“My maternal aunt Ms. Ruby Moitra was born into a family of Bengali migrants in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. She was the first woman to graduate in the family with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Sagar University in 1956. Two years later she became the first woman in my family to receive a Master’s degree in Economics. Also a good singer, she also broke new ground in the family by becoming the first woman to travel outside her home town of Jabalpur to Nagpur, to become a vocalist with All India Radio, Nagpur. She was also the first woman in my family to move to another town alone for work – she was a lecturer at Ujjain.
In 1964 she moved to Kolkata after marrying a man from there and became a lecturer in Economics at Surendra Nath College. She mentored many young women there, for whom she was a role model. She was of course also a role model for the women in her own family – her younger siblings, cousins, nieces and others. In 1996 she retired after completing her tenure at Surendra Nath College as a Professor.
Bold, innovative and intelligent, she hewed the path for later generations in her family to follow. I am grateful to her and to Prajnya for thus honoring her and so many other women who have served as the pillars of knowledge and nation building in India.”
(Year photo taken: 1958, on the occasion when Ms. Ruby Moitra received a Master of Arts degree from University of Jabalpur, which had gained University status that very year. Ruby Moitra was of the first batch of Master’s degree holders from the University)
Contributor: Aditi Bhaduri
Some brave women did good job in her life.