A feminist committed to values (1930 – 2014)
Sudhatai Varde was an extremely lively and cheerful person with a dream of an egalitarian society in her eyes. She was petite, demure in her looks, at the same time, extremely forthright, upfront and dedicated to the cause of women’s liberation. She passed away on 8 April, 2014 at the age of 84. Hers was a life lived for her commitment for progressive and secular values and socialist and humanist ethos.
Right from her childhood she had great fascination for dancing. She used this talent for her social cause as a volunteer for Rashtra Seva Dal (RSD) which she joined as a teenager. She was involved in the freedom movement through RSD. She met her soul mate Sadanand Varde who was also a mainstay of RSD and in due course she married him. Both of them were gracious and full of life and remained active workers in the social movement as patriotic socialists.
In the post-independence period, Sudhatai played a pivotal role in the development of the cultural wing of RSD. She also encouraged her daughter Jelum to be a classical dancer and shared a beautiful relationship with her daughter and talked highly of her.
Sudhatai was closely associated with Mrinal Gore, Kamal Desai and Pramila Dandwate. Sudhatai’s involvement in women’s movement began with anti price rise struggles in the early 1970s. She participated in the anti-rape campaign in 1980. She attended all events of new women’s groups in response to cyclostyed invitation sent by post to her residence in Bandra West which was initially an office of Mahila Dakshata Samiti (MDS). She participated in anti-dowry agitations (1981), Brides are not for burning campaign, Parityakta Mukti Morcha (Deserted Women’s Liberation Front), solidarity for textile strike (1982), etc. She was a sympathiser of Swadhar that provided support to women in social distress. Sudhatai attended all shibirs, meetings, rallies, sit-ins and public meetings of women’s groups and state level coordination committee for women’s liberation – Stree Mukti Andolan Sampark Samiti.
After communal riots in Bhiwandi in 1984, women’s organisations such as National Federation of Indian Women, All India Democratic Women’s Association, MDS, Women’s Centre, Forum Against Oppression of Women formed Committee Against Religious Fanaticism work for women’s rights, education, status and empowerment Sudahtai was actively involved in them. In 1987, she took part in protest against emergence of sati temples in Mumbai and re-naming of a road in suburban Mumbai as Maha Sati Road. As a representative of MDS she took active interest in Forum Against Sex Determination and Sex Selection. She attended study circles on technical issues such as adverse effects of hormone based injectable contraceptives on women, before joining the agitation against it. She was also a supporter of Narmada Bachao Andolan.
In 1991 at a National Round Table on Women in Decision Making, when Sudhatai was asked to present a paper, she was overwhelmed with emotion and said, “It is so rewarding to see that you, the younger lot of firebrand feminists see value in our thinking!!” To prepare her paper, she frequently visited the Research Centre for Women’s Studies Documentation Centre and went through all the reports, resolutions, books concerning the subject and made a brilliant presentation at the Round Table.
She was shaken by Mumbai riots in 1992 and at a meeting organised by Stree Mukti Sangahtan, she asked, “Where did my generation go wrong? How do you explain when children of secular generation are turning out to be religious fanatics?” She made a resolve to focus more on Seva Dal’s activities with children to change their mindset towards humanism.
In 1993, both Sudhatai and Sadanandji together founded Aple Ghar to care for orphans after the devastating earthquake in Latur. Sudhatai’s inspiring and charming persona and her good deeds that helped many will have a lasting imprint on the glorious women’s liberation movement in Maharashtra.