Rani of Jhansi

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Maharani Lakshmibai exploded the myth of the slave mentality of Indian women. She performed this wonderful feat at a time when most Indian kings had lost their glow: They had become lustreless before the lustrous sun of the British empire. Mararani Lakshmibai exposed the myth of women's weakness, which had gone deep into the Indian psyche over the centuries. She proved that the Indian woman was not weak, she had been rendered mentally weak due to circumstances. She demonstrated that if occasion demands, she can not only be strong but can also act as a highly courageous person as well. She awakened the sleeping Indian woman from the slumber of the long period of slavery and wrote a completely new chapter in the annals of history. Undoubtedly, Maharani Lakshmibai is not only the pride of Indian womanhood, but she is a historic personality to be remembered and worshipped.

The brave woman, Maharani Lakshmibai, is a grand per- sonality and inspiring chapter of Indian history. Even today her name inspires a new zeal in the hearts of all those who are struggling against injustice and cruelties. Her life was a strange combination of rise and fall. A seven-year-old Innocuous madonna, the daughter of Moropant Tambe, a very ordinary common man, by quirk of circumstances, became the queen of nearly middle aged Raja Gangadhar Rao-Maharani Lakshmibai. She became a widow at the ten- der age of nineteen years. And from here began her life of struggles. At the time of merger of her state in the British empire, she thundered, "I'll not give my Jhansi."

It cannot be said for certain whether her words were an outburst of anger in the circumstances or an indicator of a definite determination, but she was forced to take her sword out in defence of Jhansi within four years of this utterance. From here she appears before us as a brave woman. The three cantos in the epic of her life are: the battles against the Britishers, first at Jhansi, then Kalpi and finally Gwalior.

Her battle against the all-powerful Britishers, equipped with every conceivable fighting gear, at an age of approximately 23 years, around one hundred and twenty five years earlier from now, was a revolutionary step in the male-dominated society of India. She had all the traits of the most brave woman and a competent commander.