The Indian Ladies' Magazine

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The Indian Ladies' Magazine, established by Kamala Satthianadhan in 1901 in Madras, was the first English-language Indian women's magazine created and edited by a woman. [1] Kamala Satthianadhan was encouraged by her husband, Dr. Samuel Satthianadhan, a prominent educationist and reformer, to start a journal for women at the dawn of the twentieth century. [2] 61

Contents

The magazine was published in two periods: monthly from 1901 to 1918, and bimonthly from 1927 to 1938. [1] A hiatus occurred between these two periods due to financial and personal circumstances that prevented Satthianadhan from publishing. [3] During its second run, Kamala Satthianadhan's daughter, Padmini Satthianadhan Sengupta, was appointed Assistant Editor and played a key role in managing the publication. [4] : 231 The magazine emphasized cooperation on issues such as religion, gender, society, and culture, rather than focusing on political divisiveness. It provided a platform for discussing women's private and public roles, as well as their progress in society, during a time when both colonial norms and patriarchal gender notions were being questioned. [3] : 1 

Readership and reception

The magazine primarily catered to English-educated South Asian women. [5] Subscriptions in India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and Burma (Myanmar) were priced at 4 Rs, while it was available in America and England for $1.50 and 6 shillings, respectively. [4] : 231  To appeal to a broader audience and to ensure that the contents of the magazine were more accessible to women who were not exposed to English, the magazine had a Telugu section and also facilitated translation into vernacular languages such as Tamil,Telugu, and Malayalam.

The magazine had a strong debut, and was talked of favourably in press releases by publications such as Bombay Guardian, Daily Telegraph,The Indian Daily News, and Madras Standard. [6] : 247–251 The London Times described it as "bright and interesting," while The Voice of India considered it a "valuable accession" to Indian journalism. [6] : 247–251 However, the magazine's finances were impacted by the economic instability of both World War I and the impending Second World War. In 1915, Kamala Satthianadhan appealed to her readers via the magazine to help procure new subscribers to keep the publication running, positioning it as an important tool for advancing Indian women's progress. [6] : 242  She also organised a concert in Victoria Hall to fundraise for the war efforts and to gain financial support for the Indian Ladies' Magazine.

There were also shifts in reader's inclinations and a changing socio-political environment, with new, more politically conscious magazines emerging when the magazine first ceased its run like Stri Dharma , that sought to step away from the image of the genteel woman and fostered an image of the socially responsible modern woman. [6] 18 Reflective of its dwindling relevance are the number of subscribers it had in its second run. While the magazine Camd had an average of 15,000 subscribers in 1930, The Indian Ladies' Magazine only had 300. [6] 33

Contents

The magazine highlighted Indian concerns on topics such as women's work and education and parenting of the Indian child. It featured original creative writing in the form of poetry, short plays, serial fiction and published instructive articles on needlework, cooking, and health remedies. [4] : 232  There were regular columns about fashion advice, reviews, news, moral and ethical discussions. [4] : 232  The column "Ourselves" carried out the function of detailing the magazine's self-representation and editorial policy. [6] xvii Also present were articles that discussed the achievements of pioneering women such as Pandita Ramabai, Cornelia Sorabji, Josephine Butler and Helen Keller to serve as sources of inspiration for the readers.Transcripts of women's conference proceedings, lectures and congress speeches were given space in its pages to promote public speaking skills amongst women which was considered important for their development. [4] : 232 

Contents page of the Indian Ladies Magazine, August 1901 Indian Ladies Magazine.jpg
Contents page of the Indian Ladies Magazine, August 1901

To generate financial support, the magazine featured advertisements for Indian-made products and businesses in its front and back sections, which also aligned with the Swadeshi movement's promotion of local goods.Robina Hair Oil, Amrutanjan balm, Silk Pitamber Co. Benarasi saris, Batliwala's tonic pills, and ayurvedic medicines that claimed to solve problems specific to womanhood frequently appeared as adverts in the magazine. [7]

Contributors

The contributors to the magazine were largely female, with both Indian and Anglo writers contributing in equal numbers. The magazine aimed to give a platform to both educated and "young inexperienced writers". [6] 63 It also provided women a space where they could write and publish anonymously, fulfilling a widespread desire of many.

Famous writers

Among the influential women who contributed to the magazine were political activist and poetess Sarojini Naidu, almost all of whose poems were first published in the Indian Ladies' Magazine, social reformer Begum Rokeya Hossain, whose story Sultana's Dream published in the magazine in 1905 remains one of the best known utopian fantasy tales, and author Atiya Fyzee-Rahmin, who wrote under the pseudonym "Shahinda", the Muslim socialite voice of the magazine. [6]

Critique

The magazine was critiqued particularly during its second run for not sufficiently engaging with the political activities of women, not giving adequate attention to the events of the national movement, and balancing the interests of the Raj and Swaraj . In response to these criticisms,Satthianadhan defended her stance in the "Ourselves" column in 1930, asserting that there were other journals that concentrated on the political activities of women, and her magazine focused more on the general aspect and inward advances of women because she considered these equally valuable. [6] xxiii She also had certain conservative views regarding women, such as believing that women's proper sphere was the home, which reflected in pieces she wrote for the magazine. [6] xvii Sarojini Naidu, once a close friend of Kamala Satthianadhan, distanced herself from the magazine in its second run owing to its muted political engagement. [2] 42

References

  1. 1 2 Hussain, Mobeen (2019). "The Indian ladies' magazine, 1901–1938: from Raj to Swaraj". Women's History Review. 28 (1): 178. doi:10.1080/09612025.2018.1539633.
  2. 1 2 Sengupta, Padmini (1956). The Portrait Of An Indian Woman.
  3. 1 2 Puri, T.K (2023). "Kamala Satthianadhan and the Indian Ladies' Magazine: women's editorship and transnational print networks in late colonial India". Victorian Periodicals Review. 55 (3 & 4): 1. doi:10.1353/vpr.2022.0028. hdl: 1983/7f92cf7a-0d6c-4edd-8b25-0385b5bde1e4 .
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Logan, Deborah (2024). "Indian Women's Pre-Independence Periodicals in English: The Indian Ladies' Magazine, Stri-Dharma and the Indian New Woman". In Finkelstein, David; Johnson, David; Davis, Caroline (eds.). The Edinburgh Companion to British Colonial Periodicals. Edinburgh University Press. doi:10.1515/9781399500647. ISBN   978-1-3995-0064-7.
  5. ↑ Mukhopadhyay, Priyasha (2024). Required Reading: The Life of Everyday Texts in the British Empire. Princeton University Press. p. 129. ISBN   978-0-691-26154-6.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Logan, Deborah (2017). The Indian Ladies' Magazine, 1901–1938: From Raj to Swaraj. Lehigh University Press. ISBN   9781611462227.
  7. ↑ Satthianadhan, Editor: Kamala (1917). Satthianadhan, Kamala (ed.). "The Indian Ladies' Magazine: The Indian Ladies' Magazine". The Indian Ladies' Magazine. 16 (6). JSTOR   saoa.crl.24284990.{{cite journal}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
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