Sunday, October 05, 2025

Women, Obedience, and Voice: From Manusmriti to Sangam Poetry — and Gandhi’s Own Marriage

Intro

Today, on Gandhi Jayanthi, I found myself reflecting not just on Gandhi’s Experiments with Truth, but also on a bigger question: how have different traditions imagined the place of women? Were they seen as independent voices, or as obedient shadows? From the verses of the Rigveda to the laws of Manusmriti, from the Qur’an to Sangam poetry, and even in Gandhi’s own marriage with Kasturba, the story swings between control and freedom. This essay is my attempt to trace that journey — and to ask what it tells us about our past, and our future.


Women Between Obedience and Independence: A Comparative Reading of Aryan, Islamic, and Tamil Traditions

The way civilizations imagine women reveals the moral compass of their culture. Across India’s Aryan–Hindu texts, Islamic scripture, and Tamil classical literature, we see three different trajectories. Each tradition offers moments of empowerment, but also strong frameworks of control. The contrast between them is striking, and in many ways, Tamil literature stands apart.

Aryan–Hindu Tradition: From Autonomy to Obedience

The earliest layer of Vedic writing, the Rigveda, does not entirely silence women. Names like Lopamudra, Gargi, and Maitreyi still shimmer across the pages, women who composed hymns or challenged philosophers in debate.

Lopamudra’s hymn is remarkable: she speaks of desire and asks her husband not to neglect the pleasures of love. It is a woman’s voice, unapologetic and commanding.

Yet this early autonomy narrows with time. By the age of the Dharmashastras, the script is flipped. Manusmriti declares:

“In childhood a woman is under her father, in youth under her husband, in old age under her sons; she should never be independent.” (5.148)

The Ramayana offers Sita, the pativrata wife whose obedience is her identity, who undergoes fire to prove her chastity. The Mahabharata lets Draupadi question her humiliation, but punishes her independence by making her the spark of war.

Islamic Tradition: Equality in Faith, Dependence in Society

The Qur’an introduced a radical notion in its own context: men and women were equally capable of salvation.

“Whoever does righteous deeds, male or female, We shall grant them a good life.” (Qur’an 16:97)

Women like Khadijah, the Prophet’s first wife, ran thriving businesses; Aisha, his later wife, became a scholar and transmitter of hadith. Yet Qur’an 4:34 described men as “protectors and maintainers of women,” embedding guardianship into law.

“If I were to command anyone to prostrate to another, I would command a woman to prostrate to her husband.” (Hadith, Ibn Majah 1852)

Tamil Tradition: The Voice of Women

In the Sangam corpus, women are not silent figures in the household; they are poets, lovers, mothers, queens. The heroine (talaivi) of Akananuru or Kuruntokai speaks of love, longing, hesitation, even resistance.

Kuruntokai 40: A girl tells her lover — “Do not come openly, the village will talk.” A simple line that shows awareness, negotiation, and choice.

Avvaiyar, Nachchellaiyar, and Andal — their works were canonized. In Purananuru, mothers lament fallen sons with dignity. The Tirukkural praised the wife as greater than wealth. Andal chose God as her beloved; Karaikkal Ammaiyar chose Shiva over worldly life.

A Modern Reflection: Gandhi and Kasturba

Even in modern times, the question of women’s independence versus obedience did not vanish. Gandhi, in his Experiments with Truth, admitted that in his early years he was jealous and controlling, expecting Kasturba to obey. Though he later spiritualized his life through celibacy, he still imposed it on her without consent.

Kasturba resisted in small and large ways, sometimes clashing with his ideals, sometimes joining him in political struggle. She died in detention during the Quit India movement — proof that she carved her own dignity both within and beyond her husband’s shadow.

The Contrasts

  • In Aryan–Hindu shastras, the independent woman is silenced in favor of the obedient wife.
  • In Islamic law, the woman is equal before God but dependent before men.
  • In Tamil tradition, the woman is a partner in love, a mourner in war, a poet in the canon, a saint in devotion.
  • In Gandhi’s own marriage, modern India still replayed the same tension — ideals of truth coexisting with patriarchal control, and a woman resisting within its shadow.

Conclusion

History shows that patriarchal systems often narrow women’s independence into obedience. Yet, Tamil literature stands as proof that a culture can imagine women otherwise — not as shadows of men, but as thinkers, poets, lovers, saints. And in modern history, Kasturba’s defiance alongside Gandhi’s confessions remind us that these questions of equality and obedience are not relics of the past — they still haunt, they still challenge, they still demand our attention.


Closing Note

The tension between obedience and independence in women’s lives has echoed across centuries — in scriptures, in literature, and even in modern leaders’ homes. But how much of that has really changed today? Do we still glorify obedience more than voice?

What do you think? Are we moving towards a world that values women’s voices, or are we still carrying the chains of old traditions? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Logical Hallucinations of a Sunken Cost Fallacy

Why we hold on longer than logic advises—and what we sometimes discover along the way

We like to believe our choices are guided by reason. Yet one of the oldest traps in decision-making is the sunk cost fallacy—the belief that because we’ve already invested time, money, or effort, we must continue, even when logic says otherwise.

The real danger? The logical hallucinations our minds create to justify holding on. They sound rational, but they’re illusions.

Sunday, October 01, 2017

INFY Buyback anatomy

Detailed analysis of the buyback

Total no. Of shares is 230 Cr. Shares. So, the current market capitalization is 230 Cr. x current market price (923)

Infosys is buying back shares worth 13000 Cr at a price of 1150.

So, the number of shares it'll buy back is 13000 Cr./1150
Which is around 11.3 Cr. Shares

The allocation for retail Investors from this 11.3 Cr. Shares is 15%, coming around 1.7 Cr. Shares.

Let me tell who are all retail investors. Whoever is holding shares worth 2 lakhs or less.

Now, let's find out how many shares are held by them, this comes around 2.87 Cr. Shares

Infosys buys back maximum 1.7 cr. Shares from available 2.87 Cr. Shares

So, if everyone participates in the buyback, company will equally buy shares from everyone at a ratio of 1.87/2.87, which is 59.2%. This is called acceptance ratio.

So, if we have 2L worth of shares ( which comes around 200000/923= 216 shares), you can estimate how many shares that Infosys will buy back from you, as below:

1. If everyone is participating,
Acceptance ratio is your number of shares that infy will buy back, which is 216*0.592, coming around 128. This is the worst case.

2. For Infosys to buyback all shares(216) that you have, there must be offer <= 1.7 crores

Strategy to follow:
     Let's take the worst case scenario. 216 shares we hold, and infy will buy back 128 shares. So, after buyback we'll still have 88 shares. To avoid the risk of these shares going down in price, we can either short futures or buy PUT option.

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

DRL - an Interesting proposal on a high tide

My calculations are based on last 6 months moving trend of Dr. Reddy's and the recent news.

It has gone down below the 200 day moving average of 2800. And the news is that FDA has served 13 notices on inspecting it's production units in Srikakulam. Turned out that the notice wasn't that severe. FDA has asked just for an explanation of certain irregularities in the production.

The market reaction went bad as it coincides with the 200 day moving low.

I see a strong support @2600+ levels, if at all it goes there.

I still hold the target of 3200+ by next quarter

Other than that I don't see any major hiccups.


Friday, January 01, 2016

Flood relief work in chidambaram

Pradeep and Gang did a great job. Happy to join them.

We were able to narrow down some villages in and around chidambaram that still need some relief work.

Some snapshots

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Sit on the fence...???..Still doing it?

Ruble did provide an opportunity! I really suspect the discussion that Modiji and Putin had! Felt great about following the most coveted virtue - Patience! Last week was a wild one! When the market was down the second day, everyone said every stock is undervalued... :) I really doubt those so called analysts. Anyhow, some are really mouthwatering, some are tempting but not yet ready to jump in, based on last week's wild run.

Mouth watering - Anant Raj, Escorts
Tempting, but you may feel acidic for sometime - Unitech ( Enter below 15), Firstsource, NOCIL
staple - Motherson Sumi, SBI

Friday, December 05, 2014

Tired??

Too many double tops in the past month, but the post consolidation of second top is dragging.
Below are post double tops

1. ONGC - Already languishing around the support level of 365. If it goes below with big volumes, enjoy the downfall! Go short at any price above 370+. Hmm, for investors....Keep a watch on any positive news and Sell. It is not even holding on to the news for a day. You can always enter at a lower price, if you go purely on chart patterns.

2. Motherson Sumi - Huge Potential, but the chart offers a lot of shorting options. The mood is weakening. Has come down a little from the second top. Cautious ones can clear the counter.

There is one probable long cup and handle :) crompton Greaves...Can clearly go long. I am waiting for a breakout.

Trading Opp.
Patel Engineering - Strong support at early hundreds. Can enter at any price below 108.



Monday, November 17, 2014

Playing it My Way

Probably his legal advisers would have asked him not to say much on match fixing that brought Indian Cricket to its knees..., and there were some other issues that Sachin did not dig deep into. He could have exposed everything, but with a look at his current stature that he being a dignified member of the Upper House and adopting a Village, he has more to do. Like his Father said to him "I'd like you to be remembered as a better Human than a better Cricketer". The Book is so simple and smooth that I could get the real meaning without any assumptions, and so bland that I slept when I was half way through the Book :p
The book is a playback of all his important innings. The early cricketing days were interesting. Sachin claims that he's a naughty kid with some illustrations :) Well, we don't consider those as naughty and those are pretty boring..He should have grown with us (he he). I thought Kambli and he were thick friends during the early days, and expected a lot, considering the rapo of Kambli. He got only two or three pages, alas!
His own version of Sharjah ODIs was surprising. He ducked behind Gilly so that we won't be swept by the sandstorm, while the cricketing world depicted him as a crusader standing tall in the storm and winning the match. Sure he was a crusader in Sharjah, but that's really a good one :).
I was able to latch on till the epic innings by VVS and Rahul, but skipped lot of pages and read only those that meant a lot to him.
A Bible for his fans, and a good book on a collector's shelf, and a good first half and final read.