Wijnen, M. Elise

English

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 12 | Number 1 Article 2January 1944Where Purdah Bars the WayM. Elise WijnenFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationWijnen, M. Elise (1944) "Where Purdah Bars the Way," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 12: No. 1, Article 2.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol12/iss1/2TP& LINACRE QUARTERLY WHERE PURDAH BARS THE WAY BY SISTER M. ELISE WIJN~N, S.C.M.M., M.D.· "Doctor, there's a man here who wapts yj:m to come and see his wife. fle has a gari (carriage) with him. Can you go out now?" "Yes, indeed, Sister. I'll be over ip a minute. What is the matter with the patient?" "He didn't say, but she has been ill for 11 long tiwe, not seriously though. She cannot come to the dispensary because of purdah." "All right. .Just get out the usual things thep for a complete examination. I'd like to take a purse. Can you spare Joseph-ine?" "Surely, I'll tell her right llway." In a few minqtes all is ready. The man, a tall, well-dressed, po-lite :Mohammedan, ushers the two of us intp a small narrow carriage, puts in our bags and gives an or-dei· to the CO/lehman. With a jingle of harness the horses start out, through the hospital gates into thf! crowded Patna bazaar &treets to qur unknown destina-tion. No \j.se asking too many questioqs. The husband wouldn't like to discuss his wife's troubles in public and names and addresses wouldp't me11n a thing to us. It is early afternoon and the bazaar is at its busiest. In the ~hallow open shops the proprietors anQ customers face each other, comfortq,bly squatting on a mat on the ~oor, haggling and alter-cating ami11bly. Next door a dtt-rai (tailor) sits cross legged at his pand-sewing machine, stitch-ing away at a man's long-tailed shi.rt. A steady stream of buyers, loafers and travellers passes our carriage on both sides, fat and wealthy Hindus rubbing shoulders wit\1 naked beggars and filthy coolies. Our coachman keeps up a constant shout of "He bhail!" (Loo)< out, mister.) And "Bacho!" (Get out of the way), interspersed with tongue-clacking and whip-cr~cking, none of which makes any impr~ssion on anyone, least of all on the jog-trotting horses! At last we turn into a narrow side lane and shortly afterwards we stop in front of a blank wall. The husband rides up on his bi-cycle and motions us to a tiny doQrway at the far end of the wall. We pass into pitchdark alleys and stumble over the uneven mud floor, until finally the man lifts up a piece of sacking at the end pf the corridor, letting in the light from the central patio. From thep on we pass through the ver-anqah, around the corner, into the women's quarters. Here the man halts and gives a shout. Several older women and half a dozen chil-dreq come tumbling out to stare at the strangers. The man brushes them aside, hands the bag to one of the women and instructs her to conduct us to the patient. We pass through several rooms, littet•cd with charpoya, clothes and brok~n toys and come at last to a dark narrow alcove, almost com-0 ( 1' H E L I N A C R E 9 U A R T E R L Y pletely filled with two charpoys. the situation at once, so with a The one in tne corner bears the serious face I go through all the patient, stretched out on derries motions of a physical examinatioQ, (mats) and pillows, while the near the patient and relative watching charpoy is the squatting place of every movement with avid inter-a couple of relatives and visitors, est. Just as I thought, not a thing all engaged in the traditional In- wrong but slight anemia and flab-dian art of "holding hands" with by muscles. the patient! ~o sickroom is com- While Josephine brings a lot(l plcte without this group of com- (brass vessel) with water for my miserators anp professional crepe- hands and re-packs the instrument hangers! It btkes a little time and bag, I meditate on how best to ex-persuasion, brt between us Jose- pl~in to the patient the root of phinc and I manage to clear the her troubles. The difficulty lies decks for action. The women do in the fact that this woman is the not like it; tliere are no secrets in victim of circumstances. She is a an Indian zenana, and they want Mohammedan, and thus shut up to witness the strange doctor's ex- inside four rooms and .a courtyard amination in ~rvery detail. Privacy from one end of the year to the is an unkno~·n luxury in India. other, the outside world a sealed With a sigh and a scowl they fi- bopk ... or rather, any kind of naljy give illt to the memsahib's a book, for she cannot read! She queer ideas, and the curtain closes is well-to-do, and so cut off from behind them, with the exception of physical labor of any kind apart the mother-in-law who is permitted from dressing up ... with no place to stay to se1:1 that justice is done. to go! Worst of all she has no Josephine pulls the near charpoy chjldren and is thus the butt of flat against the wall and I wiggle criticism or pity among the in between tj1e two beds and sit women-folk-several sisters-in-law down at the ~dge of one of them. with three or four babies apiece, Ten minutes of patient spade work perhaps a second wife or the follow. At tpe end, the diagnosis threat of one. is obvious even without !!lying a Naturally and almost inevitably, finger on the patient's pulse; mar- she has found a way out of her ried for twclye years, no children, dilemma: ill health. Thus she is chronic ill he11lth, headache, back- provided with an inexhaustible ache, insomnia, no appetite, ting- source of interesting small talk; ling of hands and feet, always she secures the sympathy of her tired and deFressed, and a dozen h4sband and a respite from her more trifling complaints. None of mothc1·-in-law's highly vocalized them point to a textbook illness, displeasure and manages to steal but all of tlH~m together are quite the scene from her more privileged enough to take all the joy out of CO)llpanions, basking in the lime-life. It woulrl never do to explain li9ht for as long as it pleases her r .~ 1 T#E LINAORE QUARTERLY to recliqe op a charpoy and moan! .i\ll tl}is is very far from saying tP,at she is deliberately shamming an illnj!SS. Sh!! is merely making the most of her minor complaints, brougltt on by her lack of exer-cise, heavy indigfstible food devoid of vitamins, lack of fresh air and Jlbove all l~~tck of interest in life, with its inevit!ll>le aftermath of boredom and brooding. But where to find the words to put all th~se observations into language intelligible to such a pa-~ient? The task is formidable, pot to Sf\.Y futile. Even if she could be made to understand the need of exercise an~ fresh air, of taking an interest 'in things outside her own n!lrrow self, in those more miserable apd helpless than she, how could one lone Mohammedan purdah woman go against tradi-tions, surroundings and mother-in-law apd radically change her outlook on life as well as her hab-its of living? It cannot be done, that's aU. Her own inertia and mental dullness, the products of her upbringing, are against her, apart from all other obstacles. With a sigh I decide to be prac-tical and submit to the inevitable. l reassure her in detail about the result of the examination. I de-scribe thl! advantages of fresh air, such as can be obtained in a dusty city by opening the windows, sit-t jng iq the patio and sleeping on t~e roof. I prescribe a diet down to its minutes t components, insist-ing on fresh fruits, whole wheat c/Lttpatties t~nd dairy products, cutting out heavy sweets and fti I spiced meats sw1mmmg m oil. I promise to send an American tonic, full of blood-building min-erals and appetite-stimuhtting vi-tamins. Then I make the first move to go1 only to be overwhelmed, as ex-· pected, by a fresh avalanche of questions, objections and J:emon-strances, both from the patient anq her relative. Resignedly I sit dowq again to discuss the advis-ability of an operation and a stay in the hospital to receive a course of injections. The hospital trip is promptly vetoed by the mother-in-law (I knew it!), but the injec-tions are more attractive and will help to impress the household. By writ.ing a prescription for the am-pules and promising · to send a nurs~ every other day to give the injections, we finally manage to escape. 'fhe husband is waiting outside, anq again I debate the possibility of explaining the true state of af-fairli. At last I decide against it. It would be rank cruelty to a per-son who cannot change the un-chan~eable singlehanded, much as he might want to do so. I drop a few hints, however, . particularly abo1.1t the advisability of adopting a child. I would not dare raise such a suggestion to the womenfolk, for then it would be going against the will of Allah, but this man is more edttCfltcd and able to understand. He promises to think it over and ask the permission of his father and ~lder brothers. It might work, if the wife is amenable. This is not a matter of bodily THE LJNACRE QUARTERLY illness and medical skill. Only a radical chanfte in Indian mental-ity, in habits and beliefs, would cure and prevent this kind of case. There are signs and indications that such a change has started, but the)• are still on the surface and extremely limited. 'Girls' edu-cation, better medical care, miti-gation of ptp·dah, all arc yet in their infancy and slow of growth to boot. Mor~over, Western civili-zation withopt Christianity is a menace rathfr than a blessing. Tj1at would bring with it in·eli-gion, divorce and birth control, ql-caholism and insanity, and the last would be worse than the first. VVith a Christian educatior, howeve1·, with Christian morals a'ld beliefs, the face of India could be changed without destroying its age-old charm of modesty and pa-tiqnce. Naturally speaking, this is a chimera, a castle-in-Spaip, but with God nothing is impos-siqle.-[Reprinted from The Med-ical Missionary, January, 1944.] c SURGEON PERFQRMS FEAT Removes l~risoner's Lung in Tent Bc;hind Battle Area i!" Al9iers Working under the dim light of ll tented operating room as . 11 battle raged only a few miles away, a Fifth Army surgeon recently performed onf! of the most delicate operations ever done under field conditions-tpe complete removal of a human lung. The surgeon was Major Paul Sampson of Oakland, Calif., and the patient was German soldier so badly wounded by shell fragments in the chest that one lung had to be taken out to save his life. Today the patient is alive and doing well. "Althougq already performed manv times in the United States and Britain, jl total pneumonectomy under field and emergency con-ditions in a station hospital is a banner story for the annals of battle-field medicine," an announcement by the Allied headquarters surgeons' office said.-[.:Vew York Times.] ...... -........ --..... I . :~, :_:. tJt;l;~:··• .... , ,.,- \.. ~· I , f'i -. ~ .... ,r;,.p ,_-<,. • · -· ; . ·,. ( -...... .!· -, t F •· - , .. "' -·· • - · ... -.• ';1 ' , . • • ,. ~ ·. "' •• .. i . I I 

Where Purdah Bars the Way

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Where Purdah Bars the Way

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