Kashibai Peshwe

Part 18- Bodan and the murmur of the Vanshvel

Chitpavan women, similar to those from other Marathi speaking Brahmin communities, would engage themselves in social and religious rituals round the year. Some of these traditions happen to be unique to the Konkanastha community. Baiza, Kashi's handmaid, was helping her mistress dress up for Bodan, a ritual deep-seated in the Chitpavan culture and rooted in the worship of the Mother Goddess or Devi, who was their clan deity.

"Baiza, we think we have put on enough jewellery for ourselves and for the invitees. Don't open any more jewel boxes!" Kashi reminded her. 

"Tai Saheb, it is not every woman's fortune to don such finery. A savaashin like yourself who are privileged to be high born must engage in such vanity, lest you be mistaken for worker bees like us!" Baiza smiled. Her casual remark made Kashi feel uncomfortable. Those few words conveyed so much meaning. Kashi fell silent and let Bajia continue her work silently.

Baiza was born into slavery and had served Kashi's natal home along with her own mother. Just a few years older than Kashi, she had come into the Peshwa household as part of her mistress' dowry. At Radhabai's initiative she had been married off to one of Balaji's foot soldiers. Unfortunately the husband died in combat just a few months after he had consummated the marriage, leaving behind a widowed Baiza. Radhabai prevented her from immolating herself on her husband's pyre because Baiza was pregnant then. Within a few months she bore a daughter who was now four years old and trailed her mother wherever she went, using her tiny hands to assist her mother as much as she could. 

Kashi was well aware that being widowed so young and having to live in reclusive servitude had made Baiza a little resentful and this was evident in her occasional passive-aggressive behaviour. Her bare forehead, her plain garb and a body unadorned with jewellery stood testimony to a life of forced self-denial. Kashi was sure Baiza longed for a man's companionship and she craved all the little things a married woman took for granted. Unlike the high born women they served, maids had no reason to dress up and entertain guests, but at least they received gifts of sarees that they could preen in. Widows like Baiza could not even expect that. They were resigned to the fate of their colourless drab lives. Nevertheless Baiza was devoted to Kashi, and the young Peshwin made sure to reward the loyalty thoughtfully.

Kashi made sure that Baiza and her child ate well, were clothed adequately and lived securely under her protection. Widowed maids were sometimes exploited by unscrupulous men who had access to them. The poor women were often powerless against such corrupt machinations but as long as Radhabai ruled the roost with an iron hand none of the women employed to serve the Peshwa family had to worry about their security. But there was nothing Kashi could do about Baiza's loneliness. She wondered if she'd ever dare to drop a hint to Radhabai about getting Baiza remarried. For a Brahmin woman remarriage was unthinkable but for those women whose social background demanded that they toil for a living it was often a practical solution. Some men from that class, especially those whose wives had died childless or had left behind young children, would even be willing to pay a bride price for a suitable match. But Baiza's chances were relatively slimmer considering she had a daughter to raise. 

Kashi sighed and redirected her thoughts to the Bodan ceremony on hand. In some Brahmin homes it was a norm to perform it annually. It was invariably performed following an auspicious event such as a wedding in the family or the birth of a baby. The ritual needed four married women in attendance, one from the family itself and others who had been invited among neighbours or relatives. The presence of a maiden was vital besides the four married women.

The five of them sat surrounding a round metal salver and commenced by symbolically worshipping a betel nut as Lord Ganesh and the idol of Goddess Annapurna, the Hindu deity of nourishment. The Goddess was offered a throne and jewellery, both fashioned out of tinted dough. Rich food offerings were then made to her and she was worshipped with lamps made of the same dough. Later the lamps were doused with milk after being placed on the salver.