黑料不打烊

I began the PhD program at 黑料不打烊 University in 2016 in History. I grew up in India and completed my BA at the University of Mumbai. Post the completion of my Bachelors, I worked at the Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), which deeply influenced my thoughts and ideas, giving me the opportunity of working alongside some of the sharpest minds in the field of history, economics,听and听gender听鈥� truly one of the听greatest learning and formative听experiences of my life. I went on听to complete my MA in international history at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva, Switzerland 鈥� where I benefitted from stimulating discussions with professors and colleagues, who came from all corners of the world. I also studied public policy at the听Hertie听School of Governance in Berlin, Germany 鈥� where I received a professional-oriented training that complemented my research-focused study at IHEID. My higher education was possible due to the听kindness听of merit scholarships, which covered tuition as well as living expenses, for which I am听extremely grateful.听

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My PhD project听with the department of history听under the direction of Prof听Subho听Basu听seeks听to disentangle the intellectual histories of women within the social institutions of marriage and family in modern India. By the 1930s, concerns about overpopulation worldwide, discussions dominated by eugenicists and neo-Malthusians, reached Indian shores; and the responses by leadership in India represented the tensions between nationalism and modernity 鈥� in many ways perpetuating the cleavages of caste, class and privilege.听By the 1950s, India received a lion鈥檚 share of international funding for 鈥渇amily planning鈥� programmes 鈥� reflecting colonial anxieties to听contain听the populations of the decolonizing world. By international funding, I refer to international organisations such as the UN, World Health Organisation, Ford Foundation, Population Council and more 鈥� that both represent and do not represent nation-states. This study plans to converge institutional and government law (moving from the colonial to the post-colonial state) 鈥� and to identify intellectual transgressions of women who negotiated government-regulated family planning programmes within their everyday gendered responsibilities of marriage and family in western India.听

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This project seeks to assert that听the ideological and material ways regarding family planning projects in modern India were deeply intertwined 鈥� without suggesting there was a sharp distinction between the 鈥渕acro鈥� factors and the local ones. The space of the law then remains integral to my work 鈥� the law, in many ways, representing the tensions between the ideological and the material. One of the most important legal moment that remains critical to my study includes the Age of Consent Bills/听Sarda听Act/ Child Marriage Restraint Act 鈥� that moved the minimum marriageable age of the girl from 10 to 12 years in 1891, and later fixed the minimum marriageable age for girls at 14 years and boys at 18 years 鈥� the only personal law that applied across communities. The relevance of my discussions therefore听seeks to cut across communities and castes, as well听to be alert to the demographic of the women concerned in these histories. In sum, the project explores听non-confrontational, intellectual transgressions of married women听within听the social institutions of marriage 鈥撎齠rom late colonial to independent India, complicating the emphasis on 1947听鈥� reflecting my听own鈥痯olitical assertion as a historian to recover the鈥痠ntellectual histories of women 鈥� as much鈥痑n engagement with the present, as with the past.听

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During the听academic year 2019 鈥� 2020,听I completed my first major data collection in Western India very successfully. My archives were in Ahmedabad, Bombay and New Delhi. In Ahmedabad, the archives were Gujarat Vidyapeeth听and B J Institute;听in Bombay, the archives were Forbes Gujarati Sabha and Maharashtra State听Archives;听and in New Delhi听the archives听were the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML). This was the most thrilling part of my PhD journey so far and my project benefitted immensely from the rich, well-maintained and resourceful archives around the country. During this period, I met with and benefitted from stimulating discussions with students, professors and scholars in similar fields that I met with during my time in these cities. I also published an essay with South Asia鈥檚 most premier journal Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) titled 鈥淐omplicating the Feminist: intellectual legacies of birth control in India鈥澨齱hich is forthcoming. Researching and writing was a rigorous yet rewarding process and I look forward to more such in the future.听

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My research work in the archives in Ahmedabad, Bombay and Delhi, as well as writing and publishing my work has been an interesting, challenging and satisfying journey. I am truly grateful to the Schull Yang International Experience Award for these exceptional opportunities of archiving,听researching听and learning. I look forward to another exciting, stimulating and productive year of my PhD. I thank听you Ms. Yang and Mr. Schull听sincerely for enabling this extraordinary journey.听听