Preface and Acknowledgments
Preface and Acknowledgments It was a hundred and ¤fteen years ago that Pandita Ramabai ¤rst stepped on American soil. She was so struck by "the marvelous things" she saw there that she immediately embarked on her Marathi book The Peoples of the United States in order to share with her compatriots her newly acquired knowledge of "the true worth of the United States, the activities of its people, its social conditions and political system, and other such things." The avowed patriotic objective of her book was to inspire in her readers a greater "desire to serve our Mother India."
Today the descendants of Ramabai's contemporaries in Maharashtra and other parts of India are quite likely to have a ¤rsthand knowledge of the USA and its
"marvels." To them this translation offers a comparative historical perspective and a glimpse of a courageous woman who traced a similar though lonely path a century ago.
This book is intended primarily for American readers—the descendants of Ramabai's American contemporaries, who were impressed enough by her charismatic personality to generously support her efforts for Indian women's emancipation but who were unaware of Ramabai's account of their country. And the book's objective has been inspired by another concern: the need to recognize the achievements of an Indian woman traveler of the late nineteenth century who not only traversed a world that was plotted on a Western, imperialist, and patriarchal meridian, but who also strove to establish the USA for her compatriots as a more progressive country than imperial Britain and as a more suitable model for a colonized India to follow in its pursuit of freedom and advancement. The book is aimed also at a worldwide English-speaking readership that shares the general interest in old travelogues and in unearthing women's forgotten achievements. It is presented as my tribute to an extraordinary Indian woman who cherished a vision of a free, egalitarian, and prosperous India as an integral and proud part of the global community of nations.
That a research-based book about Pandita Ramabai should have a peripatetic and international history is in the ¤tness of things. The ¤nal version of this translation has bene¤ted greatly from the careful reading and suggestions made by Anne Feldhaus and Margaret Allen. Also, constructive critiques of the introduction offered by Anne, Antoinette Burton, and Sumit Guha have been of great value. Much of the ¤rst draft of the translation was prepared in bits and pieces during my month-long conference-lecture tour in the USA in January–February
1998. Great help on this tour, in the form of research-related facilities coupled with warm hospitality, came from Barbara Ramusack in Cincinnati and Lynn
Zastoupil in Memphis. Antoinette entered into the idea of the book with her usual enthusiasm, and helped it along not only with encouragement but also by sending me some much-needed published materials that were dif¤cult to obtain in India. Relative leisure for translation work was made available, along with good food and good company, by my cousins Hemi and Bonnie Sathe in San Jose and my friends Polly and Harry Fischler in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, during my short stays with them in 1998. Some of the materials for my long-term research on Pandita Ramabai and her contemporaries were collected at the New York
Public Library during my earlier visit to the USA in 1995–96, while I was a guest of Mahadev and Judit Apte, and at the Philadelphia Free Library while I enjoyed the hospitality of the Fischlers. My former student Abby McGowan contributed greatly by ¤nding useful source materials in Boston.
The book was originally planned during my six-week stay in 1997 as a visiting scholar at the University of Adelaide, when I started translating the chapter on women in my spare time. Margaret Allen, a constant source of help, support, and encouragement, and a willing listener and discussant, introduced me to the university's Barr Smith Library and the State Archives of South Australia. The idea of translating the rest of the book as well was suggested by Kay Shaeffer and Robert Iseman, who assured me that it would interest American readers. Encouragement was also forthcoming from other colleagues who were fascinated by Ramabai—especially Susan Magarey, Sue Sheridan, Chilla Bulbeck, Jane Haggis, and Susanne Schech. Betty Gray, former superintendent of the Pandita Ramabai
Mukti Mission at Kedgaon, made materials available from the archives of the Australian Council of the Pandita Ramabai Mukti Mission, Melbourne. Work at the University of Sydney was made possible by a generous conference invitation by Jim Masselos in January 1999, and the warm hospitality extended by Vivienne and Alex Kondos.
During my visit to England in late 1999, archival materials were made available by Janet Johnstone and Kath Boothman at the Cheltenham Ladies' College, and by Sister Joan Elizabeth of the Community of St. Mary the Virgin at Wantage, where I was hospitably received for a short stay. In June 2000, my reference work in London was helped along by Naina Shah, who introduced me to the Newspaper Library of the British Library, and by Keith and Ruth White, who extended their generous hospitality for the second time.
The actual preparation of the manuscript was done in India. Over the years my research on Pandita Ramabai has been greatly helped by the Pandita Ramabai
Mukti Mission at Kedgaon. Mukti's former superintendent Heather Johnstone, current superintendent Venu Ingle, and the Board of Governors have kindly allowed me access to the Mukti archives, which contain valuable published matex Preface and Acknowledgments
rials, including Ramabai's personal collection. They have also made available the photographs published in this book. Bobby John, always a supportive friend, has been involved in my research at both Kedgaon and Pune (formerly Poona) as a matter of personal commitment to Pandita Ramabai's work. He has provided help at various levels, ranging from discussions about Ramabai to locating research materials in the Mukti archives.
The work of translating The Peoples of the United States proved to be more massive than originally anticipated, although I discovered what was involved when I prepared two chapters—on women and on religion—for publication in my earlier book Pandita Ramabai through Her Own Words (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000). Help with the translation, especially regarding the right choice of English words (with a nineteenth century ®avor), was willingly given by my friends Pareen Lalkaka, Aban Mukherji, and the late Ramesh Sirkar in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and Zia Karim in Pune. Also in Pune I have drawn freely, for the translation and references, on S. R. Chunekar's vast knowledge of Marathi literature and S. S. Bahulkar's equally vast knowledge of Sanskrit literature. Over the last many years the staff of several libraries and archives have helped my research work—in Mumbai the American Information Resource Center, the Asiatic Society's Library, and the Fort Library of the University of Mumbai; and in Pune the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute's Library, the British Library, Gadgil Library of the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics,
Jayakar Library of the University of Pune, archives of the Kesari-Mahratta Trust, and the libraries of the United Theological Seminary and the Union Biblical
Seminary.
Work on the introduction was considerably facilitated by innumerable discussions with my enthusiastic friends—Aban, Zia, Naina, Bobby, and others—all of whom have allowed themselves to be subjected to a crash course in American history and Pandita Ramabai's views on America. The ¤nal touches to the manuscript were added in the inspiring milieu of Meenakshi and Shama Pawar's lovely and hospitable home in Hanumanahalli, Karnataka (coincidentally the state where Ramabai was born), overlooking across a low river the grand ruins of the historic Vijayanagar empire.
The process of preparing the manuscript for publication was ef¤ciently managed at the Indiana University Press by Rebecca Tolen, Jane Lyle, and Susanna
Sturgis, who have been very supportive throughout.
I am deeply indebted to all these people for their assistance. I am also very grateful to all my friends for their warm encouragement and unfailing moral and practical support. But, as we say in Marathi, there is joy and honor in carrying this debt of gratitude.
Meera Kosambi Pune, India Preface and Acknowledgments xi