The Ramabai Reader

Well travelled and erudite, Ramabai created controversy with "The High Caste Hindu Woman", written after her conversion to Christianity. Published in order to raise money for a home for young widows, the book examined the various facets of a high-caste Hindu woman's life, and the oppression faced by girl children right from the start of life. Coming as it did from an Indian woman, Ramabai's book carried more authority than previous missionary accounts of Hindu women. Uma Chakravarti's introduction provides an analytical biographical sketch of Ramabai, and specifically examines her relationship to Christianity (her chosen religion) and her need for religion, as well as her confrontation with religious authority. Chakravarti places Ramabai's life and work within the context of the political economy of women in India, and establishes her as a pioneer; indeed as one of the first fact-finders in India, who used her experiences as a traveller to develop an understanding of the different regions of the country.