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Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of India's First Women in Medicine
At a time when medicine is a highly sought-after career for Indian women, it is hard to imagine what it was like for the pioneers. The story of how firmly they were bound in fetters of family, caste and society, and how fiercely they fought to escape, needs to be told. In Lady Doctors, Kavitha Rao unearths the extraordinary stories of six women from the 1860s to the 1930s, who defied the idea that they were unfit for medicine by virtue of their gender.
From Anandibai Joshi, who broke caste rules by crossing an ocean, to Rukhmabai Raut, who escaped a child marriage, divorced her husband and studied to be a doctor; from Kadambini Ganguly, who took care of eight children while she worked, to child widow Haimabati Sen, who overcame poverty and hardship—these women had a profound and lasting impact. And in their forgotten lives lie many lessons for modern women.
In truth, the compelling stories of these radical women have been erased from our textbooks and memories, because histories have mostly been written by men, about men. In an immensely readable narrative, and with impeccable research, Lady Doctors rectifies this omission.
From Anandibai Joshi, who broke caste rules by crossing an ocean, to Rukhmabai Raut, who escaped a child marriage, divorced her husband and studied to be a doctor; from Kadambini Ganguly, who took care of eight children while she worked, to child widow Haimabati Sen, who overcame poverty and hardship—these women had a profound and lasting impact. And in their forgotten lives lie many lessons for modern women.
In truth, the compelling stories of these radical women have been erased from our textbooks and memories, because histories have mostly been written by men, about men. In an immensely readable narrative, and with impeccable research, Lady Doctors rectifies this omission.
270 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 12, 2021
71 people are currently reading
1351 people want to read
About the author
Kavitha Rao
4 books19 followersKavitha Rao is a writer and a journalist, who writes on current affairs, arts, culture, people, and places. Her writings have been published in several national as well as international papers, including The National Time, The Guardian, New York Times, Elle India, Vogue India, and many more. For The Guardian, she writes a popular column titled Terra India, for which she won Asian Environmental Journalism Award. She is also a representative of a media training company that provides training for speaking in media.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
September 27, 2022
Medicine is something that requires a lot of hard work and time to study.
What would you do if you did all the years of hard work and became a lady doctor but were still paid less than the unqualified midwife? This was the situation that Haimabati Sen had to face in her life. This book will tell you how Haimabati tackled this complicated situation that existed worldwide a couple of centuries ago. It contains similar inspirational stories about the Lady Doctors who revolutionized healthcare.
This book is not just a collection of biographies of a few brilliant lady doctors in India. We can also see detailed descriptions of actions taken by women who played a major role in the international scenario, like Elizabeth Blackwell.
What I learned from this book
1) The fetishization of women doctors.
Can a woman become a good doctor only if she is a good mother? This question might look foolish when we read it in 2022. But this was one of the most important questions that Lady Doctors had to face in the 19th and the early part of the 20th century. Kavitha Rao is beautifully describing it in this book.
2) Rebel with a cause
Rukmabai was a rebel who worked hard for the education of women. She went to the UK to study Medicine. All the actions taken by her helped a lot in the women's upliftment in India.
3) How customs and bigotry prevented women from becoming doctors in India in the early part of the 20th century?
We can see how Muthulakshmi Reddy changed the lives of women in India in this book. Women's most prominent problem at that time was the customs that prevailed in the society. She gave proper explanations of what customs are and why reforms are inevitable.
She also made sure to criticize men who preached against child marriage but practiced the same when it came to child marriages in their families. She was furious at the bigotry shown by these men.
My favourite three lines from this book
What could have been better?
This book's marketing could have been done in a better way. It is a book that has the power to motivate women to change their lives in the best possible way.
Rating
5/5 If you are a feminist or a Doctor, you should never miss the opportunity to read this book.
What would you do if you did all the years of hard work and became a lady doctor but were still paid less than the unqualified midwife? This was the situation that Haimabati Sen had to face in her life. This book will tell you how Haimabati tackled this complicated situation that existed worldwide a couple of centuries ago. It contains similar inspirational stories about the Lady Doctors who revolutionized healthcare.
This book is not just a collection of biographies of a few brilliant lady doctors in India. We can also see detailed descriptions of actions taken by women who played a major role in the international scenario, like Elizabeth Blackwell.
What I learned from this book
1) The fetishization of women doctors.
Can a woman become a good doctor only if she is a good mother? This question might look foolish when we read it in 2022. But this was one of the most important questions that Lady Doctors had to face in the 19th and the early part of the 20th century. Kavitha Rao is beautifully describing it in this book.
"Women like Kadambini and Mary were often praised for being good mothers and wives first, and good doctors next. Motherhood continued to be idolized, and defenders of Indian women doctors would argue that women made good doctors because selflessness came naturally to them. This was exactly what the early pioneers had argued against: the fetishization of women doctors. Again, the trailblazing Rukhmabai was the only one who did not stay married, and still managed to build a reputation."
2) Rebel with a cause
Rukmabai was a rebel who worked hard for the education of women. She went to the UK to study Medicine. All the actions taken by her helped a lot in the women's upliftment in India.
“Rukhmabai was no good Hindu wife. She was a flouter of convention, a breaker of rules, a rebel with a cause. Right from childhood, she was certain that her early marriage had stopped her from achieving everything she wanted."
3) How customs and bigotry prevented women from becoming doctors in India in the early part of the 20th century?
We can see how Muthulakshmi Reddy changed the lives of women in India in this book. Women's most prominent problem at that time was the customs that prevailed in the society. She gave proper explanations of what customs are and why reforms are inevitable.
"Every social evil in this blessed country goes in the name of religion.What is custom after all?' she asked. "If any practice is observed for a few years owing to the exigencies of the times, it becomes sanctified as a custom."
She also made sure to criticize men who preached against child marriage but practiced the same when it came to child marriages in their families. She was furious at the bigotry shown by these men.
“It is not hard to identify Muthulakshmi's legacy. The solid facade of the Adyar Cancer Institute, with its long lines of patients, the girls educated in the Avvai Home, the numerous social welfare schemes, the abolition of the devadasi system, and the winning of the vote for women are evidence enough. Add to this, her battle to bring women into public life, which was every bit as important."
My favourite three lines from this book
"I had even then set my heart upon something high and I wanted to be a different woman from the common lot. - Muthulakshmi Reddy”
"If this life is so transitory like a rose in bloom, why should one depend upon another? Everyone must not ride on another's shoulders, but walk on his own feet.'"
"Men cannot, in the least, understand the wretchedness which we Hindu women have to endure. Because you cannot enter our feelings, do not think that we are satisfied with the life of drudgery that we live, and that we have no taste for an aspiration after a higher life."
What could have been better?
This book's marketing could have been done in a better way. It is a book that has the power to motivate women to change their lives in the best possible way.
Rating
5/5 If you are a feminist or a Doctor, you should never miss the opportunity to read this book.
November 13, 2021
Awesome read.
A much needed book that we need to read to see as an example how much the women have been denied their rights and privileges.
The only issue with me about this book was the way the facts/references were put without much clarity and I was really uncomfortable at times about the writing when it seems to criticize some particular personalities we aren't much sure about and undue preferences to some personalities.
Otherwise the book is a collectible.
A much needed book that we need to read to see as an example how much the women have been denied their rights and privileges.
The only issue with me about this book was the way the facts/references were put without much clarity and I was really uncomfortable at times about the writing when it seems to criticize some particular personalities we aren't much sure about and undue preferences to some personalities.
Otherwise the book is a collectible.
November 6, 2023
Rating: 4 stars
NPS: 10 (Promoter)
An important book that tells you the story of India’s first set of lady doctors, this is an eye opening read on the discrimination and prejudice they had to face when the medical profession was solely reserved for men.
I loved this book a lot, although the storytelling aspect could have been made better. Although a light read, the book did feel like a textbook at some places.
But, I do recommend this read.
NPS: 10 (Promoter)
An important book that tells you the story of India’s first set of lady doctors, this is an eye opening read on the discrimination and prejudice they had to face when the medical profession was solely reserved for men.
I loved this book a lot, although the storytelling aspect could have been made better. Although a light read, the book did feel like a textbook at some places.
But, I do recommend this read.
August 13, 2021
Those who cannot bear in mind the past are destined to repeat it. Georges Santayana says this line, essentially arguing that, if our world is ever going to make progress, it needs to remember what it's learned from the past.
In any case, change isn't the same thing as progress. Progress means taking what you've learned and building on it, but modern culture has a way of forgetting things so quickly that there's no chance to learn important lessons from the past.
The crossing out of the initial giants of Indian medicine has resulted in a complete generation of Indians believing that women cannot outshine in science. Generations of Indians accurately extol C.V. Raman and Jagdish Chandra Bose, but never that dazzling by unremembered bunch of women who fought far greater odds with incredible audacity.
This book sets out to right the disproportion of history and shared memory.
Kavitha Rao has divided her book into seven chapters:-
CHAPTER 1 THE ORIGINALS
CHAPTER 2 THE GOOD WIFE
CHAPTER 3 THE WORKING MOM
CHAPTER 4 THE RULE BREAKER
CHAPTER 5 THE FIGHTER
CHAPTER 6 THE LAWMAKER
CHAPTER 7 THE SURGEON GENERAL
Anandibai was the first woman doctor in India trained in the western discipline of medicine to graduate in 1885. She met her demise excessively early in 1887 to leave her mark as a physician. However, her life made the path easier for later women doctors in India who were vanguards in their own right.
The nonconformist Anandibai was followed by other intrepid women –
Kadambini Ganguly battled colonialism and libel as a ‘whore’ to become India’s first practising doctor, all while bringing up eight children.
Rukhmabai Raut escaped the marriage she had been forced into as a child by divorcing her husband, unheard of for Hindu women at the time. They made medicine an acceptable profession for women, and later, even a respectable one.
Before Rukhmabai was also the little-known Motibai Kapadia, the first woman graduate of Grant Medical College in Mumbai. Motibai got a medical degree in 1889, only three years after Anandibai. Kapadia then spent the next forty years working for the Victoria Jubilee Hospital in Ahmedabad, but there is very little information about her.
Meanwhile, some historians from south India argue that Muthulakshmi Reddy, who began practising in 1912, was the first woman doctor because she was the first to obtain an MBBS.
The author, in order to put controversies and speculations to rest, raises quite a few questions:
1) Who was the first woman doctor? The answer lies in how we describe it. Were practitioners of traditional medicine—such as Ayurveda—doctors? By that description, there were probably numerous women medical practitioners before Anandibai Joshi.
2) Among practitioners of Western medicine, which of the many special types of medical degrees counted towards being a doctor?
3) Were diploma-holders doctors, or only full MBBS- or MD-holders? Were those women who got a degree but did not practise doctors?
This confusion is particularly marked in the history of Indian women doctors. Anandibai Joshi was the first Indian woman to get a Western medical degree, a two-year MD from the Women’s Medical College, Pennsylvania. But pitifully, she died before she could practise. Rukhmabai, who had an MD from the London School of Medicine, is broadly and incorrectly believed to be the first Indian woman doctor to in fact practice. But between Rukhmabai and Anandibai was the mostly forgotten Kadambini Ganguly, who began practising in Kolkata in 1886, a full nine years before Rukhmabai. Ganguly had three diplomas in medicine, and no MD. Still, she was licensed to practise.
The fact is that the fight over who the first Indian woman doctor was and is a futile one, as all were legends. Kadambini may have practised before Rukhmabai, but as a lower-caste woman who defied Hindu conservatives, Rukhmabai had far more challenges to overcome. Muthulakshmi Reddy may not have been the first woman doctor, but she built institutions that remain unparalleled.
Mary Poonen Lukose came many years later, but she was the first woman surgeon general in India. It is hard to identify who came first, and who came later. At any rate, we would do better to shed spotlight on the inimitable lives and attainments of each doctor who finds mention in this book.
The lady doctors brought the beauty of science—its severity, its conviction, its encouragement—to women who knew only superstition and chaos.
‘Whether it was Rukhmabai fighting the plague, Haimabati delivering a baby or Muthulakshmi advocating for a cancer ward, they were fighting the dark shadows of ignorance’, the author says.
Little is known of these unsung women, commonly called ‘lady doctors’. They do not appear in our textbooks or museums, and have been largely left out of Indian history. A crater on Venus is named after Anandibai, but not a single road or school in India.
Anandibai and Rukhmabai have had biographies written about them in Marathi; Rukhmabai was the subject of a 2017 film by Anant Mahadevan and, in 2019, Sameer Vidwans directed a Marathi film about Anandibai. Nevertheless, these women are hardly household names across India, in the way that Sarojini Naidu or Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi are.
These pioneers would inspire other women to become doctors, women who would go on to found institutes that shaped modern India.
In West Bengal, fiery Haimabati Sen—a mere child of ten when widowed—would overcome huge challenges to follow in Kadambini’s footsteps. Chennai’s Muthulakshmi Reddy would become a fervent social reformer, abolish the devadasi system and go on to establish the Adyar Cancer Institute. In the princely state of Travancore, Mary Poonen Lukose would become a royal physician, India’s first surgeon general and first woman legislator.
None of them would be remembered in any significant way, and some, like Haimabati, would be completely erased from memory.
All these women had something in common: they were fighters. And they certainly had plenty to fight. In the 1860s, upper-caste Indian women barely left the house, let alone travelled overseas to study. Educating a girl was considered unnecessary; educating them in the sciences even more so.
Amongst Hindus, it was considered unlucky to let girls remain unmarried after the age of ten. Girls would often be married and widowed before they were twelve, then spend the rest of their lives in poverty. Across the world, medical colleges banned women from attending.
They faced tough resistance: religious, caste-based and patriarchal. They were stoned, hassled and taunted. Some of the most illustrious men in India opposed higher education for women.
Luminous women doctors who won medals at university were forced to give them up because men felt endangered.
It is the brilliance exhibited in uncovering their hidden stories that this most exceptional book gets a five on five.
And boy, did they come out in flying colours?
The admiration that the lady doctors earned in their professions helped them move effortlessly into public life, and encouraged other women to be involved in public policy. Muthulakshmi helped to abolish the devadasi system, win women the vote and raise the age of marriage.
Kadambini joined the Indian National Congress and was one of the first women to speak at their conferences. Rukhmabai, of course, defied an entire society to make it acceptable for Hindu women to divorce their husbands. Mary was the first Indian woman to be appointed to a legislature.
They paved the way for giants such as Dr. Manjula Anagani, Dr. V. Shanta, Dr. Indira Hinduja, Dr. Jayashree Mondkar, Dr. Ajita Chakraborty and so many others.
The journey of a thousand miles does begin with a single step.
As the world wages a resolute combat against a global pandemic with vaccines that have been developed in record time, science is humanity’s lone way out. When we converse about these lady doctors, we concede and salute their struggle for knowledge and liberty.
This book is a magnificent step in keeping their names living.
Read this book and re-experience the delight as also the inherent shame.
In any case, change isn't the same thing as progress. Progress means taking what you've learned and building on it, but modern culture has a way of forgetting things so quickly that there's no chance to learn important lessons from the past.
The crossing out of the initial giants of Indian medicine has resulted in a complete generation of Indians believing that women cannot outshine in science. Generations of Indians accurately extol C.V. Raman and Jagdish Chandra Bose, but never that dazzling by unremembered bunch of women who fought far greater odds with incredible audacity.
This book sets out to right the disproportion of history and shared memory.
Kavitha Rao has divided her book into seven chapters:-
CHAPTER 1 THE ORIGINALS
CHAPTER 2 THE GOOD WIFE
CHAPTER 3 THE WORKING MOM
CHAPTER 4 THE RULE BREAKER
CHAPTER 5 THE FIGHTER
CHAPTER 6 THE LAWMAKER
CHAPTER 7 THE SURGEON GENERAL
Anandibai was the first woman doctor in India trained in the western discipline of medicine to graduate in 1885. She met her demise excessively early in 1887 to leave her mark as a physician. However, her life made the path easier for later women doctors in India who were vanguards in their own right.
The nonconformist Anandibai was followed by other intrepid women –
Kadambini Ganguly battled colonialism and libel as a ‘whore’ to become India’s first practising doctor, all while bringing up eight children.
Rukhmabai Raut escaped the marriage she had been forced into as a child by divorcing her husband, unheard of for Hindu women at the time. They made medicine an acceptable profession for women, and later, even a respectable one.
Before Rukhmabai was also the little-known Motibai Kapadia, the first woman graduate of Grant Medical College in Mumbai. Motibai got a medical degree in 1889, only three years after Anandibai. Kapadia then spent the next forty years working for the Victoria Jubilee Hospital in Ahmedabad, but there is very little information about her.
Meanwhile, some historians from south India argue that Muthulakshmi Reddy, who began practising in 1912, was the first woman doctor because she was the first to obtain an MBBS.
The author, in order to put controversies and speculations to rest, raises quite a few questions:
1) Who was the first woman doctor? The answer lies in how we describe it. Were practitioners of traditional medicine—such as Ayurveda—doctors? By that description, there were probably numerous women medical practitioners before Anandibai Joshi.
2) Among practitioners of Western medicine, which of the many special types of medical degrees counted towards being a doctor?
3) Were diploma-holders doctors, or only full MBBS- or MD-holders? Were those women who got a degree but did not practise doctors?
This confusion is particularly marked in the history of Indian women doctors. Anandibai Joshi was the first Indian woman to get a Western medical degree, a two-year MD from the Women’s Medical College, Pennsylvania. But pitifully, she died before she could practise. Rukhmabai, who had an MD from the London School of Medicine, is broadly and incorrectly believed to be the first Indian woman doctor to in fact practice. But between Rukhmabai and Anandibai was the mostly forgotten Kadambini Ganguly, who began practising in Kolkata in 1886, a full nine years before Rukhmabai. Ganguly had three diplomas in medicine, and no MD. Still, she was licensed to practise.
The fact is that the fight over who the first Indian woman doctor was and is a futile one, as all were legends. Kadambini may have practised before Rukhmabai, but as a lower-caste woman who defied Hindu conservatives, Rukhmabai had far more challenges to overcome. Muthulakshmi Reddy may not have been the first woman doctor, but she built institutions that remain unparalleled.
Mary Poonen Lukose came many years later, but she was the first woman surgeon general in India. It is hard to identify who came first, and who came later. At any rate, we would do better to shed spotlight on the inimitable lives and attainments of each doctor who finds mention in this book.
The lady doctors brought the beauty of science—its severity, its conviction, its encouragement—to women who knew only superstition and chaos.
‘Whether it was Rukhmabai fighting the plague, Haimabati delivering a baby or Muthulakshmi advocating for a cancer ward, they were fighting the dark shadows of ignorance’, the author says.
Little is known of these unsung women, commonly called ‘lady doctors’. They do not appear in our textbooks or museums, and have been largely left out of Indian history. A crater on Venus is named after Anandibai, but not a single road or school in India.
Anandibai and Rukhmabai have had biographies written about them in Marathi; Rukhmabai was the subject of a 2017 film by Anant Mahadevan and, in 2019, Sameer Vidwans directed a Marathi film about Anandibai. Nevertheless, these women are hardly household names across India, in the way that Sarojini Naidu or Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi are.
These pioneers would inspire other women to become doctors, women who would go on to found institutes that shaped modern India.
In West Bengal, fiery Haimabati Sen—a mere child of ten when widowed—would overcome huge challenges to follow in Kadambini’s footsteps. Chennai’s Muthulakshmi Reddy would become a fervent social reformer, abolish the devadasi system and go on to establish the Adyar Cancer Institute. In the princely state of Travancore, Mary Poonen Lukose would become a royal physician, India’s first surgeon general and first woman legislator.
None of them would be remembered in any significant way, and some, like Haimabati, would be completely erased from memory.
All these women had something in common: they were fighters. And they certainly had plenty to fight. In the 1860s, upper-caste Indian women barely left the house, let alone travelled overseas to study. Educating a girl was considered unnecessary; educating them in the sciences even more so.
Amongst Hindus, it was considered unlucky to let girls remain unmarried after the age of ten. Girls would often be married and widowed before they were twelve, then spend the rest of their lives in poverty. Across the world, medical colleges banned women from attending.
They faced tough resistance: religious, caste-based and patriarchal. They were stoned, hassled and taunted. Some of the most illustrious men in India opposed higher education for women.
Luminous women doctors who won medals at university were forced to give them up because men felt endangered.
It is the brilliance exhibited in uncovering their hidden stories that this most exceptional book gets a five on five.
And boy, did they come out in flying colours?
The admiration that the lady doctors earned in their professions helped them move effortlessly into public life, and encouraged other women to be involved in public policy. Muthulakshmi helped to abolish the devadasi system, win women the vote and raise the age of marriage.
Kadambini joined the Indian National Congress and was one of the first women to speak at their conferences. Rukhmabai, of course, defied an entire society to make it acceptable for Hindu women to divorce their husbands. Mary was the first Indian woman to be appointed to a legislature.
They paved the way for giants such as Dr. Manjula Anagani, Dr. V. Shanta, Dr. Indira Hinduja, Dr. Jayashree Mondkar, Dr. Ajita Chakraborty and so many others.
The journey of a thousand miles does begin with a single step.
As the world wages a resolute combat against a global pandemic with vaccines that have been developed in record time, science is humanity’s lone way out. When we converse about these lady doctors, we concede and salute their struggle for knowledge and liberty.
This book is a magnificent step in keeping their names living.
Read this book and re-experience the delight as also the inherent shame.
February 17, 2022
Although this one has been in my TBR for a while what pushed me to get started with this book was a podcast with the author that I listened to a couple of days ago. The book covers the fascinating stories of six women who defied societal norms that basically expected them to marry as early as at an age of 10 and disappear in the thick smog of ignorance and patriarchy but instead they walked a path never trodden before by any Indian woman.
It's this book that made me see how some of the most prominent social reformists were staunch opposers of women studying let alone allow women to practice medicine and thus making me reaffirm my belief in the dangers of a single story. Husbands who abused, mothers who were mortified at the prospect of their girls getting an education and fathers firmly standing behind their daughters' right to build a life of their own, the author really did a spectacular job of bringing stories of these incredible doctors where it wasn't even possible to dig out a simple memoir.
At a time when we all emerge out of a pandemic, we have so much to thank these women for who pioneered in cancer care, advocated for vaccines and delivered babies amidst nothing but mockery, abuse and hatred and most importantly brought science to a society which did not even acknowledge it's presence.
It's this book that made me see how some of the most prominent social reformists were staunch opposers of women studying let alone allow women to practice medicine and thus making me reaffirm my belief in the dangers of a single story. Husbands who abused, mothers who were mortified at the prospect of their girls getting an education and fathers firmly standing behind their daughters' right to build a life of their own, the author really did a spectacular job of bringing stories of these incredible doctors where it wasn't even possible to dig out a simple memoir.
At a time when we all emerge out of a pandemic, we have so much to thank these women for who pioneered in cancer care, advocated for vaccines and delivered babies amidst nothing but mockery, abuse and hatred and most importantly brought science to a society which did not even acknowledge it's presence.
October 10, 2021
Short, compelling biographies of six extraordinary women. I couldn't stop reading.
June 6, 2023
I have almost cried in nearly all the chapters. First non-fiction I ever read and I am so proud of my choice.
This book is a celebration of women— to put it in one line.
The book starts with a discussion of who were the first women doctors of the world and what it means to be the first. It’s a redundant term obviously because as we see through the chapters and through the lives of the early women doctors of India, each of them were a pioneer in their own right.
What I love about this book is that each chapter, other than narrating the life story of the said doctor, contained something or someone of that time that was so intermixed with the theme of their lives that their story would be incomplete without it. Whether it’s the modern Pandita Ramabai’s juxtaposition with the revered Anandibai Joshi or the famous freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s villainy when it comes to Rukhmabai’s emancipation or Nagarathnamma, the fierce devadasi battling Muthulaxmi Reddy— almost always that person discussed was a powerful symbol of feminism/radicalism or conservatism and patriarchy.
The story always comes back to our heroine storming through and creating her own way through that eternal battle but these bits give us the big picture, the representation of media, yesterday and today, in the way it uses a different lens for men and women, how the society has made the institutions of marriage and family inseparable from a women’s life and being, how caste and class both influence so many ambitions and realities. Definitely my heart cried out reading their stories and that silent suffocation and compromise.
Not only does the book effectively call out these institutions instead of simply focusing on a motivational story, the women themselves are much more nuanced than simple figures of bravery; because brave they were, of course, but they were much more than that. They were radical and rebellious freedom fighters to scientific and rational doctors. They were also sometimes less than that; conservative and bound like Anandibai, condescending like muthulaxmi reddy. Or the perpetual defensiveness of keeping family and culture first that all of them had, even as you could see nearly all of them challenging society’s conventions in their personal and public thoughts at some point. In this aspect, they are our mothers and grandmothers and aunts— down to the littlest of their frugal habits— the everyday working woman of India, not completely liberated, not totally innocent in their own subjugation but someone who fights a little of the world everyday, and wins. How is that not honourable?
And so it was an honour to read about these women like I never have had before— women who sometimes fought and sometimes survived, but they ALWAYS worked and ALWAYS earned— and I think that that’s how they would want to be remembered, our mothers and grandmothers, the First Lady doctors of India.
This book is a celebration of women— to put it in one line.
The book starts with a discussion of who were the first women doctors of the world and what it means to be the first. It’s a redundant term obviously because as we see through the chapters and through the lives of the early women doctors of India, each of them were a pioneer in their own right.
What I love about this book is that each chapter, other than narrating the life story of the said doctor, contained something or someone of that time that was so intermixed with the theme of their lives that their story would be incomplete without it. Whether it’s the modern Pandita Ramabai’s juxtaposition with the revered Anandibai Joshi or the famous freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s villainy when it comes to Rukhmabai’s emancipation or Nagarathnamma, the fierce devadasi battling Muthulaxmi Reddy— almost always that person discussed was a powerful symbol of feminism/radicalism or conservatism and patriarchy.
The story always comes back to our heroine storming through and creating her own way through that eternal battle but these bits give us the big picture, the representation of media, yesterday and today, in the way it uses a different lens for men and women, how the society has made the institutions of marriage and family inseparable from a women’s life and being, how caste and class both influence so many ambitions and realities. Definitely my heart cried out reading their stories and that silent suffocation and compromise.
Not only does the book effectively call out these institutions instead of simply focusing on a motivational story, the women themselves are much more nuanced than simple figures of bravery; because brave they were, of course, but they were much more than that. They were radical and rebellious freedom fighters to scientific and rational doctors. They were also sometimes less than that; conservative and bound like Anandibai, condescending like muthulaxmi reddy. Or the perpetual defensiveness of keeping family and culture first that all of them had, even as you could see nearly all of them challenging society’s conventions in their personal and public thoughts at some point. In this aspect, they are our mothers and grandmothers and aunts— down to the littlest of their frugal habits— the everyday working woman of India, not completely liberated, not totally innocent in their own subjugation but someone who fights a little of the world everyday, and wins. How is that not honourable?
And so it was an honour to read about these women like I never have had before— women who sometimes fought and sometimes survived, but they ALWAYS worked and ALWAYS earned— and I think that that’s how they would want to be remembered, our mothers and grandmothers, the First Lady doctors of India.
June 4, 2023
புத்தகத்தின்: லேடி டாக்டர்ஸ் எழுத்தாளர்: கவிதா ராவ்
இந்தியாவில் அல்லோபதி மருத்துவத்தில் முன்னோடிகள் ஆக திகழ்ந்த பெண்களின் கதைகள். இதில் யார் முதல் பெண் மருத்துவர் என்ற பாகுபாடு எல்லாம் எதற்கு? இவர்கள் யாவருமே முதன்மை தான்.
அவர்கள் எப்படி இந்த சமுகத்தை எதிர் கொண்டார்கள் என்பது தான் நமக்கான பாடம்.
இவர்கள் அல்லாமல் சில அயல் பெண்களின் ஆளுமைகளை பற்றி ஒரு சிறு முன்னோட்டம் நன்றாக இருந்தது.
பெண்களுக்கான சூழ்நிலை இது எப்படி இருந்தது, எப்படி அவர்கள் தங்களுக்கான ஒரு வாழ்வை கட்டமைச்சுக்கிட்டாங்க அவங்க எப்படி தங்களுடைய மருத்துவத்துறையில் பெருசா சாதிக்க முடிஞ்சது. என்னென்ன காரணங்கள், அவங்களுக்கு இருந்த கட்டுப்பாடுகள் மன உளைச்சல், உடல் உழைப்பின் தீவிரம்,உடல் உபாதைகளால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டது இது எல்லாத்தையும் தாண்டி இங்க இருக்கிற இந்த ஆண் சமூகத்தில் பெண்ணாய் இருப்பதற்கான கஷ்டம் எப்படி இருந்துச்சு என்று மிக அருமையாக எடுத்து உறைத்துள்ளார்கள்.
இத்தடை கற்களை மீறி அவர்களால் எப்படி இப்படி ஒரு பேராற்றலோடு பயணிக்கும் முடிஞ்சது அப்படிங்கிறதே ஒரு மிகப்பெரிய ஆச்சர்யம் தான். ஒரு குருவி தான் கூடு கட்டிக்கற மாதிரி சின்ன சின்ன விஷயங்களை வச்சு அவங்க அவ்வளவு அழகா ஒன்னு கட்டமைச்சிருக்காங்க இதுல எல்லா இடத்துலயும் வலி, வேதனை அப்படி கொட்டி கெடக்கு. ஆனா இந்த வலி வேதனைகளை தாண்டி அவர்களால் இந்த சமூகத்தில் ஒரு பெரிய மாற்றத்தை கொண்டு வர முடிந்தது. இப்போ இந்த 150 வருஷத்துக்கு அப்புறம் இன்று கொண்டாட பட வேண்டியவர்கள். பெண் மருத்துவர்கள் இங்கு இருக்காங்க என்றால் அவங்க எல்லாருக்கும் இவர்கள் தான் துவக்கம்(ஆதி).
மேல் தட்டு மக்களாக இருந்த காரணத்தால் அவர்களுக்கு கிடைத்த பொருள் உதவி என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது. ஒருவர் தவிற, அவர் மேலும் தனித்துவமான இறைவி ஆக இருக்கிறார்.
அனைத்து பெண்களும் குழந்தை திருமணத்தால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டு, மறுமணமோ இல்லை விதவையாக அவர்களின் மறுவாழ்வு என்பது இக்கல்வியின் வாயிலாக நடந்தேறியுள்ளது.ஆண்களின் பங்கு என்பது தந்தை அல்லாத போது வெறும் கசப்பு மட்டுமே.
ஆங்கில ஏகாதிபத்தியத்தின் ஊக்கத் தொகை மூலமே இவர்கள் எல்லாம் கல்வி கற்று உள்ளனர். அனைவரும் ஏதோ ஒரு வகைங வெளிநாடு சென்று கல்வி கற்றுள்ளனர்.
இந்த பெண்களால் தத்தம் உருவானவை தான்
அடையார் கேன்சர் மருத்துவமனை, இன்றைய கேரளத்தின் தடுப்பு ஊசி மருத்துவத்தின் முன்னோடி தன்மை, கிராமங்களுக்கான மருத்துவ சேவை இன்னும் பல.
ஆண் சமூகத்தில் பெண்னின் போராட்டம் என்று தான் சொல்ல வேண்டும்.
கண்டிப்பாக நாம் தெரிந்து கொள்ள வேண்டிய மனிதர்கள்.
இந்தியாவில் அல்லோபதி மருத்துவத்தில் முன்னோடிகள் ஆக திகழ்ந்த பெண்களின் கதைகள். இதில் யார் முதல் பெண் மருத்துவர் என்ற பாகுபாடு எல்லாம் எதற்கு? இவர்கள் யாவருமே முதன்மை தான்.
அவர்கள் எப்படி இந்த சமுகத்தை எதிர் கொண்டார்கள் என்பது தான் நமக்கான பாடம்.
இவர்கள் அல்லாமல் சில அயல் பெண்களின் ஆளுமைகளை பற்றி ஒரு சிறு முன்னோட்டம் நன்றாக இருந்தது.
பெண்களுக்கான சூழ்நிலை இது எப்படி இருந்தது, எப்படி அவர்கள் தங்களுக்கான ஒரு வாழ்வை கட்டமைச்சுக்கிட்டாங்க அவங்க எப்படி தங்களுடைய மருத்துவத்துறையில் பெருசா சாதிக்க முடிஞ்சது. என்னென்ன காரணங்கள், அவங்களுக்கு இருந்த கட்டுப்பாடுகள் மன உளைச்சல், உடல் உழைப்பின் தீவிரம்,உடல் உபாதைகளால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டது இது எல்லாத்தையும் தாண்டி இங்க இருக்கிற இந்த ஆண் சமூகத்தில் பெண்ணாய் இருப்பதற்கான கஷ்டம் எப்படி இருந்துச்சு என்று மிக அருமையாக எடுத்து உறைத்துள்ளார்கள்.
இத்தடை கற்களை மீறி அவர்களால் எப்படி இப்படி ஒரு பேராற்றலோடு பயணிக்கும் முடிஞ்சது அப்படிங்கிறதே ஒரு மிகப்பெரிய ஆச்சர்யம் தான். ஒரு குருவி தான் கூடு கட்டிக்கற மாதிரி சின்ன சின்ன விஷயங்களை வச்சு அவங்க அவ்வளவு அழகா ஒன்னு கட்டமைச்சிருக்காங்க இதுல எல்லா இடத்துலயும் வலி, வேதனை அப்படி கொட்டி கெடக்கு. ஆனா இந்த வலி வேதனைகளை தாண்டி அவர்களால் இந்த சமூகத்தில் ஒரு பெரிய மாற்றத்தை கொண்டு வர முடிந்தது. இப்போ இந்த 150 வருஷத்துக்கு அப்புறம் இன்று கொண்டாட பட வேண்டியவர்கள். பெண் மருத்துவர்கள் இங்கு இருக்காங்க என்றால் அவங்க எல்லாருக்கும் இவர்கள் தான் துவக்கம்(ஆதி).
மேல் தட்டு மக்களாக இருந்த காரணத்தால் அவர்களுக்கு கிடைத்த பொருள் உதவி என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது. ஒருவர் தவிற, அவர் மேலும் தனித்துவமான இறைவி ஆக இருக்கிறார்.
அனைத்து பெண்களும் குழந்தை திருமணத்தால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டு, மறுமணமோ இல்லை விதவையாக அவர்களின் மறுவாழ்வு என்பது இக்கல்வியின் வாயிலாக நடந்தேறியுள்ளது.ஆண்களின் பங்கு என்பது தந்தை அல்லாத போது வெறும் கசப்பு மட்டுமே.
ஆங்கில ஏகாதிபத்தியத்தின் ஊக்கத் தொகை மூலமே இவர்கள் எல்லாம் கல்வி கற்று உள்ளனர். அனைவரும் ஏதோ ஒரு வகைங வெளிநாடு சென்று கல்வி கற்றுள்ளனர்.
இந்த பெண்களால் தத்தம் உருவானவை தான்
அடையார் கேன்சர் மருத்துவமனை, இன்றைய கேரளத்தின் தடுப்பு ஊசி மருத்துவத்தின் முன்னோடி தன்மை, கிராமங்களுக்கான மருத்துவ சேவை இன்னும் பல.
ஆண் சமூகத்தில் பெண்னின் போராட்டம் என்று தான் சொல்ல வேண்டும்.
கண்டிப்பாக நாம் தெரிந்து கொள்ள வேண்டிய மனிதர்கள்.
September 5, 2021
A study of key personalities in Indian history is extremely narrowly cast, at least for the urban, English population. Hence it is very difficult to imagine the numerous other heroes who have played an important role in breaking barriers of all sorts against society, government, religion and families and have contributed in no small measure to building the society we are.
The absence of these stories leads to a hero syndrome where the average Indian tends to believe that he or she has no ability to make a difference. And hence, why even bother. And why even bother for one’s own self as well, let alone the society at large.
This is also an area where Indian arts have failed miserably as most biopics have reduced these personalities to some sort of a formula based movie, doing more disservice to their contributions in the process.
In this context Kavitha Rao’s book, “Lady Doctors”, stands out. It brings to life, with all the limitations of inadequate documentation, 7-10 remarkable Indian women who most of us haven’t even heard of. While the story is set in the context of their medical journeys and how they unshackled themselves from various chains that have held Indian women back for many centuries, fortunately she doesn’t stop there.
Beyond the medical journey, what’s most inspiring is the impact each of them had on the social, political and even legislative arenas. It goes on to show how education can genuinely uplift people and be a game changer for society at large. Kavitha Rao brings these facets out quite beautifully.
What is also remarkable is the uniqueness of each of the lady doctors’ story. Each one had a different set of challenges and each rose up against them in their own unique ways, shaped no doubt by their social context and their value systems. The one trap they couldn’t escape was the need to prove themselves as first-class in the domestic arena, and that remained their first qualification even as they got known for so much more that they achieved. In many ways the stories are similar, yet totally different.
The author has also not tried to over-glorify these women. She brings out each of their limitations quite objectively without trying to brush the same or explain the same away. Goes on to show that each of these were as human as any of us, but rose against the odds to become super achievers.
The commentary on the reformers and nationalists again being out the hypocrisy of society to the fore and underlines the difficulties even the best of people have, in breaking away from the context they have grown up with.
Unfortunately, the book doesn’t really bring out details of the medical career of any of these doctors in much detail. As per the author, there isn’t enough base material available for the same. That’s quite sad as one could have gotten a rather unique insight into the evolution of medical practices of that time.
Nevertheless, it’s quite a remarkable book providing insights into an aspect of Indian history which otherwise is restricted to Sarojini Naidu, Annie Besant, Rani Laxmibai, and so on.
A simple and inspiring read.
The absence of these stories leads to a hero syndrome where the average Indian tends to believe that he or she has no ability to make a difference. And hence, why even bother. And why even bother for one’s own self as well, let alone the society at large.
This is also an area where Indian arts have failed miserably as most biopics have reduced these personalities to some sort of a formula based movie, doing more disservice to their contributions in the process.
In this context Kavitha Rao’s book, “Lady Doctors”, stands out. It brings to life, with all the limitations of inadequate documentation, 7-10 remarkable Indian women who most of us haven’t even heard of. While the story is set in the context of their medical journeys and how they unshackled themselves from various chains that have held Indian women back for many centuries, fortunately she doesn’t stop there.
Beyond the medical journey, what’s most inspiring is the impact each of them had on the social, political and even legislative arenas. It goes on to show how education can genuinely uplift people and be a game changer for society at large. Kavitha Rao brings these facets out quite beautifully.
What is also remarkable is the uniqueness of each of the lady doctors’ story. Each one had a different set of challenges and each rose up against them in their own unique ways, shaped no doubt by their social context and their value systems. The one trap they couldn’t escape was the need to prove themselves as first-class in the domestic arena, and that remained their first qualification even as they got known for so much more that they achieved. In many ways the stories are similar, yet totally different.
The author has also not tried to over-glorify these women. She brings out each of their limitations quite objectively without trying to brush the same or explain the same away. Goes on to show that each of these were as human as any of us, but rose against the odds to become super achievers.
The commentary on the reformers and nationalists again being out the hypocrisy of society to the fore and underlines the difficulties even the best of people have, in breaking away from the context they have grown up with.
Unfortunately, the book doesn’t really bring out details of the medical career of any of these doctors in much detail. As per the author, there isn’t enough base material available for the same. That’s quite sad as one could have gotten a rather unique insight into the evolution of medical practices of that time.
Nevertheless, it’s quite a remarkable book providing insights into an aspect of Indian history which otherwise is restricted to Sarojini Naidu, Annie Besant, Rani Laxmibai, and so on.
A simple and inspiring read.
March 10, 2022
No review would do this book justice. I wish these were the books we covered in high school history.
Anandibai Joshi, Kadambini Ganguli, Rukhmabai Raut, Muthulakshmi Reddy, Haimabati Sen and Mary Poonen Lukose battle herculean odds to become India's first 'Lady Doctors'. Several parts of this book make for a harrowing read, infuriating even. They battle abuse, assault, harassment, slander, child marriage- to name just a few. There's racist-colonial-evangelical agenda to side-step. The Dufferin Fund and its early (+ racist) role in the development of India's medical services for women was new information.
The women also rise up against the rabid right-wing (and BG Tilak) who violently attack the very idea of lady doctors and women's education as an affront to 'Indian culture'. The religious conservatives (or should I say- the overwhelming majority?) oppose every inch of progress these women make by the might of their will. There are loving, brave fathers who aid and support their ambitions.
These pioneers' nerves of steel, brilliance, brutal honesty, eloquence and absolute refusal to bend under the entire might of an oppressive, patriarchal system is nothing short of awe-inspiring. I hope we never forget their names. There's history that's humbling- and this is that.
Anandibai Joshi, Kadambini Ganguli, Rukhmabai Raut, Muthulakshmi Reddy, Haimabati Sen and Mary Poonen Lukose battle herculean odds to become India's first 'Lady Doctors'. Several parts of this book make for a harrowing read, infuriating even. They battle abuse, assault, harassment, slander, child marriage- to name just a few. There's racist-colonial-evangelical agenda to side-step. The Dufferin Fund and its early (+ racist) role in the development of India's medical services for women was new information.
The women also rise up against the rabid right-wing (and BG Tilak) who violently attack the very idea of lady doctors and women's education as an affront to 'Indian culture'. The religious conservatives (or should I say- the overwhelming majority?) oppose every inch of progress these women make by the might of their will. There are loving, brave fathers who aid and support their ambitions.
These pioneers' nerves of steel, brilliance, brutal honesty, eloquence and absolute refusal to bend under the entire might of an oppressive, patriarchal system is nothing short of awe-inspiring. I hope we never forget their names. There's history that's humbling- and this is that.
March 8, 2022
I cannot emphasise the importance of this book enough. It is such a revelation—the names, lives, histories, struggles, and great work done by women lay buried under plain sight which Kavitha Rao digs out brilliantly. History is often writers by men, for men, and about men. Rao defies this by unearthing the crucial parts of history that need to be read and known by us. This book shall truly be a major inspiration for any young girl, looking to make a career for herself in unconventional field. It’s inspirational overall as well, to people of every age and gender.
It is not only about the medical field, there are many undercurrents which highlight social, legal, colonial, and cultural aspects which will of interest to all readers. A quick read that one should not miss.
It is not only about the medical field, there are many undercurrents which highlight social, legal, colonial, and cultural aspects which will of interest to all readers. A quick read that one should not miss.
October 11, 2021
The challenges these pioneers faced, still exist in some forms in today's pursuit of medicine. Not least of which is the fetishization of women practitioners of medicine who are prevailed upon by societal mores to be model individuals in every sense of the term. They are asked unfairly to be able to balance home, work, family and even more besides. The unfairness of the system is placed into stark limelight through their stories. As is shown the incredible support they show for each other. Their stories are linked by courage, determination, and vindication. I am proud to learn of them.
October 19, 2021
This is really informative and manages to be entertaining as well. The research is immaculate and the author has done a great job of making this research readable to non-academic readers. I knew about some of the more famous women featured here, but the rest were a revelation.
I like how the author refrains from unnecessary adulation. Rao successfully portrays her subjects with all their complexities and layers. It makes these iconic women humane and so much more inspiring. The prose can be a bit dry at times, but that is something one can easily overlook! Highly recommended.
I like how the author refrains from unnecessary adulation. Rao successfully portrays her subjects with all their complexities and layers. It makes these iconic women humane and so much more inspiring. The prose can be a bit dry at times, but that is something one can easily overlook! Highly recommended.
September 8, 2024
A well researched, important compilation of the stories of pathbreakers. The first women in Medicine.
August 27, 2021
The book serves as a timely reminder of the sacrifices by some of the women's education pioneers in India and worldwide. The easy-to-read format will pull in the readers quickly, despite the seriousness of the content.
The book begins with the story of Anandibai, who was considered the epitome of a good Indian wife, even as she crossed numerous hurdles to get herself the education that she deserved. The book describes the personal and professional journeys of five other women doctors who made their mark in the history of India through their sheer grit and determination. Kadambini Ganguly, Rukhmabai Raut, Haimabati Sen, Muthulakshmi Reddy, and Mary Poonen Lukose - all stalwarts in their own right - fight caste and gender discrimination, child marriage, and other evils that devoured our society in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The book duly notes that they were supported by men, either their husbands or their fathers. These women pioneers could achieve very little in a male-dominated society without the support of the men in their lives. But that doesn't take away any credit from these women who stood their ground.
We have come a long way as a society, and we have a long way to go.
It is an insightful book that neither judges nor pontificates, and is written in an objective, research-oriented manner without making it boring to read.
The book begins with the story of Anandibai, who was considered the epitome of a good Indian wife, even as she crossed numerous hurdles to get herself the education that she deserved. The book describes the personal and professional journeys of five other women doctors who made their mark in the history of India through their sheer grit and determination. Kadambini Ganguly, Rukhmabai Raut, Haimabati Sen, Muthulakshmi Reddy, and Mary Poonen Lukose - all stalwarts in their own right - fight caste and gender discrimination, child marriage, and other evils that devoured our society in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The book duly notes that they were supported by men, either their husbands or their fathers. These women pioneers could achieve very little in a male-dominated society without the support of the men in their lives. But that doesn't take away any credit from these women who stood their ground.
We have come a long way as a society, and we have a long way to go.
It is an insightful book that neither judges nor pontificates, and is written in an objective, research-oriented manner without making it boring to read.
December 9, 2021
I first came across this book by Manu S pillai's Instagram post . This book deals on life of first lady doctor's in India. We all come across many lady doctor's enrolled to university and are passed as physician. But there was a time where no lady doctor's where available and many woman dies as they where shy to consult male physicians. One of first lady doctor's have to disguise as male and performed their duty.
This book emphasis on life of Kadambari Gandhi,Rukma Bhai,Anandha Joshi,Haimabathi Sen,Muthu Lakshmi Reddy( who was person behind Adayar medical Institute and aunty of Gemini Ganeshan),Mary punnen Lukose who are Pioneer among Indian Lady doctor's.
They all had made much struggle from family, community and other restrictions like Kalapani ( restrictions to cross sea which is also forbidden for male), life in colleges with British male and female students etc .
This book emphasis on life of Kadambari Gandhi,Rukma Bhai,Anandha Joshi,Haimabathi Sen,Muthu Lakshmi Reddy( who was person behind Adayar medical Institute and aunty of Gemini Ganeshan),Mary punnen Lukose who are Pioneer among Indian Lady doctor's.
They all had made much struggle from family, community and other restrictions like Kalapani ( restrictions to cross sea which is also forbidden for male), life in colleges with British male and female students etc .
August 10, 2021
This book has some rare and interesting facts about Indian medical profession and how women entered this profession . Virtue of women was often tied to blatant thoughts set by men and that's evident when women were denied access to education in medicine. Each personality prescribed in this book has played a role to shape the medicine field in India .
Huge shoutout to the author for well researched book. It's always a delight to know from where it all started
Huge shoutout to the author for well researched book. It's always a delight to know from where it all started
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October 9, 202444%
This book was praised in my book club like it was the biggest thing in the world ever published, which made me very wary of it. But I tried, and I now feel I should've just listened to my gut and never picked it up.
It's basically the same story over and over again. You stop caring after a while and don't want to read anymore, and that's why I am DNFing this book and picking up some masaaledar fiction.
This book was praised in my book club like it was the biggest thing in the world ever published, which made me very wary of it. But I tried, and I now feel I should've just listened to my gut and never picked it up.
It's basically the same story over and over again. You stop caring after a while and don't want to read anymore, and that's why I am DNFing this book and picking up some masaaledar fiction.
September 15, 2023
Except for one prelims question about the age of consent act, I knew next to nothing about these female pioneers. This is despite the fact that during upsc prep, I have gobbled up 100000 men's names and weird achievements and policies of land revenue. What an amazing well researched book. Will definitely recommend this to all the female doctors in my life - first and foremost my sister.
November 5, 2021
Pep-talk in a book for days when you are overwhelmed
January 14, 2022
Oh gosh, I am so glad I bought this book after a few medical professionals who are also influencers posted about it on their page. I'd like to recommend this to more and more people.
January 23, 2023
Wonderful book!! A great feminist, non fiction book for anybody wanting to read more about the women forgotten in India in 1800 and the early 1900s
August 12, 2023
A fascinating read! I didn’t know any of this history and had not heard about these pioneering women.
February 2, 2022
The sacrifice of so many known and unknown women is the reason that today we have female doctors. No eyebrow raised when a girl today says that she wants to be a doctor, all thanks to the generations of these strong women who broke tradition. Must read.
June 21, 2022
Brilliant.
November 25, 2023
An inspiring and humbling read! Terribly unfair that the lives and works of these women are not more visible in public discourse. Definitely one for the home bookshelf.
March 19, 2023
Lady Doctors – Lest We Forget
Picking one quote, one scene, one incident, or one doctor from Lady Doctors – The Untold Stories of India’s First Women in Medicine by Kavitha Rao, a journalist, and author, is a difficult task. Does one talk about Anandibai’s mature balancing act between her eccentric husband’s expectations and her own choices, or Kadambini Ganguly’s fight for native lady doctors’ against the rising tide of European lady doctors brought into India? Or does one talk about a young firebrand woman called Rukhmabai who went toe to toe against the orthodoxy of the time and called out child marriage and later went on to play an important role in dealing with the plague in 1895, Gujarat? Or Himabati Sen’s battle against sexism and rigid religious dogma and customs while having a forty-year-long career in medicine? Or the Edinburgh Seven in the mid to late 19th century who contributed towards the lives of our protagonists?
Anandibai Joshi, Kadambini Ganguly, Rukhmabai Raut, Haimabati Sen, Muthulakshmi Reddy, and Mary Poonen Lukose, all of whom have little to no works written or developed on them. Only a small percentage of people - from their own communities - are aware of their legacy, and an even lesser percentage of people are aware of the circumstances in which they dared to become doctors. This roughly 300-page book is a tribute to these women of our past. While books, plays, and a recent movie on Anandibai Joshi have been made available in popular culture, Haimabati Sen's dairies had come to light several decades after her death, and Muthulakshmi Reddy was the only one to have two memoirs to her name. Rukhmabai Raut’s clinics in Gujarat are active even today. Muthulakshmi Reddy’s Cancer Institute aka Adyar Cancer Institute, established in 1952, is a pioneer in cancer research in Asia; and Mary Poonen Lukose’s, tenacity laid the foundations for much of the public health system of Kerala and compulsory vaccination in our country. However, in reality, in a country of over a billion, very few knew the existence of these immensely talented women.
Born and brought up in late 19th and early 20th century India amidst political and social churning, facing child marriages, child widowhood, innumerable prohibitions established in the garb of taboos and offenses to religion and society, lack of access to health and medical assistance sensitive to their needs, each one of these women faced immense struggles. Even after overcoming a difficult childhood with the help of handful of well-wishers, in the form of either a supportive husband, father, social reformer, progressive compatriot, some well-meaning missionary, royal, or western liberal of the time, their lives had never been easy. Battling casteism, patriarchy, sexism, and racism was the norm. In addition to that, ‘mobilizing’ marginalized communities and ‘advocating’ for better health, sanitation, medical assistance, and female reproductive health among the people, challenging unscientific practices and beliefs, was an uphill task. And if work-life balance is complicated for working women in today’s day and age in our country, these lady doctors had seen it all; and they may have some radical views to share with all of us.
The uniqueness of this book is the nuance, respect, and sensitivity with which it presents our protagonists, the complexities of those times, the politics of colonialism and social reform, and the philosophies of well-known political and social reformers who had a bearing on the lives of these women – positive and negative. The book gets even more thrilling from a historical point of view as the 20th century rolls in. Muthulakshmi Reddy and Mary Poonen Lukose, not only continued with their professional responsibilities as doctors but also took on much-needed political, and governance duties and campaigns. Did you know a version of ‘Votes for Women’ campaign in India also had its place in our political discourse?
Through the journeys of these lady doctors, we meet some more incredible women of that time, some were their contemporaries, some their ideological opponents but progressives in their own right, and some who came much before them but all of them inspired and contributed to the making of India as it is today and built a larger legacy towards humankind. Cornelia Sorabji – first female graduate from Bombay University and the first woman to study law at Oxford and social reformer, Pandita Ramabai – educationist and advocate for girl child education, Sarojini Naidu – poet and freedom fighter, Ammu Swaminathan – famous Gandhian and one of the early Constituent Assembly members, Annie Beasant – theosophist and Home Rule activist in the Indian freedom struggle, Krupabai Satthianandhan – famous writer and the first woman to enter Madras Medical College, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi – ruler of Travancore and advocate of women’s involvement in medicine, law, and politics, Abala Das – medical graduate, social reformer and educationist, and wife of Jagdish Chandra Bose. The mention of her famed husband is intentional, for we know of him and his contribution to science but hardly ever heard of his wife and her work. Rose Govindarajulu – a doctor with several medical degrees and a thirty-three-year-long career ending way back in 1920! The history of our country is much richer than we know and are taught. Just imagine a room with Muthulakshmi, Mary Poonen, Sarojini Naidu, Annie Beasant, and Ammu Swaminathan, how electrifying it must have been!
Lady Doctors is an opportunity for bibliophiles, history nerds, parents, development sector professionals, educationists, teachers, medical practitioners, and students, to learn about these incredible women and share their stories with our future generations. Read it, gift it, suggest it, recommend it. Add excerpts of these books as chapters in our language textbooks; or give them the deserved place in our history textbooks next to Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, and Raja Ram Mohan Roy, for these women were the catalysts for some of the larger social reforms; have multiple copies of this book in school and public libraries; or introduce them to students of science and medicine. As Kavitha Rao, stated, "…We rightly eulogise C.V. Raman and Jagdish Chandra Bose, but never the unsung women who fought far greater odds with unbelievable courage." It is time we correct that.
Picking one quote, one scene, one incident, or one doctor from Lady Doctors – The Untold Stories of India’s First Women in Medicine by Kavitha Rao, a journalist, and author, is a difficult task. Does one talk about Anandibai’s mature balancing act between her eccentric husband’s expectations and her own choices, or Kadambini Ganguly’s fight for native lady doctors’ against the rising tide of European lady doctors brought into India? Or does one talk about a young firebrand woman called Rukhmabai who went toe to toe against the orthodoxy of the time and called out child marriage and later went on to play an important role in dealing with the plague in 1895, Gujarat? Or Himabati Sen’s battle against sexism and rigid religious dogma and customs while having a forty-year-long career in medicine? Or the Edinburgh Seven in the mid to late 19th century who contributed towards the lives of our protagonists?
Anandibai Joshi, Kadambini Ganguly, Rukhmabai Raut, Haimabati Sen, Muthulakshmi Reddy, and Mary Poonen Lukose, all of whom have little to no works written or developed on them. Only a small percentage of people - from their own communities - are aware of their legacy, and an even lesser percentage of people are aware of the circumstances in which they dared to become doctors. This roughly 300-page book is a tribute to these women of our past. While books, plays, and a recent movie on Anandibai Joshi have been made available in popular culture, Haimabati Sen's dairies had come to light several decades after her death, and Muthulakshmi Reddy was the only one to have two memoirs to her name. Rukhmabai Raut’s clinics in Gujarat are active even today. Muthulakshmi Reddy’s Cancer Institute aka Adyar Cancer Institute, established in 1952, is a pioneer in cancer research in Asia; and Mary Poonen Lukose’s, tenacity laid the foundations for much of the public health system of Kerala and compulsory vaccination in our country. However, in reality, in a country of over a billion, very few knew the existence of these immensely talented women.
Born and brought up in late 19th and early 20th century India amidst political and social churning, facing child marriages, child widowhood, innumerable prohibitions established in the garb of taboos and offenses to religion and society, lack of access to health and medical assistance sensitive to their needs, each one of these women faced immense struggles. Even after overcoming a difficult childhood with the help of handful of well-wishers, in the form of either a supportive husband, father, social reformer, progressive compatriot, some well-meaning missionary, royal, or western liberal of the time, their lives had never been easy. Battling casteism, patriarchy, sexism, and racism was the norm. In addition to that, ‘mobilizing’ marginalized communities and ‘advocating’ for better health, sanitation, medical assistance, and female reproductive health among the people, challenging unscientific practices and beliefs, was an uphill task. And if work-life balance is complicated for working women in today’s day and age in our country, these lady doctors had seen it all; and they may have some radical views to share with all of us.
The uniqueness of this book is the nuance, respect, and sensitivity with which it presents our protagonists, the complexities of those times, the politics of colonialism and social reform, and the philosophies of well-known political and social reformers who had a bearing on the lives of these women – positive and negative. The book gets even more thrilling from a historical point of view as the 20th century rolls in. Muthulakshmi Reddy and Mary Poonen Lukose, not only continued with their professional responsibilities as doctors but also took on much-needed political, and governance duties and campaigns. Did you know a version of ‘Votes for Women’ campaign in India also had its place in our political discourse?
Through the journeys of these lady doctors, we meet some more incredible women of that time, some were their contemporaries, some their ideological opponents but progressives in their own right, and some who came much before them but all of them inspired and contributed to the making of India as it is today and built a larger legacy towards humankind. Cornelia Sorabji – first female graduate from Bombay University and the first woman to study law at Oxford and social reformer, Pandita Ramabai – educationist and advocate for girl child education, Sarojini Naidu – poet and freedom fighter, Ammu Swaminathan – famous Gandhian and one of the early Constituent Assembly members, Annie Beasant – theosophist and Home Rule activist in the Indian freedom struggle, Krupabai Satthianandhan – famous writer and the first woman to enter Madras Medical College, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi – ruler of Travancore and advocate of women’s involvement in medicine, law, and politics, Abala Das – medical graduate, social reformer and educationist, and wife of Jagdish Chandra Bose. The mention of her famed husband is intentional, for we know of him and his contribution to science but hardly ever heard of his wife and her work. Rose Govindarajulu – a doctor with several medical degrees and a thirty-three-year-long career ending way back in 1920! The history of our country is much richer than we know and are taught. Just imagine a room with Muthulakshmi, Mary Poonen, Sarojini Naidu, Annie Beasant, and Ammu Swaminathan, how electrifying it must have been!
Lady Doctors is an opportunity for bibliophiles, history nerds, parents, development sector professionals, educationists, teachers, medical practitioners, and students, to learn about these incredible women and share their stories with our future generations. Read it, gift it, suggest it, recommend it. Add excerpts of these books as chapters in our language textbooks; or give them the deserved place in our history textbooks next to Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, and Raja Ram Mohan Roy, for these women were the catalysts for some of the larger social reforms; have multiple copies of this book in school and public libraries; or introduce them to students of science and medicine. As Kavitha Rao, stated, "…We rightly eulogise C.V. Raman and Jagdish Chandra Bose, but never the unsung women who fought far greater odds with unbelievable courage." It is time we correct that.
December 20, 2022
This book is truly well written and inspirational. The stories of all these lady doctors are beautifully presented. What I also appreciated was that the men in their lives weren't overly glorified and if they weren't as ideal as projected, they were called out accordingly. This book also helped me understand the societal situation surrounding women's education especially in the pre independence era which is something we aren't really taught beyond a certain point in school and that point being just memorizing dates or names of people (mostly men) who played a role in encouraging women's education. It was really nice to know about the women who contributed to this for once, especially these women who fought to be where they are and then used that to pull other women ahead. Really, really loved reading this book.
March 13, 2022
We know women are written out of history, which is why it is such a pleasure to read a book that celebrates the pioneering women in the field of medicine. Meticulously researched and engagingly told, what I love most about the book is the empathy the writer has towards the six lady doctors and the challenges they had to overcome to get to where they were. Lovely selection of women too- each a pioneer in a different way.
The book also sent me on a rabbit hole of the debates for and against child marriage
The book also sent me on a rabbit hole of the debates for and against child marriage
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