History professor gives talk about women in India

By Phil McCarty

In celebrating of women’s history month, Dr. Purnima Bhatt, a professor of history, anthropology and interdisciplinary studies at Hood College spoke on the stepwells, gathering places for women in India, at Her Space, Her Story on March 18.

The stepwells of Gujarat, India, have been a meeting place for women since the 7^th century and show the relationship between women, water, architecture, and religion.

Until the British came and shut them down, the wells numbered in the thousands. They are 60 to 100 ft. holes with steps leading down to the bottom of the well from the town above. Even today women get water from wells.

The lecture focused on the women and the stepwells. Bhatt said that there is a “compelling urgency to correct the historical record and to make the invisible women heard.” She also said that women are often seen as silent spectators on the stage of history.

A large turnout of about 45 students and faculty attended the talk, which was part of the lecture series in honor of women’s history month which is themed, “Weaving the Stories of Women’s Lives.”

Bhatt supplemented the talk with a slideshow of the stepwells and their architectural features, especially their portrayals of women. Mary Horabik, a Hood student, said, “I really want to look at the wells now and I want to read the book.”

Another Hood student, Victoria Wright said, “My interest is sparked to learn more about the stepwells. The pictures were amazing and helped me to see the wells in a way she couldn’t describe in words.”

Bhatt, who is retiring at the end of the year, has been a teacher at Hood College for 38 years and introduced many different courses throughout her career. Her Space, Her Story is her fourth book. The book took 10 years of research to complete. She spent time in the Library of Congress and four months out of the year in India researching the book.

Due to time constraints Dr. Bhatt was unable to get to everything that she wanted to in the lecture.

In interview she said that she wanted to emphasize the fact that the stepwells today have become shrines for the worship of local goddesses and are places where women go to talk, gossip and share their feelings, which represent a form of women’s solidarity.

“I wanted students to realize that learning and research can be absolute fun,” she said.

The talk was sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs & International Student Programs, Humanities Council, Department of Sociology & Social Work, and Global Studies Program of Hood College.

Describing the stepwells, Bhatt said, “Voices still echo in the dilapidated and crumbling structures.”