Listen to the Heron's Words: Reimagining Gender and Kinship in North India

I am not an anthropologist but according to the authors at the time of writing (1994) it was commonplace among the species to regard northern India as an area where a patrilineal discourse was hegemonic. At marriage a woman leaves her home to live with a man preferably as far away as possible to avoid interference by her family where her status is marginal and where too much devotion to her on her husband's part may be seen as threatening by his family. I am indeed aware that tales of such patterns apply among some immigrants to the UK where I live. However the authors uncover after extended periods of living in Indian villages a whole culture of women's songs and rituals which indicate that matters are not so straightforward, that there are many ways of limiting this male influence and that by habitual attention given to ways of stressing links with the natal village the woman's influence can be adjusted. This volume records many songs and stories which are part of a female culture in India which celebrates these and other strategies which ensure that women's lives are far from being as barren as might be imagined. The authors also tackle the question of whether the subtle subversion they speak of amounts to 'containment' by men but argue there is more to it than that. This is a wonderful book, which opens another world.