In the silence of the gathering night I asked her, “Maiden, your lights are all lit—­then where do you go with your lamp?  My house is all dark and lonesome,—­lend me your light.”  She raised her dark eyes on my face and stood for a moment doubtful.  “I have come,” she said at last, “to dedicate my lamp to the sky.”  I stood and watched her light uselessly burning in the void.

In the moonless gloom of midnight I asked her, “Maiden, what is your quest holding the lamp near your heart?  My house is all dark and lonesome,—­lend me your light.”  She stopped for a minute and thought and gazed at my face in the dark.  “I have brought my light,” she said, “to join the carnival of lamps.”  I stood and watched her little lamp uselessly lost among lights.

Rabindranath Tagore.

CHAPTER SIX

WOMEN WHO DO THINGS

India has boasted certain eminent women whom America knows well.  Ramabai with her work for widows is a household word in American homes and colleges; President Harrison’s sentences of appreciation emphasized the distinction that already belonged to Lilavati Singh; Chandra Lela’s search for God has passed into literature.  The Sorabji sisters are known in the worlds of law, education, and medicine.

But these names are not the only ones that India has to offer.  In the streets of her great cities where two civilizations clash; in sleepy, old-world towns where men and women, born under the shade of temple towers and decaying palaces, are awakening to think new thoughts; in isolated villages where life still harks back to pre-historic days—­against all these backgrounds you may find the Christian educated woman of New India measuring her untried strength against the powers of age-old tradition.

In this chapter I would tell you of a few such women whom I have met.  They are not the only ones; they may not be even pre-eminent.  Many who knew India well would match them with lists from other localities and in other lines of service.

These five are all college women.  One had but two years in a Mission College whose course of study went no further; one carries an American degree; three are graduates of a Government College for men.  All go back to the pioneer days before Madras Women’s Christian College and Vellore Medical School saw the light, and when Isabella Thoburn’s college department was small; all five bear proudly the name of Christian; through five different professions they are giving to the world of India their own expression of what Christianity has meant to them.

[Illustration:  MRS. PAUL APPASAMY]

Home Making and Church Work.

Throughout India there exists a group of women workers, widely scattered, largely unknown to one another, in the public eye unhonored and unsung, yet performing tasks of great significance.  Wherever an Indian Church raises its tower to the sky, there working beside the pastor you will find the pastor’s wife.