Dr Lakshmi Sahgal, who is she? We did not know even her name. Our history too does not remember her too brightly. Why should we want to know about her? Because from her every woman have to learn a lot about her personality, her ideologies and her contribution to India.She is a normal woman who lived a beautiful life.
Early Life of Dr Lakshmi Sahgal:
Lakshmi Sahgal was born as Lakshmi Swaminathan in Malabar on 24 October 1914. Her father S. Swaminathan is a talented lawyer and her mother A.V. Ammukutty, a social worker and freedom fighter.
Education:
She studied medicine and received an MBBS degree from Madras Medical College in 1938. She also she received her diploma in gynaecology and obstetrics. Lakshmi Sahgal worked as a doctor in the Government Kasturba Gandhi Hospital in Chennai.
She Stood Against Caste System Since Her Childhood:
She was against the caste system since childhood. According to her grandmother, the lower caste people were those ‘whose very shadows are polluting.’ However, Lakshmi one day walked up to a young tribal girl, held her hand and led her to play. Lakshmi and her grandmother were furious with each other, but Lakshmi was the one triumphant.
Entry into Politics:
She entered into politics to bring some concrete changes in the system. While pursuing her degree her family drawn into the ongoing freedom struggle.
As her mother was a Congress supporter she one day walked into Lakshmi’s room and took away all the child’s pretty dresses to burn in a bonfire of foreign goods
Later, She observed that in South, the fight for political freedom was fought alongside the struggle for social reform. Reading books like Edgar Snow’s Red Star Over China forced her to think, reflect and act to change things.
Meeting Netaji Subash Chandra Bose:
In 1940, she left for Singapore after the failure of her marriage with pilot P.K.N. Rao. Three years later she would meet Subhash Chandra Bose, a meeting that would change the course of her life. “In Singapore,” Lakshmi remembered, “there were a lot of nationalist Indians like K. P. Kesava Menon, S. C. Guha, N. Raghavan, and others, who formed a Council of Action.
The Japanese, however, would not give any firm commitment to the Indian National Army, nor would they say how the movement was to be expanded, how they would go into Burma, or how the fighting would take place. People naturally got fed up.” Bose’s arrival broke this logjam.
Lakshmi to Captain Lakshmi:
She requested a meeting with Bose when he arrived in Singapore and emerged from a five-hour interview with a mandate to set up a women’s regiment, which was to be called the Rani of Jhansi regiment. There was a tremendous response from women to join the all-women brigade. Dr. Lakshmi Swaminadhan became Captain Lakshmi, a name and identity that would stay with her for life.
She stated that real freedom comes in the form of political, economic and social emancipations and that India has achieved just the first
Captain Lakshmi married Col. Prem Kumar Sehgal, a leading figure of the INA, in March 1947. The couple moved from Lahore to Kanpur, where she plunged into her medical practice, working among the flood of refugees who had come from Pakistan, and earning the trust and gratitude of both Hindus and Muslims.
Joining in Communist Party:
She joined Communist Party of India and organised many relief camps for Bangladesh Crisis and Bhopal Gas tragedy. After joining the party, she said that “My way of thinking was already communist, and I never wanted to earn a lot of money or acquire a lot of property or wealth.”
Awards:
In 1998, Sahgal was awarded the Padma Vibhushan by Indian president K. R. Narayanan.
Her Death:
On 19 July 2012, Sehgal suffered a cardiac arrest and died on 23 July 2012 at the age of 97 at Kanpur. Her body was donated to Kanpur Medical college for medical research.
Captain Lakshmi a freedom fighter, dedicated medical practitioner, and an outstanding leader of the women’s movement in India. May her soul Rest in Peace.