In 1913, when T. Nallamuthu Ramamurthi, a student of P.T. School in Madras, read out her essay on the need for a women’s college, she did not know her dream would come true the very next year.
“A very bold and interesting suggestion,” commented a member of the Madras Governor’s Executive Council, present at the function. Recollecting the incident for the book A child widow’s story, a biography on Sister Subbalakshmi written by Monica Felton, Ramamurthi said the member had asked the students wishing to study in such a college to raise their hands.
All the 17 girls in her classroom did. “I have never been able to find out whether at that time the government had already decided to open a women’s college or whether it was the enthusiasm we showed that influenced them,” she was quoted as saying.
