What About the Women?!
With last year's publication of Calcutta Yoga by Jerome Armstrong, new light was shone on the history and progression of yoga and performance at Ghosh's College in Kolkata. We know so much more about men like Buddha Bose and Gouri Shankar Mukerji, and their contributions to the physical movements of Bengal throughout the 1900s. What is still missing, as is often the case with history, are the stories of the women.
Were there women practitioners? Yes!
Have they mostly been forgotten? Yes!
​Is this about to change? Yes!
​I am headed to India to start the first leg of formal research into several of the female practitioners in Bengal. Working with me is a talented writer and researcher Chandrima Pal, who lives in Kolkata and has already uncovered information about these forgotten women and the context of their lives.
As with any research project, we don't know where this will end up. Our goal is to publish a book about these women and boldly go where the stories take us. Stay tuned next week, especially on Instagram for updates about our findings. And stay tuned on this blog for longer form updates. As Chandrima said recently, "Wish us lots of luck and loads of leads!"
Kajal Nisha Patel link
Lookig forward to updates. Very interested in this research and would love to be involved at some stage. I am based in the UK, researching the dmestic and working lives of South Asian working class women. My interests do, however stretch towards women in yoga, since I myself am a female South Asian yoga teacher, which has not been an easy journey in the modern era.