STAMPED IMPRESSIONS
Woman who found her way
Reeta Sharma

Dr Krishna Roy was the first woman in the world to study in the only-for-men Princeton University of the USA. Krishna had got admission in the institution only because her name was presumed to be that of a man. Her gender got discovered when she landed at New York in 1956. The members of the team which had come to receive Krishna thought that she was some relation of his and kept asking her where Krishna was? When she repeatedly asserted that she was Krishna, they were left dumbstruck that a woman in a saree and chappals had arrived to join the university. They persuaded her to return, saying they had made a mistake.

But the 4ft-11-inch frail Krishna displayed her steely strength and refused to budge. She forced the team to escort her to the then President of Princeton University, Robert Goheen. Stranded in an alien land, another surprise awaited her. When she narrated her case to the president, pat came his reply — in Hindi. Goheen was the son of a missionary surgeon working in India. He was raised in India but had come to the USA for higher education.

An exception was made in Krishna’s case and she was allowed to study at the university. The problem of her lodging was sorted out by requesting a professor’s widow to accommodate Roy in her home. Born and brought up in Mumbai, Krishna had done her master’s in advanced economics and also knew Bharatnatyam. After her postgraduation, she did doctorate at University of Cambridge, UK. It is from there she had applied for Fulbright Scholarship of Smithnundt and the American Association of Universal Women scholarship. She was selected for both scholarships. But she accepted the latter because it offered her $50 more. She applied for the Princeton University ’s Woodrow Wilson School, where population studies was being taught. Eventually, this is where she made history by being the first-ever woman to have studied in this university.

At present living in Washington, she leads an extremely active life. "Today Princeton University not only allows men and women to study together but also live in the same hostel. However, the American Association of Universal Women group, which gave me the scholarship, constantly helped me. They even invited me to perform Bharatnatyam. This way, I became the first Indian woman to give a classical dance performance in the USA. It was a practice to hold a monthly party for students at the university. Each student was charged $10. I was charged the money but not allowed to enter their parties. When I complained about it to Goheen, he at once invited me to a party for the faculty. This really made my class fellows envious of me," recounts Krishna with a chuckle.

Einstein was the Director at Princeton and had died only three years before her arrival. "Every morning, I used to walk by his house, thinking about the great man who had lived there. Anyway, I continued to study on the campus. I fell in love with Sunil Roy, who was teaching physics. He had invented a nuclear stick that could analyse chemical composition of the soil. We got married in 1958. After finishing my course, I left for India in 1959. For the next seven years, I just couldn’t get any decent job. Finally, I applied to the United Nations, where I was promptly selected."

Both Krishna and Sunil were posted to Peru and later to Argentina by the United Nations. India ’s then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi invited her husband to work in the PUSA institute. The couple by then had had two daughters. While Krishna headed for New Jersey, Sunil answered the call of his motherland. For a year, between 1976 and 1977, Krishna taught at Columbia University. She got another UN assignment and was sent to China. "This was the first time that the Chinese government had invited the UNO to do their census. Our team recorded their population at 1.8 billion in July 1982. This was the most challenging work," she recalls with a sense of satisfaction.

In 1994, Krishna formally retired from the UNO. But there was no way this tiny woman could let her years just pass by. She is now actively involved with an NGO and is working with Mexicans. "I am preparing a data on illegal Mexican migrants. Besides, our NGO is helping them with free medical aid at a clinic. Although, they are illegal migrants, America cannot deny their role in its economic growth. They are extremely hard-working people and, hence, all tough jobs are performed by them. It will not be fair to ignore them. Their US-born children are American citizens and yet they do not get their due because of the unreasonable attitude of the state towards their parents. Our NGO advocates their cause with the establishment. Since I know Spanish, I mediate between the illegal migrants and the US state. It gives me immense satisfaction when I am able to give something back to society, which has given me so much in life."

Krishna has written a book on these Mexican children. She is working on another book titled Minority Women of Hispanic Origin. One of her daughters has also written a novel based on her unusual life which is yet to be published.