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 Xrulxa. 
 
 VOMAN 
 
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 INDIA 
 
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 New Woman of India 
 
 Helen Woodsmall Eldredge 
 
 Foreign Department 
 National Board of the 
 Young Womens Christian Associations 
 of the United States 
 
 1919 
 
THE NEW WOMAN OF INDIA 
 
 Helen Woodsmall Eldredge 
 
 I NDIA is to-day one of the most fascinating countries of the 
 Orient and no subject pertaining to it is more fraught with 
 interest than the development of Indian women. The multi- 
 plicity of races differing in customs, religion and character 
 makes a short discussion of the women of India difficult, as 
 it is almost impossible to generalize. 
 
 In considering any phase of the life or customs of Indian 
 women, one must bear in mind the fact that India is a land of 
 contrasts: fabulous wealth, extreme poverty; brilliant minds, dense 
 ignorance; power of the Rajas and utter depression of the lowest 
 classes; wonderful beauty of the mountains and arid desolation of 
 the deserts; culture and refinement of the educated minority and 
 illiteracy of the masses. 
 
 THE ZENANA WOMAN 
 
 Nowhere is the contrast more striking than between the new 
 woman of India and her sister, the zenana woman. To get any 
 adequate conception of the problem of Indian women of the present 
 day, it is necessary to remember that this is a time of transition. 
 Indian womanhood is just lifting its head after years of degrada- 
 tion. Until recently the average Indian woman was content to 
 stay behind the purdah but now many are timidly emerging from 
 the silence, seclusion and superstitions of purdah life into the 
 freedom, liberty and enlightenment of the wider life waiting for 
 them outside. 
 
 The majority of Indian women, considering numbers alone, 
 are still living in zenanas in what may be called the old period 
 of Indian womanhood. These women differ but little in their life 
 from the women of old Mogul days. But new conceptions are 
 revolutionizing old customs. Broader visions of the possibilities 
 
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of women are overcoming the limitations of those olden times. 
 A few have come out entirely into the sunlight of the new 
 day. A great number linger in the doorway between the old and 
 the new. The change is taking place gradually and in many cases 
 leading women who are extremely modern in most respects are still 
 clinging tenaciously to many old customs. 
 
 THE NEW WOMAN 
 
 Three examples of well-educated women who are still in 
 zenanas but who are affecting the thought and life of India in a 
 vital way are Hageat Bibi of Kobul, the Maharam of Baroda and 
 the Begum of Bopal. Hageat Bibi, a formidable old woman, is 
 the mother of the present Amie of Afghanistan and played an 
 important part in the late border disputes. 
 
 A PRINCESS 
 
 The Maharam of Baroda is the wife of the Taikmar of 
 Baroda, one of the most enlightened native princes of India. 
 She is well educated, speaks English perfectly, is a leader in 
 many progressive reforms in the life of the state and is cognizant 
 of all that goes on in the Raja’s court, and yet she lives in her 
 zenana and in many respects observes the rules which have been 
 obligatory upon Hindu wives from time immemorial. 
 
 A RULER 
 
 The Begum of Bopal is the only woman ruler of India. She 
 is a Mohammedan and observes strict purdah, wearing her burka 
 even when visiting the English Court. She is educated and rules 
 her court and native state very wisely, but does not speak English, 
 and receives foreign visitors through the aid of an interpreter. When 
 holding audience with foreign men the Begum sits behind a purdah 
 while the conversation is going on. She is very interested in 
 America and pleased to give Americans interviews. When speak- 
 ing with her Highness, some think of her as an interesting friend 
 rather than as a great ruler, because of her kindly expression and 
 simple manner. The keenness of her eyes betokens her high intelli- 
 gence. She is an ardent supporter of all measures to uplift and 
 
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educate Indian women. Under her direct supervision she has a 
 school for high caste children and a Purdah Club for the women 
 of Bopal. 
 
 COLLEGE WOMEN 
 
 The college woman is a comparatively recent phenomenon in 
 India but there are now nine hundred women graduates of Indian 
 colleges. These women must be the leaders to open the door of 
 progress for Indian women. Many of them are teachers, some are 
 doctors and others are following various public careers or are 
 married to educated men and are influencing other women through 
 the home. 
 
 PROGRESSIVE LEADERS 
 
 The real vanguard of the Indian woman of the future is made 
 up of a small group of brilliant, refined, cultured women from 
 the upper classes who have had exceptional advantages of educa- 
 tion and foreign travel and who occupy prominent positions in 
 India in social, educational, political and religious circles. 
 
 A REFORMER 
 
 The first to be mentioned would be Pundita Ramabai, who 
 for many years has devoted her life to work for Indian women. 
 She was the first Brahmin widow to break the thrall laid upon 
 Hindu widows. She acquired a splendid education in England 
 and America and has for many years conducted schools for Hindu 
 widows in Kedgaon. In connection with the schools she has a 
 publishing establishment and has completed various translations of 
 the Bible and many other books. Her home for widows and her 
 schools represent the first step of Indian women to break the 
 shackles of the past and free themselves from the superstitions 
 which have bound them. 
 
 A POETESS 
 
 Mrs. Sorojini Naidu is a poetess of international reputation, 
 two of her books of poems, “The Golden Threshold” and “The 
 Broken Wing,” being well known to American readers. Songs 
 from these two books have been set to music by English and 
 
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American composers. Mrs. Naidu is a charming little person, 
 very fascinating in her jewels and her Indian draperies of silk. On 
 her forehead she wears the tiny red mark which betokens she is a 
 married Hindu woman. Her husband is a prominent Hindu phy- 
 sician of Hyderabad Deccan, and held a commission in the war. 
 Mrs. Naidu was educated in England and Europe and is interested 
 in many questions of world-wide interest. She is a popular lecturer 
 being known as the golden-tongued orator of India, and she is 
 closely identified with politics and various movements pertaining 
 to the government of India and the life of the people. This versa- 
 tile woman is frequently appointed on commissions to represent the 
 Indian woman’s attitude toward questions which must be discussed 
 with the Government. She was recently a member of the com- 
 mittee sent to England to speak for Home Rule for India. 
 
 A MUSICIAN 
 
 Begum Fyzee Rahamin is an extremely interesting woman who 
 spent last season in New York. She was educated in Girton 
 College (Cambridge) , and was the first Mohammedan girl to win 
 an English scholarship for her intellectual achievements. She has 
 spent many years in London and Paris and is particularly inter- 
 ested in the interpretation of Indian art and music. She is a 
 musician of rare ability and has lectured on Indian music and 
 demonstrated the same to select Paris and New York audiences. 
 While in New York the Begum had records made of her singing, 
 the first records of the kind to be made. With the Begum, 
 while she was in America, were her husband, a celebrated Indian 
 artist and two sisters, one of whom, Her Highness, the Begum 
 Sabiba of Janjira, is a most charming Indian woman, of great 
 grace and refinement. The Begum Sabiba also plays with skill 
 upon various difficult Indian musical instruments. 
 
 A PHYSICIAN 
 
 Dr. Karmarkar, of Bombay, is another interesting woman of 
 India. She is an Indian Christian and has devoted many years to 
 improving conditions of life for Indian women. She received her 
 M. D. degree from the Women’s Medical College of Philadel- 
 phia, and her son graduated from Princeton. She is a highly 
 valued member of the Indian National Committee of the Young 
 Womens Christian Association. 
 
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A LAWYER 
 
 Miss Cornelia Sorabji has the distinction of being the first 
 woman lawyer of India. She is having a most interesting career 
 in Calcutta where she handles business matters in the courts for 
 many zenana women who would otherwise be obliged to conduct 
 their affairs through the medium of a barrister with whom the 
 necessary interview would have to be held from behind a purdah. 
 A zenana woman is not prohibited from talking with men 
 but she must not be seen by one. Miss Sorabji is a charming 
 cultured woman of keen intelligence, whose public career has left 
 no touch of unbecoming boldness which many feared would be the 
 result of public life upon Indian women, as is so often supposed to 
 be the case with women when they first enter public life. 
 
 AN EDUCATIONALIST 
 
 Miss Cornelia Sorabji is a member of a remarkable family 
 which has exerted a marked influence on the development of educa- 
 tion for women in India. They stand out as one of the few 
 prominent Parsee families which has adopted Christianity. The 
 father and mother were broad and far ahead of their time in their 
 attitude toward the question of education for girls. After excep- 
 tional advantages of education and travel the various members of 
 the family have become leaders in different lines of activity. 
 
 Two sisters have excellent schools for high caste girls and are 
 leaders in educational affairs, one in Dacca (Central Provinces), 
 and the other, Miss Susie Sorabji, in Poona (Bombay Presidency). 
 Another sister, who is a poetess of marked ability, took a medical 
 degree and married an English surgeon, Dr. Pennell, who was 
 famous for his work among the frontier tribes of Afghanistan. 
 After his death Mrs. Pennell continued his hospital work in 
 Baunu. During the war the English Government commandeered 
 this hospital, made it a military base and conferred a military rank 
 upon Mrs. Pennell so that she could remain in charge of the 
 hospital. Later, when the necessity for using this hospital as a 
 military base ceased to exist. Dr. Pennell was appointed by the 
 Government to be one of the five women doctors in charge of a 
 large military hospital in Bombay — The Freeman Thomas Hos- 
 pital. Incidentally, two of these doctors were American women. 
 
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PARSEE LEADERS 
 
 There is an interesting group of Parsee women in Bombay. 
 The Parsees are as a class the best educated people in India and 
 the Parsee women have had more freedom to develop as the zenana 
 system has never existed among them and they have never had 
 purdah. Bombay society is made up of prominent members of the 
 English, Mohammedan, Hindu and Parsee communities. 
 
 Among the Parsees, Lady Tata, Lady Petit and Lady Jehan- 
 gir may be mentioned as leading society women who, because of 
 their education, culture, ability, wealth and high social position, 
 are able to give invaluable aid ir. the development of a larger, 
 freer life for women. 
 
 These three women, as well as many others in the same group, 
 have spent much time in European capitals, in governmental 
 circles. They are accomplished women and charming hostesses. 
 Lady Tata is especially interested in all questions pertaining to 
 the education of Indian girls. She was at one time vice-president 
 of the Bombay Girls’ High School Athletic Association with 
 which the Young Womens Christian Association has been closely 
 connected. Its growth was one determining factor in procuring 
 an American physical director for the Bombay Association. 
 
 WOMEN'S CLUBS 
 
 A significant sign of the advance made by Indian women is 
 the rapid development of the Indian Women’s National Associa- 
 tion. Local clubs of the organization exist in all of the large 
 cities of India. The object of the club is social and educational 
 uplift. It would correspond to the average women’s club for an 
 American city. Monthly lectures on various subjects such as 
 literature, science and art are given with occasional open guest 
 meetings for social enjoyment. At these meetings one may see 
 Hindu, Mohammedan, Parsee, English and American ladies hob- 
 nobbing together. Women who keep strict purdah are these; 
 many do not speak a word of English, but all mingle in the most 
 natural way. 
 
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STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF THE NEW ERA 
 
 A few years ago a gathering of women of the different 
 races and castes of India would have been impossible. Questions 
 of importance which would not have caused a ripple of interest 
 among Indian women a decade ago are now eagerly discussed by 
 them. Government reforms. Home Rule, social welfare work, 
 schools, dispensaries, proper housing conditions, hospitals for 
 women and children, ways to spread abroad propaganda regard- 
 ing proper care of children by mothers, better conditions in fac- 
 tories for women, regulation of child labor and child marriages, 
 and the right of women owning property to vote, — these and many 
 other such subjects are receiving the careful, intelligent interest of 
 thoughtful Indian women who are striving to bridge the great gulf 
 between the old order and the new. Many of these women will 
 make mistakes and many struggles lie ahead as the masses follow 
 these leaders. 
 
 The inevitable faults of a transitional period are evident. In 
 an exuberance of new found liberty some have indulged in ex- 
 cesses. Many have chosen the crudest, cheapest features of the 
 foreign patterns they are copying because they have not yet estab- 
 lished standards by which to gauge and judge their intrinsic worth. 
 However, through education in the best which foreign countries 
 have to give to India will come the knowledge which will lead 
 Indian women to eliminate the undesirable and to choose the best 
 in the new life unfolding before them. 
 
 Indian women are looking toward English and American 
 women for examples upon which to pattern their new life. The 
 part of American womanhood is to give of her best to India that 
 she may gain the highest ideals upon which to base the new life of 
 her women, and that there may come to her a vision of the great 
 things to be accomplished by the united power of women, of 
 whatever race or creed. 
 
 Practically without exception all the women mentioned above 
 are interested in the work of the Young Womens Christian Asso- 
 ciation in India. Several of them are active friends of the Asso- 
 ciation. They recognize and welcome the active help which the 
 Y. W. C. A. is giving in the development of Indian women. 
 
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