Let us know about this prodigy who aced the kindness revolution through raising her voice for equal rights and women studies
Not a lot of people might know Vina Mazumdar for all that she did. Popular media defined her as this aggressive left winger who was the face of the women’s movement in India. However, this is a lot more to her than just that. She was an epitome of kindness in ways that were welfare oriented and vast.
For a lot of conventional believers, kindness travels through soft and silent taverns of society. Mazumdar changed that narrative by bringing academics and women’s voices to the forefront. For her, kindness was not just about doing good for others, it was all about making a change through active participation, emancipation and empowerment.
Born in 1927, Vina created a platform for Indian women to come ahead and stand together for their rights. She is known for establishing the Centre for Women’s Development Studies, Delhi. Her contributions towards the field of women studies will always be remembered.
As it is always said, there is no better way of practicing kindness than making a difference through community service. She did exactly that and for all her life.
Vina Mazumdar had an overpowering zeal to fight for equality during the independence struggle and even after the attainment of freedom. Her life is a compelling account of the development of what she liked to call the ‘twin movements‘ i.e. women’s studies and women’s movement.
In the early days of her career, she handled several directorial and organizational positions. Her contribution to the women studies movement cannot be limited to the number of positions she headed as she not only contributed in the development of women studies but participated in recording the status of the majority of poor women in the country. As Vina Mazumdar was appointed the Drafting Secretary of the report of the status of women, in 1971, she recorded and spent the majority of her time on understanding the diversity of women’s experiences within the patriarchal conditions of the country. She observed that women from urban and educated backgrounds were reluctant to discuss their lives, but women and men from the poorest and secluded backgrounds of the country questioned the government policies and openly discussed their issues.
Due to her middle class, bhadralok background and exposure to better educational opportunities, she realised that there was no consciousness or awareness about the living experiences of poor, unprivileged women in India. She and her colleagues realised that the “collective consciousness” they created through working for the drafting committee needs to be included in the overall political and educational institutions of the country. Hence, the need to create a collective consciousness became part of the ideas for advocating women’s research and including women’s experience in various disciplines of social sciences. She passed away in 2013 but left behind a country which could now see its women raise their voice and thrive for their rights.
For Vina, the definition of kindness did not just stay limited to donating or reading. She always believed that equality and justice are a political necessity in democracy. Her life shows an exceptional and undying struggle for achieving equality and justice through women’s movement and women’s studies. She defined a new wave of practicing kindness and social welfare through academia and empowering the roots of the women population in India.
Also known as the “freedom child”, her legacy is celebrated through organizations the Centre for Women’s Development Studies and Indian Association for Women’s Studies.
In an interview once, when asked about what is equality for her, Vina Mazumdar went to describe like this:
“The most important thing in equality is dignity, and to that, now we add autonomy. So equality gets further qualified by dignity, autonomy. But that’s why I said Number 1 is justice. Justice has always been there. The demand for justice. That was always there. In the Indian context, political necessity made the faith in human equality essential. Otherwise, you couldn’t have an Indian nation. That’s it. So democracy was just not a preferred ideology. It was a political necessity.”
When one looks at the life Mazumdar had, they come across a plethora of essays, books and articles she has written for women’s studies. She was definitely an academic excellence but her life always revolved around social welfare and uplifting each and every woman- from rural to urban sectors.
Kindness stories are always knitted through the lens of community and the joy of giving. Vina Mazumdar’s story fits aptly in this definition as her joy of giving came from giving structure to the society and women’s studies. For Mazumdar, one could only achieve an empowered society if the difference between men and women was eradicated. Her life was dedicated to bringing about a revolution. We define that revolution to be an eminent part of kindness.
Here’s paying our profound tributes and respects to Vina Mazumdar, the kindness prodigy!
