Today is the last day of Women's History Month. Not sure if I like the concept of having a special month for women's history, but it is true I get to know a lot about many women who have been pioneers. For example, Grace Hopper. In general I would like to cherish men and women both who have tried their best to make the world a better place. So today, I would write about a few men who were behind some successful women.
I have written about Dr. Pierre Curie before. I think the Curies were the best couple ever! I still don't know why women don't want to be like her. I mean, really... she had the best partner, two amazing daughters, a wonderful career... what else do people want? However, without Pierre Curie how much of this would have been possible? If he believed that a woman's home is in the kitchen and insisted his wife "bring up the daughters" because "kids need their moms more than anything else", we probably would have lost the twice Nobel Prize winner and ended up with a frustrated snappy woman. Maybe... who knows?
Anyway, people still know about the Curies and their amazing partnership. Today I want to talk about another person who is not very well known outside Bengal. He is Dwarakanath Ganguly, husband of Kadambini Ganguly, the first female doctor in India. Dwarakanath was an emancipated individual was almost like a mentor to Kadambini who was a young widow. In those days (mid 1800s) being a widow meant the end of life for a Hindu girl so basically Kadambini was expected to live her life within the four walls of the women's quarters with almost literally not seeing daylight ever. Dwarakanath saw the potential of this young woman and encouraged her to complete her formal education and then go for medical studies. Realizing that the society would never let a single woman achieve these lofty goals, Dwarakanath, a widower himself, decided to marry Kadambini and give her the social platform.
I have written about Dr. Pierre Curie before. I think the Curies were the best couple ever! I still don't know why women don't want to be like her. I mean, really... she had the best partner, two amazing daughters, a wonderful career... what else do people want? However, without Pierre Curie how much of this would have been possible? If he believed that a woman's home is in the kitchen and insisted his wife "bring up the daughters" because "kids need their moms more than anything else", we probably would have lost the twice Nobel Prize winner and ended up with a frustrated snappy woman. Maybe... who knows?
Anyway, people still know about the Curies and their amazing partnership. Today I want to talk about another person who is not very well known outside Bengal. He is Dwarakanath Ganguly, husband of Kadambini Ganguly, the first female doctor in India. Dwarakanath was an emancipated individual was almost like a mentor to Kadambini who was a young widow. In those days (mid 1800s) being a widow meant the end of life for a Hindu girl so basically Kadambini was expected to live her life within the four walls of the women's quarters with almost literally not seeing daylight ever. Dwarakanath saw the potential of this young woman and encouraged her to complete her formal education and then go for medical studies. Realizing that the society would never let a single woman achieve these lofty goals, Dwarakanath, a widower himself, decided to marry Kadambini and give her the social platform.
Kadambini had many kids from this marriage but she did not have any problem in leaving her kids with her mother and go to England to get her medical degrees - LRCP (Edinburgh), LRCS (Glasgow), and GFPS (Dublin). I wonder how many husbands in these days would let their wives do this. And just FYI, after she came back from England she set up her home just like any other married woman, brought up the kids and made a lot of money through her medical practice. These actually support my belief that a lady who can handle career can handle the stuff at home quite easily.
I will end this part of my anecdote by narrating an incident of Dwarakanath. He found out one day that a certain newspaper editor wrote insulting comments about emancipated women. He went to that editor's office with a stout stick in his hand and the paper cutting of that editorial. He was quite a big guy, so the editor got a little scared and asked what brought him there. Dwarkanath replied, "to make you eat your own words." And that's what he literally did. Made that editor swallow that piece of paper cutting. The editor published an apology the next day.
That's how you "Lean In" :D
There is another person whom I need to acknowledge when I talk about successful women. He is Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. I owe all my thoughts, all the words I have spoken, all the sentences I have written and all the confidence I have ever shown to him! And I am sure millions of women from Bengal do the same as well.
Yes, women do have to struggle much more than men in order to be successful, but there have been many a man behind these successful ladies.
That's how you "Lean In" :D
There is another person whom I need to acknowledge when I talk about successful women. He is Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. I owe all my thoughts, all the words I have spoken, all the sentences I have written and all the confidence I have ever shown to him! And I am sure millions of women from Bengal do the same as well.
Yes, women do have to struggle much more than men in order to be successful, but there have been many a man behind these successful ladies.
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