Today's Google doodle Cornelia Sorabji, India's first lady advocate

Today's Google doodle features Ms.Cornelia Sorabji, who holds the honour of being the first on various academic achievement. She was the first woman in India to have become a lawyer and the first Indian ever to attend a British university and needless to say she was the first woman to have graduated from the prestigious Bombay university. Ms.Sorabji's achievement is a pride to India in general and woman in particular, born on the 15th of November 1866 into a Parsi family but later adopted by a British couple, Ms.Sorabji's life was filled with ambitions that fuelled her to become what she was. After completing her schooling in Belgaum and Pune, she enrolled in Deccan college, where she topped her final degree examination, she was supported by the likes of Adelide Manning, Florence Nightingale and Sir William Wedderburn. At England, Ms.Sorabji was given special permission by Congregational Decree to take the Bachelor of Civil Laws exam of Oxford University in 1892, becoming the first woman ever to do so. After having completed the course, she was actively involved in championing the cause of granting women the access the justice. Ms.Sorabji enabled many women to understand their rights of holding property and petitioned on behalf of such women before the British Officers at Kathiawar and Indore. Amid being a champion among women during her times, she was not permitted to defend them at court owing to the legislation that prohibited women to appear in the courts at that point in time. In the 20 years between 1902 and 1923, it is estimated that Ms.Sorabji helped over 600 women and children in legal battles. It was only 1924 when the women were allowed to appear in the courts in India as an Advocate, however, this brought little or no change in her career owing to the male bias that was prevalent during those times. She retired in 1929 and settled in London, becoming a guest to the country where she was a champion. There are so many things that we could from a woman of her stature, but what stands out is her perseverance in bringing to light the hardship that women faced then, though she was a graduate from Oxford, she appeared again in the LL.B examinations of the Bombay University and graduated meritoriously. Amid all the efforts she undertook, she was not allowed to plead for her clients till the fag end of her career. With women making their headway into the legal profession, we have only Ms.Sorabji to thank even though she was not permitted to wear the gown for the most part of her career, it is her initiative that inspired the generations of women lawyers to work towards getting an equal footing in the profession that even today is largely male dominated. Ms.Sorabji will be remembered in the times to come for the woman she was and the change she brought about in the legal profession, to say the least. Her opinions on the legal system and the British imperialistic rule are to be read in an entirely different context, what should be celebrated today is the spirit of a woman who rose to the occasion and delivered her tribe from the evils existing in the society. It would be an understatement to say she took on herself to provide access to justice and by doing so, she became the torch bearer of an entire generation of Indians, let alone women.