Memoirs of a Parsi Daughter

THE INSPIRING STORY OF DOSEBAI COWASJEE JESSAWALLA, WHO BECAME ONE OF THE FIRST INDIAN WOMEN TO GET AN ENGLISH EDUCATION

- Shabnam Minwalla

In 1842, Meheribai, a widow, enrolled her daughter in Mrs Ward's Seminary in Bombay. The decision coming as it did when "there was a general desire to keep the fair sex in ignorance"-invited fear and loathing. Parsi newspapers carried disapproving articles; sethias threatened ex-communication; and Meheribai's own family railed against the "worldwide publicity".

Unmoved by "the wrath of the entire male portion of the whole native community", the mother refused to back down. So it was that little Dosebai ventured beyond the conservative world of Mumbai's Parsi community and became one of the first girls in India to get an English education. Soon, the same sethias were seeking discreet ways to educate their own daughters.

Meheribai's rebellion played a part in furthering women's education in India. It also shaped the life that Dosebai recounts in her autobiography, The Story of My Life, first published in 1911 and again by Speaking Tiger this year.

It's a fascinating book that reveals how much has changed in Bombay and in the Parsi community in just 150 years.

It provides a window into another age: when Bhandoop was a spot for pleasure trips and houses in Tardeo came with sprawling gardens; when driving with your husband in an open carriage or visiting Bandstand with friends was scandalous; when a slight indisposition in the morning could mean death by evening; when independent thought was as unwelcome as diphtheria.