Contradictory Lives: Baul Women in India and Bangladesh

232 Pages·2011·2.104 MB·English

by  Lisa I Knight

Contradictory Lives
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Contradictory Lives
BAUL WOMEN IN INDIA AND BANGLADESH
Lisa I. Knight
1
3

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Knight, Lisa I.
Contradictory lives : Baul women in India and Bangladesh / Lisa I. Knight.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-977354-1
1. Baul women—Religious life—India—West Bengal. 2. West Bengal (India)—
Religious life and customs. 3. Baul women—Religious life—Bangladesh.
4. Bangladesh—Religious life and customs. 5. Identity (Psychology)—
Religious aspects—Bauls. I. Title.
BL1284.832.W4K65 2011
204'.22082095414—dc22 2010041717
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
{ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS }
This book could not have been completed without the generous support of certain
institutions, teachers, family, and friends. I am particularly indebted to the many
women and men who patiently answered my endless and wandering questions and
were willing to share a bit of themselves. Some of their names are in the pages of
this book, but there are others who are unnamed who have also contributed
immensely. Although my aim has been to have this book be driven by their concerns
and perspectives, I bear complete responsibility for the fi nal result.
The research on which this book is based was funded by Fulbright in 1998–99
and in 2000 for fi eldwork in India and by the American Institute of Bangladesh
Studies during 1999 and again in 2000 for fi eldwork in Bangladesh. Fulbright per-
sonnel gave me many kinds of assistance at various points in my research. In
Kolkata (Calcutta), Uma Das Gupta of the Fulbright Foundation provided me
with helpful conversations and valuable contacts in Santiniketan early in my work.
Fulbright also established my affi liation with Visva-Bharati University in
Santiniketan, which provided me with a large network of scholars who kindly
assisted me in numerous ways, both academic and personal. My fi eldwork in
Bangladesh was diffused over a large area of the country, and the personnel of the
American Institute of Bangladesh Studies in Dhaka assisted greatly in making my
numerous travels more comfortable. I am especially indebted to Mizanur Rahman
Shelley, who always seemed to provide me with ideal contacts in each new region
I explored.
I would like to thank Furman University for the fi nancial support and sabbatical
that allowed me to return to India and write a chapter on songs. For the support
and encouragement I have received from my colleagues in the Religion Department
and the Asian Studies Department at Furman I am very grateful. I wish to also
thank Suresh Muthukrishnan for his work in creating a map for this book.
My academic life was fostered at Syracuse University, and I owe many people
my sincere appreciation for sharing their knowledge and advice with me, several of
whom encouraged me in ways more profound than just academic. I can fi nd no
words to describe my gratitude to my advisor, Susan S. Wadley, who was with me
on many of my most uncertain moments in this journey. She read through several
drafts and offered me critical suggestions and encouragement. Her advice and her
caring nature have been remarkable. Ann Grodzins Gold has given very close and
critical readings of my work and has posed invaluable questions and pushed my
analysis further. John Burdick gave me many words of encouragement throughout
my time at Syracuse and thoughtfully and eloquently proposed several avenues for
vi Acknowledgments
future thought. I am grateful also to Sudipta Sen, whose sharp wit and keen insight
offered many valuable topics to think about. Tazim Kassam gave a close and
immensely helpful reading of my work. Hans Buechler posed thoughtful and
engaging questions early on as I was working through my research proposal.
In India and Bangladesh, several professionals, colleagues, and friends contrib-
uted to helping my project and making my life there much more comfortable. I am
indebted to Ashim Kumar Adhikary of Visva-Bharati, who offered many inter-
esting insights and words of encouragement as I carried out my research. Sasanka
Sekhar Pal, who with his family opened up his home to me during my fi rst visit to
Santiniketan in 1997, also contributed greatly to my understanding of Bauls and
Baul women in the area. My gratitude goes to both these professors and their fam-
ilies for their help and warm hospitality. I am also grateful for the help and friend-
ship of Kirsty Milward, Rahul Bose, Jeanne Openshaw, Hita Brata (Bacchu) Roy,
H. K. S. Arefeen, Amin Hasan Kazi, Sonia Nishat Amin, Soumyo Chakrabarty,
Kumkum and Ranjit Bhattacharya, Rachel McDermott, Donna Wulff, Gerry
Forbes, Mandira Bhaduri, Hena Basu, Trina Purahit Roy, Dilip Ghosh and family,
Manila Chowdhury, Feroz Ahmad, Mohammed Tanjul Ahmad, Rafi q Miya,
Munibor Sarkar, Mujib Sarkar, and Lolan Mohammed. I extend a special thank
you to Parvathy Baul and Ravi Gopalan Nair who created the woodcut that appears
on the book cover. There are many others who contributed in great and small ways;
all of them are signifi cant, and I am grateful.
Other members of the academic community contributed in important ways to
this project. Kalyani Menon was always willing to read whatever I sent her and con-
sistently gave helpful comments and encouragement; Manan Ahmed kindly shared
his expertise; Laura Ring pointed me in some helpful directions; Sandra Comstock
helped me brainstorm during the regular work strikes or h artal̄ s in Bangladesh (and,
with Hugo Moreno, made life in Dhaka enjoyable). I wish to thank Cynthia Read
and Lisbeth Redfi eld of Oxford University Press for all their help along this path of
publication. My anonymous readers for Oxford gave me valuable and very encour-
aging feedback, and I appreciate the time they took to carefully read my work.
I would also like to thank Meena Khandelwal, Sondra Hausner, Joyce Flueckiger,
and Martha Selby for their many insightful suggestions. An earlier version of
chapter 6 appeared as “Renouncing Expectations: Single Baul Women Renouncers
and the Value of Being a Wife,” in Women’s Renunciation in South Asia: Nuns,
Yoginis, Saints, and Singers, edited by Meena Khandelwal, Sondra L. Hausner, and
Ann Grodzins Gold, copyright 2006 Palgrave Macmillan and reproduced with kind
permission of Palgrave Macmillan. Outside the academic community, I wish to
mention Heidi MacKinnon, who left us much too early. Her infectious excitement
and curiosity pushed my analysis further, as she kept asking me to explain to her
what these Baul women renouncers, who appeared so similar to householders, were
actually renouncing. Chapter 6 emerged as an attempt to answer her question.
Finally, my deepest gratitude goes to my family, whose constant support
throughout this intermittently rocky journey has meant the world to me. It is from
Acknowledgments vii
them that I gained my inspiration, perseverance, and desire to learn. My father,
Douglas Knight, taught me to question, to learn about others, and to try to make
sense of the world. I could always rely on him for a close and careful reading of
anything I sent him, and for that I am immensely grateful. My mother, Evelyn
McDaniel, has been a constant source of encouragement, eagerly reading drafts
and sharing in the journey. Without her loving attention to her grandson, some sec-
tions would not have been completed when they were. Whenever I felt discouraged
with my progress, Catherine Snow kindly reminded me of the many times I had
returned home from school as a child to announce that this time I had surely failed
my assignment. Gary McDaniel offered much support and many needed breaks.
My son Stefan has been the most joyful of distractions, returning with me to India
in 2007 and reminding me that even though work is fun there are other important
things in life too. Without a doubt, this book would not have taken the shape it did
without the help of my husband, Ed Yazijian. It is from Ed’s record collection,
which we eventually came to share, that I fi rst heard the heartfelt Baul songs that
gripped my attention. Ed literally shared a number of my journeys, sometimes will-
ingly, at other times reluctantly; his valuable assistance and presence in the fi eld and
upon our return have sustained me. With such deep appreciation for members of
my family, I have a good understanding of why Baul women, even when eagerly
pursuing otherworldly goals, rarely abandon their familial ties.
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{ CONTENTS }
Note on Diacritics, Transliteration, and Names xi
List of Map and Figures xiii
PART 1: Multiple Sites
1. Finding Baul Women 3
2. “Real Bauls Live under Trees:” Imaginings and the Marginalization
of Baul Women 27
3. “I’ve Done Nothing Wrong:” Feminine Respectability
and Baul Expectations 55
PART 2: Negotiations
4. Negotiating between Paradigms of the Good Baul and
the Good Woman 81
5. “Do Not Neglect This Golden Body of Yours:” Personal
and Social Transformation through Baul Songs 114
6. Renouncing Expectations 139
Concluding Thoughts 179
Glossary 187
Notes 191
Bibliography 203
Index 213