Tanuja Chitnis: on role models, family, and multiple sclerosis

Abstract

I stared at her name for ages. Tanuja, Chitnis; from where did such names come? Embarrassed by my ignorance, I asked Google. Tanuja: a famous Indian actress, it said, along with Leela Chitnis, a much admired but sadly departed Indian film star. The surname Chitnis, it went on to reveal, was originally a title of a secretary of state charged with writing diplomatic drafts during India's Maratha Empire. Another click and I was reading about Savitribai Phule, a tireless advocate of girls’ education, social reformer, and lifelong fighter for women's rights—and from Maharashtra, today's name for the Maratha homeland.