MY LIFE STORY

Sister R S Subhalakshmi Ammal (1886-1969) was an educationist and a social reformer. She was born in 1886 into an orthodox family and became a child widow. Her family stood against orthodoxy and educated her. With her family by her side, Sister Subhalakshmi not only got educated but she started the Sarada Ashram, or Sarada Illam, later known as Vidhawashram or Widows' Home, and created teachers and doctors to serve the society from there. Not stopping at that, she set up many schools like Sarada Vidyalaya and Vidya Mandir and also set up schools for underprivileged children. She was active in Women's Indian Association and All India Women's Conference. She performed as a nominated member of the Madras State Legislative Council from 1952 to 1956. She was given the Kaiser-i-Hind Silver medal in 1920. In 1958 she was honoured with Padma Shri. This life story is told by such a rare human being, with many life stories of other women linked with hers.

When you read these stories along with that of Sister's life experiences, one cannot get over the feeling that one is watching an epic drama being performed before one. This life story has not been reduced to the story of a rare woman who was a child widow and who took up great efforts to reform her own community and the society but has expanded to become the social history of women. It becomes a map to see the past and since unless we look back, we cannot go forward, this life story becomes relevant in today's context also.