ahmedabad who was the first gujarati woman litterateur ask any knowledgeable person in the state and the obvious name that would crop up would be that of nandkunwar ba a 19th century writer who is acclaimed as the first in the genre of women writers in gujarat nandkunwar bas claim to fame is based on her travelogue bhu mandal no prayas which was published in 1898but the latest and yet controversial research being conducted on the subject has thrown up a rather unknown name whose works predate the writings of nandkunwarba by just a few yearsfew have actually heard about gangaben yagnik whose works hunnar mahasagar dwitriya nishedh and veham khandan pothi were published in 1891those who have read her writings describe her as a rebellious reformist and yet her name draws a blank not only in literary circles of gujarat but even in her own native village vavol near gandhinagar today efforts are underway to revive the memory of the woman whose patrons were no less than the rajput kings of the timegangaben born in 1868 packed more in her lifetime than a contemporary woman could just dream of ahmedabadbased society for research and initiatives for sustainable technologies and institutions srishti is currently collating all available information on the woman and giving her her deserved place in history of gujarati literature not everyone would of course agree with the findings of the research the president of gujarati sahitya parishad raghuveer chaudhary says we do not consider gangabens work as literary although it precedes nandkunwar bas however she needs to be acclaimed for her insightful worksecretary of shristi ramesh patel who is presently doing research on gangaben has a different view i think it is time we redefined literature otherwise we will do grave injustice to some great women such as gangaben who dared to swim against the tide from what little is known of gangaben she was widowed at the age of 13 and lived in a dingy small room all by herself for the rest of her life working as a teacher in the only school in mansa taluka near gandhinagar her writings against witchhunting blind faith child marriages reflect her distaste for social evils for instance after her husband died in 1881 she refused to get her head tonsured neither did she put up with her inlaws harassment i would depict gangaben as a rebel an accomplished teacher social reformer and the first woman entrepreneur of her time she also practised swadeshi much before gandhiji popularised the concept by encouraging people to manufacture their own products says historian shirin mehta gangabens hunnar mahasagar is a compilation of about 2080 skills and household tips that encompasses the traditional knowledge of the community her 370page long book talks