How Subbulakshmi led the charge to educate, shelter young widows

As late as 1900, widowhood in the upper castes of the Hindu population meant lifelong degradation. Shorn heads, white dress and being seen as an ill omen was the destiny of child widows. Most parents shied away from thinking of alternatives fearing public ridicule.

A similar fate may have stared at 11-year-old Subbulakshmi of Saidapet but determined to shield her from the horrors of widowhood, her father Subramaniam decided to enroll her at the Presidency & Secondary Training School, Egmore.

Since travelling in a hired jutka wasn’t feasible, a house (with a peepal tree) opposite the Egmore school, became the family residence.

The determined father decided to help without displaying any sense of burden. Subramaniam would cycle all the way to Agriculture College in Saidapet where he worked. He didn’t get the Brahmin community’s heartiest approval but by braving mockery , he was not only laying the foundation for his daughter’s future but for the outlook of several other widows, as well.

Subbulakshmi graduated with honours in every subject ironically putting her family in further dilemma. What next? They decided to support Subbulakshmi for an F.A., at Presentation Convent in Black Town and then a University degree. In 1911, she was the first Hindu woman to graduate in the Madras Presidency.

Soon thereafter her attention turned to young widows who weren’t as fortunate as her. Calling herself Sister Subbulakshmi, she took in some widows at home and helped them get educated. Later, with the support of Miss Lynch, the inspector of schools, she was able to upscale her widow’s home but as demand rose she began to look for a bigger property.

The Ice House on the Marina was constructed in 1842 by Frederic Tudor when he imported ice from Boston. It was one of the two buildings in Madras where the American flag flew. When refrigeration killed the ice trade, Ice house was bought by advocate Biligiri Iyengar and renamed Castle Kernan, after a British Judge.

Swami Vivekananda stayed in the building, and gave seven historic speeches when he visited Madras in 1897. He walked on the beach daily and even playfully wrestled with fishermen there.

The Brahmana Widows’ Hostel moved to the Ice House on a rental basis and the Madras Government bought it for them, in 1917. But, to convert an ice godown into a hostel was a tough effort. Circular walls needed curved windows and failed miserably in adding ventilation[A3] . The Tercentenary volume of Madras hints that the widows who pass their lives within it deserved a better place with more warmth and greater cheer than the dull walls of an ice house.

But, the widows seemed to have led a contented life. They performed plays, they learned to swim in the sea and played badminton. And they never had to cook or clean. Lady Willingdon the Governor’s wife would stop at the widow’s home to chat with the girls . She even lent the Governor’s barge to take the girls on a picnic to Mahabalipuram down the Buckingham canal.

The widows home became a beacon to many suffering women. Alamelu, a widow of 23 and illiterate, walked 500 miles to seek admission and three of the widows graduated in the first batch of Queen Mary’s College.

It, however, raised some eyebrows. There were loud protests as to why Brahmin widow’s hostels alone had to be sea facing villas while those in other communities had to settle for crowded streets of Triplicane. Chelmsford, of the reforms fame, actually raised questions about it. He was told that girls eligible for secondary education were not found in other communities

But there were fears that if non-Brahmin widows were accepted orthodox Brahmin families would stop sending their girls to the home.

Meanwhile, when a widower from Rangoon wrote asking for the hand of a widow from the home, Subbulakshmi maintained a distance from broaching the topic. Educating widows was palatable but arranging remarriages for them would have been abhorred by society during that time.

The anti-child marriage movement had effective results. Child widows seemed to diminish in numbers. And Sister Subbulakshmi being a government servant was transferred to Hobart school. Thanks to a movement started by her, soon girls’ homes started cropping all over the state. Notable amongst them was the Avvai Home by Muthulakshmi Reddy for Devadasi girls .

Later, Sister Subbulakshmi went on to start a host of educational institutions including Vidya Mandir and Sarada Vidyala in Madras.