Early life

   Muthulakshmi Reddy was born in 1886 in the princely state of Pudukottai in Tamil Nadu. Her father was Narayanswami Iyer. Her mother was inheriting ‘Devadasi Women’ who were ostensibly ‘dedicated’ to temple deities and who had the task of passing on the baton of the art of dance to the next generation. The grim reality was different. They were considered prostitutes by the British Government.

   The pre-teenager girl was initiated into the system by a religious ceremony which ensured her status as a concubine. Devadasis need not marry and were called, “Nityasumangali”—meaning immune to widowhood. Luckily for Muthulakshmi, her father was the Principal of Maharaja’s School. He gave her the power for education.

   The class in which she studied had 40 boys and three girls— separated by a screen in those days. Even then the parents of the boys objected,....