Quiet Moon Rising Print

I don't know why I was compelled to paint her but I was. Maybe it was for you? This is queen Maharani Chimnabai of India. She was known by the women of her village as the "Quiet Moon" which is funny because she was anything but quiet. She was known for roller skating through the Palace and singing loudly even though she couldn't carry a note and she was a Tiger hunter. She was not in charge - she was simply the woman behind the man that was in charge. Her story is a powerful one because she didn't use the sword or resistance to bring about change. She didn't compel women to burn their bra's and fight the man. Instead, she used the power of love and compassion and the power of the whisper. She could have easily been killed for her words but instead - she prevailed. Whisper to them (meaning the men) that they have wives and daughters that they love, and that they too, could have been born a woman. She told women that they must "respect the laws we are under - but push to change the ones that hinder a persons freedom to choose the path for their own life". As her husbands (she was married twice) went about their business, she went about hers. She began providing financial aid for the education of women, and she became the president of a high school and pushed for women rights there. She became the president of the maternity and child welfare league and of a local ladies club. She spoke of love and choice and right and is known as the Queen that discarded the system of purdah and child marriage in her state although her name is not on any of the documents that formally did so.