Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain

“ Nor do we ever suffer from flood or thunderstorms. We are all very busy making nature yield as much as she can. We do not find time to quarrel with one another as we never sit idle. Our noble Queen is exceedingly fond of botany; it is her ambition to convert the whole country into one grand garden.'
'The idea is excellent. What is your chief food?'
'Fruits.'
'How do you keep your country cool in hot weather? We regard the rainfall in summer as a blessing from heaven.'
'When the heat becomes unbearable, we sprinkle the ground with plentiful showers drawn from the artificial fountains. ”

“ Education was spread far and wide among women. And early marriage also was stopped. No woman was to be allowed to marry before she was twenty-one. I must tell you that, before this change we had been kept in strict purdah.'
'How the tables are turned,' I interposed with a laugh.
'But the seclusion is the same,' she said. 'In a few years we had separate universities, where no men were admitted.'
'In the capital, where our Queen lives, there are two universities. One of these invented a wonderful balloon, to which they attached a number of pipes. ”

“ You here!' cried the Queen addressing Sister Sara. I was introduced to Her Royal Highness and was received by her cordially without any ceremony.
I was very much delighted to make her acquaintance. In the course of the conversation I had with her, the Queen told me that she had no objection to permitting her subjects to trade with other countries. 'But,' she continued, 'no trade was possible with countries where the women were kept in the zenanas and so unable to come and trade with us. Men, we find, are rather of lower morals and so we do not like dealing with them. ”

“ In India man is lord and master, he has taken to himself all powers and privileges and shut up the women in the zenana.'
'Why do you allow yourselves to be shut up?'
'Because it cannot be helped as they are stronger than women.'
'A lion is stronger than a man, but it does not enable him to dominate the human race. You have neglected the duty you owe to yourselves and you have lost your natural rights by shutting your eyes to your own interests.'
'But my dear Sister Sara, if we do everything by ourselves, what will the men do then?'
'They should not do anything, excuse me ”

“ And they kept the heat stored up to be distributed among others as required.
'While the women were engaged in scientific research, the men of this country were busy increasing their military power. When they came to know that the female universities were able to draw water from the atmosphere and collect heat from the sun, they only laughed at the members of the universities and called the whole thing "a sentimental nightmare"!'
'Your achievements are very wonderful indeed! But tell me, how you managed to put the men of your country into the zenana. ”

“ They dawdle away their time in smoking. Some smoke two or three choroots during the office time. They talk much about their work, but do little. Suppose one choroot takes half an hour to burn off, and a man smokes twelve choroots daily; then you see, he wastes six hours every day in sheer smoking.'
We talked on various subjects, and I learned that they were not subject to any kind of epidemic disease, nor did they suffer from mosquito bites as we do. I was very much astonished to hear that in Ladyland no one died in youth except by rare accident. ”

“ If any person lies, she or he is....'
'Punished with death?'
'No, not with death. We do not take pleasure in killing a creature of God, especially a human being. The liar is asked to leave this land for good and never to come to it again.'
'Is an offender never forgiven?'
'Yes, if that person repents sincerely.'
'Are you not allowed to see any man, except your own relations?'
'No one except sacred relations.'
'Our circle of sacred relations is very limited; even first cousins are not sacred.'
'But ours is very large; a distant cousin is as sacred as a brother.'
'That is very good. ”

“ And she cooked something then and there to show me the process.
'How did you manage to gather and store up the sun-heat?' I asked her in amazement.
'Let me tell you a little of our past history then. Thirty years ago, when our present Queen was thirteen years old, she inherited the throne. She was Queen in name only, the Prime Minister really ruling the country.
'Our good Queen liked science very much. She circulated an order that all the women in her country should be educated. Accordingly a number of girls' schools were founded and supported by the government. ”

“ Sister Sara laughed too.
'But dear Sultana, how unfair it is to shut in the harmless women and let loose the men.'
'Why? It is not safe for us to come out of the zenana, as we are naturally weak.'
'Yes, it is not safe so long as there are men about the streets, nor is it so when a wild animal enters a marketplace.'
'Of course not.'
'Suppose, some lunatics escape from the asylum and begin to do all sorts of mischief to men, horses and other creatures ”