Prose
2. The Awakening of Women (K. M. Panikkar)
1. Annotate the following into about 100 words each : [ 2x 4 = 8 Marks ]
a) Undoubtedly women in ancient India enjoyed a much higher status than their descendants in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
b) From the first days of his movement Gandhiji realized that there was a source of immense untapped power in the womanhood of India …
c) It was a matter of surprise to the outside world that independent India should have appointed women to the highest posts so freely, as members of the Cabinet…
d) The contribution of women to modern India may therefore be said to have led to reintegration of social relationships.
3. Answer the following in about 100 words each [ 2x 4 = 8 Marks ]
a) Why were Indian women in the 19th century were the most backward of all women in the world?
b) But when the moment was actually started, women were everywhere at the forefront. Elaborate.
c) What is the true test of the changed position of women in India.
d) Name some legislative reform mentioned in the essay, “The Awaken Of Women” that seek to establish the equality of women.
Introduction: These lines are taken from the lesson “The Awakening of Women” written by “K.M Pannikka”.
About the author: Kavalam Madhava Panikkar was a statesman diplomat, journalist, historian, and writer. He was educated in Madras and at the University of Oxford. He was a prolific writer and published numerous articles in Malayalam and English.
Context: The Awakening of women is an interesting essay about the position of women in India over time. It shows the transformation of women’s position in India. The role of the Gandhian movement in effecting this change is emphatically established.
Explanation: The article picturizes the position of women in India. It was with Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement that women has come out from behind the ‘purdah’. They were denied education. Child marriages were the order. Once married, women were subjected to many more restrictions. Early maternity, men’s high mortality rates, and the resulting widowhood added to women’s causes collectively condemned women to a pathetically low condition.
Later, the movement for emancipation by the Brahma Samaj and the freedom movement by Gandhiji brought considerable change in the position of women. Women actively participated with men in the freedom struggle.
Gandhi recognized the immense untapped power that women had. He thought that it could rightly be diverted to the work of his heart. rehabilitation of the villages. He strongly believed in the equality of women, and he strongly believed in equality of women, and he wrote a good number of articles in his ‘Harijan’ supporting women’s rights and privileges.
But by the beginning of the 20th century, the concept of education for women had gained momentum. Some of the women tasted the fruits of modern education and started seriously the work of women’s upliftment.
Women got rid of the social bondages of customs and conservatism and came out during the Gandhian movement of Non-Cooperation. Women were seen everywhere at the forefront of the movement. They were Picketing before liquor shops, boycotting foreign cloth, and undertaking Civil- disobedience.
It impacted the administration in a positive way, that it brought many legislative reforms such as the equality of women, their right to independent property, freedom of marriage, education, and employment. The raising of the age of consent for marriage are some other important pieces of legislation.
Although they fought against the British equally with men, they couldn’t get good posts and positions in independent India.
Conclusion: Thus the article deals with the status of women over various periods. Rights have been reinforced. Thus, women’s contribution to modern India resulted in important development.
OR
Introduction: These lines are taken from the lesson “The Awakening Of Women” written by “K.M Pannikka”.
About the author: Kavalam Madhava Panikkar was a statesman diplomat, journalist, historian, and writer. He was educated in Madras and at the University of Oxford. He was a Prolific writer and Published numerous articles in Malayalam and English.
Context: The Awakening of women is an interesting essay about the position of women in India over time. It shows the transformation of women’s position in India. The role of the Gandhian movement in effecting this change is emphatically established.
Explanation: The article picturizes the position of women in India. The writer points out that women in ancient India had a good place in society. The 18th and 19th centuries witnessed a drastic fall in women’s condition. An upward movement in their position started during the prolonged struggle for freedom. The Gandhian movement affected the most spectacular transformation in women’s progress in the National Movement. Women’s achievements and their role and contribution in various fields impacted legislation and administration in a positive way.
Although they fought against the British equally with men, they couldn’t get good posts and positions in independent India.
Conclusion: Thus, women’s contribution to modern India resulted in important development.
