Patwardhan - Radical Spirits: India’s First Woman Doctor and Her American Champions

Praise for Radical Spirits

A sensitive look at the inner world of Indias first woman doctor, the pain and suffering she endured, and the determination that drove her remarkable and inspiring journey.

Shrabani Basu , author of Victoria and Abdul

In the company of a brave and determined young woman, Radical Spirits takes us to the fraught social and religious frontier between two cultures, India and America in the late 1800s. The journey makes for a captivating story, every page granting insights into the age-old struggle to surmount entrenched borders and barriers.

Robert Kanigel , author of The Man Who Knew Infinity and Eyes on the Street

Deeply researched and accessibly written, this intimate portrait is also a social and cultural history of the circuits of a transnational figure who made medical history. Readers of Radical Spirits will come away with a critical appreciation of the worlds Anandi Joshee traveled through and the challenges she faced as she pursued a medical education and a new independent self. Of equal historical significance is the history of her husband, Gopal, and the frictions at the heart of companionate marriage in 19th century India that this study makes visible. Despite her short life, Dr. Joshee found kith and kin in India, Britain and beyond. Nandini Patwardhan has brought the paradoxes of her life alive for a new generation of readers.

Antoinette Burton , historian of 19th and 20th century Britain and its empire, with a specialty in colonial India, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Radical Spirits is the story of a remarkable woman and of a life lived across borders of many kinds. By telling the history of Anandi-bai Joshee, Nandini Patwardhan has crafted a uniquely intimate and revealing portrait of the long history of migrants from India to America. A beautiful story and a rich history, Radical Spirits reveals how individual lives matter, and how one pioneering woman crossed the borders of nations and cultures, as well as the gendered boundaries of the medical profession.

Nico Slate , Professor of History at Carnegie Mellon University and author of Lord Cornwallis Is Dead: The Struggle for Democracy in the United States and India and Gandhis Search for the Perfect Diet: Eating with the World in Mind

As an Indian-American woman, I am so grateful to Nandini Patwardhan for taking the time and effort to excavate the life story of Anandi Joshee, a remarkable Indian woman. Patwardhan has capably incorporated letters and newspaper articles to craft a compelling, poignant, and inspiring biography of Dr. Joshee. I thoroughly enjoyed every word, and I am in awe of Patwardhans accomplishment. Dr. Joshees life story will stay with me forever. This book is a treasure for anyone interested in strong, path-breaking women.

Jyotsna Sreenivasan , author of And Laughter Fell from the Sky and Arunas Journeys

Every significant life needs to be chronicled and remembered so it can be an inspiration to future generations. Through extensive research and lucid writing, Nandini Patwardhan has brought Dr. Anandibai Joshees amazing achievement, grit and dedication to her goal into the public space once again. I am sure the book will inspire, motivate and educate even as it proves a great read of a great life.

Sathya Saran , Indian journalist, author, and former editor of Femina

Copyright 2020 by Nandini Patwardhan

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, send email to: .

First published in 2020 by Story Artisan Press

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-7340631-1-0

E-book ISBN: 978-1-7340631-0-3

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019919904

Book design: Melinda Fine

Cover design: http://www.AuthorSupport.com

Story Artisan Press

Raleigh, NC and Singapore

http://www.storyartisan.com

I dedicate this book to
my parents Aai and Appa
And my grandparents Aji and Nana

Contents

AUTHOR S NOTE

In order to retain the authenticity of the period, I have used the then-prevalent names of various Indian cities. Hence, Bombay for present-day Mumbai, Kolapore for Kolhapur, etc.

Two special styles have been used to highlight statements by a speaker.

In the first case, quotes from letters are displayed using this format. It is hoped that the reader will get a clearer sense of the relationship between the writer and the recipient of the letter.

In another case:

Excerpted material from all other sources, including newspaper reports, diary entries, and books are displayed like this.

Finally, after introducing the main protagonistsAnandi Joshee, Gopal Joshee, and Theodocia CarpenterI have referred to them by their first names.

Anandi is popularly referred to with the honorific suffix bai (approximately meaning Madame Anandi ). I chose to drop the suffix because it is not part of her given name. I also wanted the reader to remain focused on her youth, which in turn highlights her vulnerability and courage. In the case of Gopal, it seemed equitable that his default honorific suffix, rao , be dropped as well.

As for Theodocia Carpenter, her relationship with Anandi and Gopal was like that of an Aunt. Since she was not the formal and distant Mrs. Carpenter to the Joshees, I decided to bring the reader into their circle of intimacy by referring to her as, simply, Theodocia.

INTRODUCTION

Writing a biography is a delicatenot a recklessprocess, where the end result, if done properly, is simply the truth revealed.

Carol M. Ford

I invite you to read the story of Anandi Joshee, the first woman from India who became a doctor, and of the many Americans who made it their mission to help her succeed. It is the story of a daughter of India who became a niece of America. It is a remarkable chapter in the story of the universal human search for progressa story that continues to unfold even today.

My recollection of Anandi Joshee was triggered over a decade ago when I read a biography of Indian mathematician S. Ramanujan (The Man Who Knew Infinity by Robert Kanigel). Having majored in mathematics in India, I had heard of Ramanujan. I enjoyed the biography because it told a story that was richer and more layered than the one I had known. I savored the spot-on descriptions of Ramanujans humble and ascetic lifestyle. It was fascinating to learn of the complex relationship between Ramanujan and his English mentor. Just as important, it felt wonderful to realize that, despite the relative scarcity of preserved artifacts in India, it is possible for a skilled researcher to shed new light on long-forgotten Indian lives.

As I reached the end of the book, the name Anandi-bai Joshee popped into my head. I had not thought of her in nearly four decades. Having heard of her when I was growing up in India, I had a childs understanding of her story:

The first Indian woman who became a doctor was Anandi Joshee. She had to go abroad to study. While she was there, her husband wrote her angry letters. When she became ill, she could not use Western medicines because they might contain meat and alcohol. She died soon after returning to India.

Reminiscing, Anandis story seemed like one of Aesops fables or an event from Hindu mythologystories that offered a pat moral. Except, was there a moral to this story? If yes, what was it? I was too young then to be curious about the specifics.