A PLEA FOR SOCIAL REFORM.
Under the auspices of the Hindu Social Reform Association, Secunderabad, presiding over a meeting in which Mrs. Idafaye Levering, M. D., delivered an address on the above subject, in December 1906, Mrs. Sarojini made a speech in which she said :
The castigation she (Mrs. Idafaye Levering) inflicted was rather severe to sensitive persons. But the evils that are eating the vitals of society and the support and refuge which the community in general lends to them, make it impossible for any sensible man to think of the severity of the chastisement, nay, it would rather seem that no goading, however painful, may be considered too much even by orthodox persons in respect of certain evil customs, such as infant marriage, Varasulkam, Kanyasulkam, Nautches, extravagant expenditure on social and religious occasions and glaring disparity of age in marriages, etc. She had been told that her remarks on Social Reform questions on past occasions offended the leaders of Secunderabad, but she would give expression to the same remarks at the risk of offending them if they happened to be present. Every place of any importance in India has a Social Reform Association. But what have they done? The word ’to-day’ is nowhere to be found in our dictionary. ‘To-morrow’ is the watchword. There is anxiety shown everywhere for the introduction of Social Reforms into the families of others but not in one’s own family. When the point is urged home some plea or other comes in for procrastination.
A graphical comparison of the past and present of India was made. In days of yore, India possessed real men who honoured women and spared no pains to raise them to their level and make them helpmates. Ancient women of India recognised the worth of man and were prepared to make any sacrifice for their sake. Men of those days had sufficient worth in them and if women performed sati they did it out of love and regret for their men. But do men of our days deserve sati? What sort of men do we find now? They are not men at all. They can be called the degenerate descendants of ancient heroes.