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Journalism of Courage
MUMBAI, September 28: In January, two women from Vasai taluka stood at the confluence of two seemingly conflicting worlds. But Durga Shirodkar and Saraswati Shrivastav couldn’t have made a more momentous – and fulfiling – decision. Ordained as purohits, they entered the rarified precinct of the Purohit Samaj, embracing what only two other women from Vasai taluka before them did a year ago.
Medha Bharadwaj and Alka Pethe, the only candidates selected from the 20 trainees in January 1997, completed their year-long training in December though they have been practising as purohits since January 1998. They also set a precedent as the first two women priests in Vasai taluka. Shirodkar and Shrivastav are the only two women currently training under Bhole. Both are unmarried but have careers which keep them busy for the better part of the day.
Shrivastav, a primary school teacher, recalls attending a Ganesh puja along with her colleagues two years ago. The ceremony had been delayed by about six hours till the harried organisers finally located a priest to preside over the rites. “It was then that I decided to become a purohit,” shesays.
“I felt that priests should be accessible to anyone who needs their services. My parents and friends readily accepted my decision and encouraged me. So, here I am,” she smiles.
“I too was prompted to become a purohit due to the increasing demand. My grandfather was a priest. So, my family accepted my wish very easily,” says Shirodkar, who is employed with a newspaper firm in Mumbai.
Both Bharadwaj and Pethe also encountered no opposition. “My husband and children happily accepted my decision. My husband also gave me the confidence I needed to fulfil my ambition,” says Bhardwaj, a housewife. Pethe echoes the sentiment.
All four mahila purohits performed Ganesh pujas for the first time during the recent Ganapati festival. Bhardwaj and Pethe have also performed several Satyanarayan pujas while Shirodkar and Shrivastav are on the threshold of performing the widely-practised ceremony. But does their religious vocation conflict with their more worldly obligations? “Since we became purohits, wehave not been affected by worldly temptations as self-control comes automatically to us now,” explains Shirodkar.
