Muthulakshmi Reddy, By Aditi Singh
Via: LiveImageIndia
It was the first day of July. I was busy on my phone, scrolling through Instagram. My father was watching the headlines for the day. After the headlines, the news channel started talking about the first woman surgeon of India, which garnered my attention, and within a second, my eyes switched from my mobile screen to the television. The television screen had a black and white image of the lady doctor, dressed in an extremely simple saree, standing upright, with round spectacles, awkwardly posing for the camera. Her countenance was filled with utmost sincerity. It somehow signified the calmness of the ocean.
Born in the princely state of Pudukkottai, now situated in Tamil Nadu, India, Reddy was born to a Devdasi mother, which made her more inclined towards the Devdasi culture. Narayana Swami Iyer, her father, was the inadvertent feminist in her life as he didn’t listen to society and sent her to school. In an age where women gaining an education of even the rudimentary type was considered breaking the mold of orthodoxy and gender bias and is still considered in some primitive areas, a young woman dared to dream of becoming a doctor. She was able to achieve it in the 20th century. ‘She was a rebel at heart’ quoted a news article on 30th July, on the occasion of her birthday. A woman generally succeeding in life is considered a rebel merely because she does what she dreams of. In a society where marriage was considered the only moment of celebration in a woman’s life, Lakshmi defied this norm and marched towards her pursuit of becoming a doctor and chose her dreams instead of marriage. She was the first woman to enter an all men’s college even though she was denied admission at first despite her commendable academic records because she was a ‘woman.’ The unorthodox raja of Pudukkottai impressed by her academic excellence and her aim to be the change in a society where women wanted to change but were apprehensive to challenge society, he asked the college to admit her without any bias. She was also the only woman candidate in her medical college. I can’t even imagine the prejudices she had to fight, the stereotypes she had to break, and the difficulties she had to face, indeed she was a ‘rebel.’With all her vigor, leaving the hardships behind, she graduated in 1912 and became the first woman surgeon of India at the young age of 26.
She did not limit herself to the medical profession but forayed into politics too and became a reformer and a lawmaker too. She came under the influence of Annie Besant and Mahatma Gandhi, which pushed her towards working and fighting for women’s rights and improving their status in society. She also contributed to the foundation of the Women’s India Association in 1917. She protested against casteist practices and against the exploitation faced by Devdasis. She got married at the age of 28 in the same year with Sundara Reddy on his prior promise that he would respect her as an equal. She was the advocate of gender equality and thus would have never settled for the unequal conventional husband-wife relationship where the husband is considered to be pati-parmesvara. She went to London for higher education and came back when the Women’s India Foundation requested her to join politics and improve women’s conditions. She was the first woman to enter the Legislative Council of India, and she started working instantly on what were her main objectives to enter into politics. The most revolutionary reform proposed and implemented by Lakshmi was the increase in the minimum age for marriage of girls from 16 to 21. She had to endure societal pressures where women were married at a young age due to family pressures. This was her first significant step in women empowerment. Agitated by the idea of human trafficking, she proposed and made the council pass the Immoral Traffic Control Act. Her personal experiences forced her to erect important establishments that improved the conditions of the people and are still considered relevant. Once 3 Devadasi girls knocked Reddy’s door in search of abode and that’s when Reddy realized that women were still at their worst. She established Avvai Home, which was the ray of hope in the lives of innumerable young Devdasis. It was a haven for them. It is still considered one of the major pillars of female empowerment and has now grown to become a large educational complex for orphan girls and deserted women.
Earlier limited only to Devdasis, it has now broadened its realm and is open to all women. She also laid the foundation of Adayar Cancer Institute in 1954, one of the largest medical establishments in Chennai even today. The seed of building a cancer institute where everybody could be treated at a relatively lower cost irrespective of their economic condition was planted when her sister died due to cancer at a young age. She used her personal experiences as a force to change society. She was a quintessential Hindi film hero!! She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1956 for her unprecedented contributions to society. She passed away in 1968, but she is still alive through her inspiring way in which she lived her life. Google recently honored her by celebrating her 133rd birthday.
After the half an hour news program about Muthulakshmi Reddy ended, it left a lasting impact on me. Reddy is a woman so fearless, so determined, that she not only succeeded in her life but made sure everyone else also excelled by her contributions in improving the society.
Other people will call me a rebel, but I just feel like I’m living my life and doing what I want to do. Sometimes people call it a rebellion, especially when you’re a woman. -JOAN JETT
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[Sources]:
● Women Pioneers of Indian renaissance (pdf) edited by Sushila Nayyar
● My experience as a legislator- by Muthulakshmi Reddy
● https://m.thewire.in/article/women/dr-muthulakshmi-reddi-nationalist-feminism/amp