Google on Saturday celebrated with a
doodle the 132nd birth anniversary of
Anasuya Sarabhai,
who played a
pioneering role
in
India’s
labour
movement.
A feminist and activist, Anasuya was
born on November 11,
1885,
in
Ahmedabad. She came from a family of
industrialists. She was married for a
short period of time when she was an
adolescent but in 1912, against social
convention at the time, she studied at
the London School of Economics where
she was influenced by the Suffragette
movement.
When she returned to Ahmedabad,
Anasuya got involved with the plight of
mill workers and took up their cause,
fighting against 36-hour work shifts.
She was affectionately called Motaben,
or elder sister, in Gujarati. In 1914, she
helped the weavers organise their first
strike for higher wages. She began
negotiating with mill owners, including
her
for
better
brother,
working
conditions.
Mahatma
Gandhi
supported her work and with his help,
she set up Gujarat’s oldest labour
union the Ahmedabad Textile Labour
Association, which later paved the way
for the founding of the Self-Employed
Women’s Association of India (SEWA).
Maria Qamar, a Pakistani—Canadian
artist and author, who created the
Google Doodle, was inspired by the
Indian
textile
industry.
She
said: “Anasuya’s dedication to 'justice and
