Pandita Ramabai- Gender
Introduction
The nineteenth century India was set against the background of modernization infused
by the British colonial rule, provided an ideal setting for social change. The new Indian
intelligentsia imbibed with the progressive ideas of the west, took up the challenge of
reforming the hitherto Indian society, deeply rooted in traditional discriminatory
practices and beliefs. However, this wave of modernization had very limited access to
position of the females tied with the prevalent social norms. But it was Pandita Ramabai
(1858-1922) a great philosopher of her time who devised her independent path of
freeing women from decades of bondages to self-esteem. Pandita Ramabai is not only
acknowledged as an eminent social reformer and a scholar but also perhaps as one of
the first feminists in the modern Indian history who struggled for the emancipation of
Indian women. Her life and thought is instructive to all those who yearn for the dignity
and equality of women in Indian society. Her critique of patriarchy and demand for civil
rights and gender justice reflects her political thought.
Gender
The traditional Hindu society in 18th-19th century India was a caste ridden and male
dominated society, where the status of women was generally inferior to that of men
and women had no independent status of their own.
The duty of ameliorating the condition of women till the mid 19th century was on the
shoulders of the newly awakened male reformers but the system of education
introduced by the British rule was most intelligibly utilized by a great female social
reformer of this time period i.e. Pandita Ramabai, who through her rigorous and bold
efforts leashed a ray of hope in the lives of the oppressed Indian women.
Ramabai was born in a Brahmin family to a Sanskrit scholar named Anant Shastri
Dongre. Her father taught both his wife and Ramabai due to which her family was
excluded from the society. After her parents died in 1977, Ramabai moved with her
brother to Poona where she founded the ‘Arya Mahila Sabha’ in 1881. The object of this
institution was to promote education among native women and discouragement of
child marriage. This may be termed as the first feminist organization for India. However,
Ramabai, entered the feminist discourse of those times through her first Marathi book,
‘Stri Dharma-Niti’ (Morals for Women), which was published in 1882.
Ramabai’s role as a spokesperson for the glory of the Vedic age created dilemmas. The
more she read and reflected on her experiences, the more she was exposed to the
subtle patriarchal structure of society. It was during these young days that Ramabai’s
political thoughts started getting firmly grounded and expressed. She connected the
teachings of the ancient literature with the inferior status of women in society. The
caste system that was prevalent in the society during those times did not have any
impact on the progressive thinking of Ramabai. She firmly believed that in ancient times
people were assigned to the four castes according to their work and merit and not on
the basis of their birth. It was much later that caste system became identified with birth
and turned discriminatory. These caste-based differences coupled with gender-based
differences deeply affected the Indian women. Ramabai understood that the patriarchal
ideology of the society placed women within the domestic sphere as a wife/mother and
housewife according to her sexual, reproductive and home making roles. In this caste-
ridden, patriarchal society, the highest status for a woman was that of a saubhagyavati
and a mother of sons. A woman only with daughters or one without children had a
lower status and lived under the fear of being deserted by her husband. A widow had
the lowest status, especially a child widow or one without children.
Ramabai’s study of Upanishads, Manusmriti and the Vedas made her realize how the
caste system, the Hindu shastras, society and social customs helped patriarchy to not
only thrive but to grow larger. She thought that the low account of women’s nature and
character depicted in Manusmriti was, to a larger extent, responsible for their seclusion
and suppression. Ramabai soon realized that all sacred books in Sanskrit literature
shared hateful sentiments about women. Child marriage, polygamy and enforced
widowhood thus turned out to be the great social evils in India which were responsible
for the pathetic condition of Indian women and which needed to be changed.
Pandita’s most popular academic venture ‘The High Caste Hindu Women’ contained a
critical account of miseries that were faced by girls and women in the domain of a high-
caste Hindu Joint family system. Through this book, Ramabai tried to become the voice
of these millions of women.
Her next academic venture ‘Cry of Indian Women’ more explicitly reflected her feminist
thinking and her desire to seek gender justice.
Imparting education to women was thought to be the best remedy of the problems.
Pandita’s hope was that women’s education would lead to the rejection of Brahmanism
and realize the deception of sacred literature.
In 1919, the British government awarded to Pandita Ramabai, the Kaiser-i-Hind medal
for her distinguished service to the Indian education system.
All the writings of Ramabai reveal her liking for all non imperialistic western world in
general and for United States in particular. For her, America was a nation of progress,
equality, opportunity and of citizen’s rights- a liberal country that suited to be followed
by a colonial country like India as an example to gain political freedom and social
reform. In America, Ramabai was largely impressed by women’s entry into the public
sphere in the realm of all kinds of jobs and organizations founded with the aim of social
reform. All women’s societies and clubs in the United States were inclined towards
charity, promoting education, helping the destitute and so on. Such kind of
organizations also existed in Britain, Germany, France, Norway, etc. According to
Ramabai, the reason for the existence of these organizations was that women
recognized their own worth and strength and realized that enormous tasks could be
accomplished if many undertook an enterprise with a single aim.
Conclusion
The story of Ramabai no doubt reveals that by integrating widows into mainstream, she
was re-conceptualizing widowhood and womanhood in a way that no male reformers
could ever think of. However, at times Ramabai’s personality emerges as an anti-thesis
of the ideal women –an ambitious, careerist and irresponsible mother. Yet it needs to
be stressed here that despite everything she stove relentlessly to achieve her goal –the
emancipation of Indian women. If Ramabai appeared confused and disturbed at places,
it is only because she was a human being. Given the limitations of family support, fund
and social acceptance, Ramabai did what best she could have in those circumstances.
The beauty of her thinking lies in acknowledging the goodness of the west and realizing
the shortcoming of our society. Ramabai was a nationalist thinker with an international
outlook.
