Wishesh Magazine November_2018 Wishesh Magazine November 2018 | Page 76

FREEDOM FIGHTER
Durgabai Deshmukh
Revolutionary
in Every Sense
A
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At a time when a vast majority of women in India
were confined to the domestic sphere, the nationalist
struggle propelled a few exceptional gems who shone
bright with their talent, courage and drive for the
rigours of nation-building.
Durgabai, a Gandhian, a
freedom fighter and later a
criminal lawyer in the Madras
High Court, did not come from
a family of particular privilege.
Born on July 15, 1909 at
Rajahmundry in the coastal
east Godavari district of
present-day Andhra Pradesh
to social worker B. V. N.
Rama Rao and his wife
Krishnavenamma, Durgabai
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spent her formative years
in Kakinada. From an early
age, she was sensitive to
the ubiquity of social inequity
and suffering. She observed
the cruel customs and poor
treatment of women and
recognized the urgent need for
social reform.
Durgabai was influenced
by Mahatma Gandhi. When
Mahatma visited Kakinada to
address a town hall gathering
in 1921, the barely 12-year-
old child was keen to meet
Mahatma along with a group
local Devadasi and Muslim
women.
A victim of child marriage,
her union at 8 with a much
older man is what she calls
her father’s only mistake.
Which she corrected herself,
by bravely walking out of