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Tuesday, 15 March 2022

Jerusha Jhirad

A doctor with laser focus on maternal health

The career path of Jerusha Jhirad (1891-1984) in obstetrics and gynaecology is a clear indication of how early influences in one’s life affect the choices one makes in later years, often subconsciously. This is the story of a physician and a pioneer of maternal health in India who forged her way at a time when deaths due to preventable causes were appallingly high. 



Jerusha Jhirad

Many firsts to her credit

Jerusha was the first recipient of a Government of India scholarship to study medicine in England. Dr. Jhirad was the first Indian to serve as Medical Officer at The Cama and Albless Hospitals for Women and Children, Mumbai from 1928 to 1947, the previous incumbents had only been British. 

Early life

Jerusha Jhirad was from the minuscule community of Bene Israel Jews in India. She was born in Shivamogga, Karnataka in 1890 in a family of six children. Her father managed his father-in-law’s coffee estate and Jerusha’s early idyllic childhood was spent there amidst nature.


She was homeschooled with her siblings by her parents but was soon on her way for higher classes to a boarding school in Pune, Huzurpaga School for Girls.

 

At home, in the meanwhile, disaster struck in the form of the insect called ‘Planter’s Pest’ that decimated the coffee estate, which had to be abandoned. Jerusha’s family moved, with her father finding employment in the Railways and her mother and siblings living in Pune. 


The silver lining in the dark cloud hovering over the family was that Jerusha’s grandfather sponsored her education while she was at school. But soon she won enough scholarships to pay her own way through her education. Jerusha’s single-minded aim ensured she was motivated to excel at school, at Grant Medical College in Mumbai and her medical studies in England.  


As a child Jerusha had vowed to herself to work as an obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Cama Hospital at Mumbai where her older sister’s life had been saved, even as her newborn twins had died. Cama Hospital for Women was also entirely staffed by women. 


Another incident that impacted Jerusha was when her brother-in-law’s sister bled to death after childbirth, because of a lack of female doctors. The patient’s mother would not admit the male doctor into the room and he could only verbally instruct the midwife and the nurse from another room, which was inadequate care. This episode brought home to Jerusha the vital need for female obstetricians and gynaecologists.


Stellar academic record and work experience

Jerusha graduated from Grant Medical College in 1912. Her superb academic record ensured she won a majority of the prizes at college that year. Jerusha had now become the first woman from the Bene-Israel community to become a doctor.


After graduation Jerusha set up private practice in Mumbai since Resident positions were not open for women. In her rented rooms her first patients were Arab women. As her practice grew because of her medical skills, so did her confidence.  
 

Her aim was to get an MD degree from London but the qualification for that was that she had to be a Medical Officer. Also scholarships for MD was only available for male students. A Tata loan scholarship for MD at the London School of Medicine for Women came to her rescue. Six months into the programme she got a scholarship from the Bombay government of 200 pounds per annum for five years, as a special case.


Jerusha was in London studying medicine as World War I raged. Due to the war there was a shortage of doctors, who had signed up and were at the war front. This opened up rare work opportunities for qualified female doctors, even if they were Indian. Jerusha worked as obstetric assistant and house surgeon at hospitals in England, gaining experience. She could now apply for MD since the condition of at least 6 months residential post could now be fulfilled.

Wider outreach than only medical help

Upon graduating she returned to India in 1920 and was felicitated by a group of Bene-Israel women for her accomplishments. 


Many of these women were living largely isolated lives in the restrictive confines of a traditional family structure with their in-laws, without avenues to explore their personalities and talents. Jerusha created a Stree Mandal, women’s association. It became a venue for informal meetings, lighthearted entertainment, daily afternoon classes of cooking, languages, needlework which led to employment opportunities for many of the women who had not studied further due to marriage or poverty. Stree Mandal was open to all women.


Unexpected stumbling block

Now she was back in India with an MD in Obstetrics and Gynaecology from the University of London, a first for an Indian woman. Jerusha applied at the one hospital in which she had always aspired to work - Cama Hospital - but was rejected. They did not hire Indians. 


Undeterred at being rejected for her nationality in her own country inspite of all her qualifications and work experience Jerusha worked at other hospitals in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. At Bengaluru she developed services for pregnant women, trained nurses and midwives. Some wealthy patients donated for a labour room and an operation theatre. Some even volunteered to work with mothers and babies. 


Jerusha reapplied at Cama Hospital in 1925. This time, her stellar reputation at work saw her being accepted. Three years later she was Medical Officer at Cama Hospital. Medical officers are senior physicians who manage all aspects related to patient care within their departments.  


Her life’s work - at Cama Hospital and elsewhere

Dr. Jhirad was at Cama for nearly 20 years. In addition to her regular duties at the hospital, Jerusha was deeply involved in improving medical facilities in slums to lower infant mortality. In 1937 and 1938 she published a study on maternal mortality in Mumbai. She had lived through the daily experiences of a young female medical student, so Jerusha was instrumental in improving hostel facilities for them so they would be encouraged to pursue their medical studies in Mumbai. She was among the first in India to insist upon international safety regulations in hospitals here.


Dr. Jhirad advocated for training traditional midwives and dais in modern medicine for the safety of the mother and child. These women were an asset in rural areas where medical facilities were non-existent. She was against blindly following the practices of western medicine and felt methods had to be evolved to accommodate Indian ways.

On her 80th birthday, a post-graduate library was established at Cama in her name. This was befitting since she had always been particular about doctors and nurses at Cama being up to date with the latest medical information. She had also persuaded the government to give grants for subscriptions to journals and books.

 

In 1934 Dr. Jhirad provided medical assistance during the earthquake in Bihar which was among the worst in Indian history. Of the magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter Scale it flattened entire towns in Bihar and Nepal. She was contacted by Dr. Rajendra Prasad, later President of India, to help women in purdah. Dr. Jhirad and her team spent a month in Bihar.


Dr. Jhirad was fond of teaching so held special classes on weekday evenings and the weekends. She was on the medical faculty of the universities of Mumbai, Vadodara and Pune. She was an examiner for MBBS and MD exams at Mumbai, Chennai and Pune universities. 

Even after retirement, and living with her sister Leah in Dahisar in Mumbai, Dr. Jhirad continued to consult a few days in a week. Her concerns and work for maternal health, childcare centres, maternity leave, rescue homes and child aid societies continued unabated.


Dr. Jhirad’s published on topics close to her heart - maternal mortality, obstetrics, gynaecology and careers in medicine for Indian women.


Dr. Jerusha Jhirad's contemporaries mentioned that high standards of professional work, tact, sympathy, administrative ability and surgical skill were her hallmarks.


Much-deserved recognition

Dr. Jerusha Jhirad was founding member and elected president of Bombay Obstetric and Gynaecological Society, president of the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI), and from 1947 to 1957 president of the Association of Medical Women in India (AMWI). In 1947, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. In 1950 she presided at the 6th All India Obstetric and Gynaecological Congress, held in Chennai. 


She was awarded Padma Shri (civilian award of the Republic of India) for her services to society and MBE (a British honour given by their monarch for a particular achievement).


Interests apart from medicine

Dr. Jhirad was a pioneer of Progressive Judaism in India, having learnt about it when she was in England. This was Judaism adapted to modern times in which women could participate more than in traditional Judaism. She founded a religious congregation and a reform synogogue with her sister Leah in Mumbai, and organised activities for Jewish teenagers. 


Dr Jhirad passed away at the grand old age of 93 in 1984 after a lifetime of breaking barriers of race and gender, and creating a path for young Indian women doctors after her.


And here’s something unique befitting a pioneer such as Dr. Jerusha Jhirad. The International Astronomical Union, the worldwide union of astronomers names astronomical bodies after women who have made significant contributions in their fields. Venus now has a crater 50 kilometers wide named Jhirad.


Ref:

1. Women Scientists in India: Lives, Struggles and Achievements - Anjana Chattopadhyay

2. Fabulous Female Physicians - Sharon L. Krish

3. Unstoppable - Gayathri Ponvannan

4. https://nbtindia.gov.in/writereaddata/freebooks/pdf/Women.pdf

5. Ramanna M. A pioneer of maternal health: Jerusha Jhirad, 1890–1983. Natl Med J India 2019;32:243-246


Wednesday, 16 February 2022


 Bibi Dalair Kaur

She defended Anandpur Fort against the Mughals


The early 18th century was a period of turbulence in the Punjab. Frequent wars between the Sikh, the hill kingdoms and the Mughals under Aurangzeb saw alliances between these parties being made and broken constantly. 


History of Anandpur

Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth of the ten Sikh gurus, founded in 1665 the town of Anandpur Sahib on the banks of the river Setluj, the longest of Punjab’s five rivers. Rani Champa of Bilaspur had offered him the land during the extensive travels he undertook all over India. He met people to extend comfort and strength to the masses as atrocities on non-Muslims became rampant under Aurangzeb’s influence. His son, Guru Gobind Singh became the tenth Sikh guru.



Anandpur Fort


Anandpur Fort



Guru Gobind Singh lived in Anandpur and his followers also began to settle there. The rulers of the neighbouring hill kingdoms who were allies of the Mughals were uncomfortable with this development. Hence Aurangzeb disallowed large congregations of Sikhs to assemble for their festivals such as Baisakhi. And in 1699 when Guru Gobind Singh established the Khalsa Panth, transforming the Sikhs into a martial unit of armed men and women in Anandpur to resist Mughal excesses and religious persecution, Aurangzeb responded by sending his army.  This then led to several battles and skirmishes between the Sikhs and the Mughal forces.


The First Battle of Anandpur in 1700 resulted in the Mughal forces being routed. The army fled the battlefield. In the Second Battle of Anandpur in 1704, the Mughal army units were again roundly defeated by the Sikhs. Aurangzeb then sent in a second larger army to break the Sikh resistance. 


This time the Mughals did not opt for open warfare but chose to lay siege to the town from May to December, effectively cutting off all supplies to Anandpur. Under these circumstances Guru Gobind Singh accepted the Mughal offer of safe passage. 


Dalair Kaur in-charge

Before he left the fort however, Guru Gobind Singh handed over charge to young Dalair Kaur who had 100 Khalsa women and 10 Khalsa men with her to defend Anandpur.


Almost as soon as Guru Gobind Singh and 500 Khalsa soldiers left the fort, the Mughals and their allies reneged on their promise of safe passage. They attacked the Sikhs and a tremendous battle ensued. 


Guru Gobind Singh’s family scattered. His wife and a trusted aide made their way to Delhi, his two older sons and 40 soldiers lost their lives in a subsequent battle which the guru survived, and the guru’s mother and two young sons were betrayed by a trusted aide to the Mughals, which led to their brutal execution. 


In the meanwhile, at the Anandpur Fort

The Mughal army readied to walk in and claim victory over the fort at Anandpur after the battle outside. As they triumphantly neared the fort they were greeted by a hail of bullets. Bibi Dalair Kaur and her soldiers were prepared for battle, to uphold the trust the guru had reposed in them.


The sight of so many dead Mughal soldiers when he thought victory was at hand drove the general Wazir Khan into a frenzy of anger.


The Mughals now deployed their cannons and breached the wall of the fort. The Mughal army was much larger in number and better equipped, but the Sikhs were not about to give up the fort without a fight.


Bibi Dalair Kaur was a true leader even under fire. She encouraged her soldiers every step of the way inspite of overwhelming odds. 


As the cry of ‘Bolay So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal’ rang out in the fort, Wazir Khan kept sending in soldiers even as the Sikhs inside began to run out of ammunition. The Sikh defenders were now ready at the breach in the wall with their swords drawn. When the Mughal soldiers clambered over the rubble to try to enter the fort they were astonished to see Khalsa women in the thick of battle, giving as good as they got. Going by the enemy’s ferocity in the earlier skirmish the Mughals had imagined a larger number of Sikhs within the fort.     


Seeing his soldiers hesitate at the sight of women warriors, Wazir Khan egged them on and rode into the breach, only to be felled by a defender. The Mughal soldiers retreated again. They were unsure of how many Khalsa warriors were actually in the fort. 


Now the second commander Zabardast Khan ordered for the cannons to be used. Afterwards as the Mughals now cautiously walked into the breach, they fully expected to be attacked at any moment but there was no retaliation from the Sikhs. Zabardast Khan was convinced the Sikhs were hiding to attack in full force, but even as the Mughals went deeper into the fort nothing happened.


Dalair Kaur kept her word

As the Mughals began to loot the place of anything of value, they also moved the rubble from near the breach in the wall. The bodies of the Sikh defenders, Khalsa women and men were discovered there. They had fought to the last of their resources and had given their lives to defend the fort as Bibi Dalair Kaur had promised Guru Gobind Singh.


Reference:

1. http://www.allaboutsikhs.com/sikh-history/bibi-dalair-kaur.html

2. www.sikhiwiki.org


Wednesday, 12 January 2022

Rani Mangammal

"My people first and foremost."

Rani Mangammal ruled Madurai at the close of the 17th century for 18 years, with great sagacity and resourcefulness in a very turbulent and unsettled period in its history. Like many other women rulers she had to overcome prejudice about her ability based on her gender. However her successful rule at a fractious time in Madurai, and in a turbulent neighbourhood, only proved that she was the right woman for the job, at the right time. And like the Bhaumakara queen Tribhuvanamahadevi about seven centuries earlier and the Kakatiya Rani Rudramadevi of Warangal about five centuries earlier, Mangammal was yet another grandmother who ruled in her own right until her grandson was old enough to be crowned king. 

It is fascinating to realise that these worthy women simply did not allow the prevalent notions of their age and gender to come in the way of being successful rulers. They used the opportunity given by sheer chance to rule and bring about positive changes on the ground.

Family history

Mangammal was the daughter of Tupakula Lingama Nayaka, a general in the Madurai army. Chokkanatha Nayaka, who ruled Madurai from 1659 to 1682 A.D. married Mangammal in 1665. Chokkanatha Nayaka was an ineffective king whose reign saw loss of territory to neighbouring rulers, and hardships such as famine for his subjects. His erratic behaviour also caused much turbulence in the family.


Chokkanatha Nayaka wanted to marry the daughter of Vijayaraghava Nayaka of neighbouring Thajavur as his second wife. Vijayaraghava Nayaka rejected the offer, and died with his son in the battle initiated by Chokkanatha. The women of the family committed suicide. At this time the Maratha ruler Shivaji attacked Thanjavur and established Maratha rule there. Also an attack on Madurai by the Mysuru army was repulsed with the help of the rulers of Gingee and Ramanathapuram. With all this turmoil in the land Chokkanatha Nayak was deposed on the grounds of insanity. 


Although he was reinstated later, Chokkanatha Nayak died soon after. His son Lingama Krishna succeeded to the throne. However, Lingama Krishna born in 1666-67 died of small pox at the age of 21 before he could have much of an impact on the forces arrayed against Madurai. His mother Mangammal then became regent for her infant grandson Vijayaranga Chokkanatha who was born after the death of Lingama Krishna.


Rani Mangammal  and her successor Vijayaranga Chokkanatha

Rani Mangammal 
and her successor Vijayaranga Chokkanatha


A troubled neighbourhood and a surfeit of enemies

The start of Mangammal’s tenure (1689-1706 CE) was no bed of roses. She was besieged by trouble on all sides with no help from anyone. Mangammal had to contend with the Marathas of Thanjavur ruled by Shivaji's son Shahu, the Mughal Aurangzeb, Raja Ravi Verma of Travancore and the Mysuru army of Raja Chikka Deva Raya - all actively trying to establish their hegemony over the region. This resulted in non-stop political and military strategems, alliances and readjustments among the various players. Mangammal, in the meanwhile, had laser focus on improving the lot of Madurai’s citizens and keeping the kingdom safe. As such she was prepared to do anything to achieve this.


The key players in the game

Mughal

It was during Mangammal’s reign that Madurai came in contact with the Mughals. Aurangzeb was bent upon invading Madurai and Thanjavur after conquering the fort at Gingee from Shivaji’s son Rajaram. 

In 1693 Zulfiquar Ali, Aurangzeb’s general, planned to attack Madurai. In a cool assessment of the situation Mangammal realised that Thanjavur and Mysuru had sent tributes to the Mughals to avert bloodshed, so she decided to follow suit. 

Not only that, she also got the assistance of Zulfiquar Ali to retrieve some of her territory from Shahu of Thanjavur. She liberally gave gifts to the Mughals for their assistance against her enemies. Her priority always was to ensure no harm came to her subjects due to warfare and that she did not lose territory. 


Mysuru

The kingdom of Mysuru wanted to capture Madurai even when Chokkanatha was alive. Now, after his death, they thought they had a ready advantage with a woman on the throne. The Mysuru army captured Coimbatore and Salem within Mangamma’s territory. However, they were recalled before they could capture Madurai when Mysuru was itself attacked by the Mughals.


Travancore

The Raja of Travancore had been a feudatory of Madurai for years, but now the ruler Raja Ravi Verma began to withhold paying the tribute expected of him. So he had to be brought in line. Mangammal sent a force under the general (Dalavoy) Narasappaiah which included troops from other chieftains of Madurai to show she should be taken seriously and could not be trifled with. The force returned to Madurai with enormous booty.


Maratha

When the Madurai army defeated Shahu’s forces at Thanjavur to punish him for repeatedly taking away territory, a peace treaty was signed between them. They even decided to jointly fight Mysuru for building a dam across the Kaveri and depleting water at Madurai and Thanjavur. However, before they could do so the dam collapsed in heavy flooding due to rains, thus averting war.


Ramanad

The powerful ruler of the principality of Ramanad, Raghunatha Sethupathy, was in revolt and was aiming to become an independent ruler. He brought about Mangammal’s greatest military defeat which resulted in the death of her trusted Dalavoy Narasappaiah and the decline of Madurai from which it could never recover.


The practical ruler

The reign of Mangammal points to the prosperity of Madurai and her resourcefulness in ensuring the welfare of her people above all else. She is remembered even today for her excellent administration. Her memory lives on through the public works she carried out. In the political sphere the measures she carried out ensured that Madurai did not fall to the covetous powers that surrounded it, but remained as an independent entity. Not only that, she also ensured the return of some parts of the kingdom that had been handed over to other powers earlier, or that had been lost in battle before her reign.


Why is Mangammal still remembered even centuries later?

Apart from her military exploits and excellent administration, Mangammal is remembered for her diplomatic skills and the courage to face the trying circumstances before her both internally and externally. In fact, all her dealings with external powers were to explore how best to ultimately benefit her people best. She was forward-looking and constantly interested in general welfare. 


This attitude led to the construction of better civic facilities such as roads and avenues. Her capital was Tiruchi and she constructed several Anna Chatiram, food inns, on the Madurai -Tiruchi road. There were special horse stables along the road. She kept not just the physical health of the population in mind but also their psychological wellbeing by encouraging the construction of temples, irrigation canals and water bodies, celebration of festivals and even-handed interaction with her subjects regardless of their religious affiliations. Many of her public works in Madurai are still in use today.


She promoted trade and industry, built irrigation networks, an improved road from Kanyakumari to Madurai named Mangammal Salai, and a rest-house which presently stands near the Madurai railway station. Tamukkam Palace built during her reign is now a museum. 


She was open-minded and generous towards converts to Islam and Christianity. She endowed the temple of Meenakshi for which Madurai is famous, and ruled in the name of the deity. This was a practice by many rulers at the time who considered themselves to only be a servant while the real ruler was God.


Her last days

Mangammal died in 1706 after her grandson attained majority and was able to rule. The circumstances of her death are unclear since no verified account is available. 


Thus ruled a sensible queen who ran a stable government although the external circumstances were stormy and could easily have spelt disaster for a less experienced and immature ruler. Mangammal’s calm and steady hand ensured that the citizens of Madurai remained safe, and prospered without losing their lives or property during her reign. 


Ref. - 

  1. History of the Nayaks of Madura. R Satyanatha Aiyar

  2. Madras District Gazetteers: Madurai - B S Baliga, 1960

  3. Psycho-biography: The last days of Rani Mangammal - Dr. O Somasundaram


Tuesday, 28 December 2021

 Kamala Sohonie

She charted new paths for women in science

 

Kamala Sohonie (18 June 1912 - 28 June 1998) was the first Indian woman to obtain a PhD in any subject of science. She was a biochemist who received her PhD in 1939, for her study of the effects of vitamins and the nutritive values of pulses, paddy, and groups of food items consumed by some of India’s poorest citizens. Her study of the nutritive value of the palm extract Neera that she conducted on the suggestion of President Rajendra Prasad was pathbreaking. She received the Rashtrapati Award for her pioneering work.


Kamala Sohonie

Kamala Sohonie

Source: Wikipedia

Early career stumbling blocks

Kamala Sohonie née Bhagvat was born in Indore in 1912. Her father and uncle were chemists and alumni of the Tata Institute of Sciences (later Indian Institute of Science) in Bengaluru. Inspite of encouragement at home to pursue her interest in science, all was not smooth sailing for Kamala Sohonie in her professional life inspite of her proven competence. At every step she came up against male prejudice and hidebound attitudes against women working in almost completely male environments . Yet, and this is the lesson we need to take away since these attitudes persist even today, she did not let that stop her. She found ways to sidestep and continue on her way to her goal. Nothing at work was handed to her as easily as it was to her male colleagues, and it might be argued that she had to expend energy on managing these unfair circumstances but my guess is that these roadblocks only served to make her more determined.


Facing gender prejudice and winning

Kamala graduated in 1933 from Bombay University with Bachelor degrees in Chemistry and Physics. When she applied to the Indian Institute of Science at Bengaluru for a fellowship, Kamala was turned down by the then director and Nobel laureate Sir CV Raman despite her topping the university merit list. His reason was that she was unqualified due to her gender, that she was not competent to pursue research due to being a woman. Kamala’s response was a satyagraha outside Raman’s office, which caused him to change his mind subject to conditions - that she would be on probation until he was convinced of her merit and that she must ensure her presence would not disturb the male researchers. Kamala later recounted this period of her life at a meeting at the Indian Women Scientists’ Association - “Though Raman was a great scientist, he was very narrow-minded. I can never forget the way he treated me just because I was a woman. Even then, Raman didn’t admit me as a regular student. This was a great insult to me. The bias against women was so bad at that time. What can one expect if even a Nobel Laureate behaves in such a way?”


Kamala’s exemplary work ethic forced Raman to change his stance a year later, and she was allowed to continue as a regular researcher in biochemistry. What is more, due to her conduct and merit Kamala was the reason for the portals of the IISc being opened to women henceforth. It must have gladdened her that her fight was fruitful and led to more opportunities for deserving women candidates where none had existed earlier.

 

Kamala’s mentor and teacher at IISc, Sri Srinivasayya encouraged her to spread her wings. He pushed her to read the works of masters in biochemistry and even correspond with them. At IISc her work was on proteins in milk, pulses and legumes - all important for combating malnutrition in India at the time. She was the first researcher, only a graduate student then, to work in the field of pulse protein. This resulted in her obtaining an MSc from the University of Bombay.


Research and a PhD in Science from Cambridge University

Kamala then left for Cambridge where she worked in the lab of Dr. Robin Hill on plant tissue. While working on potatoes she found that every cell of a plant tissue contained the enzyme ‘cytochrome C’ which was involved in the oxidation of all plant cells. This was an original discovery which embraced the entire plant kingdom. She sent a short thesis on her discovery to Cambridge University for her PhD - the research and writing took 14 months, all encapsulated in 40 pages. 


She was the first Indian woman to get a PhD in science.


Soon she received two scholarships. One was at Cambridge University with Nobel Laureate Prof. Fredrick Hopkins with whom she worked in the areas of biological oxidation and reduction. The second was an US travelling scholarship which enabled her to meet scientists in Europe.


A career in India

After she returned to India in 1939 she became head at the Department of Biochemistry at the Lady Hardinge College, New Delhi. Later she became the Assistant Director of the Nutrition Research Laboratory, Coonoor which was when she researched the effect of vitamins. In 1947 she moved to Bombay after marriage.


There she joined the newly opened Department of Biochemistry at the Royal Institute of Science. This is where she researched three major food groups consumed by India’s rural poor in order to establish their nutritive values. These studies involved several products - 

leguminous proteins, trypsin inhibitors and other compounds which reduce the digestibility of Indian legumes, 

Neera, palm gur and palm molasses,  

dhanata paddy flour which is formed during milling and polishing rice.


Extensive study on Neera and nutrition for tribal women and children

She worked on the nutritive qualities of Neera, a popular drink in the southern states, Odisha, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Neera is also known as palm nectar, and is the fresh extract of the flowers of the toddy palm. It is white and translucent. Within a few hours of extraction it ferments and is then known as toddy. Introduction of Neera on a regular basis in the diets of pregnant tribal women and adolescents in these areas showed a remarkable improvement in their general health. Kamala had several batches of her students study the nutritional effects of Neera on tribal women over 10 to 12 years with samples of Neera taken from all over the country. The study showed the same results throughout and verified Neera as a good nutritional input.  

 

Later career in consumer safety

Kamala Sohonie was also a consultant at the Aarey Milk Dairy. She was active at the Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI). In 1982-83 she was elected their president. She also wrote for their publication Keemat on consumer safety. Even after all her professional achievements, Kamala Sohonie had to endure being denied directorship at CGSI for four years. When she finally became director, it was welcomed wholeheartedly by all who knew her work.


She always attributed her successes to three important men in her life - her father, her teacher and her husband. When Dr. Satyavathi, first woman Director-General at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India’s apex body for biomedical research, came to know of Dr. Sohonie’s struggles she felicitated the then 84-year old at a grand ceremony. The irony of Kamala Sohonie’s life is that she collapsed at the ceremony and passed away soon after.


Gender politics and the careers of women in science

Kamala Sohonie prevailed and succeeded in her chosen path inspite of numerous obstacles at every turn. It is an indication of her will power and the support she had which resulted in the successes in her career that she could enjoy at long last. 


The passage of time has not made it easier for women to achieve professional success despite their gender. Old fashioned chauvinistic attitudes still prevail, the improvement being they are not as prevalent as earlier and some avenues now exist to call them out. There is, however, a long way to go before gender parity is achieved. It is thanks to pioneering women such as Kamala Sohonie who broke a few glass ceilings that the disparity is now being acknowledged and partly redressed.

   

Reference - 

1. https://www.ias.ac.in/public/Resources/Initiatives/Women_in_Science/Contributors/kamalasohonie.pdf

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamala_Sohonie











Friday, 24 December 2021

The Chipko Aandolan
By women who decided to save trees


“The soil is ours. The water is ours. Ours are these forests. Our forefathers raised them. It’s we who must protect them.” A song from the Chipko Aandolan.


What was the Chipko Aandolan?

26 March 1973 is a red-letter day for the environment in India. The unique environmental movement, Chipko Aandolan, was started by women of Reni village of Uttarakhand (then a part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh). 27 women, led by their compatriot Gaura Devi, decided to protest the commercial felling of trees in their village and adopted a unique strategy to stop the practice. They said the trees were the basis for their survival and that they were prepared to protest until tree cutting was stopped. They claimed first rights to forest produce, for which the survival of the forest was vital. They linked hands and formed tight circles around trees, thus not allowing for them to be cut. In Hindi ‘Chipko’ means ‘to hug’, ‘Aandolan’ means ‘revolution or movement’.

Nobody could have foreseen the impact on British colonial rule in India of one man, Mahatma Gandhi, making a fistful of salt. This seemingly simple act of defying an unreasonable law set a train of events in motion during India's struggle for freedom.

Similarly when women of one village in India decided to hold hands to form a simple human barricade to prevent trees from being cut, it snowballed into a wider worldwide movement for ecology. 

Chipko Aandolan was a forest conservation, non-violent movement that soon spread with lightning speed around the world. The immediate impetus for the movement was a devastating flood of the river Alakananda in the Garhwal hills in 1970 which razed towns for nearly 320 kilometers from Hanumanchatti to Haridwar. 

Deforestation over time had led to a lack of vegetation, firewood and fodder which were traditionally collected by women for their homes and cattle. With the cutting of trees the women now had to travel increasingly longer distances to collect these essentials. Also the lack of good water for drinking and agriculture due to less trees became more apparent with each passing year. The reduction of trees led to erosion of topsoil, and floods becoming more lethal than if there had been vegetation.  

Big money overpowering the village small-scale industry

Inspired by the self-help Sarvodaya Movement of the Gandhian Jayaprakash Narayan, the Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh (DGSS) was established in 1964 to increase employment opportunities for villagers by setting up eco-friendly small scale industries using forest produce around Garhwal. DGSS faced several impediments due to British-era forest policies which only served to further the interests of rich contractors from towns who brought in their own labour from outside at the cost of employment for local residents. The locals had no say in the manner their resources were being used. In addition, the delicate ecological balance of the Garhwals was being strained with indiscriminate tree felling and construction activity.

The locals began to organise themselves to protest the large-scale logging contracts in the hills awarded to outsiders which did not benefit them. Awareness was also increasing of the negative impact of indiscriminate logging on the environment and the quality of their lives, especially after the flood. The villagers and the activists organised themselves to ensure all-night vigils at other locations where contracts had been awarded for tree felling without the villagers being informed. When these forms of protest did not have the needed impact of stopping logging, the DGSS and the villagers decided upon direct yet non-violent action.

The tipping point was when the government ordered the cutting of 2451 trees in March 1974 in the forests of Chamoli. The activists and the men of the village were called to a meeting elsewhere to decide upon the compensation amount. In the meanwhile a team of loggers arrived at the village, prepared to start cutting down the trees. A girl saw the preparations and alerted Gaura Devi who was head of the village women’s association Mahila Mangal Dal. 

Gaura Devi and the other women of the village had had enough of the tree felling by then. They could no longer accept the exploitation of natural resources around them. The women decided to stage a protest that would not alienate sympathy nor harm their cause. They would protest the non-violent Gandhian way. Plus, they had the historical protest of the Bishnoi of Rajasthan as a beacon. 

Environment activism in Indian history

In on 11 September 1730 Amrita Devi led hundreds of her Bishnoi community to protect with their lives the sacred Kejeri tree. The ruler Abhay Singh of Marwar in Rajasthan wanted to cut a grove of these trees in the village of Khejarli in the district of Jodhpur to build himself a palace. When his men arrived at the village and demanded to be allowed to cut the trees, Amrita Devi Bishnoi and her compatriots refused. The king’s men tried bribing their way, insulting the Bishnoi even more with the implication that they would surrender their cherished values for greed of money. 


Bishnoi temple at Khejarli


Bishnoi Temple at Khejarli Massacre Memorial Site

Kaushal Bishnoi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, 

via Wikimedia Commons

To stop the wanton destruction of their cherished trees Amrita Devi and the other women hugged the Kejeri trees in protest. That did not deter the king's men and they beheaded Amrita Devi and three of her daughters. Her last words are recorded as being, “A chopped head is cheaper than a chopped tree.” These stirring words soon became a rallying cry for the Bishnoi.

As the news of this killing spread all over Rajasthan, Bishnoi from 83 villages began to travel to Jahnad to do their part to protect the trees. The protest became bigger and bigger as the king’s minister would not stop his men from killing the Bishnoi. First the elderly Bishnois went forward to hug the trees and prevent the cutting. As they were killed the minister mocked the villagers saying they were sending forward only people who they thought were useless. In response, youngsters and children came to take the place of the elderly, and many were slaughtered. In all 363 Bishnoi gave their lives to a cause they fervently believed in.

This resistance, peaceful inspite of all odds, finally stirred Abhay Singh’s conscience. He travelled to Jehnad and personally begged for forgiveness. The village was renamed Khejarli after the sacred tree and is a place of pilgrimage for the Bishnoi.

11th September is today commemorated in India as The National Forest Martyrs' Day in honour of the Bishnois of Khejarli.

Environmental activism in the recent past

Gaura Devi went with 27 other women to the site to dissuade the loggers, but to no avail. When all the talking and subsequent shouting had died down, the loggers started to throw their weight and threatened the women with guns. That was when Gaura Devi and her fellow protestors decided to hug the trees by joining hands and forming human chains. They told the government officials that they would have to cut down the women too along with the trees, if they intended to proceed with the order. The women were prepared to protest until the bitter end. The stand-off continued all day and extended well into the night. The women did not budge.


Women Activists of the Chipko Movement

Women activists of the Chipko Movement
NA, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, 
via Wikimedia Commons

By the next day, news of the womens’ protest had spread to the neighbouring villages and the crowds at the protest site swelled as more and more people gathered. Sympathy for the protestors was palpable, yet the situation continued to remain non-violent. This stand-off continued for four days after which the contractors left.

An influential way to protest for the environment

The impact of this action was such that the panel constituted by the Chief Minister of the state to look into it ruled in favour of the villagers. This form of protest was adopted by protestors all over the Garhwal region with much impact over the next five years. Within a decade the Chipko Movement protest methods were being used the world over for environmental causes. 

Social impact of the Chipko movement

The initial Chipko Movement gave the impetus to several other social causes that needed a push up from the grassroots rather than top-down regulations. It brought women into the public arena to work for causes that impacted them personally. Some of the practices of the Chipko Movement were modified with women tying colourful strings to mimic rakhi around trees as protection bands to prevent felling. 

Another social impact of the Chipko movement was that the supply of alcohol as a bribe to men in the villages by contractors to allow tree felling came to a stop. This practise had resulted in drunkenness, lack of money in families and other social problems. Involvement of women in this eco-system put an end to it.  

The Chipko Movement showed that extractive and exploitative practices with regard to forest wealth are the major polluters, not poverty. Managing the environment is the only sustainable way to live.

Reference -

1. https://ecologise.in/2017/05/28/the-bishnois-indias-original-environmentalists-who-inspired-the-chipko-movement/

2. The Original Tree Huggers: Let Us Not Forget Their Sacrifice - Womens Earth Alliance


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