Thread by @sankrant

We tout India's first female doctor and first female airplane pilot.

Both these were "child marriages." Their husbands/in-laws supported their education and dreams.

I'm not advocating teen marriage. But I'm questioning the uni-dimensional one-size-fits-all view of society.

https://twitter.com/gargidhote/status/1472407514067075074

Sarla Thukral, India's first female pilot, was married at 16. Her husband was a pilot and encouraged her learning to fly.

After her marriage at 16 she become a pilot, a mother, an entrepreneur, a painter and lived to a ripe age of 94.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarla_Thu…

Anandi Joshi, touted as India's first (allopathic) doctor, married at the age of 9. Her husband encouraged her to study medicine.

He supported her move to Calcutta and then US to pursue medicine so she could study "away from interference by her parents."

indianexpress.com/article/who-is…

I'm not advocating marrying early but challenging stereotypes that parents encourage study, in-laws won't.

In India many parents consider a girl as "paraya dhan" and are loathe to invest in education. Laws work better when they work *with* societal values than to "fix" society.

First we need to drop the idea that the role of the state is to "fix" society and to "civilize" and control ignorant masses. This is inherent to a colonial state.

Rather the state must start with respect for the culture; seek to represent, not "fix" it.

https://twitter.com/MaheshJ95622388/status/1472417901042884623?s=20