SOCIAL SCIENTIST The myth of Kaliyuga mainly structured in the epics expressed the male anxieties of the period. Textually the Kaliyuga or the period of moral doom is supposed to have begun soon after the Mahabharata war, when existing power relations were subverted. The mlechha alien rulers replaced the rightful kings, shudras appropriated the authority of the Brahmans and most important of all, sexually deviant women wielded power over men. In the popular paintings of Bengal, the central image is of the deviant woman. Continued from the nineteenth century the images of sexually aggressive women are depicted as wearing revealing clothes and indulging in exaggerated gestures. The narrative related through certain incidents serializes these figures, situating them in different scenes. The blown up figures of the deviant woman contrasts sharply with male figures of husbands and fathers wedged into the crowded picture space. Even when depicted as men of authority the male characters appear secondary in the drama which unfolds before us. The narrative of moral doom in contemporary scrolls refer to present day social scene affecting women - divorce, remarriage, women having multiple sexual partners even when she has a husband, and women shunning domesticity. The peak of the narrative is structured through scenes of revelry as women are seen rushing to the cinema hall. As the picture space gets crowded by images of women on cycles, packed in autos, vans, falling out of crowded buses, a humorous note is struck by the artist. With the recognition by the audience of the images and the events depicted, the artist is able to contextualize the painting within the scheme of daily existence. The narrator's voice at once morally indignant and satirical relates how the modern woman shuns her traditional role. Today's women, the bard tells us, marry as soon as their husbands die, even an old woman these days demand a young and handsome lover. Clearly the roles are reversed. The painting assumes a special significance when placed in the perspective of nineteenth century male projects of reform; the latter had, in fact, placed abolition of Kulin polygamy and widow remarriage in the centre of their demands. The final scene shows a woman wearing a sleeveless blouse and high heeled shoes looking over her shoulder at the trailing group of men following her to the cinema hall. The chaos left behind is depicted through images of crying children and old mother-in-law carrying on the household chores and a gaping husband staring at the departing figure of his spouse. With the suggestion of the cinema hall as the centre of moral doom the artist communicates to the audience his