Daughters Are for Others

Shalinee Kumari comments here on social roles of Indian women as daughters, wives, and daughters-in-law. Tinged with emotions of loss and resignation, the painting’s title evokes the perspective of parents of girls: they raise their daughters with love but often become bystanders in the lives of their married daughters.

The young bride’s expression and posture (left) convey her trepidation in the move from her familiar parental world to a new home and life with her husband and his family. The orange and yellow footprints with henna patterns (right) reference the Hindu marriage rite of circumambulation of the sacred fire. Yet their tight arrangement feels like an impenetrable barrier. Two women, their conjoined form recalling powerful goddess images, constitute the center and axis of a mandala-like circle—here a domestic space that confines them.

The artist deftly combines decorative qualities and serious content. The resulting tension between these elements gives this painting its power.