Ela Bhatt was one of those rare individuals whose death was bound to make millions of women teary-eyed. Her death, after a brief illness, in a hospital in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on 02 November 2022, evoked an outpouring of grief all over the country and heart-felt tributes from all over the world. Elaben, as everyone called her, was born in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, but grew up in Surat. Her father, Sumantrai Bhatt, was a successful lawyer, while her mother, Vanalila Vyas, was an activist, fighting quietly for women’s rights. After her school, she joined a college in Surat and did her B.A. in English and later went to Ahmedabad to study law. She won a gold medal for being first in her class.
She fell in love with Ramesh Bhatt, a student activist, and married him. They had two children, a boy and a girl. Having taught English at SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai for a short while, she joined the legal department of the Textile Labour Association (TLA), which was one of India’s oldest unions for textile workers in Ahmedabad. In 1968 Ela was asked by the TLA to head its women’s wing. She went to Tel Aviv, Israel where she did a three-month diploma programme at the Afro-Asian Institute of Labour and Cooperatives.
M.A. Joe Antony, SJ
To read the entire article, click Subscribe
