“Like many of the 400 or so members of YMCA-Trivandrum, I have a long association with the organisation,” says sexagenarian Prabha Joshua, while flipping through a folder bursting with the organisation’s milestones of the past 100 years, memories rather.
“As a child, I used to accompany my mother, Jessy Roy, for meetings and classes here. I recall ballroom dancing classes by Ms. Daisy Gomez and Mary Muthalali, classes for music, flower arrangement, cooking and so on, which, incidentally, have been a part of the activities of the organisation from the very beginning and continue to this day. There was also then a badminton court and table tennis facilities for women residents of the hostel. When I was studying in University College next door, I used to come here occasionally, just to have the hostel’s famed lunch,” recalls Prabha.
Indeed, the local chapter of the Young Women’s Christian Association, which is celebrating its centenary on August 16, has, over the years, been a constant in the lives of generations of women.
The centenary committee members of YWCA-Trivandrum
Walk into its premises at Spencer Junction today and immediately it’s a sea of calm; the blare of traffic on arterial MG Road and those ubiquitous, slogan-filled protest marches in front of the Secretariat feel as if they are a world away and not next door. At the association hall, as usual, there is a sale of saris on, where numerous customers can be seen hunting for bargains.
In the adjacent office room, a few of the members are at work ironing out details for the centenary celebrations, planned for August 17 at VJT Hall, the very location where a group of 96 women first gathered on August 16, 1917, to form the organisation, with the aim of working towards women empowerment, irrespective of faith. “The members have been meticulous about maintaining minutes of board meetings, which happen every third Wednesday. As such, over the decades, we have in our possession a treasure trove of records and photos. For the centenary celebrations, a bunch of us combed through the records and complied a list of milestones,” says Prabha.
Passing the candle ceremony of YWCA-Trivandrum of yore
(Clockwise from top left) Members of the centenary committe, Dr. Mary Poonen Lukose, investiture ceremonies of YWCA-Trivandrum of the present and past, the quadrangle of the hostel
One such record book that they are presently looking through, which dates back to the 60s, has neatly written notes and typed pages, some of which are crumbling with age. It tells of weekly visits by the women to local hospitals, reformatory schools and jails, details of cooking and baking classes, complete with recipes, resolutions and even summaries of talks, on everything from organic farming to health and hygiene matters, given by experts.
YWCA-Trivandrum’s clinic in Dalit settlement
“Ms. Nina Bretnall, an Australian, the first secretary of the YWCA-Trivandrum, started the tradition of raising funds for charity with sales of cakes, bakes and articles made by the members themselves, benefit shows, distribution of cards and so on, a practise which we continue. For instance, to raise funds for our centenary celebrations and also for a new scholarship fund we are instituting for a 100 young women students, we staged the drama Rakshakavacham with our members in the lead roles. Most of the early charitable initiatives were related to health and well-being, perhaps because Dr. Mary Poonen Lukose, India’s first female Surgeon General, was at the helm of the organisation for 50 years,” says Rani Sarah Thomas, convener of the centenary celebrations.
Dr. Mrs. Poonnen Lukose was the president of YWCA-Trivandrum for 47 years.
She’s a relatively new member of the organisation but she was part of the Junior Club of the YMCA during her childhood.
“My mother, Mary Joseph, and my aunts were members. I recall taking part in a tableau on traditional garments of Kerala in 1966, along with residents of the hostel and children of other members, all for charity,” she says. Rani, along with Prabha, both deft at embroidery, now lead Blue Triangle Creations, the organisation’s popular eco-friendly bags and home linen brand.
YWCA-Trivandrum’s hostel, c.1929
The quadrangle in the YWCA Trivandrum building
That said, YWCA-Trivandrum’s oldest and flagship project is its women’s hostel, a home away from home for students and working women, said to be the first of its kind facility in erstwhile Travancore. “Soon after the association was formed, the women realised that there were no hostel facilities for women who come to the city for studies. A house, ‘Nathan’s Court,’ in Nanthancode, was rented and the hostel officially came into being. The present building, which now functions as a students’ hostel, was completed in 1929,” says Reana Thomas, president of the organisation, while taking us around the grand old building.
Remarkably, the hostel retains much of its original features and even its original furniture is still very much in use. The marvellous, wide wooden staircase bears no trace of hundreds of feet traipsing up and down over the years.
Some members of the first committee of YWCA-Trivandrum
The sturdy wooden banisters on the upper level, half moon-shaped desks piled high with textbooks, assorted armoires, beds, glass cabinets full of antiquarian tomes, tables and chairs with the patina of age... “The only difference is that instead of young women clad in traditional Christian attire of chatta and mundu , the young residents of today can be seen in skirts and trousers!” says Reana, pointing to a black and white photo of the first batch of hostel residents dressed in traditional attire, standing in the hostel’s central quadrangle, circa 1929.
The centenary committee members of YWCA-Trivandrum
As the organisation gears up for the big day, the members are aware that they are heirs to a lofty legacy of service.
“The women of YWCA-Trivandrum have been pioneers from the beginning and we have miles to go...,” says Reana.
100 and going strong
The centenary celebrations are on August 17 at VJT Hall. Programmes include a talk by Kiran Bedi, an alumnae reunion and an exhibition of photographs and memorabilia showcasing 100 years of history of YWCA-Trivandrum.
Milestones
YWCA-Trivandrum’s first president was Mrs. Arthur Parker, wife of the vicar of the CSI Church at Palayam.
The women’s hostel of the Thiruvananthapuram chapter of the YWCA was perhaps the first of its kind in the city
The hostel was inaugurated by Lady Irwin, wife of Lord Irwin, Viceroy and Governor General of India, in 1929. Lady Irwin’s portrait now hangs in the hostel’s lobby. The organisation also runs a working women’s hostel near General Hospital junction and a senior women’s home at Spencer Junction.
The association hall is named after Dr. Lukose’s father T.E. Poonen, the royal physician of Travancore. It was inaugurated in 1955 by Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, India’s first health minister.
The organisation opened a welfare centre and nursery, complete with a full time nurse, again the first of its kind in the state, in a Dalit settlement in Kunnukuzhi in 1925, followed by another one near Thycaud Government Hospital. In the late 70s the welfare centre later found a permanent home at Vazhayila. Here the organisation now runs a crèche and stitching centre that employs local women to stitch articles for Blue Triangle Creations, among other self-employment activities.
Pioneers
YWCA was started in 1854 in England by social activists Lady Mary Jane Kinniard and Emma Robarts, to provide safe shelter for working women, at the height of the Crimean War. The logo of the YWCA is the Blue Triangle and its motto, ‘By love serve one another.’ The Indian chapter was set up in Mumbai in 1875.
