TENTATIVE STEPS TOWARDS MODERNITY
Any story on pind daan in Gaya will be incomplete without the story of the Gayawal Pandas – Brahmins who believe themselves born of Brahma’s image and have the exclusive right to conduct pind daans in Gaya. A small community – Govind Lal Gupt, a Gayawal Panda estimates there are about 200 Gayawal Panda homes in the city now – it has been known to be both close and conservative. “For generations we have married within the community,” says Gajadhar Lal Gupt, secretary of the SriVishnupad Temple Management Committee.
Women of the community led an especially cloistered life. Chameli Devi, 75, was married at 11. She never went to school. “We hardly ever went out, except to meet family and then too we had to maintain strict purdah. The rickshaw we travelled in would also be covered. For the past 10-15 years we have done away with the system of purdah,” she says. Her grand-daughters are sent to school.
The community is changing . Govind’s nephew Kapil is 26 and a teacher. “There is a lack of education in our community. I want to change that,” he says. Women still have a long way to go. While most girls today are at least educated till class 10, few have continued beyond. One exception is Khushboo Gurda, 29, who works in a bank. Her husband works as a Panda. “But it was his encouragement that helped me pursue a career in banking,” says Khushboo.
One area where even the young generation is wary of change is marriage. “Some people from the community have married outside. But in doing so, they have made it more difficult for others to study or work outside, because elders fear that anyone who pursues higher education or a career outside will end up marrying someone from another community,” says Khushboo. Change, she feels has to be gradual. “Maybe the next generation will have a more liberal life,” she says. Of course, the one area where no one is talking of change is a woman’s right to work as a Panda. “Women don’t have that right. If they learn the scriptures in future, they may assist in the work. But only men can be pandas,” says Govind.