Rabindranath and Western India (contd-4)

Kshitimoahan Sen wrote ;

" At the end of the Conference of Sahity Sammelan the Womens of ahmedabad invited him to their organisation " Banita-Bisram" in Ahmedabad.. When he went there he was requested  to say something to them."

 VIDYA GAURI NiLKANTH (1876-1958) and her sister Sarada Gouri were the main organisers of this ceremony. As most of the ladies did not know English Rabindranath addressed them in Bengali which was translated in Hindi by Kshitimohan Sen.  

(Vidya Gauri Nilkanth was a social reformer, educationist and writer. She was one of the first two women graduates in Gujarat. Her daughrter Vinodinee Naalkanth (q.v.) also became a writer. Vidya Gauri was born on 1 June 1876 in Ahmedabad. She was the daughter of Gopilal Dhruva, a petty judicial officer, and Balaben. Her father was posted to various small towns in Gujarat while the family stayed in Ahmedabad so that the two girls, Vidya Gauri and Sharda, could go to school. Vidya Gauri studied till class VII at a school in Ahmedabad, then, finding nowhere else to continue their education, she and her sister joined the Anglo-Vernacular classes at the Mahalakshmi Teachers Training College. While still in school, Vidya Gauri was married to Ramanbhai, nine years older than her. Together they wrote articles and books and jointly edited a magazine, Jnansudha. She took the Matriculation examination and then, three years later, was admitted to the Gujarat College. Vidya Gauri stood first in Logic in the Intermediate Arts Examination of Bombay University, then took eight years to complete a BA in moral philosophy and logic. She came first in the entire University in 1901 and was awarded a fellowship in Gujarat College. She and her sister, Sharda Mehta, thus became the first two Gujarati women graduates)

(The National Conference was formed at the third session of the Indian National

Congress in 1887 to provide a forum for the discussion of social issues. The

Bharat Mahila Parishad was the women’s wing of this and was inaugurated in

1905. It focused on child marriage, condition of widows, dowry and other “evil”

customs.The Parsis, the Muslims and the Sikhs all formed their own women’s

organizations.Women in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and other smaller cities

formed associations whose members were drawn from among a small group of

urban educated families. They were useful in bringing women out of their homes,

giving them an opportunity to meet other women, doing philanthropic work,

encouraging them to take an interest in public affairs and thus broadening their

horizon. It also gave them the experience of managing an organization.) 
After passing for a few days in Ahmedabad Rabindranath went to Bhabnagar. Sir Prava Sankar Pattani was thethen Primeminister of Bhavnagar. he took the initiative of arranging a special train with which Rabindranath came to Bhavnagar. 

The History of Bhavnagar goes back a lot further then the city itself. It begins in the 12th-13th century, when the Gohil Rajputs of the Surya Vanshi clan, facing severe competition in Marwar, moved down to the Gujarat coast and finally settled at Gogha port, near present-day Bhavnagar.

Bhavnagar was founded by Bhavsinhji Gohil, the rulers of Sihor in 1723 AD. It was the time of persistent Maratha raids of the States of Saurashtra. The last princely ruler Late Sir Krishnakumarsinhji handed over the administration of his State to the people's representative in 1948 on the advice of Gandhiji.

Founded as a port in 1743, Bhavnagar is still an important trading post for the cotton goods manufactured in Gujarat. The Bhavnagar lock gate keeps ships a float in the city's port at low tide.