Kusum Chopra

“… it is necessary that she be able to sing, dance and play a musical instrument altogether when requested … she should write and draw well, be adept in the giving of tattoos, and be prepared to receive them in whatsoever place the man should desire. ‘She should know how to speak the language of flowers when decorating beds or couches, or even when decorating the ground. In the arts of staining, dyeing, colouring and painting her teeth, her clothes, her nails and her body, a woman should be beyond compare. ‘A woman should know how to play music on glasses filled to different heights with liquids of various sorts. She should be able to fix stained-glass into a floor. She should know how to make, trim and hang a picture; how to fashion a necklace, a rosary, a garland or a wreath; how to store or gather water in an aqueduct or a tank. ‘She should know about scents; and about ornaments. She should be able to act and to lay on theatrical shows; she should be quick and sure in her hands and be able to cook and make lemonade or sherbet; wear jewels and bind a man’s turban. And she should of course, know magic ….”
― Kusum Chopra, Mastani