Rashsundari’s Biography Written by BinodiniDasi

Lowly, ignorant and woman- they both were, as they themselves proclaimed. Whether it was just a humble proclamation in order to escape any kind of censure being what they were –RashsundariDebi, an upper caste woman who had dared to read and write, and BinodiniDasi, an actress, a concubine; or they really felt being so, is for us to wonder. Being a lowly and ignorant woman was both the apparent cause of the self censorship they put upon themselves and also the weapon to guard them against judgments. Writing an autobiography was a courageous task to do for both of them. For Rashsundari, merely the task of reading or writing was a daring act as women of that time were not supposed to do so and to think of writing an autobiographywas more of a kind of rebellion. Rebellious indeed also was the autobiography written by BinodiniDasi, a high class prostitute actress, whom the public loved to watch on stage but failed to respect in real life.

Rashsundari’s autobiography, though it tells the seemingly insignificant and unremarkable life of a housewife, is epochal as it is the first autobiography by a Bengali women and probably the first full scale autobiography in the Bengali language. Her mundane life was woven in a sacred pattern, and thus her autobiography as TanikaSarkar writes, is an example of a modern woman’s devotional quest. A women’s writing is supposed to reflect some gendered evidences like sentimentality and feminine sensibilities which is visible amply in Binodini‘s narrative but Rashsundari choses to do away with them. While Binodini does talk about how she liked to be decked up and how passionate she was about theatre, Rashsundari only talks about her fears and anxieties, the only desire being to be able to read ChaitanyaB...

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... passion with respect was an uphill task,still she had to give up her passion for respect which she did not fully get and writing an autobiography for her was not that easy as it could have put many influential people to unease.Yet she went on and ended up writing about her life as well, though she was asked by her mentor to only write about her life on stage, that too mainly to keep her busy. Nevertheless, they both deserve a salute for their ambitious and courageous effort to take charge of their lives, to decide how they would like to be remembered through their narrative and open their lives up for the public view.

Works Cited

Bhattacharya, Rimli(Ed & Trans). My Story and My Life as an Actress.New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1998. Print.

Sarkar, Tanika. Words to Win. The Making of Amar Jiban: A Modern Autobiography. New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1999. Print