Pandita Ramabai ( 1858-1922)
In the era of women empowerment and the fight for equal rights for women, women are becoming independent and know their rights.
Pandita Ramabai is known to be the first feminist and the first women to voice up women rights in India.
She was one of the greatest women of modern India.
Ramabai was an outspoken champion of women’s rights and social reform.
She had given the titles of ‘Pandita’ and ‘ saraswati’ conferred on her by the residents of Calcutta in recognition of her intellectual attainment where she was also introduced to the social reform by Brahmo Samaj.
She married to Bipin Behari, (Shudra ) and broke the tradition.
After the death of her husband and daughter, she managed for higher study on scholarship.
There she came in contact with Christian missionaries and was impressed by their progress outlook.
She decided to convert to Christianity along with her very young daughter.
On her return to India, she was actively engaged in social work , particularly for the rehabilitation of Hindu Widows of the high caste, as their condition was particularly deplorable.
In this effort , she received financial assistance from Christian missionaries who were largely interested in the conversion of Indians to Christianity .
In this process, She became the target of criticism from Hindu Brahmins as well as Christian missionaries.
Returning to Maharashtra, Ramabai experienced her first public encounter with the forces of patriarchy when she set up the Arya Mahila Samaj in 1882 in Poona to mobilise women and aroused instant hostility .
“ She brought out a book in Marathi , Stree Dharma Niti with the Objective of counselling the helpless and ignorant women”.
In 1889, Ramabai established her Mukti mission near Pune as a refuge for young widows who were maltreated by their families.
In 1919, she was conferred the ‘ kaisar-e-Hind’ award for her social reform activities, one of the highest awards that an Indian could receive during British Raj. In 1989, Government of India issued a commemorative stamp in her honour.
Pandora Ramabai’s important writings includes :-
Stri Dharma Niti ( Morals for Women )(1882)
The High-Cast Hindu women(1888).
Ramabai on Motherhood
Pandora Ramabai observed that the normative structure of upper – cast Hindu patriarchy defined the fulfilment of her life solely through her role as a wife upper–cast
Indian women themselves saw the significance of their existence in accomplishing the role of mother and wife.
The major contestation in Ramabai’s educational and missionary activities was that of patriarchy.
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