ABSTRACT
It was the year 1928. I had just been admitted as a postgraduate student at Government College for Men in Lahore (now in Pakistan). As my two older sisters had also completed their master’s degrees at this institution, there was no difficulty over my admission. After my eldest sister’s wedding, Mother decided to stay on in Allahabad, so Shyama and I joined the YWCA’s newly opened hostel for college women on Lawrence Road. I now wonder why we never thought of asking someone we knew to escort me to college on the first day. Janak, who was already on staff at Lahore College for Women as a lecturer in English, escorted me to the college gate and described the general layout from the outside. She told me to take the main staircase, cross the library, which opened on another verandah, and from there find the History Department. Once there, I would be looked after by someone. I was extremely nervous. Gone were the sheltered surroundings of a women’s college as I suddenly entered the world of young men. Little did I know of the trouble and turmoil fate had in store for me.
