DAUGHTERS
Sundar-ma, Bharati Rays great-grandmother, was married into a conservative household at twelve. Self-educated, because formal education was out of her reach, she was an intelligent, deeply thoughtful woman who witnessed some of the most tumultuous times in Indias history and actively participated in Indias freedom struggle. Ushabala, the authors grandmother, was the proud wife of a college lecturer and a consummate homemaker, while Kalyani, Bharati Rays Ma, was the first woman in the family to get a college degree, but she gave up her studies and career to raise her children. Ma is lovingly described as feisty and irrepressible, a keen traveller and always ready for adventure. Kalyanis academic successes heralded the authors own remarkable achievements, first as a lecturer in Calcutta University, then as its first woman provice-chancellor and later as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha.