Wishesh Magazine November_2018 Wishesh Magazine November 2018 | Page 77

in Madras after another freedom
fighter T Prakasam was arrested
by the British. While Mahatma
was doing the Dandy March,
she was leading the Satyagraha
down South. She was
subsequently arrested and had
to spend three years in jail and
that too in solitary confinement.
Durgabai Deshmukh’s training
ground was the national freedom
movement where she learnt
the lessons of perseverance,
austerity, and sacrifice. It also
brought her in unhindered
proximity of the masses and their
quotidian struggles. Thus she
made it her mission to ameliorate
the plight of the downtrodden.
the marriage when she 15,
before the couple could even
consummate it.
After meeting Gandhi, not
only her, but her entire family
gave up all forms of Western
wear and decided to wear only
Khadi. She later decided to
quit school arguing against
the imposition of English.
All this happened amid the
thick of Non-Cooperation
Movement.
Nine years later, she led the
Salt Satyagraha movement
Durgabai identified the
culprits of progress as lack of
education, obsolete superstitions
and subaltern treatment
of womenfolk. The Andhra
Mahila Sabha founded by her
played a commendable role in
empowering women through
education, health facilities and
vocational training. As a member
of the Constituent Assembly
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