Vishnu Karle

This painting of a young woman breastfeeding an old man in a prison cell was sold for Euros 30 million. The painting may look perverse but the story behind is from historical records. The poor man was sentenced to "death by starvation" for stealing a loaf of bread during the reign of Louis XIV in France. The woman was his only daughter and the only visitor to his cell. She was allowed to visit him daily but was frisked thoroughly such that no food was taken in. When after 4 months the man still survived with no weight loss, the authorities were perplexed and started spying on her in the cell and to their utter astonishment found her to breastfeed her father to the fullest sharing her baby's milk. The judges then realizing the compassion and love of the woman for her father, pardoned the father and set him free. This piece of history brings into focus how deep is a woman's compassion in our daily lives that men often tend to overlook.

          Courtesy: LeadIndiaLaw 1. Reduced interim maintenance. (SC), Hbl J. R. M. Lodha, order on 20-07-2010, Appeal No. 5660 of 2010, Arising SLP (C) No. 6736 of 2007, Neeta Rakesh Jain Vs Rakesh Jeetmal Jain. Citation No. AIR 2010 SC 3540; (2010) 12 SCC 242; 2010 (7) JT I 76 (SC). 2. Wife is not entitled to maintenance who deserted her husband. (Supreme Court), Bench Hbl JJ. S. Ahmed & D. Wadhwa, order on 02-03-200, AIR 2000 SC 952, 2000(2) ALD Cri 15, 2000Cr. LJ 1498, Rohtash Singh Vs Smt. Ramendrei & Ors. Citation No. (2000) 3 SCC 180; JT 2000 (2) SC 553. 3. Maintenance not granted as it is proved that wife wants to reside separately. No maintenance to deserting wife. (HC Chhattisgarh), Hbl J., L. C. Bhadoo, order on 15 -02-2004, Crl. Revision No. 544/2003, Shiv Kumar Yadav Vs Santoshi Yadav. 4. Husband can get PF details of wife. (CIC, Delhi), Decision No. 1816/ IC (A) 2008, F No. CIC/MA/A/2007/00583, Prof M.M. Ansari, order on 10 Jan 2008. 5. Wif...

A KALIGHAT painting, which developed in 19th century Bengal, depicts a Bengali babu with a concubine. THE story begins like this. Dr Bilkis Rahman read the autobiography of noted author Mir Mosharraf Hossain and discovered a very happy life with his wife Bibi Kulsum. But when she examined the personal diary of Kulsum, she found a different picture. Kulsum described her mental predicaments due to her husband’s extramarital relationships and his lack of respect for her. This prompted Rahman to undertake a research study and find out the actual conditions of women in 19th century Bengal, compiling her findings in the book Unish Shatake Banglay Naripurush Shamparka. Undivided Bengal comprised today’s Bangladesh and the Indian province of West Bengal in the 19th century and was under British rule. Hindus and Muslims represented a large majority of the population. At the beginning of the 19th century, religion played a vital role in determining the nature of relationships. Religious rules fa...