Go, Get Education
Be self-reliant, be industrious
Work—gather wisdom and riches,
All gets lost without knowledge
We become animal without wisdom,
Sit idle no more, go, get education
End misery of the oppressed and forsaken,
You’ve got a golden chance to learn
So learn and break the chains of caste.
Throw away the Brahman’s scriptures fast.
– Savitribai Phule
Indian culture has always been a predominant one. Home to a billion people, India has given origin to distinct customs, traditions, languages, beliefs, and social stratifications. Women have always been an integral element to shape this culture. The stature of capable women on the stage of history, their tone, their words, and their actions have changed how our art, culture, and society look at women.
Long back, girls got married even in their cradles. If a girl were a virgin between the ages of ten and eleven, she would be considered a horse. With their husbands in their thirties or forties, these teenage misses were bound to a lifestyle to suffer. Widows were forced to remarry into affluent households. Sati was prevalent. Society’s view of women was cruel and unjust. No education. No freedom. Love, desire, opinion, nothing. No means of subsistence and no consent.
Females from different walks of life have challenged the prevailing norms. Some got married while some broke up marriages, took education, traveled abroad, and gave lectures. They not only enriched themselves through education but also used it for the betterment of society. Some became doctors and opened hospitals, and women who had suffered or died all their lives because they did not want to go to a male doctor were greatly relieved. Someone accepted the profession of a teacher and expanded the share of girls’ education. Someone worked hard to create an all-India organization of women.
The work of women like Savitribai Phule, Pandita Ramabai, Ramabai Ranade, and Kashibai Navale are all familiar to us. The social consciousness shown by many women who started working hard in various fields in the early days of education was invaluable. Tarabai Modak, Godavari Parulekar, Anutai Wagh, Baya Karve, Parvatibai Athavale, Gangutai Patwardhan are some of the women who have shown a willingness to lend a helping hand to others while making their progress. Some experimented with child education, some worked for tribal development, and some supported orphans, helpless, needy women.
