Chronicles of Rudali: The Woman Who Was Paid to Cry

A blog post about Mahashweta Devi's story of survival, tears, and truth

I first read Mahashweta Devi's Rudali as part of my class assignment, and I was not expecting it to affect me so much. It is a short novella, but it made me think deeply about women, poverty, and the kind of pain that has no voice. I want to share my understanding of this story in this blog because I feel it is a story that more people should know about.

Who is Sanichari?

The main character of the story is a woman named Sanichari. She lives in a poor village in the Palamau region of Bihar, India. Her name means "born on a Saturday," which people in her village believe brings bad luck. And her life does seem very hard. Her husband dies. Her son dies. Her daughter-in-law dies. She loses almost everyone she loves. But the most surprising thing is that Sanichari never cries. Not because she does not feel sad. She feels everything very deeply. But she is so poor and so busy trying to survive each day that she has no space for tears.

When I read this, I felt very sad for her. We all know that crying can sometimes make us feel better. But Sanichari does not even have that. Her grief has to wait because life does not wait.

What is a Rudali?

A rudali is a woman who is paid to cry at funerals. In the society that Mahashweta Devi describes, rich upper-caste families did not allow their women to show grief openly in public. It was seen as improper. So they hired poor lower-caste women to come and cry for them at funerals. These women would wail loudly and show sorrow so that the funeral looked proper and respectful.

I found this very strange and also very unfair. The poor women who had experienced real loss in their own lives were now performing grief for people who could afford to keep their sadness private. The rich could buy even tears. That tells us a lot about how unequal that society was.

The Friendship Between Sanichari and Bikhni

One part of the story that I really liked was the friendship between Sanichari and a woman named Bikhni. Both of them have suffered a lot. Both of them have been left alone by life. But when they come together, something changes. They do not become rich or powerful. But they find strength in each other.

Bikhni is the one who tells Sanichari about the work of the rudali. At first, Sanichari is not sure about it. But slowly she understands that this might be the only option available to a woman like her. Together, they start a small group of women who work as rudalis. It is not a big change. It does not fix the unfair system around them. But it gives them a small sense of control. And sometimes, that is enough to keep going.

What the Story Teaches Us About Women and Work

Mahasweta Devi wrote this story to say something important. In rural feudal India, poor lower-caste women had no land, no legal rights, and no protection. They worked hard every day but were never treated fairly. The rudali system is a very clear example of this. Even a woman's sadness could be bought. Even her tears belonged to someone else.

As a student reading this, I kept thinking about how invisible these women were. Nobody wrote about them in history books. Nobody made laws to protect them. They just kept working and suffering quietly. Mahasweta Devi gave them a voice. And I think that is one of the most important things a writer can do.

Why This Story is Still Relevant

Some people might think this is an old story that does not matter today. But I disagree. The questions in this story are still very real. Women's work, especially emotional work and care work, is still not valued fairly in many parts of the world. Women still carry heavy burdens at home and outside, and most of the time, nobody notices.

Sanichari reminds me of many women I see around me every day. Women who work hard, who lose a lot, and who still keep going without anyone asking how they are doing. Reading this story made me look at those women differently. It made me want to notice them more.

My Final Thoughts

I think Mahasweta Devi wrote Rudali to make us feel a little uncomfortable, and it worked. Sanichari is not a hero in the traditional sense. She does not fight a big battle or give a powerful speech. She just survives, day after day, with whatever she has. And somehow, that feels more real and more powerful than any big dramatic story.

This assignment gave me a chance to read something that I would not have picked up on my own. I am glad I read it. Rudali is a small book with a very big heart, and Sanichari is a character I will not forget for a long time.

Written as a personal interpretation of Mahashweta Devi's Rudali (1979), as part of a class assignment.

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✍️ Author:
Lovedev Sharma
Undergraduate Student
BA (English Studies) & B.Ed. (TESOL)
Kathmandu University, School of Education

📧 Email: l@lovedev.com.np
📞 Mobile: +977-9840629598
🌐 Website: www.lovedev.com.np

🌸 "Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is." – Shree Krishna 🌸