Mapping a journey of the city where every step echoes the revolution brought about by women leading the way and breaking boundaries
India’s first female lawyer, Cornelia Sorabji, researched at Asiatic Library. file pic
Mumbai, the city of dreams, is also the city of revolutions. Most of which have been spearheaded and started by women, now relegated to the pages of history books. This Women’s Day, let us go back and follow the footprints of the incredible women who wrote history on the streets of Mumbai.
A SoBo Reform Tour
1) Asiatic Library, (Fort)
This famous library sheltered women such as Cornelia Sorabji —India’s first female lawyer—researched and wrote. During the colonial period, when higher education for women was a rarity, Cornelia Sorabji took solace in the majestic reading halls of the Asiatic Library. She was India’s first lady lawyer. Asiatic Library was an abode for several female intellectuals and reformists who were on a quest to know, making the foundation to raise women to literature, law and academia.
2) Bombay High Court, (Fort)
Women’s rights landmark cases here were fought by pioneers in the field of law like Flavia Agnes. Flavia Agnes and others have fought landmark cases on women’s property rights, domestic violence and marital rape. One such instance was when she resisted custody of a child against a father who had been charged under the POCSO Act. The case was successful in highlighting the salient issues of child protection and parental rights in sensitive legal struggles. The High Court also had an important role to play in the historic verdict that gave women the right of entry into the Haji Ali Dargah.
3) Seva Sadan Society, (Grant Rd)
Established by Ramabai Ranade in 1908, Seva Sadan was the first institution to give vocational training, education, and shelter to widows and oppressed women. It became a beacon of empowerment in an era where women were considered and defined on the basis of their domestic responsibilities. Many of them emerged as well-refined teachers, nurses and professionals in then male-dominated fields.
4) Mani Bhavan, (Gamdevi)
While it was Mahatma Gandhi’s residence, Mani Bhavan was also the meeting place for powerful women leaders such as Sarojini Naidu and Kasturba Gandhi. Here, civil disobedience movements were planned, and women took pivotal roles in picketing foreign commodities and violating colonial laws. The women here embraced Khadi weaving and self-sufficiency as a form of resistance to colonialism.
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