Iravati Karve led a life that was different from those around her.
Born in British-ruled India at a time when women did not have many rights or freedoms, Karve did the unthinkable: she continued her education in a foreign country, becoming a college professor and India’s first female anthropologist.
She also married her chosen one, swam in a swimsuit, rode a scooter and even dared to refute the racist hypothesis of her supervisor – the famous German anthropologist Eugen Fischer.
Her writings on Indian culture and civilization and its caste system are groundbreaking and form part of the curriculum in Indian colleges. Still, she remains an obscure figure in history, and much about her life remains unknown.
A new book titled Iru: The Remarkable Life of Irawati Karve, written by her granddaughter Urmila Deshpande and academic Thiago Pinto Barbosa, sheds light on her fascinating life and the many hardships she braved to blaze an inspiring path for women and men who came for her.
Born in 1905 in Burma (now Myanmar), the Irrawaddy was named after the Irrawaddy River. The only girl among six siblings, she was loved by her family and raised in comfort.
But the young girl’s life took unexpected turns that led to experiences that shaped her as a person. In addition to strong women, Irawati’s life also intersected with empathetic, progressive men who paved the way for her to overcome barriers and encouraged her along the way.
At the age of seven, Irawati was sent to a boarding school in Pune, a rare opportunity from her father when most girls were pushed for marriage. In Pune, she met R. P. Paranjpye, a renowned educationist, whose family unofficially adopted Iravati and raised her as their own.
In Paranjpi’s family, Irawati encountered a way of life that celebrated critical thinking and righteous living, even if it meant going against Indian society. Paranjpye, whom Iravati fondly called ‘appa’ or her ‘second father’, was a man way ahead of his time.
