Ramabai s Reconstruction of the Society: Revisiting the Legacy of the Pandita Who Redefined Womanhood

Being the maiden feminist and activist in the cause to advantage women throughout the life, Ramabai was an ideal of extreme individualism and daring to the women of her years. She was born in a high caste Hindu woman who converted into Christianity. Hinduism denial was a significant factor and she was against the marginalization of the women. This had taken her all the miseries she had gone through in her life and she became a spokesperson for the other women in those times. An independent woman discovered and questioned her religion in the attempt of creating a utopian community. Her womanhood was put in a middle ground between a Brahmin widow in the Hindu society, and later a Christian convert and this prevailed not only in herself but also on her immediate society. Ramabai emphasized on the different obstacles such as caste, religion, patriarchy and (inter)nationalism, where women were socially oppressed. The experience that Ramabai has had in her life can attest the nature of work she had been doing throughout her life. She was at a double disadvantageous position both as a widow and a widow who dared to challenge the social norms of the Indian community in the spiritual path as a way to enlighten herself through radicalness. This article revisits the conundrums in her life and the continuum of the turbulent times she lived in and until now, which is more than a century after her death. This article reinstates the relevance of the underlying themes of her controversial life and the undying spirit of feminism that can still shape the strands of feminism and universalism.

Keywords:
Womanhood, Contesting Religion, Questioning Patriarchy, Emancipation, Widowhood