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Meera Kosambi (Compiler/ed./transl.); Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2000,ISBN: 019-564-7548
Pandita Ramabai's name stands out as exemplary of women's participation in nationalist and colonial debates in late 19th-century India. She remains an admirable figure who is remembered for breaking several caste, religious, and gender boundaries, for her work as a social reformer, for giving hope and refuge to many 'fallen' widows in 'Mukti Mission,' the home that she founded in 1889, for her great reputation as a Sanskrit scholar and poet, for her pioneering work in education, and for propagating the emancipation of women. Meera Kosambi's new compilation and translation of Ramabai's works, which includes previously unpublished writings retrieved from various international libraries, further restores the force of Ramabai's accomplishments and rediscovers her voice and contribution to the debates on nationalism, colonialism, and the politics of gender in the late 19th century. To this end, Kosambi provides a highly productive introduction, which functions at several levels. Overall, she summarizes the colonial and patriarchal contexts for the emergence of Ramabai's feminist consciousness, her conversion to Christianity, her personal aspirations and relationships, her international travels and education abroad, and her social contributions to the cause of Indian women at the expense of alienating mainstream Hindu society...