The forerunner of modern Indian feminism was born in the Gungamal forest, at an ashram run by her father. Ramabai Dongre was born in 1858 to a Chitpavan Brahmin family.
Her father, Anant Shastri Dongri, though a member of the orthodoxy, was an early reformist in the household. Breaking tradition, he taught Laxmi, his child-bride, the Slokas in Sanskrit. This was frowned upon by their community, and the family was forced to move to the forest.
Living in the wilderness, Anant and Laxmi had a daughter and named her after the deity they believed in – Ram. They left the forest and wandered the subcontinent as pilgrims and teachers – studying and reciting the sacred texts in public. Ramabai was a natural, and by 15 had travelled much of the country. She was fluent in Marathi, Hindustani, Kanarese and Bengali, and was a learned Sanskrit scholar – a Puranika.
Defying the social norm, her father left her unmarried. But in 1877, tragedy struck. The Great Famine took away both her parents and her sister, leaving Ramabai alone to care for a brother.
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