By Mahak Yadav

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay – India’s Forgotten Feminist Icon

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay was best known for being the driving force behind the renaissance of Indian handicraft, hand loom, and theatre. She also fought for the upliftment of the socio-economic standard of Indian women. Let us look at her story: At the age of 11 she was married to Krishna Rao, but he unfortunately died just over a year later. As a child widow and with her father also dead, Kamaladevi moved with her mother to Madras in 1917. Her interest in social work led her to enroll in a Social Work Diploma Course at Bedford College, London. After her return to India, Kamaladevi became actively involved with the All-India Women’s Conference (AIWC) . HER CONTRIBUTIONS Her early years coincided with the development of the Indian National movement. Public figures such as Gokhale, Anne Beasant, Ranade  provided her political inspiration. The 1930 Civil Disobedience Movement was her first encounter with Gandhi. She convinced Gandhi to not restrict the march only to men. It brought to light the fact that a strong and fearless woman had entered the Indian political scene. But the fact that makes her stand out was that art and theatre played a major role in her life. She used theatre as a medium to promote social issues. Among other institutions that Kamaladevi helped create and nurture were the Sangeet Natak Akademi and the India International Centre; which are successful institutions even today.

Her involvement with the craft was deep, she traveled the length and breadth of the country safeguarding it. From the 1950s, Kamaladevi turned increasingly to the revival and promotion of India’s rich, varied and endangered craft traditions. She established the All India Handicrafts Board and headed it for twenty years. She formed cooperatives to market the products of craftsmen and to provide them credit and instituted awards to motivate them, this was one of the earliest examples of Self-Help Groups. That Indian crafts are still alive and, moreover, have a visible national and international presence, is owed more to Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay than to any other individual. She worked for women and their development. Being a true feminist, her's was the most desirable notion of feminism which is contested even today. According to her, the women’s movement did not seek to make women either fight men or imitate them. It rather seeks to instill in them a consciousness of their own faculties and functions and create a respect for those of the other sex. Her ideologies were based on how women must be recognized as a social and economic factor. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay died in 1988, leaving her imprints on the Indian society. It is however sad that a figure with such an indispensable contribution remains lost in the shadows of history. The legacy of bravery, feminism, and co-working she has left continues to inspire the youth of today.