Women’s contribution in the freedom struggle of India has always been underrated. In the past centuries, Indian society was largely patriarchal and oppressive, owing to which women were deprived of the opportunity to tap their full potential. Most women were denied the right to education and freedom of choice and expression. Beating these odds was one Kamla Chaudhry. She was among the fewer number of influential women who participated in the Indian freedom struggle. She emerged as an avid writer during the 1930s. Among Homvati Devi and Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, Kamla Chaudhry is one of the first Indian female authors to write in Hindi.
She was born in 1908 into a well-to-do family, where her paternal side was faithful to the British regime. She broke away from this tradition and joined the Indian freedom struggle. In fact, her maternal side of the family partook in the great revolt of 1857. Chaudhry actively participated in the Civil Disobedience movement of 1930 and joined hands with the Indian National Congress. Owing to this, she was even imprisoned multiple times by the imperial British regime. But she never deterred from the path of struggle and remained a diligent political activist throughout her life. She was the Senior Vice-chairperson for the 54th session of the All India Congress Committee. She was also a member of the Constituent Assembly of India, representing the United Provinces in the drafting committee.
Writing was the way of expression to her feminist inkling. Her writing explored various aspects of the lives of Indian women, about their internal conflicts and what they had to endure. Chaudhry dwelled on the matters that were largely unacknowledged at that time. For example, her works “Swapna” (Dream) and “Rup” (Face) deal with the problems of widowed women. Her compositions revolved around the psychology and internal torments of women and sufferings of the underprivileged. Countless of her stories are published in her four collections: Unmaad, Yatra, Picnic and Bel Patra.
One praiseworthy example of her unique writing style is her short story entitled Kartavya (Duty), where the protagonist Usha asks herself questions related to existential crisis and the survival instinct. Usha falls into a spiral of introspection when her seemingly loving husband abandons her instead of saving her in a life-threatening situation. After being saved miraculously, Usha reddens with shame but then gradually develops an understanding of her husband’s natural reaction to the lethal incident. Thus, she forgives his actions and with immense gratitude towards God for saving them both, she settles her mental torment.
Chaudhry puts forward a style of writing where the reader is intimated with the nuanced perspectives and points view of women. In the above-mentioned story, Usha came to her conclusion after asking thought provoking questions to herself, silently and in a very short period of time. Usually in such a situation, human mind is capable of posing plethora of thoughts and queries to make sense of it. This is what Usha goes through and by witnessing her inner monologue, the readers feel one with her. With such a quality in writing, Chaudhry subtly yet loudly promoted her feminist calling. That is why Kamla Chaudhry is counted among the many unsung feminist heroes of the freedom struggle who were crucial for the development of India during the 1950s.