Google Doodle Celebrates Rukhmabai's Life

Did you notice today's Google Doodle? It is an ode to Rukhmabai, the first Indian woman to practise medicine in colonial India. Born on this day in 1864 in Bombay, she spearheaded the women's movement by refusing to recognise her own marriage that was arranged without her consent.

Illustrator Shreya Gupta has made this Google Doodle to honour the gutsy woman.

Know more about her:

Rukhmabai was the only daughter of Janardhan Pandurang and Jayantibai. Her father died when she was eight years old. She got hitched at the age of 11 to Dadaji Bhikaji. Her mother later married Sakharam Arjun. He was an eminent physician and the founding member of Bombay Natural History Society.

Rukhmabai refused to stay with her husband after marriage. She stayed with her mother and step-father even after marriage. Seven years later, Dadaji moved court seeking it to order his wife to live with him. Rukhmabai said that a woman cannot be compelled to stay in a wedlock when she is not interested. Her step-father buttressed her in this decision

The Dadaji vs. Rukhmabai case, that went on for three years, triggered a debate in both England and India. Dadaji won the case and the court ordered Rukhmabai to live with her husband or sit behind bars for six months. Unwilling to give up on what she felt was right, Rukhmabai opted for the latter.

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The verdict was subsequently overruled by Queen Victoria. This prompted the government to bring the Age of Consent Act, 1891, despite opposition from conservative Indians. The Act meant that thousands of women who were forced to tie the marital knot could be saved.

Rukhmabai separated from her husband and shifted to England to pursue medicine. She got support from Dr Edith Pechey of Bombay’s Cama Hospital, activists and fellow Indians in England to complete her course in the London School of Medicine for Women. She returned to India in 1894 and practised in Surat, Rajkot, and Bombay for the next 35 years. She passed away on September 25, 1955.

Her life story is replete with some courageous decisions taken to live a life that offered her freedom to do what she aspired for.

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