Women’s Day Special
This
may sound strange to write about a man on International Women’s Day (IWD) but
Dhondo Keshav Karve was a trailblazer in promoting women’s welfare, in particular
widows, and so deserves to be remembered on IWD. So, as a (gentle)man I think
it is my bounden duty to write about this man on Women’s Day.
Better known as Maharishi Karve, he is best remembered for starting India’s
first women’s university - Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women’s
University - in 1916. Under the aegis of the
Hingne Stree Shikshan Samstha Poona — which was later renamed after him as
‘Maharshi Karve Stree Shikshan Samstha (MKSSS)’ Pune — educational institutions
right from pre-primary level to professional colleges were started. He even
undertook a foreign trip at the age of 71 to meet educationalists to gather support
for this cause.
Another major work of Maharisih Karve was widow remarriage. While working as maths instructor at Fergusson College, Poona (1891-1914), concerned with the plight of Hindu widows, he established the Widow Marriage Association in 1893. In the same year, he set an example himself by marrying a widow. His first wife Radhabai had died a few years earlier leaving behind a son. He remarried Godubai, a sister of his friend,who was widowed at the age of 8 years itself! Aged 23, she was then the first widow student of Pandita Ramabai’s Sharada Sadan. In 1896, Anna Karve (as he was respectfully called), started the Hindu Widows Home in Poona to support those widows who could not /did not remarry, to stand on their own feet.
Born
on 18th April 1858 in the Ratnagiri area of Maharashtra, Dhondo
Keshav Karve was a multi-dimensional personality – educator, social reformer, writer,
and activist. He wrote his autobiography ‘Atmavritta’ (Marathi) in 1915, and ‘Looking
Back’ (English) in 1936.The most astonishing thing is that the Government of
India recognised his achievements and honoured him when he was alive, though at
the ripe age of 100 in 1958; Maharishi Karve was honoured with Bharat Ratna,
the highest civilian award! Anna Karve passed away at the ripe age of 104 on
November 9, 1962 in Poona (Pune). He is honoured by naming an area of Pune as
Karve Nagar and by renaming a street in Mumbai as Maharashi Karve Marg.
I
came to know about Maharishi Karve through an Indian postal stamp issued on 18th
April 1958 (his 100th birthday). While organising my stamp
collection recently, I found this slightly faded stamp. Though it has been with
us almost since my birth (as my father’s collection), as a boy it counted just
as a numberto compete with my classmates back in 1960s and 1970s. Philately was
a raging hobby then. The 15 naya paise stamp has the name of the personality
only in Hindi which I could not read then. I tried hard to find the name on the
stamp with a magnifying glass and yet could not get the full name (as it was
faded). Google search engine came to my rescue and hence this write-up about
Maharishi Karve who has left behind a legacy as a social reformer (widow
upliftment, remarriage, caste removal), women’s education and progress. Indeed
a gentleman to be remembered on Women’s Day!
