Only a Woman's Life is Sweet!​ by Kodavatiganti Kutumbara

Telugu original by Kodavatiganti Kutumbarao, in "Motherless Daughter" anthology, Praja Sahitya Parishad, Tenali, December 1947. Translated and posted with permission by Ananda Kishore.
Grandpa beats grandma even today. Father beats mother. Brother-in-law beats sister. Men beat and shout at women.

"Only a woman's life is sweet," the radio is singing.

Grandma told that we wouldn't be born as women unless we sin a great deal. That's why men beat and shout at women.

Even virtuous ladies like Sita and Anasuya wish for getting the same husband in their next life. Why wouldn't they wish for a man's birth? If no woman sins in this life, there won't be any women in this world in the next life. Then everyone will be a man. Then we can all wear suits, have a good hair-do, and spend away the time smoking cigarettes.

To wash the sins of the previous life, women should get beaten and get shouted at by men. They should slog for men. Even father slogs in his office. But Sunday is a holiday for him. Besides, when he falls sick anytime, he would skip work and sleeps off at home. Mom doesn't have holidays and she couldn't skip household work. That's because she isn't working for wages.

Mr. Kistamoorthy's wife isn't a lady. Her husband doesn't beat her, doesn't shout at her. He is actually spoiling her by treating her well. She uses face powder. She often goes to the theater. She even attends meetings. She doesn't use firewood to cook, she hates it. Perhaps Mr. Kistamoorthy will be her husband in her next life also. Then she's always going to be born as a woman, what a pity! Woman shouldn't go to school. Even if they begin getting educated, they should put an end to it when they get married. Mr. Kistamoorthy's wife has continued studying till recently, even after she became a mother, and passed B.A. exams. Women get spoiled if they get educated that much. But Mr. Kistamoorthy's wife doesn't look like a spoiled woman. She's always laughing, engaging in witty conversation. But she must have really lost her chastity. Kids cannot understand these things. They aren't supposed to ask questions in these matters.

But some women get spoiled even without being educated. Hanumayamma of the corner house isn't educated at all, but is one of the spoiled type. If they lose their virtue without getting educated, it is their karma.

Mr. Kistamoorthy's wife doesn't beat her children. When I ask her daughter Vani what she'd do if her husband were to beat her, she says she'd kill him. Vani, like her mom, will always be born as a woman. Her mom is sure spoiling her. Vani is already learning English. She even sings film songs. But what for? What does she gain? Aunt's daughter Susheela learnt Sanskrit well. She read books like Kumara Sambhavam thoroughly. She even sings Muvva Gopala verses well; She isn't proficient with this lowly language, English. She hates these horrible film songs.

"Only a woman's life is sweet," the radio is singing.

Everything is a problem with these women. Father's racket has no bounds when Mom gets her periods. Everything is a problem for women. To give birth to children is hell and it incurs a lot of expenditure. For that matter, all women's things are wastefully expensive. We can buy four pairs of trousers for the cost of one saree. Some women give birth to a child and die. It is a great virtue for a woman to die before her husband does; she may then be reborn as a man. Venkatasubbamma will be reborn as a man, for her son gave up the family and became a yogi. If my elder brother joins yogis, Mom could also be reborn as a man.

To raise girls costs a fortune. A lot of dowry is needed to get them married off. And again the expenditure on the reception dinner! It's a great virtue to get girls married off when they are still kids. Grandpa bagged heavenly virtue by getting Mom married off when she was only eight years old. Nowadays girls are married off after they come of age, what a sin! All these are happening only because these are bad times.

When I grow up, I wouldn't marry a husband who would beat me. What the heck with heavenly virtue, who would go through the torture of beatings and abuses? When I grow up, I will secretly marry Mr. Kistamoorthy! ...

The radio stopped singing "Only a woman's life is sweet!"