Nangeli’s story is one of sacrifice and standing against Brahmanical patriarchy and caste-based oppressive social order, believed to be part of the folklore passed down through oral history in Kerala, Jaisy's home state.
Nangeli was an Ezhava woman who lived in the 19th century in the southern Indian state of Kerala. During this time, lower-caste women faced an oppressive tax system known as the Breast Tax (Mulakaram), connected to restrictions on covering their breasts.
Legend has it that Nangeli refused to uncover her breasts or pay the tax. To protest the oppressive regime, she cut off her breast and offered it to the tax collectors on a plantain leaf. She subsequently died from loss of blood.
Nangeli’s sacrifice for preservation of a woman’s dignity is said to have triggered women’s liberation and paved the way for social and political changes in Southern India. Her story of protest is still missing from many historical texts.
Why Nangeli? Why here? Why now?
We stand on the shoulders of our ancestors and have benefitted from the trailblazing gestures of women like Nangeli. Counselling is inherently about the excavation and telling of stories of personal and social injustice, oppression, neglect, violations and deep pain. All stories benefit from the light of awareness.
May your stories be heard.
May you heal from the light of awareness.