Ladies we should spend more time thinking about

A group my Mom is part of is going to organize a local event, and she wanted me to dig up some interesting facts on women of India. The target group that would be quizzed consists of lower income, modestly qualified women and this was meant to be an exercise in getting them interested in other women who have crossed frontiers.

Source: The University of Chicago Press Books

NOTE: This post is based on very minimal reading and you're free to choose a fair lady and do your homework. Really, it's close to 2 AM here. So if you find any errors, forgive me and just leave a comment. I appreciate all constructive criticism.

So, as expected, my first thoughts were:

Me: Who was the first female President of India?

Google: Pratibha Devisingh Patil

Cool. I knew that. But a one line answer won't a post make (and I am also a generally curious person), and so I found about how Mrs. Patil got some fairly nice education back in the 1950s (A Master's in Political Science and Economics, and a Bachelor's in Law), that while she practiced law she also took an interest in women empowerment back in the days of our parents being born. Then she went on to become the first female President of our country, and in fact, the only female ever to have held the office.

BUT few people like her because she became the President for the wrong reasons, used her term for her personal benefits (at that level, it's just inane! The country is always looking at you, Mrs. President!) such as extensive foreign travel taking upto 11 family members with her (we all know who's the favorite tai now) and just generally screwed up a term which couldn't have been easy anyway because she was succeeding Dr. Kalam.

Waste of a first question.

Next, I thought of:

Me: Who was the first female Prime Minister of India?

Google: Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi

Yep. We all knew that.

Got the nickname Priyadarshini by none other than Rabindranath Tagore.

Studied at Visva Bharati University and the Oxford University.

Was stranded in the Nazi rule in Switzerland for 2 months and had to escape without completing her studies at Oxford.

Met LSE student Feroze Gandhi (no relation of Mahatma Gandhi) and married him.
The first lady PM and the only one too.

The second-longest-serving PM, following in Daddy's footsteps.

Instrumental in the formation of Bangladesh.

BUT I stop this rant at the Emergency and the Operation Blue Star.

Weird. But I am definitely interested.

Next, came the logical:

Me: Who was the first female Chief Minister of any state of India?

Google: Sucheta Kriplani

Quite well educated (Indraprastha College, Panjab University) she was a Professor of Constitutional History at Banaras Hindu University.

Part of the subcommittee that drafted the Indian Constitution.

Came to prominence during the Quit India Movement. 

 First female Chief Minister, of Uttar Pradesh.

I'm a bit intrigued by the fact that she remained in seclusion after her retirement till her death, but respect and awe quite override that thought.

Me: Who was the first female Governor?

Google: Sarojini Naidu

She was the first Governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh.

She was also the first Indian woman to become President of the Indian National Congress.

Born in a sophisticated family, her father allowed her an inter-caste marriage back in the 19th century.

This is one lady we all should be reading more about (apart from our middle-school Social Studies curriculum).

By now, Google was throwing me the right questions to ask as well:

Google: (Aren't you going to ask me about the) first female graduates (?)

Google: (Sure, I'll tell you about) Kadambini Ganguly and Chandramukhi Basu

If there was a time to (not!) be a qualified lady, theirs it was.

Kadambini Ganguly was also the first South Asian female physician, one of the first two female graduates of the country, and of the entire British empire. 

I'm honestly bowled over. 

Chandramukhi Basu was also the first female head of an undergraduate academic establishment in South Asia.

(For one moment, I thought we're now coming up with titles just for the heck of it.

And then I remembered just how massively difficult it was to just live a woman's life in those times.

And I'm feeling a lot smaller, I admit.)

Google: (Forget all of this, I must tell you about the) first female advocate

Me: First female advocate? Where did this come from?

Google: (Just let me do the talking, will you? You must know about) Cornelia Sorabji.

Alright, I'm listening. 

First female advocate from India.

Yes, but I've read about a lot of firsts already, let's make this quick. 

First female graduate from Bombay University.

Okay, alright.

First woman to read law at Oxford University.

Ohhkay, alright.

 First Indian national to study at any British university.

Wait, whaaat?

 First woman to practice law in India and Britain.

That's decidedly cool.

Cornelia Sorabji was also involved in social work, where she took upon herself the task of providing a voice to the purdahnashins, women who were forbidden to communicate with the outside male world. She also wrote quite a bit, and I mean to dig all of that up for my next literary foray.

A chore gone beautifully right, I've been delighted to read up about these women (and several more!). Perhaps much of this is common knowledge for people slightly older than me, whose times were full of recognition for these ladies (or for people who are better-read). But for me, this was nothing less than a pure delight and I hope to explore more about these gems in times to come.