Sharda Mehta

Sharda Mehta (26 June 1882 – 13 November 1970) was an Indian social worker, proponent of women's education, and a Gujarati writer. She was among the first two women to graduate in what is now the modern state of Gujarat, India. She was the daughter of a judicial officer, Gopilal Manilal Dhruva, and Balaben; a Nagar Brahmin family. She was a maternal great-granddaughter of Bholanath Divetia, a social reformer and poet.

Personal life She married Sumant Mehta in 1898. He was a medical student then and four years senior to her.

Career

Social work Mehta worked for social reforms and supported education, women's empowerment, opposition of caste restrictions, untouchability eradication, and Indian independence. She was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi. From 1906, she promoted swadeshi (domestic) goods and khadi clothes. She organised a protest against indentured servitude (Girmitiya) in 1917. In 1929, she presented in front of the Royal Commission on Labour regarding labour conditions in textile mills in Ahmedabad. She picketed in front of the liquor shops during the civil disobedience movement in 1930. In 1931, she established a khadi store and worked at her husband's ashram near Shertha, Ahmedabad. In 1934, she established a co-operative store called . She wrote essays on social issues in dailies and magazines. This work covers the period from 1882 to 1937 and includes the social, historical, and political situation and awakening of women.

With her sister, Mehta translated Romesh Chunder Dutt's Bengali novel Sansar (The Lake of Palms, 1902) as Sudhahasini (1907) and The Maharani of Baroda (Chimnabai II)'s Position of Women in Indian Life (1911) as Hindustanma Streeonu Samajik Sthan or Hindustanna Samajik Jeevanma Streenu Sthan (1915). She also translated Sathe Annabhau's novel as Varnane Kanthe.

Death She died on 13 November 1970 at Vallabh Vidyanagar.