Pandita Ramabai Biography

 Pandita Ramabai was born Rama Dongre to a Marathi Brahmin family in 1858. Her
father was a Sanskrit scholar and Ramabai learnt Sanskrit from him initially.
 Her parents died during the famine of 1877. Ramabai and her brother travelled all over
the country and her fame as a scholar reached Calcutta. The University of Calcutta
invited her to give a lecture and also awarded her the title of ‘Pandita’ because of her
erudition in Sanskrit.
 She was also conferred with the title of ‘Saraswati’ owing to her knowledge and
interpretations of the various Sanskrit texts.
 Renowned reformer Keshub Chandra Sen gave her a copy of the Vedas.
 In 1880, Ramabai married Bipin Behari Medhvi, a Bengali lawyer. This was a bold move
for that era as it was an inter-caste marriage. It was, therefore, a civil wedding.
 Ramabai had a daughter Manorama. Tragedy struck in 1882 when Medhvi died.
 After her husband’s death, Ramabai started Arya Mahila Samaj (Arya Women’s Society)
at Pune.
 The purpose of the Society was to provide education to women and to discourage and
fight against the practice of child marriage.
 The government of India appointed a commission to look into the matter of education in
1882. Ramabai gave evidence before the commission. She recommended that women
school inspectors be appointed. She also suggested that Indian women be taken into
medical colleges since women doctors were needed to treat women.
 This event created a ripple effect and even reached the ears of the British monarch
Victoria. The result was the establishment of the Women’s Medical Movement by Lady
Dufferin.
 Ramabai travelled all over India giving speeches about the importance of educating
women. She left for England in 1883 to study medicine. During her stay, she converted to
Christianity.
 While talking with the nuns during the conference, they told Ramabai the story of the
woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). Jesus lovingly moves toward the woman and
dares the religious officials of the time to confront their own sin.
 Moved by the story and Jesus’ attitude towards oppressed people, Pandita Ramabai
declared Jesus the greatest liberator of women and asked to be baptized.
 With this conversion experience, Pandita Ramabai’s ministry to women and her fight for
liberation now turned into a full-fledged operation. Empowered by the emancipating
message of Christ, she started a center for unwed mothers and a famine-relief office upon
returning to India. During this phase of her life she was a whirlwind of activity and
blessing. She taught Sanskrit and lectured on the plight of Indian women in England and
America, which funded her cultural and legislative fight for women’s rights in her home
country. 
 She taught (and believed) that the personhood of Jesus, his perfection and completion,
was what gave her the ability to liberate, help, and serve others. 
 Pandita Ramabai never styled herself as a missionary, even after her conversion, despite
others pressuring her to do so. She was at times criticized by both her local and national
Hindu religious community, as well as the larger Protestant community, for not ascribing
to the norms and practices people expected. She took an English name, Mary, which
angered her Indian supporters. 
 Ramabai proved that Christ isn’t tied to one denomination, and Christ’s formative and
liberating work can be carried out in diverse ways—including outside the
institutionalized church. 
 Her 1887 book, The High Caste Hindu Woman, was a withering critique of the treatment
of women in India and became hugely popular. In the early 1900s, she translated the
Bible into Maranthi—one of seven languages in which she was fluent—so that the locals
could understand and digest the same message that had liberated her.
 She also travelled to the USA to attend the graduation of Anandibai Joshi, the first Indian
woman doctor. Between her travels, she also wrote and translated a vast number of
books.
 Returning to India in 1889, she started the ‘Sharada Sadan’. She founded the Mukti
Mission for the education of child widows.
 One of the most recognized impressions Ramabai has left behind is the Mukti Mission,
which she founded in 1889. Through this mission she housed over 2,500 people—
widows, blind, disabled, outcast boys, and elderly—in six homes across India.
 Many accused her of using these organisations as a front for conversions.
 The British government presented her with the Kaiser-i-Hind medal in 1919.
 Ramabai died on 5 April 1922, 9 months after the death of her daughter. In October 1989,
the Indian government issued a commemorative stamp in her honour.