International Women's Day: Five Women From Tamil Nadu Who Fought Patriarchy & Made Us Proud

With pathbreaking achievements, these women have not just helped themselves but made the way for many other women

Indra Nooyi | Credit: ABP Nadu

Chennai: "Women are no less, women are in fact equal," now this sounds like no rocket science but this equality was a result of continued protests by thousands of women in the early 20th century. In order to celebrate this feat and to continue the fight, the day was initially started to be observed as International Women’s Day on March 8 annually (on Tuesday this year).

The day recognises the social, economical, cultural and political achievements of women. This year’s theme is also “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”.

In this backdrop, it’s important to remember women who have made their mark in an arena in the fields like medicine, business, social justice and literature that are generally considered to be male-dominated. With pathbreaking achievements, these women have not just helped themselves but made the way for many other women.

Here are five women from Tamil Nadu whom you must know on this year's women's day. 

Leadership: Indra Nooyi

Indra Nooyi served as the chairperson and CEO of PepsiCo's until her retirement in 2019. She worked with the company for 24 years and she spent over a decade in the top post.

The Indian-American, who was born in Chennai, was brought up in India. She got an MBA from Yale and then went on to work with Johnson & Johnson, a textile firm Beardsell Ltd, Motorola and Asea Brown Boveri. 

She joined PepsiCo in 1994 and from there was no looking back for her.

Globally, Nooyi was ranked as the second most World's Powerful Woman in the Forbes list in 2017. Currently, she also serves on the boards of Amazon and the International Cricket Council.

Medicine: Muthulakshmi Reddy

Muthulakshmi Reddy is one of the first doctors of India. Though a doctor by profession, Muthulakshmi Reddy was also a social reformer, women's rights activist and writer. Born on July 30, 1886, she has many firsts to her name due to her fight against patriarchy.

Muthulakshmi was the first female student admitted to a men's college. She was the first women house surgeon in Government Maternity and Ophthalmic Hospital. She was also the first woman legislator of British India.  

She also started Cancer Relief Fund and served as one of the founding figures of non-profit Cancer Institute, Adyar. The institute treats over 80,000 cancer patients annually across the globe.

However, despite her brilliance, Muthulakshmi fought against ostracisation in education institutions and work since her mother was a Devadasi.

Social Justice: Moovaloor Ramamirtham   

Not everyone who knows about Devadasi system in India is as familiar with Moovaloor Ramamirtham. However, Moovaloor Ramamirtham is the woman who worked towards the abolition of the Devadasi system in the Madras Presidency. 

Ramamirtham was also a social reformer, writer and political activist of the Dravidian movement.

Motivated by Periyar's Self-Respect Movement, she wrote a novel Dasigalin Mosavalai Alladhu Madhi Pettra Minor (Devadasis' web of deceit). Her novel and her continuous campaign finally helped with the abolition of the Devadasi system with the passing of the Madras Devadasi (Prevention of Dedication) Act. 

Journalism: VM Kothainayaki Ammal 

VM Kothainayaki Ammal (alias) Vai Mu Ko was the first woman to occupy the editorial board of Tamil magazine, Jaganmohini. As a writer and novelist, she penned 115 books.

In 1925, she went to jail for supporting Gandhiji and wearing khadi. During one such protest, the police doused her with sewer but she still continued to show resistance. Hence, she was sent to Vellore prison.

However, she still did not stop writing and used to give paper notes to her husband for publishing from prison. Jaganmohini was even circulated in Malaysia, Penang, Rangoon and South Africa. She also made hundreds of homemakers to write for their magazine.

Information Technology: Roshini Nadar

Roshni Nadar Malhotra is the chairwoman of HCL Technologies and she is the first woman to lead a listed IT company. She is the daughter of Shiv Nadar, who is from Tamil Nadu, the founder of HCL Technologies. She is also ranked 55th among Forbes World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2020.