Girls Mrinal Pande Girls by Mrinal Pande is

Girls -Mrinal Pande • “Girls” by Mrinal Pande is a story about the feeling of an eight-year old girl written originally in Hindi by Mrinal Pande and translated into English by Rama Baru and shows what it means to be born a girl in an Indian house, especially when there are no sons in the family.

The narrator happens to be the middle daughter among three and her mother is expecting another baby. The narrator feels what most Indian girls feel at her age and this is being reminded again and again that she is a girl and therefore inferior. The preparation for leaving for the Naani’s house were going on. Just then the narrator entered the room but was told to go out and play.

Soon they left for the station. When they reached the station of their destination, the narrator’s maama had come to receive them. The narrator was asked to bow down before her naani, which she did and the naani blessed her. When the night fell, the narrator was asked to sleep with her two sisters. The narrator remembered how her father used to tell her that one could become anything if one worked hard.

She also realized that when children fell asleep the world of the elders was awake. One night in her naani’s house she overheard her younger maasi cry in suppressed tones. In the afternoons the narrator told younger children stories about ghosts and demons. She also wondered why the elderly women sat with their legs spread but did not allow young girls like her to do so.

It is the narrator who refuses to be worshipped on the Ashtmi day. This shows that the lot of women is bad throughout the year. But on the Ashtmi day, girls are worshipped as representatives of the goddess. All the women in the story belong to a traditional Hindu family. They have accepted their humble lot in a male-dominated society. This is why they want young girls like the narrator to toe their line and not do or say anything that offends the elders.