A fascinating photograph
A fascinating photograph of two Marathi women playing table tennis draped in Kasta sarees in colonial India.
The history behind this image is quite remarkable.
Back in the 19th & early 20th centuries, many Indian widows & single mothers had no option
but to cook in other houses in order to earn a livelihood as they didn’t possess any other survival skills.
A certain Ramabai Ranade, a fearless feminist from pre-independence Pune, started Poona Seva Sadan
to provide nursing & teaching to needy and distressed widows. Seva Sadan played a huge role
in breaking many stereotypes in the orthodox Marathi society for women
that included learning to make handicrafts, play sports and perform technical jobs.
This photograph of two distressed women of Seva Sadan playing a game of TT in 1935
is certainly telling of the century-long story of evolution.