Bedanabala

Spoken In The First Person These Reminiscences Of A Woman Whose Mother Was Rescued From A House Of IllRepute Construct A History Not Often Documented. A History That Runs Parallel To The Official Narrative Of IndiaS Modernism And Nationalism That Of Women Outcast Because They Are Fallen. Starting From The Late Nineteenth Century The Voice Of Bedanabala Bears Witness To The Experiences Of Many Women Who Find Themselves Outside The Safety Of Domestic Walls And Thereafter Make Their Lives In The Only Ways Open To Them In A Society Where Women Did Not Work Except As Domestic ServantsEntertaining Men Developing Liaisons Interwining Their Dreams And Passions With The Destiny Of A Country Struggling For Independence And Questioning Oppressive TimeWorn Social Custom. Bedanabala Written In 1996 Seeks To Empathize With A Segment Of Society Condemned Even By Other Women As Beyond The Bounds Of Decency And Social Acceptance.