Because I am a woman: A child widows memoirs from colonial India

This detailed and intimate memoir chronicles the life of one of Indias earliest women doctors, Haimabati Sen. Born c. 1866 and married before she was 10, Haimabati became a widow within a year. Unwelcome in her deceased husbands and her natal home, she travelled to Benares, Calcutta, East Bengal and back to Calcutta seeking an education. She eventually remarried, trained as a medical practitioner, and became a “Lady Doctor”. The account of her life and times illustrates the hard lives of girls and women who flouted social conventions. Originally written in Bengali in lined school notebooks, Haimabatis narrative was discovered and translated by Tapan Raychaudhuri and edited by Geraldine Forbes and the translator. This edition includes an introduction by the editor, comprehensive biographical notes and photographs.