KADAMBANI GANGULY

 THE FIRST FEMALE DOCTOR OF INDIA

Our human society has a norm of following set patterns. We follow pattern in all of our work in all of our habits, in all of our social interactions. And one of the examples that adds to this pattern is to consider women as a weak gender. It’s not a sudden thing that has emerged today but it’s has been there since the beginning of the human society. The basic rules of the society that we follow today has emerged from a patriarchal thinking so naturally women had always been kept at a disadvantage in terms of power, in terms of empowerment.

Many women in our history have tried to break this pattern by doing extreme hard work, by facing hard resistance, by overcoming the social stigma of the society and tried to make gender equality a part of this civilization. One such lady was Kadambini Ganguly, the first Women Physician of India at a time when the Indian society used to think women education as an offence.

Kadambini Ganguly was born on 18 July,1861 in a Hindu Family in Bhagalpur,India. She was born in a family which had a way more modern thinking than the then existing society and this fact is somewhere the foundation of her strong character and her unique thinking. Her father was a headmaster and was actively involved in the various works of social reforms such as the establishment of Bhagalpur Mahila Samity (The women's association of Bhagalpur), which was founded to promote women empowerment.

She was the one who had broken the then existing prejudices about women in every stage of her life. She became the first one to sit and clear entrance exam of University of Calcutta. She did her graduation in arts. This was considered something extraordinary at that time because our society was still struggling to come out of stereotypes like Sati practice, widow remarriage and many such ill practices which were being followed in the Hindu Society and thinking of women education seemed impossible.

 

However, nothing made her stop. She observed the poor condition of women around her getting no treatment just because of their gender as all the western medicine physicians were male and not allowed inside the house and it was considered a sin for a woman to talk to an unknown male. The death of women because of tetanus during the labour was a very common scenario of that time because most of the pregnancy were handled by ayaas (local women who used to perform labour) without proper tools. So, she decided to study Medicine.

 

She got her medical degree from Calcutta Medical College in 1886 and again she was also the first woman to do so. After this she worked in the Lady Dufferin Women's Hospital for a very short time. Then she decided to move to London for her further studies as she was facing a lot of criticism and resistance here in India by the society. She returned to India after getting her degree from London and decided to practice privately in her private chamber and became the first woman in South Asia to be a practicing physician holding a foreign degree. 

 

All these facts above seem cool at present but society at that time was not taking all these events as a positive reform because breaking a prejudice is something which takes time. This is something which the literature of that era proves itself. A Bengali magazine named as “BONGOBASI” portrayed her as a prostitute because sometime she had to work in the night also which was unusual for women at that time. Later the editor was punished for publishing such thing. But out of all the negativities something positive was also taking place.

 

Women started to approach her not only as patients but now she was an inspiration for many. For women who under their veils have dreams for freedom from the debarment of the thinking of the men dominating society. The college in which she studied, The Bethune college, later started several courses for women. The change was slow but she was successful in instigating the ray of hope in many women’s hearts that change is possible.

 

Apart from this, she had a plethora of achievements, such as she became the first woman to be a speaker at the Indian National Congress. She also worked for the upliftment of the women’s condition of the Coal Field of Bihar and had also held the position of president of Transvaal Indian Association.

 

Women like Kadambini Ganguly had provided the foundation for the modern-day women empowerment movements and we all should salute the courage of such women who stood not only for herself but also for other women. She decided to give a better shape to the society.

 

Today society has reached in a position where women are in far better condition than what existed before but still there is much more to achieve and a long way to go. Both the gender now needs to work collectively to get what we are dreaming and what once Kadmini ganguly dreamt of i.e. a society where both male and female are equivalent in terms of their rights, in terms of their education, in terms of their social acceptance. And the best part is we are moving in this direction with a very positive approach. Today women are getting involved in every field which were considered primarily to be man chauvinist proving that the limitation is only in our minds.

-Bikram Ray