Kulsum Sayani (d.1987): Mother of Ameen Sayani, the well-known radio broadcaster, she did pioneering work in the educational upliftment of purdah-clad Muslim women in various localities of Bombay. Her interest in social work and adult literacy began as a result of her close interaction with Mahatma Gandhi. Her father, Dr Rajabally Patel, was Gandhiji’s friend and also a personal physician when he arrived in Bombay from South Africa.
She was part of several committees and organisations that were formed to help increase literacy among adults in Bombay. She was part of the first National Planning Committee, which was set up by the Congress government in Bombay in 1938. She devised a home education scheme and started working with Muslim women.
In 1939, the Bombay City Social Education Committee requested her to oversee the functioning of their centres catering to Muslim women. In 1944, she was appointed the general secretary of the All India Women’s Conference.
In 1940, she started a fortnightly journal called ‘Rahber’ (meaning ‘Leader’), written in the Hindustani language, which was a mixture of Hindi and Urdu and published in Nagari, Urdu and Gujarati scripts. Kulsum Sayani’s ‘Rahber’ sought to take forward Gandhiji’s idea of Hindustani. In a letter dated June 16, 1945, Gandhiji addressed Sayani as Beti Kulsum and wrote: “I like the mission of Rahber to unite Hindi and Urdu. May it succeed.” The journal continued to be published for two decades until 1960. She continued her association with the Hindustani Prachar Sabha and organised several lectures and seminars to promote the Hindustani language.