Customary ‘child selling’ and the ‘untouched mother’ in Western Odisha, India: understanding the legitimatization of caste hierarchy

Abstract

AbstractThe place of mothers is respected in all societies irrespective of their social, cultural, and geographical differences. The mother‐child relationship is considered one of the most sacred in the world. This article explores the age‐old customary ‘child selling’ prevalent in Western Odisha, a voluntary and non‐remunerative practice of childcare during infancy to save children from illness and Yama, the Hindu god of death, where the ‘caring mother’ belongs to the bottom of the social hierarchy, mainly from the (ex‐)untouchable castes. According to popular belief, Yama does not visit the untouchables because of their ‘filthy’ environment and their gods. Hence, it is considered a safer place for children, especially weak ones or those with the chronic illnesses of the upper castes, to conceal themselves from the evil eyes of Yama. The epistemology of this article aims to explore the hegemonic nature of the caste systems, which overwhelms the revered mother‐child relationship. Further, it tries to understand the (re)production of caste and legitimization of sociopsychological conditions for the marginalization and backwardness of ‘caring mothers’. Despite the sacred and intimate relationship between the ‘caring mother’ and child, the institution of ‘ritual selling’ reproduces caste inequalities, and again the former becomes an ‘untouchable’.