Prothoma Kadambini

Kadambini Gangopadhyay established a golden chapter in India’s history as the first female doctor of the country. However, should we only remember her as the first scholar or the first woman to become a medical practitioner? A combination of strong ambition, resilience, extreme courage and indomitable determination made her a unique woman. Kadambini tore down the barriers of rules and regulations set by the patriarchal society on women and succeeded in turning her dream into reality. The tenets based on the religious beliefs of a conservative Hindu society, the Brahma Dharma’s progressive ideology and the theory of monotheism, the disagreements among its proponents, the advancement of women’s education in the society and the strong resistance by those opposing the idea, the efforts to step out of the interiors of their homes by a handful of prudent and intelligent women who got ridiculed for trying to establish themselves as the equals of men, the significance of Congress in the history of British-ruled India and the role of women in politics – all these helped construct the story of Kadambini’s life.