Songs help Indian women solve real-world problems

In Kangra, in northwest India, local custom dictates that women must sing at many of the community gatherings and ritual events. Singing is thought to make such occasions especially auspicious.

One genre of songs retells Hindu mythological stories from the women’s point of view.

“In these songs, both legendary women and goddesses take charge of their lives, facing and resolving troubles,” says Kirin Narayan, a UW–Madison professor of anthropology. She will be working on this project as the spring Women’s Studies Research Fellow.

“The texts of these songs relate riveting stories about the imagined lives of women, whether mortal or goddesses,” Narayan says. “I’m interested in the poetry of the texts through the lives of the women performers and how these melodic myths illuminate life situations. As one woman observed, ‘When you know there are troubles even in the homes of the gods, it brings you peace.’”

For example, one song narrates the tension between Queen Rukmani and her mother-in-law. The text remains sympathetic to both women’s points of view. Commenting on how the two tactfully resolved their hurt feelings, a performer said, “Everyone is tested.”

Narayan first visited Kangra since 1975, before she began to study anthropology. She says that this semester her two classes, “Life Stories in Anthropology” and “Anthropology of Religion,” will include some of the research she has since done in the field in India. Narayan has published two previous books on Hindu storytelling; this new one is tentatively titled, “Divine Troubles: Women’s Sung Mythologies from the Himalayan Foothills.” Her WSRC grant, which provides salary support, begins in January.