Stench of Kerosene, by Amrita Pritam and Veronica, by Adewala Maja-Pearce

This essay will consist of a brief background of both the story and the authors and I will compare and contrast both Indian and Nigerian culture and tradition, specifically looking at the woman’s role and duty within their family and community. The short story ‘A stench of kerosene’ retells the story of a young woman called Gulleri, who lives with her husband Manak and his family. Gulleri is unable to bear a child and therefore unable to produce a son, because of this, Manak’s mother arranges him to marry another woman whilst Gulleri is at the yearly harvest fair in her home town of Chamba. When Gulleri hears of manak’s new wife she soaks her clothes in kerosene and sets herself on fire. Author of, a stench of kerosene, Amrita Pritam who was a citizen of India in 1947, was famously known to write about personal experiences and events that occurred in India, therefore it is quite possible she would have been an eyewitness to horrific scenes like the story of Gulleri, So It is quite fitting that she would write a story of this nature. The story Veronica is also about a young woman, who lives with her family in a small village in Nigeria and her friend Okeke who leaves Nigeria to gain an education in England, ten years later he returned to find Veronica was married, with a child and living in acute poverty. Okeke left Nigeria and returned three years later after the destruction of the civil war, where he met Veronica for the very last time, Veronica died in Okeke’s arms. The author Adewale Maja-Pearce was a citizen of Nigeria; in fact his personal life is reflected greatly in this story as he actually grew up in Lagos and attended universities in England.

The saying “A women’s place is in the kitchen”, comes to mind when reading...

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...for Guleri's death and this is why he cannot bear to hold the child and why the baby metaphorically smells of kerosene.

In every culture there are differences and similarities between them. The two young women are from poverty stricken rural communities, one an Indian and the other an African village, the culture and traditions in both countries have moulded the expectations of the male and female roles which dominate the women in these countries. I found these stories extremely interesting to read, especially because I hear stories like these on the news, I find it incredible that even though these stories were written many years ago, they still reflect many women’s lives in India and Africa. The fact that these traditions and cultural ways have not changed shows a lack of outside influences, and how much the people of Africa and India respect these traditions.