All of 10, Kalimati finds new bond

Barely four months after the legislation of the Hindu Widows Remarriage Act, 1856, the first remarriage was solemnised in north Calcutta on December 7, 1856. Ishwara Chandra Vidyasagar, a social reformer and crusader, was the driving force behind the Act and virtually sponsored the first legalised remarriage between 10-year-old Kalimati, daughter of Palashdanga's Brahmnanda Mukherji, and the son of Vidyasagar's friend, Shrichandra Vidyaratna.

The venue was 12 Sukeas Street (now 48, Kailash Bose Street, north Calcutta)-the residence of Rajkrishana Bandopadhya, a professor of Presidency College. A large number of guests were invited by Vidyasagar. To practice what he preached, Vidyasagar had married his son Narayanchandra to a widow, Bhawa Sundri, setting a powerful example to promote his mission.

The reform movement to promote widow remarriage remained ineffective until the mid-19th century. To fight this taboo, Vidyasagar wrote two treaties in January and October, 1855, on the marriage of Hindu widows. He drew upon 'sutras' and 'Shastras' to establish that there was nothing wrong in widow remarriage. His thesis stressed that women were at a liberty to remarry if their husbands renounced the family, or were insane, dead or impotent.

The remarriage Act, drafted by Lord Dalhousie and passed by Lord Canning, was enacted on July 26, 1856-a milestone in Hindu society and a crucial turning point for those who were stigmatised and treated as nothing but a curse for the family.

However, the Act failed to evoke enthusiasm. There was a reluctance to embrace the change among various categories and communities of Hindus. The practice of widow remarriage remained rare and exceptional even among the educated classes of Bengal, which were an epicentre of the reform movement launched by Vidyasagar and his contemporaries.

But there was a price to pay. The legislation was intrinsically conservative in character as on remarriage, it disinherited the widow from her deceased husband's property.

How did the first remarriage take place? A vivid account from the writings of Brahmo leader Shibnath Shastri, who witnessed the first remarriage as a child, illustrated that the event was unique. The organisers had to seek police deployment at the venue due to the presence of large excitable crowds on the streets, and the palanquin carrying the groom faced difficulty in making way through the crowds. All roads in the locality seemed to lead to 12, Sikeas Street.

Bengali free-thinkers, known as Derozians, escorted the palanquin. They included Ram Gopal Ghosh, Harachandra Ghosh, Sambhunath Pandit and Dawarakanath Mitra, besides Vidyasagar. A new chapter had begun in the destiny of an accursed widow and a nation.