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        Among the great changes that  have taken place in recent  times in India, the most important one has been the growing status of women. Many factors have combined to free women from the shackles of outworn tradition, prejudice and ignorance. An important aspect of this public awakening has been the truer appraisal of women's place, both within and outside the home.

        The status of women in India has fluctuated from time to time during the different phases of her history. The position of women in a society is usually regarded as a fair index of the excellence of its culture and the character of its civilization. Indian tradition has generally respected womanhood. Even God is regarded as a half-man, half-woman Ardhanarishwara. In the Vedic Age, women enjoyed equal opportunities for education and work. The general picture of women in the hymns of Rig Veda was one of dignity and importance and she enjoyed peace, happiness and prosperity as a rule.

        The Rig Vedic woman was not only her husband's companion in weal and woe, but the mistress of his household and a real partner in all his activities including religious sacrifices. The Vedic word Dhampathi which is conventionally used to denote jointly the husband and the wife, etymologically means the joint-owners of the house. It is interesting to note that a list of great Vedic teachers to whom tribute of respect had to be paid at the time of initiation included the names of some women like Gargi and Maithreyi. Some of the hymns in the Rig Veda were actually composed by women. Lopamudra and Apala are some of the famous women whose names have been preserved in later Vedic literature. Thus the general position in the status of women in the Vedic Age was higher than that in any other ancient society that we know of including Greece and Rome.

        Corresponding to the high status of women in the Vedic Age in northern India, the status of women in the Age of the Tamil Sangam in Tamilnadu was also equally high. It is clear from Sangam works like Silappathikaram, Perumbana-trupadai, Thirumurukatrupadai, that the social life was very much enlivened by women participating freely in day-to-day life. They attended temples and took part in the public dances. They were allowed freedom in the choice of their partners in life. But with the passing of the Sangam Age and over a period of 500 to 600 years, the status of women in Tamilnadu declined gradually as it did in northern India.

        In the 2500 years that intervened between the Rig Vedic Age and the close of the ancient period at about 1200 AD, several far reaching changes had taken place in Indian society. The total effect of these changes was to depress the status of women in a very pronounced manner. This position of very low status of women continued throughout the Muslim period and did not improve till the introduction of Western ideas ushered in a new era in the latter half of the 19th century. The abolition of Sati for which Rajaram Mohan Rai was mainly responsible ushered in a new era of advance and opened up new avenues of self-expression for women. The socio-religious movements in the last quarter of the 19th century, marked by the rise and growth of the 'Brahmo Samaj' of Keshub Chandra Sen and 'Arya Samaj' of Swami Dayanand, gave an impetus to the process of emancipation of women. These movements gained an added strength from the soul-stirring speeches of Swami Vivekananda in the 1890s. Swami Vivekananda said in one of his beautiful speeches: That country and that nation which do not respect women have never become great nor will ever be in future.

        If you do not raise the women who are living embodiments of the Divine Mother, don't think that you have any other way to rise.

        With the arrival of Mahatma Gandhi on the Indian political scene, a new era of liberation and emancipation of women began. A passionate lover of humanity and an implacable foe of injustice in whatever form or sphere, it is small wonder that Gandhiji espoused the women's cause with so much fervour and devotion. He spoke fearlessly against the wrongs done to women in the name of law, custom, tradition and even religion. He launched a crusade against enforced widowhood, the purdah, the dedication of girls to temples, prostitution, child marriage, the dowry system, the economic bondage and material slavery of women.

        One of the crusaders for women's emancipation in India in the 1930s and who was responsible for starting a mighty organization for rehabilitation of women in India called 'Rastra Sevika Samiti' was Smt. Lakshmi Bai Kelkar (1905-1978), affectionately called as 'Vandaniya Mausiji'. Vandaniya Mausiji's life story is an inspiring tale, a saga of a great warrior who battled against heavy odds all her life and finally emerged as a victor. She was a woman of great mental fortitude and moral courage. Fortitude was the marshal of her thought, the armour of her will and the fort of her reason. Her guiding motto throughout her life can be put in these words: You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do. This was the guiding philosophy of her life.

        Mausiji was born on 6 July 1905 in Nagpur. She was named 'Kamal' i.e. lotus flower. As a child Kamal was adored by every one. She loved going to the temples with her auntie popularly known as 'Dai'. The bhajans, stories, and the Hindu rituals to which Kamal was exposed at the temples, left an indelible impression on her mind and heart. She was admitted to 'Mission School' which was the only girl's school situated near her residence. Kamal noticed that what she was being taught in school was contrary to what she was taught by her parents and 'Dai'. Yet she tried to get adjusted for the sake of learning even in that Missionary School.

        Kamal's father had little to offer in the way of dowry. So she firmly decided to marry a person who would never ask for dowry. Kamal was married to Purushottam Rao. She was now called Lakshmi Bai Kelkar. Purushottam Rao already had two daughters from his first wife who was dead. Lakshmi treated and cared for these girls and was more than a mother to them. She herself had six sons.

        In 1932, a great tragedy struck her when her husband Purushottam Rao died. Shanta, Lakshmi's eldest daughter also died of tuberculosis. Vatsala, Lakshmi's younger daughter was interested in Education. But there were no schools at 'Wardha', where she lived then. She searched for dedicated teachers and arranged their accommodation in her own house. Her intention was to educate not just her daughter but numerous other such girls. Thus Lakshmi's untiring efforts resulted in laying the foundation of the first girl's school at Wardha. It later became an established and known as 'Kesari Mal Girls' School'. Venutai Kalamkar and Kalinditai Patankar were the first teachers of the school who effectively paved the way for the women's literary movement at Wardha in the 1930s. It was the starting point of her work in the field of women's emancipation and development, which later knit the country into a joint 'Rastra Sevika Samiti' family.

        Lakshmi Bai Kelkar then came to the conclusion that 'it is essential to create in the heart of every woman, the pride of ancient glorious Hindu culture'. With the guidance and support from Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, Sar Sanghachalak of RSS, Lakshmi Bai Kelkar started Rastra Sevika Samiti, the largest and the only Hindu women's organization in India. It was started on the auspicious Vijayadashami day on 25 October 1936. A large number of girls and ladies gathered under one roof to learn more about Hindutva and Sanatana Dharma. Every worker in the Samiti was called a Sevika. Lakshmi Bai who was an affectionate and warm person became a guide, confidant and role model for all the Sevikas of 'Rastra Sevika Samiti' throughout India. All the Sevikas began to call her 'Mausiji' who was like a mother to them. Within a period of four years, she became the most revered figure, due to her selfless service and devotion. Thus Lakshmi Bai came to be popularly and respectfully addressed as 'Vandaniya Mausiji'.

        Dr Hedgewar was guiding the work of 'Rastra Sevika Samiti' continuously from 1936 till his death in 1940. He sent two Swayamsevaks to the Samiti to conduct a two-month long training course in physical education. Mausiji herself was very keen and enthusiastic and took the training along with other Sevikas. Although the ideological principles of the RSS and the Rastra Sevika Samiti were one and the same, yet the Rastra Sevika Samiti evolved its own independent internal structure and working pattern suitable for women. Vandaniya Mausiji met Mananiya Tai Apte at Poona in 1936 and that was the starting point of a life-long and historic relationship between these two great women.