ROLE OF HILL WOMEN, THE DOMESTIC SPHERE AND THE INDIA’S STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM

The Indian Freedom Struggle would be incomplete without mentioning the contributions of women. The sacrifice made by the women of India will occupy the foremost place. It contains an autobiographical narrative of ordinary middle class women from all over India especially from Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong who did not participate in any public national activity due to social constraints. Yet within the domestic sphere their lives were affected by political changes in the public sphere and it is important to understand that how women made sense of their experiences and activities. Since, from within the domestic sphere women undertook significant political activities and such activities cannot be seen as a prerogative of actors within the public sphere only, just as politics cannot be the prerogative of the public sphere only. The women in Indian households realigned their domestic roles to accommodate the nationalist cause and faced various tortures, exploitations and hardships to earn us freedom