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By Sowmya Ayyar
Sowmya Ayyar is a Scholar in the Malaviya Center for Peace Research, Banaras Hindu University researching Yoga, Women, Peace, and Diplomacy. She is also the President of WICCI Karnataka Yoga Council.
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This is a review of "Strong Woman: Reba Rakshit. The Life and Times of a Stuntmaster" by Ida Jo Pajunen, 2024. Here's a link to the book.
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In an era when the presence of yoga is spreading globally, it is important to understand its roots and lineages so that we can learn from the past. Recognizing the stories from past eras sheds light on the true paths of yoga. One of these stories is Reba Rakshit.
It is exciting to read about a woman who studied yoga at the time of a nationalist movement. Strong Woman is worth a travel read on a long train ride or flight. It’s a light, easy read, that paints a picture of Kolkata in the early 1900s, in the backdrop of an Indian Independence struggle along with its partition from East and West Pakistan–particularly the eastern side which is of relevance to the star of the book, Reba, who was born there.
In 2024, when the lack of women as leaders and gurus of lineages in the world of yoga is being questioned in the hearts of women across the country and world, Pajunen brings forth the story of a “yoga” stuntwoman–a woman who has used the powers of yoga to showcase her physical capacities, proving the importance of mind over matter. I have personally been seeking out yoginis of yesteryear, trying to understand women’s lineages, and what caused them to break. Perhaps though, the story of Reba Rakshit sheds light on this issue. Regardless of her stardom, she was forgotten, and just as she was forgotten, perhaps other women, their stories, their lineages, have been lost in a patriarchal world that recognizes men’s accomplishments. The lineage has not been broken; it was just not documented, as Reba’s was not, until now. Rakshit passed away in 2010, so it is befitting that her biography comes to us now as an inspiration to all yoga students, especially other women, as we take the yoga movement forward.
The author, Ido Jo Pajunen, artistically paints a picture of Reba’s life in 20 short chapters. She starts by setting Reba’s stage, center stage, as the final act of a circus show. The book then flips back to Reba’s childhood as Anima. Through Pajunen’s writing style, we can visualize a world of wonder, a child growing up carefree in a tropical village outside of Kolkata (in Bangladesh). It’s almost like reading a children’s storybook without the pictures.
The author introduces concepts about gender and discrimination against women from Vedic texts early on in the book without giving any context to the readers who may not be familiar with the background (15). She also uses some Sanskrit, Hindi, and Bengali terminologies without defining them. For even a knowledgeable yoga teacher or Indian, these need defining.
Furthermore, Pajunen solely uses Oxford online references to explain gender roles in India, identifying with a colonial ideology in interpretation and retelling of India and Hindu texts. She shows that leaders of the 19th and 20th century such as Swami Vivekananda attempted to change this through their concepts of yoga, which largely resonated with the middle classes who spoke English. However, Pajunen also partially credits colonization for women’s empowerment in India, saying that “Maybe it took colonial oppression to create the opportunity for formal women’s education” (9). This is an absolute disrespect towards Indian culture’s ideas and respect for women, whatever shortcoming there may be; and puts British culture and society on a pedestal, especially with regards to women. As a book about a strong woman, there plays a large role by men, setting the foundations upon which the women’s social movement could rise.
Instead, Pajunen could bring in Indian thought by Indian women regarding Indian scriptures and the roles of women in those. Especially since Reba’s own mother, Suhasini, provided inspiration for Reba’s strong will to grow: she is herself open to the breaking of social norms placed upon women– at least when Reba is a day-dreaming child (later, even Suhasini began trying to curtail Reba for fear of her future, though an educated one). Further, Suhasini also lights a spark in little Anima’s imagination, telling her to remember the women’s lineage that she belongs to: 100 mothers before her mother, and 100 mothers before that (11).
Chapter 3 and 4 set the tone in which Reba is raised: one that rewards strength, valor, and bravery, as well as Indian nationalism. Chapter 4 is entirely about the Indian Independence movement and the thoughts of influential men such as Vivekananda and Raja Ram Mohan Roy. In Chapter 5, we finally learn about women’s philosophies: Sarala Debi and her mother Swarnakumari, who founded Ladies’ Theosophical Society. But Pajunen again defines these women in terms of the men around them, this time placing Debi as Tagore’s niece. Instead of introducing the strength of women on women’s own evaluatory systems and women’s thoughts, Pajunen couches Debi’s ideas alongside Vivekananda’s.
In Chapter 5, we are also briefly introduced to Geeta Mallick in the 1960s, whose rifle shooting skills surpassed even her husbands. Her thoughts on India’s view on women and sports resonates even today: that women’s sports are just not placed on the same national level of importance as men’s.
Reading about physical culture and yoga together, we can start to understand where the two unified in the post-Independence era, in large cities where reverence to culture was given a space next to modernity. Pajunen likens the physical culture and entertainment of the early 1900s to today’s yoga and modernity mix (143), showing that the merging of different worlds created a space for circus shows to perform. Kolkata, or Calcutta, or Kalikutta, was a breeding ground for someone like Reba Rakshit to emerge; and elephants were especially relevant as late then Prime Minister Jawarhalal Nehru used elephants as gifts in an attempt to develop diplomatic relations.
Rakshit began training under Bishnu Charan Ghosh, whose name is unmatched in Bengal, except by his brother, Paramahansa Yogananda, who became a swami for the west. Ghosh accepted women at a time when perhaps others were still holding on to age-old ideas that women would be a detriment to a spiritual seeker. Pajunen even points to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s stance against women in yoga and spirituality, even as a married man.
Ghosh trained Reba in yoga in a way that is dying today: a daily practice of “byayam”, asana, and pranayama; and reverence, trust, and faith in the guru. It is furthermore, mixed with physical strength and endurance as young boys and men of India have trained in akharas for many generations. Reba is also trained in this (Chapter 12).
In Chapter 9, we get to experience the daily practice and the yoga “studios” or “schools” of last century through an afternoon in Reba’s own practice. What is notable is the importance of Shavasana at the start of the practice, and throughout Reba’s session. Yoga has changed over time, as even the author points out, that yoga was different before people such as Yogananda and Vivekananda popularized it, especially in the West. (Perhaps these famous swamis were responsible for the reinvention of Yoga in the West, which is the way it is being touted now across social media, and repackaged when sold in India.)
Ghosh also tells Reba in no uncertain terms, that once she masters certain asanas and pranayamas, she will have the courage and strength to accept the siddhis to be able to handle any weight on her body (93). In a time when the term “yogini” is being redefined, Reba’s stunts are reminiscent of the yoginis of yesteryear who are memorialized in hypaethrael, circular temples in central and eastern India, and through the Kashi Kanda of Skanda Purana. Reba is fierce, strong, and can perform magical movements: she can lift an elephant and let motorbikes fly over her without a flinch, thanks to the “yogic power of her breath” (106). Even when others fear for her life, her unwavering faith and trust in Ghosh as her guru, shows the world that she is a “strong, young woman”.
Still, Reba has a mind of her own, and it is clear that she recognizes her own value. She earns well for her work in the circuses. She also knows when to say no, trusting her instincts over all else: she even stops a show because she knows something is different about the set up, even when Ghosh doesn’t realize it. Eventually, Ghosh uncovers the plot to assassinate her with a hidden knife blade (Chapter 16).
Soon after, Reba considers leaving the world of showdome for a life of teaching yoga (181), where she could stay home and take rest. Sadly, she is unable to leave, sacrificing her own goals for the glory of her guru and his school.
Pajunen mixes a bit of history with yoga, introducing ideas from Gheranda Samhita and Hatha Yoga Pradipika, among other texts. In Strong Woman, Ghosh trains her in yoga practices as well as philosophy, teaching her the meaning and purpose behind the various practices. We don’t necessarily know how much of this is true, as we can only rely on hearsay of the author’s research.
We as readers are led to believe that Rakshit was influenced by the cultural movements of the times in which she was emerging, and that perhaps Vivekananda was a large part of this. But the author doesn’t make that clear connection, one that shows that Reba was thinking about Vivekananda during her youthful years. We are also pulled into the stories, including quotations by the different characters, such as Reba’s mother, Ghosh, and Reba herself. However, it is uncertain whether these talks were documented in Reba’s journals, news articles and advertisements, or just recreations by the author based on interviews and anecdotal evidence.
While this book aims to bring light to a strong woman, it does so by comparing and contrasting to men of great strength. It highlights Bishnu Charana Ghosh’s story, which perhaps Reba’s story cannot be told without: afterall, she is his star student, and he, her guru. Still, this biographical book paves the way for the stories of many other yoginis to be told, including stories of contemporary women and the lineages they are developing today, noting that it can also be done without the male leadership as a foundation. We must ask: who are/ were the other yoginis of recent centuries and contemporary times, and who were the women that inspired them to take to their paths. Pajunen mentions a few in Strong Woman, and that is a place–or rather, those are the people– to start.
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