Friday , October 1 , 2010 THE STORY OF A PIONEER Book Review by ARNAB BHATTACHARYA ''OPENING DOORS: THE UNTOLD STORY OF CORNELIA SORABJI'' By Richard Sorabji, Penguin, Rs 499 Cornelia Sorabji was the first woman barrister of India, and a remarkable lady in other ways too. A Christian Parsi, she opted to practise law - then considered to be an exclusively male domain - and sympathized with 'the nation in the making' without agreeing to the overthrow of the Empire. Sorabji discovered the pardanashins or secluded women who were largely neglected in early 20th century nationalist discourses. She was also reluctant to accept Tagore and Gandhi as potential leaders of the emergent nation. Moreover, her moral support to Katherine Mayo, whose book, Mother India, castigated Hinduism for the plight of Indians, led to her being marginalized in Indian politics. [snip] http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101001/jsp/opinion/story_12996833.jsp --- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar