TEA LEAVES

Revenge of the courtesan

Young Indians seek validation in tales of the 'tawaifs'

Nautch girl dancing with musicians accompanying in Calcutta, India. (Courtesy of Library of Congress)

DAVID CHAFFETZ
November 6, 2019 09:30 JST

Alternatively shunned and romanticized by Indian society, tawaifs -- also

called courtesans, dancing girls or prostitutes -- are making a comeback
in Indian media and literature. A raft of new books such as "Tawaifnama"
by Saba Dewan and "Faint Promise of Rain" by Anjali Mitter Duva is
reminding readers how much Bollywood -- and India -- owe to these
storied entertainers.
Tawaifs once represented the apogee of Indian glamor and artistry,
entertaining elite audiences with dance, song and witty repartee. But
radio and film put paid to most of these salon entertainers. A few lucky
women thrived in the new media, but most 20th century tawaifs faded
into obscurity, or worse. Indian director Satyajit Ray brought their seedy
decadence to the screen in his 1958 film "The Music Room," while
Merchant Ivory's "The Courtesans of Bombay" (1983) showed the sordid
state to which they had sunk.

I discovered the magic of the tawaifs on a visit to Bombay 40 years ago

when I was given a pirated recording of Begum Akhtar, a tawaif who
succeeded in radio and film. Indian friends used to express surprise that
anyone, let alone a foreigner, took an interest in these out-of-fashion
entertainers. On more recent visits to India, though, I have found I can
hardly open a newspaper without encountering a story about them.
Searching for explanations for this newfound enthusiasm, I found three.

Firstly, Tawaifs are role models for independent women. In a society that
encourages young wives to treat their husbands with deference, it is a
revelation to learn how the tawaifs engaged with powerful men as equals.
They were not shrinking violets, like the heroines of many Bollywood
romantic comedies. They could give or withhold love as they pleased.
They earned respect not as wives or mothers, but because of their talent
and virtuosity. "I don't think we should glamorize them too much," a
gifted amateur dancer told me, "but they deserve great respect for what
they achieved."
Secondly, the history of the tawaifs exemplifies an acceptance of multi-
faith India. One Bollywood producer, decrying Hindu nationalist calls for
the Taj Mahal to be turned from a Muslim shrine into a Hindu temple,
recalled the warm intercommunal collaboration that used to exist in
Bollywood, a legacy of the tawaifs. They came from both Hindu and
Muslim backgrounds and entertained both communities without
distinction. As an example, Hari Singh, the last Hindu Maharaja of
Jammu and Kashmir, patronized the Muslim tawaif Malka Pukhraj.
Those were simpler, kinder days, especially for Kashmir.

The tawaifs' music and dancing are a fusion of Indian and Muslim-
Iranian themes, and their poetry is rich with Iranian and Sufi Muslim
allusions. Though this archaic language is hard to understand, YouTubers
and dedicated internet sites offer translations of classic tawaif songs for a
youthful audience that appreciates this Hindu-Muslim fusion. Tawaifs
represent a spirit of religious tolerance that liberal Indians like my
Bollywood friend warn is being lost.

Finally, younger Indians are regaining confidence in addressing sexuality

after years of post-Victorian prudery. British colonial-era laws treated
tawaifs as prostitutes, and even after Indian independence in 1947
talented singers could be blacklisted from film and radio if the authorities
accused them of loose morals. Nowadays Bollywood, like Hollywood,
cares little about the private lives of stars like Priyanka Chopra, the
highest paid performer in India. No one is shocked by stories of affairs
between tawaifs and their patrons. That is part of their modernity.
Indians' passion for this aspect of their cultural heritage has little parallel
elsewhere. In researching the Chinese tradition of "singsong" girls, I
discovered that young Chinese are unaware of the illustrious courtesans
of the imperial dynasties who wrote poetry, painted, and sang for poets
and emperors. "You are studying prostitution," said a young friend from
Hangzhou.

Older scholars told me that no one in China today is researching

courtesans. Modern editions of the romantic classics are often
bowdlerized, with transgressive or erotic elements toned down. It
reminds me of how Western classics, judged in the light of the legitimate
concerns of the #meToo era, are being withheld from students.

This makes me wonder how long the Indian reevaluation of tawaifs will
last. The revival of interest in them pits a small section of young, liberal
urbanites against a broad populist movement striving for ethnic and
social hegemony. In any case it just goes to show that we only use the past
for what we want to make of the present. I wish the tawaifs well, for they
show us all how music and art provide their practitioners with freedom
and empowerment -- in any society.
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David
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