Hello, I am Himanshi Parmar, student of MK Bhavnagar University. This blog i have written in a response to Thinking Activity, Which is a Part of my academic Work. Which we get after each unit. In this blog, i am going to discuss about Some important question from two stories 1) Sultana's Dream and 2) Sultana's Reality.
Sultana's Dream :-
First here, i am sharing the animated YouTube video of story Sultana's dream by Rokeya Hussain.
Sultana's Dream is a 1905 Bengali feminist utopian story in English, written by Begum Rokeya, also known as Rokeya Sahkawat Hossain, a Muslim feminist, writer and social reformer from Bengal. It was published in the same year in Madras-based English periodical The Indian Ladies Magazine.
According to Hossain, she wrote Sultana's Dream as a way to pass the time while her husband, Khan Bahadur Syed Sakhawat Hossain, a deputy magistrate, was away on a tour. Her husband was an appreciative audience and encouraged Hossain to read and write in English. Thus, writing Sultana's Dream in English was a way of demonstrating her proficiency in the language to her husband. Sakhawat was very impressed by the story and encouraged Hossain to submit the piece to The Indian Ladies Magazine, which published the story for the first time in 1905. The story was later published in book form in 1908.
Sultana's Reality :-
Sultana’s Reality is an interactive multimedia story that explores the relationship between women and the colonial education movement in India using archival imagery, women’s writing and history.Drawing its title from Sultana’s Dream, the 1905 science-fiction short story of feminist utopia by Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossein, Sultana’s Reality explores the inner lives of the first generation of women to be educated in pre-independent India.
This is the link of the story "Sultana's Reality".
1] Concept of Andarmehel - The universe of women.
In the earliest part of nineteenth century, all the women had forced to lock herself in Andarmehel. Andarmehel is also known as zenana. Andarmehel is a place from whomen could not step out of. It is like a cage for them in which they have to live for his entire life. Also men could not allow to step in to Andarmehel. Andarmehel was believed for a safety of women and the mentality is that women must live within the four walls then only she consider as well manned and cultured.
The only source for them to know about outer world was servant womans which were work for them and also allowed to go out. All the women who were lived in Andarmehel was a rich and having all the pleasure there in zenana. They did not had to worry for clothes, food, work so at one point some women were happy that they have secured life. But at other point some were think that zenana is like gold plated cage and they wanted Reformation. So this is what we call here is concept of Andarmehel, Where in ancient time women had forced to live for lifetime.
2] Observation of Women and their Connection with books.
Men used to never interfere in what is happening in Zenana.mainly women were pass their time by gossiping, and dancing, singing, making jokes about their husbands, and at a point of time men came to know that their womans in Zenana lost their manners. And this all make them come together to think that what way they should choose to get back their women on track. So they come together and decided that they give women education, and to that they named "Naram Naram Education".
In that to cultivate their "sati bhav", "Stri - Sabhava", "Pativrata Dharma" they gave them books to read which were follow this particular morals and aims. But the educators know well that they should be very careful, unless their expectations got out of hand. Men teach the women only to read not to write. And any of them dare to write anything they cancelled it arrogantly because men were strongly belive that to wrote something is only work of men not, women should not write. But as time goes on women started rebelling and the rebellion started with the education and books given them. They started understanding that what is written is not supposed to right hundred present. And also started writing their own stories in. Which they did not followed the traditional concepts of "Pativrata", "Sati Bhava" and all.
3] Compare narratives of both the stories.
Sultana's reality is a prequel of Sultana's dream. Sultana's dream is a dream sequence and a story of women authorized imaginary world. At a point of time when women were forced to lock themselves in Zanana or Andar Mahal and ristricted from social life and outdoor works. One Muslim Lady saw a dream in which women are free to go out and to roam around the city, and men are forced to stay indoor. In this story writer try to make utopian world's imaginary, where there is no gender boundaries and each one get equal position in all the field like social, political,economical, religious, and all. In this story we find two female characters one is a Lady who dreamed of freedom from Zenana. And other is sara, she is a scientific researcher and imaginary character who is free, independent and who believes that women is all the way better than male. Also she shows superiority of Women over men.
Where eles, Sultana's Reality is the story, that is told through animated video, graphics, gif’s, comics, collages and other digital art forms made by collating, re-mixing, re-interpreting and re-imagining traditional visual imaginations of the female form. It tries to explore the multiplicity of women’s history and also image making – the ways in which it is told and remembered. Sultana’s Reality is perhaps an exercise in questioning history. Not the history of the image, but a history that is constructed with the image.
Thank you! I hope my blog will be helpful to you. Comment your views and queries if any.
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