During a field trip to the Old City our class was lucky enough to stumble upon the most interesting woman I have ever met. At age 80 her feeble frame did not scream freedom fighter. However, her work as a freedom fighter, we came to find out, was the tip of the iceberg. We came to tour the well preserved haveli that she lives in, but after an extended chai break I completely forgot about the architecture we were there to see. Here are the facts...
Sarla Sharma lived in that house for her whole life. In fact, she was born in that house, which had been in her family for over 300 years. Her and her brother, with much help from the servants, shuffle around together, the last remaining residents of the grand haveli. This is not to say that Sarla has in any way become a docile, quiet old woman. Ask her about her views on Indian pollution or female subjugation and you will understand. This spirit has deep roots in her. She lead her first protest at age 14. She and her fellow classmates refused to sing the British national anthem in school. Their stand was so affective that the school received orders from a government office to expel her from school. However, being that her grandfather founded the school (the first girl's school in the country), Sarla won.
Four years later Sarla became a full-fledged freedom fighter. After graduating from school she opted out of a government sponsored teaching position in order to devote all of her time to the movement. How could she possibly support herself being unmarried and unemployed? Well, she painted. She sold her paintings that included from religious artwork, political statements, and landscapes in order to support herself. When the freedom movement came to a close and independence came about Sarla was thrown in jail with over 30,000 Indians who were affiliated with the Communist Party of India. She suffered subhuman conditions in overcrowded, brutal prisons. Her jail sentence was cut to just two months because she went on hunger strike and her self-imposed illness forced the prison to release her on medical leave.
One might think that after a brutal prison experience she would have had enough for one lifetime. Not so for Sarla. In 1954 she ran for and won a Chowndi Chowk city council chair. She continued to hold this seat until 1962. Not only was her political success impressive, but also the scope of this success. She had the largest voter turn out that year. Why? Because Sarla went door-to-door and brought women (many of which would not be able to even recognize their house from the outside) to the voting booths and back.
Capping it all off, she recently published a book of poems about women's issues in India.
She went on to share her views on the Indian education system, women's issues, politics, and science all of which were too eloquently expressed to be paraphrased.
I am sure that I have not heard the whole story. I am also sure I will speak with Sarla Sharma again, over more chai and I will continue to be dumbfounded.
