The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c13.91

c13.91

In spite of the specious theory of the joint ownership, the husband is usually the *de facto* controller of the family purse. The present age is an individualistic one and the modern wife, whether educated or uneducated, often feels that it should not be necessary for her to get the sanction of her husband for every little expenditure that she may have to incur on her behalf. In order to get over the embarrassing situations often arising on such occasions, she often feels that it would have been much better if she had a share in her father’s property, the income of which she could have spent at her own free will. There are, however, several serious difficulties in the way of giving the daughter a share in the patrimony, as will be shown in the next chapter (pp. 293-6). It has, however, to be admitted that owing to inherited traditions, the husband is often inclined to assume a patronising air when sanctioning any expenditure for the wife, which is not relished by him. It has further to be recognised that whether in the west or in the east, there is not yet a proper appreciation of the unpaid work for the household, which the wife ungrudgingly does for the common welfare of the family. Gifts from the husband form an important item in the Strīdhana as envisaged by Hindu jurists, and its scope went on gradually increasing in course of time. The difficulties of the modern sensitive wife, above referred to, will disappear if the law enjoined that a small percentage of the monthly income of the husband shall be given to the wife as her Strīdhana, to be spent by her at her own sweet will, either for her own sake or for the sake of the family. An orientation in the development of Strīdhana on this line is necessary in the modern individualistic age. It will immensely help in increasing the happiness of many a family.