiplexand oftenlcontradic-
tory: surrender,colluisionand resistanceall
at once. Nonethelessit is possible to discern
a common universeof discourse in which
both rulers and ruled participated. This
shareduniversewas characterised(i) by the
privileging of the woman as an object of
discourse[see Chatterjee1989;Tharu 1989;
Sarkar 1985. 71ff]; (ii) by substantivecon-
vergencesin the interpretationof feminini-
ty; and (iii) by agreementon the canon ot
textuialand ritualpracticethat was to define
and authorise an emerging Indian cultural
'tradition' [Chakravarti1989; Mani 19891.
The 'recasting'of women that was the
legacy of the colonial era depended on the
positing or a set of identities on the one
hand, and the operation of a set of exclu-
sions on the other. Takethe equations first.
To beginwith it is assumedthat the 'status
of women'is the pre-eminentsignifierof the
nature and condition of society-Indian
society in this case. The propositionmay be
true, of course,but the measureof women's
'status'was also clearlygovernedby Orien-
talist stereotypes(i e, the assumption that
the Oriental male is both unmanly and
despotic) and pertained within a political
economyof relationssuch that it legitimated
the white man's burden: governance,
discipline and intervention through the
social reform of Indian women's lives.2
Thus the essence of Indian culture and
society was to be locatedin the past and pre-
sent(and future)of Indianwomen.This pro-
ject crystallised in what Uma Chakravarti
has aptly called the 'Altekarianparadigm'
(Chakravarti1988;Altekar 19621-the con-
structionof a classicalage of Indiancivilisa-
tion and a narrative of its decline under the Whateverits precedents,the phenomenon saturating the consciousness with it. It is also
twin forces of Brahmanism and Islam. of calendar art.is effectively coterminous a way of appeasing the acquisitive impulse.
Second is the identification of the cultural with the artistic career of Ravi Varma This realism is then inalienably related to
bourgeois desire, bourgeois ideology and
'tradition' with the sacred tradition,i e, with (1848-1906),a memberof the ruling family
ethics [Ibid].
religion; and the sacred tradition in turn with of Travancorestate. RaviVarma'sparticular
Hinduism, whether in its Brahmanic or distinctionl was that he was one of the first Avant-garde, indeed creative, in its time,
native 'Indian painters to satisfactorily the calendar art style is now sedimented as
Rajput emplhases, but distinguished from its
popular and regional manifestations [Nlarni miasterthe techniques of westernacademic an authentic Indian 'kitsch' with an
1989]. Christianity, Islam and oil painting and to receivecritical acclaim ephemeral past and an uncertain future.
Zoroastrianism cannot'serve the same func- and recoginitionfor this both at home and Though the religious icons continue to be
tion, being exogenous in origin; tribal abroad. Enicapsulating in decades the in steady demand, becoming slicker with
religions are merely localised; and essence of four centuries of European art each passing year, the last decade has seen
Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism can be ap- history,he then pioneeredthe setting up of a notable attrition in the production of non-
propriated as variants within the greater one of the earliest lithographic presses in religious calendars. Glossy colour photo-
Hindu tradition. As art historian Geeta India,whichreproducedalmost ninetyof his graphic reproductions-of film and pop
Kapur has written: nmythologicalpaintings in thousands of stars, beautitul babies, cute children and
copies. Accordingto most art critics[see,e g, pets, religious and political leaders, land-
The notion of the past usually dovetails with
Chaitanya 1960: 5], the overproductionof scapes, etc, the typical subject mnatterof the
the notion of the classical. Both derive from
paiiltirngsfor the press, together with the non-religious calenldars, and decorative
a quite obvious desire to retrieve at tlhe im-
aginative level that golden age of Indian technical shortcomingsof the printingpro- posters of westernl dcesign and origin have
cess, were ultimately disastrous for Ravi
civilisation when it is said to have beeni eased out the work of indigenous artists, or
purest, rmostprosperous anid suprenc. T lic
Varma's repuitationias a seriouLsartist, tor his deflected their energies into other (evienmore
period from the epics to the puranas, andcl
work tended to bc jiud,ed oni the basis of ephemeral) media suchl as street hoardings,
then Kalidasa, usually provides the tiane-
the prints: advertising, political propaganda, tic.
frame as well as the wealth of legends that The 'Victorian Indian' art style pioneered
vulgarised by
T hat these distressing pictuLres,
are to be glorified. (Ideologically speakinig.
cheapalnd poI)ular oleographs, shouildreign by Ravi Varnia has been (Icprecatcd as in-
the classical past is set against the medicvi I
in every Indcianhome is a commentary on the authentic by later art critics, seekinig an
which is regarded as havinigbeen corrupted degenieraheperception of the time: that, in- essential I ndianness in other ways, and
by a medley of toreigin intluences and by the
cidentallv, Ravi Varnia becanmea nationalis- denigrated for its conservatism and ob-
psychology of subordination show ing up in ing in fluence or provided devotional solescence in the light of emerging new
Hindu civilisation. Not only the Islamic but
sustenance to the masses is highly irrelevant trends within European art [Kapur 1989: 69;
curiously also Buddhist culture, tlhough fal-
to his aesthetic appraisement ... Arnuntrain- Rao 1953: 9]. The irony is that the Inidian-
ling squiarelywithin the classical, is excluid-
ed, undiscerningpublic, valuing his paintings ising effort of these critics and their proteges
ed from mainstream Indian culture, when a for their devotipnal content and utterly' now appear equally inauthlentic, if in dif-
civilisational memory is sought to be awaken-
ignorant of aesthetic criteria, worshipped ferent ways, and that in the ultimate arnalysis
ed. -Thetouchstone for ninieteenith century In-
Ravi Varna [Rao 1953: 9]. all movements in modern Indian art history
dian rei-naissanceis thus Hindu civilisation'
The point to be stressed, however, is that have been parasitic on the west even while
(Kapur 1989: 681.
calendar art was not, in its origins, a popular seeking to articulate a genuinely Indian sen-
hhus a national identity was constituted
art form, but a hybrid style produced for sibility [Parimoo 19731.
through the construction of the ideal Hin- British patrons and the anglicised Indian
du woman, and her clharacteristics derived The images that Ravi Varma created were
elite in continuity with the so-called 'com- shortly transposed into celluloid with the
frotn a hierarchy of textual authorities: the
pany' style of portraiture and Indian
Vedas. Shastras, epics, puranas, and so on. first motion pictures, since when the calen-
'sceneries' [Thakurta 1986]. It was the out- dar art and film (and now television) in-
in the process, obviously, a ntumber of ex-come of a two-way process of the 'wester-
clusions came into play: (i) of other religions duistrieshave existed in relations of symbiotic
nisation' of taste of the Indian aristocracy give and take. Now calendar representations
and cultural traditions by the newly emerg-and upper bourgeoisie and of the domestica-
ing Hindui tradition, as already suggested; of Ram and Sita look unashamedly like
tion of a foreign medium in Indian soil, pro- Arun Govil and Deepika, while conversely
(ii) of lower caste practices by Brahrfianical
ducing thereby quite new 'ways of seeing'.
and Kshatriva models [Chakravarti 19891; the latter are flesh and blood embodiments
'In India', writes Geeta Kapur: of the aesthetic canons of the calendar art
(iii) of folk genres by the new genres of the
the modernising impulse is signalled into the style of representation.
compradore bourgeoisie IBanerjee 19891;
visual arts in the use by Indian artists of the
and (iv) of indigenous aesthetic values by In his subject matter, too, Ravi Varina
medium of oils and the easel format. There
those.of the colonial power through the strangely prefigured the range of themes and
are several aspects to this choice. One, that
psychology of identity with the aggressor stereotypes that were to become the staples
the know-how is not easily obtained by an
[Nandy 1983]. Simultaneously (v) regional Indian. The fact and fiction of Ravi Varma's of calendar art. Distributors of calendars in-
varieties were transcended in the search for struggle to. learn oil painting becomes a formally classify their wares into four
a pan-Indian cultturalreality, or appropriated legend. Here is not only the struggle of the categories: dharmic (religious themes and
and domesticated within an aggregative vi- artist to gain a technique but the struggle of icons and scenes from the epics, particular-
sion of nation such as is unfolded still in a native to gain the source of the master's ly the Ramayana and the Mahabharata);
every Republic Day Parade 'an assertivc superior knowledge, and the struggle of the patriotic (portraits of national heroes and
state-sponsored display of Indian Tratdition prodigy to steal the fire for his own people leaders, past and present); filmi (essentially
and Culture, especially of the classical, the [Kapur 1989: 601. pin-ups and portraits of movie stars); and
folk and the tribal, intended as a saleableShe goes on to stress the special scenaries (which differ from the former
compensation for the lack of democratising characteristics of oil as a medium and the categories by expressly excluding depiction
initiatives on its own pait' [Sangari 1989: 3].
implications of these features for what we of the human form). In the first three of
In all, it seems that the modern period has
might call the 'politics' of representation: these categories, the representation of
seen womanliness subjected to processes of Oil as paint matter encourages the simula- women is a central, though by no means ex-
he emonisation and homogenisation as the tion of substances (flesh, cloth, jewels, gold, clusive, focus. The works of Ravi Varma and
national culture seeks to stake its ideniity. masonry, marble) and the capture pf atmos- his so-called 'school' ('so-called' because
The mass media, whether controlled by the pheric sensations (the glossiness of light, the they were mainly family members who col-
stateor subjectto the demandsof the market translucent depth of shadows). Realism laborated with him on his major commis-
mechanism,havebeen the activeinstruments flowing from such material possibilities of sions, or carried on the tradition after his
of this transformation. paint is a way of appropriating the world, death) covered the same range of themes,

Economic and Political Weekly April 28, 1990 WS-43

with a notable preoccupationwith feminine etc), themes which incidentally had tic physicaltype and dressedin recognisably
imagery tChaitanya 1960: 12-13;Thakurta enormous appeal for Europeans, too regional apparel but subject to a single
1986: 191ff. I [Chakravarti 1989]; and (iii) the encapsula- aesthetic. One is stroniglyremindedof the
What is particularly noteworthy here is tion of these thenes in significant dramatic contemporary'Brides of India' calendars,
the fact that this rangeencompassesboth the episodes such as, e g, the 'swan messenger' parades and pageants, a self-conscious
sacred and the secular in a continuum. On bringing a message to Damayanti, or display of 'unity in variety',linkedwithin a
the one end are religious icons, destined to Shakuntala removing a thorn from her foot bourgeois aesthetic and appropriately
be sacred objects of worship in homes and as pretext for a lingering backward glance Aryanised as well.
shrines;on the otherhand, purelydecorative at Dushyanta, or Ravana abducting Sita, etc Wherewomenof othergroupsand classes
pieces and almost erotic pin-ups.In the con- [see the plates in Lalit Kala Academy are on display-women disqualified by
tinnum from the dharmic through the 1960].3 Sets of paintings on mythological reasonsof race,class or professionfromthe
patriotic to the 'filmi', the sacred and the themes were among Ravi Varma's most im- narcissisticself-imagingof modern Indlia-
secular poles appear to be mediated by the portant commissions, and one senses an they are either appropriated withinl a
patriotic, as in the figure of Mother India. almost religious 'mission' in their propaga- bourgeois mould (complexions made
In another sense, the polar opposites tion to a mass public through thousands of 'wheaten', for instance), or exoticised
mutuallyinvokeeach other-in calendarart cheap lithographic reproductions. The idea (eroticised)as ethnographiccuriosities-or
as in RaviVarma'spaintings.Goddessesare had first been put to him in 1884 by Sir both at once. The kitschy 'Vegetableselrer',
luscious women, and luscious women god- Madhava Rao in the following words: by RaviVarma'syoungerbrotherand otteni-
desses,as has often been remarked[Parimoo "There are many of my friends who are tinmesassistant,C Raja Raja Varma(see the
1973:31; see comparablyMode 19701.The desirous of possessing your works. It would plate in Lalit Kala Academy 1960) is un-
'motherwith child' is an Indian Madonna, be hardly possible for you, with only a pair comfortably reminiscent of the sort of
or Yashoda and the infant Krishna-the of hands, to meet such a large demand. micddle class enactment of the woomen of
'mother' both earthly and divine, SenISUous Send, theretore, a tew of your select works otherclassessuichas one findsat everyfancy
and pure. This is one reason why the analysis to Europe and have thenmoleographed. You dress paradein an 'English mediumiipublic
of apparently secular images of Indian will thereby not onl! extend your reputation, school': typical 'genre'productions.
women (see below) seems to spontaneously bllt will be doing atreal service to your coun-
call forth the conceptual distinctions and try'" [Chaitanya 1960: 5, emphasis minel. III
oppositions that remergein analysis of the The other aspect of Ravi Varma's project, Gender and Calendar Art
female deities of the Hindu pantheon [see again one consistent with the goals of
e g, Gatwood 1985], in fact why so many cultural nationalism, was the construction Now to the 'archive'of calendar art.6
discussions of Hindu women's lives today of a pan-Indian material representation of First, it is obvious that women and
begin deconstruction of sacred imagery Indian womanhood through the creation of women's bodies are very much on display,
[Wadley1977; Nandy 19801. types that were both racially authentic yet exhibited before the male gaze, objects of
The elision of the sacred and the secular universal, realistically individual yet typical desire.They may boldly returnthe gaze, as
is a peculiar and distinguishing feature of and, more importantly, regional yet national in the case of the scantily clad reclining
calendarart as a style, and one which makes [Kapur 1989: 621]. This rather paradoxical 'vamp' figure, surroundedby wine bottles
its analysissomewhatproblematicaccording ambition led Ravi Varma twice on major and grapes (and looking remarkably
to certainof the generallyacceptedtheories tours of the country to record its physical evocative of Manet's 'Olympia'). Or the
of art history.Sociologistsare used to seeing types and landscapes, domesticating the glance tnay be deflected, and near nudity
the rise of modernity in the separationiof variety within a single aesthetic frame which drapedin clinging wet white garments,full
the secular from the sacred, and there has was 'Aryanising' in its ideological thrust, breastsand erectnipplesshowingthrough,a
been posited a similar process of 'desacra- uipper bourgeois in its taste (in costume, hypocriticalmixtureof pureinnocenceand
lisation' in art history too [see Benjamin jewellery, accoutrements and theatrical set- sensuality.The gopis covertheir nakedness
1973:esp 225-228]. An examinationof the tings), and 'Orientalist' in its mode of ap- with their hands and plead with a smug
archiveof calendarart, on the contrary,and propriation of other classes and ethnic types Krishnafor the returnof theirclothes,neatly
of the Indian cinema for that matter [see for the 'genre style paintings [see also Berger folded beside him on the branchesof a tree
Das 1981],wouldsuggestthat therehas been 1972: 103-104; Kapur 1989: 62-63]. [see Mode 1970: 27]. Adam and Eve hold
a continual processof 'resacralisation'over In 1892-93, Ravi Varma achieved the their fig-leavescoyly in place, watchedby a
the last century. This is consistent with highest international recognition yet accor- smirkingserpent.The disrobingof Draupadi
the formula of 'cultural nationalism' ded an Indian artist when he won several is enacted before a court of spectatorsand
which identified 'tradition' with 'religion' awards for a set of ten paintings exhibited the voyeur-buyer. The yeil of a burqais pro-
and 'religion' with a newly constituted at the International Exhibition in Chicago. vocativelyraisedto confera seductiveglance
'Hinduism'.In the 'rescripting'of the past Significantly, all ten of the paintings had on the viewer.A set of Muslim women of
through the self-conscious promotion of women as their subjects, including women all ages are revealed at prayer. unveiled
feminineideal typesone has both a represen- from different regions of India, from dif- beforean invisiblebeholder.With the excep-
tation of India to itself, and of Indiato out- ferent communities and from different walks tion of Adam, whose predicamentwas the
siders as well. of life,5 and the citation expressly com- fault of Eve, men are not on display!
A first step in this processwas the identi- mended their ethnographic interest; an In a sense, the 'commodification' of
ficationof significanteventsand cameosout extension here, surely of the Orientalist gaze: women through calendar art is implicit in
of the greatcorpus of Indian myth, history The series of well-executedpaintings give an the function of 'display: but it is made
and legend. Specifically, the invocation of idea of the progress of instruction of art [in explicit by the consociation of images of
a notion of the 'classical' involved: (i) the India]. They are true to nature in form and women with a range of material products*
definition of the canon, especiallyemphasis colour, and preserve the costumes, current rather after the manner of commercial
on the 'Aryan'and the privileging of the fashions and social features... lThakurta advertising.A common reactionto a calen-
Ramayanaand the Mahabharataas classics 1986: 190 n 110]. dar art frameis: "Thatmustbe an adverise-
of pan-Indian reference;(ii) identification Similarly, a famous and now much com- ment for such-and-sucha product"(a watch,
of central themes from the canon, for mented on painting of eleven Indian women a tansistor,a bicycle, a pair of sandals, for
instance, the romantic celebration of con- musicians, entitled 'The galaxy' [Kapur instance), and in fact large firms do com-
jugal love and self-sacrificing wifely devo- 1989: 73-75], on close inspection reveals a mission advertisementcalendarsfor publi-
tion (as of Rama and Sita, Nala and tableauof womenfromdifferentregionsand city purposes.7 Commercial uses
advertising
Damayanti, Shakuntala and Dushyanta, communitiesof the country,each an authen- essentially the same languageand also

WS-44 Economic and Political Weekly April 28, 1990

 exploits images of women and displays of
women'sbodies, whetheror not the product
concerned is gender-typed.
The consociationof women with material
products has two distinct but related func-
tions. On the one hand it reinforcescultural
stereotypesof women'sroles,with particular
stress on the domestic role [see also Mode
1970]. Little girls are 'cutified'8 as little
women, playingat 'house-house',while little
boys anticipate future careersin the armed
forces and the professions. Of course, one
also sees occasional self-consciousattempts
to createnew associations. The little girl (or
androgynous infant) playing doctor; the
woman scientist at work in her laboratory;
Indira Gandhi as the leader of a nation at
war-these are all rather different images
that are nonethelesssociallyacceptablefrom
the standpointof a society addressingitself
to 'modernisation',and they certainly have
none of the ambiguitythat characterisesthe
contemporary attempt to market a speci-
fically 'woman's' cigarette.
The constant reiteration of certain
associations has the ideological function of
making(culturallyconstructed)genderroles
appear as 'natural' and the consumer pro-
ducts concerned 'naturally' and self-
evidentlyfeminised.The shy bride is clad ill
brilliant scarlet, and weighed down with
ornate gold jewellery, The housewitfe is
surrounded by a set of modern kitchen
appliances, or is seen busily at work on her
sewing machine. A college girl in tight and
revealing salwar-kameez poses beside a
bicycleor a scooter (a genreexpresslyentitl-
ed 'cycle-wz'i' or 'scooter-wAli').A film star
of yesteryear stands before an array of
feminine associated products and beauty
aids.9
All very 'natural'. But the innocence is
destroyedwhen one details the items involv-
ed: fine clothes,jewellery,cosmetics,lingerie,
kitchen appliances and utensils, sewing
machine,watch,table fan, TV, cycle,scooter,
sofa set, dressingtable and coffee table-in
-fact, the complete range of lower middle
class dowry items of the day, minus the
double bed. The womanis assimilatedto this
range of status symbol consumer products
.and in the process she is commoditised
herself. Neither the bicycle nor the scooter
is a 'feminine' product per se. They provide
the occasion or excuse for display of the
female form, no doubt, and no doubt also
psychologists would happily construe this
image as a projection of the Indian male's
fa-,tasyof female 'power'.But essentiallythe
bfcycleand the scooter,and the radio or TV
which may occupy the same frame,are con-
sumer items that typicaily go along with
women in the material transactions that
accompany Indian marriage.1
The tropising of women as signiiiers of
the national society is a more compiex, and
to my mind more interesting,phenomenon,
especially so because of the elision of the
sacred and the secular throughout th genre.
(Continuingsthe projectbeg-uninlt;e nine-
teenth century, the archive of caiendar art
Economisc and Political Weckly A i-,
establishes a 'tradition' for the present, mother Yashoda,especiallyof the disciplin-
recognisescertaintexts as authoritative,and ing of the 'Butter-stealer',are among the
legitimatescertainideal roles. In additionto most charmingof the whole corpusof calen-
these positive moves, it also expresslyor by dar art. Again it makes no sense to discuss
opposition creates a set of negative stereo- the 'sexualpolitics' of the relationship,even
types. Within the hegemony of values so if one conceded that the ideological com-
established, difference appears almost as pulsion for motherhood is experiencedby
resistance,and invitesinterrogation.In fact. some Indian women as very constraining.
the plurality of images offered in the total Interpretationsof the Hindui pantheon
corpus provides alternatives within and frequently contrast 'consort deities' (those
againstthe homogenisingimperativesof the representedalong with their husbands)with
modern mass media. Whetherone chooses goddesses representedalone, and similarly
to locate these alternatives in (i) non- 'mother-goddesses'depicted with children,
Sanskriticinfluences;in (ii) popular or folk and those without [e g, Wadley 1975; 1977,
cultures; or (iii) in especially resilient Babb 1975]. The criterion underlying this
elements in the indigenous 'tradition',still classification is a differentiation in powveror,
untouched by modern processesof hybridi- alternatively, relative 'autonomy' of male
sation or westernisation is not important. control,these beingthe chief concernsof the
Whatis importantis the 'space'thus created women's liberation movement.
for different articulations, and this has The powerful mother goddess (Durga/
special relevanceto the question of women. Kali)is an importantfigurein the pantheon,
In fact, reading the general social science at once nurturant and destructive. This
literatureon the 'status of women' in India imagerytends to invadethe seculardomain
leavesone ratherunpreparedfor some of the whenever the themne of patriotism is
propositions that are very insistently stated involved: the earthly mother/the mother
in the calendar art medium. Two of these, goddess/the 'Motherland'/BharatMata all
I feel, deserve special attention: (i) the coalesce. To cite an example from the
emphasis on the brother-sisterrelationship; archive, a set of national heroes (Shivaji,
and (ii) the celebrationof 'love'betweenthe Rana Pratap, Subhash Chandra Bose,
sexes-of the female devotee for the male Bhagat Singh, ChandrashekharAzad) sur-
deity, or of man for womln, inside or out- round the image of a beautiful woman car-
side marriage. It would seem that not all ryinga lamp. By way of clarificationthe text
relatioils of the sexes can be construed as tells us that 'the lamp of the heroes burns
sites for the exerciseof patriarchalpower, in the templeof the Mother'.One recallshere
and that interpretationof gender relations also M F Husain's response to the declara-
in terms of 'sexual politics' alone does not tion of Emergency:a triptych of paintings
do justice to the totality of the.archive. showing Indira Gandhi as the goddess
Not unexpectedly, episodes from the Durga.The imagerywas actuallyanticipated
Mahabharataand Ramayanatake pride of in bazaar art at the time of the Bangladesh
place, parallelingand evoking the television war, when Indira Gandhi took on the role
serials. To the extent that 'tradition' and of the goddess to vanquish the country's
'femininity' are defined together with foes.
referenceto such classic texts,the Ramayana The relationship of brother and sister-
appears to offer the most consistent set of the exchange of metaphysical for material
feminine role images, focused on the figure protection-is prominentlyenactedin calen-
of Sita: Sita accompanies Rama into exile; dar art. A possiblereasonis that the Bhaiya-
Sita is abducted by Ravana; the return to Dhuj-festival (one wNhichis thought to be
Ayodhya; the ordeal(s) of fire, and so on. assuming increasingimportancein contem-
The emphasis is clearly on the themile of porary India)" follows close on Diwali,
wifely fidelity and subordination,aindalter- when the calendars are normally sold and
native renderingsof the narrativeare sup- distributed. However, it is clear fronmthe
pressed [Chakravarti1983]. representations that the brother-sister
The inverse image is that of the 'vamp', relationshipis associated with the Rajput/
a stock figureof the commercialciniema[see Kshatriya/non-Brahimiintradition within
Nandy 1981].At one level,the vanipappears Hinduism. I am remindedof one calendar
as the pin-up par excellence,displayinigher in particular.The foregroundis occupiedby
body before tie male gaze, a 'sex object' a brother and sister engaged in the rakhi-
availableto male appropriation.At another tying ritual.To the rear,witnessingthem, sits
,. I, ii.-vever, this construction clearly an old Rajput man, gun across his knees,
misses the whole ambienceof the temptress' whiilea rightly-deckedwoman(suhagin-type)
role, for here it is she who has the power, looks on. In the background one sees
and the male who is in dangerof appropria- evidence of agricultural prosperity-
tion. The distinction is telling! bountiful fields and a tubewell.ILalBahadur
The life of Krishna, tying in with the Shastri (a rare figure in calendar art), who
Mahabharata,is a second importantsource apparentlycoined the slogan Jai jawan, jai
of authoritative imagery. Of particuilar kisan, pesides at the top of the painting.
interest with reference to gender is the The total complex of features representsa
privileging of the mother-son relationship statementof what one might call the Rajput
as one of affection, tenderness and play- 'ethos', within which the brother-sister
fulness, sometimes approachingeroticism. relationship occupies a special place.
Represenstations of Krishna and his foster- Every.year's collection of calendar art
28, 1990 WS-45
yields a representationof Mirabai,ecstatic, sumer societies would seem to indicate. It which constructionsof national ethos and
abandoned, oblivious to social decorum in is perhaps too earls! to answer this understandingsof womanliness may tie in
her devotion to Krishna. The picture is question-at least on the basis of the archive with each other in a single medium as
almost erotic. Cynics might say, with some at hand-but some trends may be noted mutually entailing aspects of a total iden-
justification,that the storyof Mirais simply nonetheless. tity. The consequences of this conjunction
expioitedby the manufacturerto exhibitthe Recall Ravi Varma's famous painting, tor Indianwomanhoodhavestill to be spelt
female body for the voyeur-buyer.At the 'The galaxy' which presented the theme of out. But in any case the suggestion is that
same time, however, the uninhibited 'unity in variety' through th; representation ivisibility' may be as problematic a
sensuality of Mirabai suggests an alter- of women from different communities aud phenomenonas 'invisibility'from the point
native, relatively un&xploredparadigm of regions of the country. It appears that the of view of women.
femininity,2 as does the cternallove story celebrtion of rcgionial diversity is 1nows
of Radha and Krishlna,or of Shah Jahan rather muted in caleldlir art. Ih1ollng it is Notes
and Muumtazl3egum. Female sexuality, imiplicit in thc total archive (i C,onel can finlld [ihis paper is based oni an illuistratedlecture
transparenthere, conitrastswith the noi- fenminine tigures in recognisisably regional presenitc(lat the V KrishinaMemorial Seminar
sensuality of the faithful wife/devoted attire-1Punjabi, Kashmiri, Maharashtrian, on 'Practices of Represeiltation in Art and
imothcr,and also with the negative and etc), one no loniger finds the deliiberate. History' held at N1irandaHiouse,University of
dangeroussensualityof the vamp/temptress.` assemnblage of regionial types as a way otf Dellhi,Marchi22-23, 1990. 1 am grateful t tite
In the popular cineina, the sensual woman statinig thie mnessageof nationlal unity. (The participalnlts at thlizat
semtiinarfor their comments,
appearsto be an unsable role: she muLlstbe Republic Day Paiade, however, still con- and especially to UmiaChakravartifor her en-
scriptedultimatelyas wife or vamp,or conle fornmsto its old format.) On the one hand couragement itlihc project from its inception.]
to a sticky end as a categoricalembarrass- there is the consolidation of a rieNscom-
ment. Here, in calenidarart, she enjoys a promise/cosmopolitan type of femininity-a I By 'calendar'or 'bataar' art I referto a par-
brief moment of legitimnacydespite the wooman marked by her class characteristics ticular style otf popular colour reproduc-
overall thrust of the medium towards the rather than regional origins: fair, plumpish, tions, with sacred or merely decorative
classical, the Aryan, the Brahmanicaland well-groonmed,ssharp-featLred, ornamented; motifts,whilchmay or may not have an ac-
the bourgeois. In any case, like the brother- tual 'caletndar'attached to or printed on
both demure and confidenit (an ideal Air
themii.(It is not known precisely when the
sister relationshiip,the love of the devotee India hostess). Other classes and groups (the
'calendar' becanmeassociated with the par-
and the passionof true loverslie ouitsidethe fisher girl, peasant girl, tribal girl, industrial tietilar style of representation.) Calendars
hierarehicalparadigm provided by Manu. worker), typical stibjects of 'genre-painitiig', are usually marketed at the line of the
the single text which is meant to suimmate are appropriated within this aesthetic Diwali festival, in advance of the solar new
the quialitv ot relation.s of the sexes and the scheme, or clearly identified as 'other'. Alter- year,though posters in the calendar'artstyle
'status ot women' undler the traditional natively, a single temlininie tfigure-Bharat mnaynow be found all the year round. The
Hindu ideological order,against wvhichthe Nlata/Durga/Indira Gandhdi-occupies the art style extends beyond calendars and
women s movement is pitted. These ar-c mlap of Inidia, holdinig aloft the tricolour/ posters. In fact, it is a general 'kitsch' style
themes which should suirely commrzand trident in a sign of symbolic protection, which cani be found on street hoardings,
furthlerinterrogation. receiving the sacrifice of her 'sons' in a filmiiposters, sweet boxes, fireworks (again
In its celebration of the brother-sister gestUreoft blessing. for Diwali), wall paintings and advertising,
bond and of the relationiof true lovers, In contrast, the thcme of the unity, anid in the knick-knacks sold in fairs and
calendarart can appearas a site of resistance cqliValCnce and cquality ot all religionis has melas. rhe literature on calendar art tS
apainst dominant (patriarchal)ideologies, beci an imnportanltalnd continiuous one-at rather leagre. I can suggest only Varma
past anid present, While thle con1spi cuIOuLs lealst unltil recently, This is implicit in the 1976 and (Ghosh 1978. WVorks on popular
representation of femlalc 'power' confronlts range of caiendar art representations, bazaar paintings (e g, Archer 1953) are
the frequentconstructionof lndianiwomen including specifically Hinidu, Muslim, useful, as also are the studies on the founder
as powerless anldsubordinated.There is a Christian, Jaim,Sikh and Buddhist calendars of the style, Ravi Varma(1848-1906). Here
I have relied heavily on two excellent new
danger here, however,of romanticisingthe (and within these categories, a certain cater- stuidies-Thakuirta 1986 and Kapur 1989-
muediumsimply because it is iion-elite. IPut ing to sectarian allegiance), and explicit in and ailsoon Chaitanva 1960. I have not been
crudely,one may be makingthe assumption the frequent consociation of different com- able to conlsult Venniyoor 1981, on which
(shall we call it the 'subaltern fallacy'?) that munitarian motifs within a sitigle framne.B3t both T'hakurtaand Kapur base many of
the masses can do no wrong, or that in the how this consociation is actively rendered is their observations. Analyses of Indian
case they do, it is because they are a crucial coinsideration, for the 'message' popular cinema, particularly of the
manipulated by the power of the state, by may be one of parity, or it may be one of imythological' film as a type, are both
certainclasses, by vested interestsor by the appropriation within an hegemonic order. useful and suggestive. See, e g, Kapur 1987;
imperatives.of technology.'4 In fact, in In one case I have in mind, visual and text Das 1981; Nandy 1981, etc.
order to survive, the calendar art industry appear to indicate the parity of all paths to 2 See my discussion of the paralleldiscourses
must give the public what it wants (print spiritual enlightenment: Hindu, Muslim, on widow-immolation in India and foot-
orders may run iilto a million); but at the Sikh and Christian women are portrayed binding in China (Uberoi 1990).
same time it can manipulateor createthose again.st the background of their places of 3 Present day 'classic comics' for children
wants to some extent, accordingto the con- worship (temple, mosque, gurdwara, (Antar ChitraKatha)and storybook presen-
straintsof the culturalcode and the limita- church), the four paths converging to a single tations of Indian culture for children go
tions of the mode of representation. 'lamp'.'6 In another case, male represen- over mnuchthe same ground.
4 I may have misconstrued Kapur here, but
My own feeling is that the genreof caleni- tatives of the four communities (differen-
I find her categories suggestive.
dar art representsa groundon whichthe ten- tiated by their headgear) partake of the milk 5 According to Kapur [1989: 79, n 281 the set
sion between'unity'and 'variety',or between dripping from the udders of a cow. The text comprised: two paintings of upper-caste
'hegemony' and 'pluralism'is played out, ka nata hai;gai hamari
reads:Desh-dharami Kerala women; two paintings of women
especially-though not exclusively-through niata hai, and confirms the appropriative from the Muslim courts; a Parsi bride; a
the use of women as signifiers.The issue is message of the visual. Maratha girl with her domestic deity; a
wl,ther or nlot the tension is a stable at- The corpus of calendar/bazaar art is Tamil Brahmin 'daughter-in-law'; an
tribute of the genre, or whether its resolu- open-ended, the nation an entity still under Ayyangar lady; a group of South Indian
tion is tending in a particulardirection, as negotiation, and 'femininity' a quality in the gypsies; and a Bombay nauitchgirl.
the mechanicalapplicationof some theories process of reconstruction. What one has 6 The 'archive' on which this discussion is
of the roleof the mass mediain moderncon- tried to indicatehere,however,is the way in based is a set of several hundred calendars

WS-46 Economic and Political Weekly April 28, 1990

 collected over the last 25 years by J P S jee, eds, Women in India and Nepal, Jai Santoshi Ma' India InternationalCentre
Uberoi and myself, with somrepieces from Canberra, Australian National University Quarterly, special issue on Indian Popular
the 1950s. Some of the calendars have been press, pp 1-20. Cinema 8 (1), 43-55.
put on to film by Param Vir, Safina Uberoi, Altekar, A S 1962: The Position of Women in - 1989a: 'Narrativising the Male and the
and Janaki Ganesh. Hindu Civilisation:From Pre-History to the Female in Tulasidas' Ramayana', Paper
7 The most usual procedure, however, is that Present Day, 2nd ed, Delhi, Motilal presented at the Workshop on 'The Female
a firm places an order with a wholesaler, Banarsidas. Body and Gender Identity',School of Social
who arranges to print the firm's name, logo Archer, W G 1953: Bazaar Paintings of Sciences, JNU, January 18-19(Forthcoming
and other publicity material on the calen- Calcutta. London: Her Majesti'aStationery in a collection to be edited by Ashis Nandy).
dars. The calendars are than distributed to Office for the Victoria and Albert Museum. - 1989b: 'Draupadi and the Breach of the
clients. Babb, Lawrence A 1975: A Divine Hierarchy: Private and the Public', paper presented at
8 In a recent lecture, educationist Krishna Popular Hinduism in Central India, New the Indo-French Seminar on U'bmen:
Kumar has described one aspect of the York, Columbia University Press. Myths and Rights, Nehru Memorial
treatment of little girls in this society as Banerjee, Nirmala 1988: 'Methodology for Museum and Library, New Delhi,
'cutification' perhaps a reflectorof the sen- Historical Research: Explorations in November 16-17, 1989.
timentality provoked by the prospect of the Economic History of Women' in Maitreyi Gatwood, Lynn E 1985: Devi and the Spouse
girl's eventual transfer to another family. I Krishnaraj, ed Evolving New Goddess: Women, Sexuality and Marriage
find the idea ot' cutification' quite useful Methodologies in Research on Women's in India, New Delhi, Manohar.
for interpreting the images of girl children Studies, SNDT Women's University,.Con- Ghadially, Rehana, ed 1988 Women in Indian
in the contemnporarymass media. Think of tributions of Women's Studies, 3. Society: A Reader, New Delhi: Sage.
the I love you Rasna' girl! Banerjee, Sumanta 1989: 'Marginalisation of Ghosh, Shalil 1978: 'In Defence of Calendar
9 The products are, as tollows: kitchen knife; Women's Popular Culture in Nineteenth Art', illustratedWeeklyof India, XCIX (13):
steCC saucepan and jug; thermos and glass; Century Bengal' in Kumkum Sangari and 32-35.
bra and panties; toothbrush, toothpaste and Sudesh Vaid, eds, Recasting Women:Essays Juneja, Monica 1991: 'Landscape and Identi-
toilet soap; handbag; talcom powder; face in Colonial History, New Delhi, Kali for ty in Nineteenth Century French Painting',
creams; face powder; lipstick and nail Women. paper presented at the V Krishna Memorial
polish; mirror and comb; and scissors and Benjamin, Walter 1973: 'The Work of Art in Seminar, Miranda House, University of
thread. the Age of 'Mechanical Reproduction', Delhi, 22-23 March 1990.
10 1 was impressed to see most of these items Walter Benjamin in Illuminations London: Kapur,Geeta 1987: 'Mythic Material in Indian
in an anti-dowry hoarding displayed in Fontana/Collins, pp 219-253. Cinema', Journal of Arts and Ideas, 14-15:
Delhi some time ago. In the corner of the Berger, John, et al 1972: Ways of Seeing, 79-108.
frame, along with these items, was an im- Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. -, 1989: 'Ravi Varma:RepresentationalDilem-
age of a woman in flames. The hoarding Bhasin, Kamala and Bina Agarwal 1984: mas of a Nineteenth Century Indian
was subsequeintly remove(l after protest, Women and Media: Analysis, Alternatives, Painter', Journal of Arts and Ideas, 17-18,
since it seeiped possible to construe the and Action, New Delhi: Kali for Women. 59-80.
message of the hoarding as: 'If you do not 'Chaitanya, Krishna 196(N'Ravi Varma',in Lalit Karlekar,Malavika 1989: The Slow lransition
give all these things to VoLirdaughter, this Kala Academy, Ravi Varma, New Delhi, from WVomanhoodto Personhood: Can
is what might happen to her!', despite the Lalit Kala Acadcmy. Education Help? Ceintre for Women's
conspicuous cross through the items. Chakravarti, Uma 1983: 'The Development of Development Studies, New Delhi, Occa-
11 Personal communication, Kumkum the Sita Myth: A Case Study of Women in sional Paper No 16.
Sangari, reflecting on the new fervour that Myth and Literature',Samya Shakti, I (1), Kleinberg, S Jay ed 1988: Retrieving Women's
seems to surround this festival. It is general- 68-75. History: Changing Perceptions of the Role
ly assumed that the new religiosity has - 1988: 'Beyond the Altekarian Paradigm: of Women in Politics and Society, Oxford:
'patriarchising' implications, but the Towards a New Understanding of Gender Berg/Unesco.
enthusiasm for Bhaiya Dhuj may challenge Relations in Early India',Social Scientist 16 Lalit Kala Academy 1960: Ravi Varma, New
this sinmpleformulation. (183). Delhi: Lalit Kala Academy (Contemporary
12 See the Atanushi special issue on women in - 1989: 'Whatever Happened to the Vedic Indian Art Series).
the Bhakti movement, Nos 50-51-52, Dasi: Orientalism, Nationalism, and a Lerner,Gerda 1986:The Creationof Patriarchy,
Januiary to June 1989. Script for the Past' in KumkumSangari and New York: Oxford University Press.
13 See my gloss on a slogan chalked up in a Sudesh Vaid, eds, Recasting Women:Essays Mani, Lata 1989: 'Contentious Traditions:The
Delhii bus for the New Year of 1989: in Colonial History, New Delhi, Kali for Debate on Sati in Colonial India' in
'Beautyfull wife, danger life' (sic) in Uberoi Women. Kumkum Sangari and Sudesh Vaid, eds,
1989. Chakravarti, Uma and Kumkum Roy 1988: Recasting Women: Essays in Colonial
14 1 am thinking here of contemporary 'Breaking Out of Invisibility: Rewritingthe History, New Delhi: Kali for Women,
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WS-48
N O TI C E
FORMl-A
It is hereby notified for the informationof the public that MANALIPETROCHEMICAL LTD
proposes to make an application to the CentralGovernmentin the Departmentof Comparny
Affairs,New Delhi, under sub-section(2) of Section 22 of the Monopolies and Restrictive
Trade Practices Act, 1969, for approval to the establishment of a new undertaking/unit/
division. Brief particulars of the proposal are as under:
1. Name and address of the applicant MANALIPETROCHEMICAL LTD
1, Club House Road,
V Floor, Madras 600 002.
2. Capital structure of the applicant AUTHORISEDSUBSCRIBED PAIDUP
organisation CAPITAL CAPITAL CAPITAL
(in lakhs)
EQUITY 4000 3726 2453.77
3. Management structure of the Sri A C Muthiah, Chairman
applicant organisation indicating the Sri C V R Panikar,Director
names of the Directors, including Sri S P Vairavan,Director
Managing/Whole-time Directors and Sri ChittaranjanDua, Director
Managers, if anv Sri ParasmalLodha, Director
Sri S S Sivaprakasa,Director
Sri M Sivagnanam, Director
Sri G Goswami, Director
Sri R Subramaniam,Director
Sri G Raghavendran,Managing Director
4. Indicate whether the proposal NEW UNIT
relates to the establishment of a new
undertaking or a new unit/division.
5. Location of the new undertaking/ TMNILNADU
unit/division.
6. Capital structure of the proposed NOT APPLICABLE
undertaking
7. In case the proposal relates to the
production, storage, supply, distribu-
tion, marketing or control of any
goods/articles indicate:
(i) Names of ooods/articles 1. Diphenyl Methane Di-isocyanate (MDI)
2. Toluene Di-isocyanate (TDI)
(ii) Proposed licensed capacity 1) 20,000 MTA
2) 10,000 MTA
(iii)Estimated annual turnover Rs. 262 crores
8. In case the proposal relates to the NOT APPLICABLE
provision of any service, state the
volume of activity in terms of usual
measures such as value, income,
turnover, etc.
9. Cost of the project Rs. 380 crores
10. Scheme of finance, indicating the Internalgenerations and borrowings.
amounts to be raised from each
source
Any person interested in tbe matter may make a representation in quadruplicate-to the
Secretary,Departmentof Company Affairs,Governmentof India,ShastriBhavan,New Delhi,
within 14 days from the date of publication of this notice, intimating his views on the
proposal and indicating the nature of his interest therein.
for MANAL]PETROCHEMICAL
LTD
-Sd/-
(E GOVINDAN)
COMPANYSECRETARY
Dated: 24.4.1990.
Economic and Politi al WV6eklyApril 28, 1990