Leader’s guide · 13 weeks
Leader’s guide: Pandita Ramabai (For Teens)
Using this guide with a class? See Ochorus for schools or homeschool families
This guide takes your group through “Pandita Ramabai (For Teens)” in thirteen weeks, one chapter a week. It tells the true story of a Brahman girl from India who survived famine, walked thousands of miles with her brother, became a famous scholar, came to faith in Christ, and gave her life to child-widows, famine orphans and women nobody else would take in. It is written for teens aged about 13 to 18 and suits a youth group, a homeschool or a small group.
Each session runs about 30 to 40 minutes. Open by saying the memory verse together. Read the chapter, either aloud together or at home beforehand if your group prefers. Talk through the chapter’s three questions, which come with answers to help you. Do the activity, which takes about ten minutes. Then close by praying the chapter’s prayer, or one of your own.
To prepare, read the chapter yourself and look over the activity; most weeks need only paper and pens, or nothing at all. This story carries real weight: the deaths of Ramabai’s family in famine, her father’s wish to die and her friend’s suicide, the harsh treatment of child-widows, and girls sold into prostitution. Read those parts calmly, mention the help lines the chapters themselves point to, and never press anyone to share their own grief or struggles in front of the group; personal reflection stays private. If a teen seems troubled, follow up quietly afterwards. Ramabai grew up in a devout Hindu family and the book treats her parents and her Hindu critics fairly, so model that same respect, and let the group wrestle honestly with the hard questions the book itself raises.
Week 1 — The Well of Ignorance
Ramabai’s father, Anant Shastri, defied the rule that women must not learn Sanskrit and taught his young wife, even taking her into a forest on a mountain peak, where Ramabai was born in 1858. The family lived as wandering readers of the sacred books, and at Dwarka Ramabai saw a whole crowd pretend to see a golden city rather than admit they saw only clouds. Her parents refused to marry her off as a child, at a cost to her father’s standing. The big idea: honour what your parents got right, and choose honest questions over polite pretence.
“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” — Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (ASV)
Memory verse
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
Deuteronomy 6:6–7
Talk together
Why did Anant Shastri take his young wife into the forest?
Because his family objected to him teaching her Sanskrit, and he was determined to go on teaching her whatever people said.
What did Ramabai mean by “the well of ignorance”?
Being married as a small child, which would have ended her education. Her parents refused, even though it cost her father his standing among the Brahmans.
What happened at Dwarka, and why does it matter?
The pilgrims waited to see Krishna's golden city, and the family saw only sunset clouds but kept silent like everyone else. Ramabai learned there that she would rather know the truth than pretend.
Activity
The Dwarka Test
You will need: Nothing
- Read aloud the paragraph about the crowd at Dwarka who kept silent about the golden city.
- In pairs, list everyday situations where teens feel pressure to say they agree or “see it” when they don’t.
- As a group, pick two of those situations and talk about what an honest, respectful answer would sound like.
- Ask: why might churches sometimes have their own Dwarka moments, and what would honesty look like there?
- Finish by naming one thing a parent or guardian taught you that you are glad to know.
Week 2 — Sugar and Water
When Ramabai was about sixteen, famine struck, and the family spent everything on religious rituals that did not help. Starving in the forest, her father planned to drown himself and gave Ramabai to God with his blessing, but her brother persuaded him to live; soon afterwards her father, mother and sister all died. Ramabai later said her famine work was born at Raichur, where her mother died. The big idea: God took Ramabai up in her darkest days, and the worst time of her life became the root of her life’s work.
“When my father and my mother forsake me, Then Jehovah will take me up.” — Psalm 27:10 (ASV)
Memory verse
For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in.
Psalm 27:10
Talk together
How did Ramabai say her family's famine was partly their own doing?
They spent all their money on religious acts and gifts to the priests, hoping the gods would make them rich, and their pride of caste kept them from learning ordinary work.
What were her father's last words to her?
That he had given her into the hands of their God, and that she belonged to God and must serve him all her life.
What did Raichur, where her mother died, come to mean for her?
She told her daughter that it was there she got her inspiration for famine work, the rescue of starving people that filled much of her later life.
Activity
Who Feeds the Hungry Here?
You will need: Paper, pens and a phone or local directory if available
- Remind the group gently that this chapter includes thoughts of not wanting to live, and that the book urges anyone who feels that way to tell a safe person.
- In small groups, list every place you know of in your area that feeds hungry people: food banks, church meals, shelters, school programmes.
- Choose one and find out what help it actually needs: food, money, or volunteers’ time.
- Agree on one realistic thing the group, or each person, could give this week.
- Close by thanking God that he takes up those whom everyone else has left.
Week 3 — Worse Than Demons
Orphaned, Ramabai and her brother walked more than four thousand miles, once sleeping in pits of sand by a freezing river, and their faith in the gods drained away. Ramabai said suffering on its own does not make people kinder; it tends to harden the heart like stone. In Calcutta she was honoured as a scholar, found that the Hindu law-books agreed only that women were bad and could not reach liberation, and was given a Sanskrit Bible she kept all her life. The big idea: hard times alone can make us colder, but God’s grace can turn a heart of stone into a heart of flesh.
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.” — Ezekiel 36:26 (ASV)
Memory verse
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26
Talk together
Why did Ramabai and her brother dig pits by the Jhelum river?
It was freezing and they had no blankets, so they lay in pits and covered themselves with sand to keep warm.
What did Ramabai say suffering does to the heart, left to itself?
It hardens it, “making it as hard as a stone.” She believed only God's grace could make her heart tender again.
What did she find in the Hindu law-books about women?
That they all agreed women were “worse than demons” and could not attain moksha, liberation, as men could; their only hope was to serve their husbands and be born men in a later life.
Activity
Stone or Flesh?
You will need: Paper and pens
- Read Ramabai’s words that suffering has “a hardening effect on the human heart.”
- As a group, brainstorm ways hard experiences can make people colder or more guarded, without naming anyone’s own story.
- Then brainstorm what helps a hard heart soften: people, habits, truths about God.
- Each person writes down privately one place where they may have grown a little hard, and a short prayer asking God to soften it.
- Fold the papers and take them home; no one shares what they wrote.
Week 4 — Nineteen Months
Ramabai’s brother died, and she married Bipin Behari Medhavi, a lawyer outside her caste; their daughter Manorama, “heart’s joy,” was born in 1881. A Gospel of Luke in Bengali turned up in her library, but her husband was angry when she spoke of becoming a Christian, and in 1882 he died of cholera. The chapter explains how harshly high-caste widows were treated, and records Ramabai’s words that grief drew her nearer to God, who must draw her himself. The big idea: we cannot find our own way to God; he comes looking for us, even in grief.
“For thy Maker is thy husband; Jehovah of hosts is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is thy Redeemer; the God of the whole earth shall he be called.” — Isaiah 54:5 (ASV)
Memory verse
For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.
Isaiah 54:5
Talk together
What did Srinivas say when Ramabai told him there was no one but God to care for them?
“Ah, then if God cares for us, I am afraid of nothing.”
Why was her husband angry when she spoke of becoming a Christian?
He had crossed caste to marry her, but becoming a Christian meant joining a community most Hindus despised, and he did not want his wife to do that.
What did her grief teach her about coming to God?
That God was teaching her, and that if she was to come to him, “He must Himself draw me.” She could not find her own way.
Activity
Toward or Away?
You will need: Nothing
- Read Ramabai’s sentence: “This great grief drew me nearer to God.”
- Ask the group: why does loss push some people away from God and draw others nearer? Collect ideas without asking anyone for their own story.
- Talk about what Isaiah 54:5 would have meant to a widow told she was cursed and alone.
- Teach the group a one-line prayer based on the chapter: “If I am to come to you, you will have to draw me.”
- Invite everyone to pray it privately once a day this week.
Week 5 — Open Thy Mouth for the Dumb
In Poona, Ramabai founded a society of women working against child-marriage and ignorance, and at twenty-four gave bold evidence to a British education commission, asking for women doctors. A twelve-year-old child-widow, called a demon by her mother-in-law, came into her care and set Ramabai on the path to opening a home for widows. To train as a doctor she sailed for England in 1883 with her small daughter, though for a high-caste Hindu crossing the sea meant losing caste. The big idea: when someone cannot speak for themselves, use your voice for them, even when it costs you.
“Open thy mouth for the dumb, In the cause of all such as are left desolate.” — Proverbs 31:8 (ASV)
Memory verse
Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.
Proverbs 31:8
Talk together
What did Ramabai tell the Education Commission in 1882?
That most educated men opposed women's education and that women, half the country, were “oppressed and cruelly treated by the other half.” She also asked for women doctors.
What had the twelve-year-old widow's mother-in-law said about her?
That she had “eaten up her son” and was a great demon, blaming the child for her husband's death.
Why was going to England such a big step?
For a high-caste Hindu, crossing the sea meant losing caste, and for a young widow to travel alone with a small child was almost unheard of.
Activity
One Calm Sentence
You will need: Nothing
- Read aloud Proverbs 31:8 and explain that “mute” means people who cannot speak up for themselves.
- In pairs, describe a realistic scene: someone mocked for their accent, a person piled on in a group chat, a younger kid picked on.
- Each pair writes one true, calm sentence someone could say in that scene, to the person doing it, to an adult, or to the person being hurt.
- Act out two or three scenes briefly, practising saying the sentence out loud.
- Ask: what made Ramabai willing to be attacked in the papers rather than stay silent?
Week 6 — The Woman at the Well
In England, Ramabai was told her deafness ruled out medical training, and her friend Anandibai took her own life. At a Christian rescue home in Fulham she saw former prostitutes treated with kindness and asked why; a sister read her John 4, the woman at the well, and she saw Christ as the Saviour who does not despise sinners. A book by Father Goreh convinced her mind, and she was baptised at Wantage in September 1883. The big idea: love in action and honest reasons together brought Ramabai to Christ, and both still matter.
“but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life.” — John 4:14 (ASV)
Memory verse
Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
John 4:14
Talk together
What did Ramabai see at Fulham that she had never seen in India?
Christians caring kindly for women who had been prostitutes, many of whom now nursed the sick.
Why did the story of the woman at the well matter so much to her?
Jesus spoke kindly to a despised woman with a bad reputation and offered her living water, when the books Ramabai knew said women were worse than demons.
What two things brought her to faith?
Her heart was drawn by Christians' love for outcast women and by John 4, and her mind was convinced by Father Goreh's book.
Activity
Heart and Mind
You will need: Paper and pens
- Mention gently that this chapter includes a suicide, and remind the group of the book’s encouragement to tell a safe person if they are struggling.
- Draw a line down a sheet of paper; label one side “Love I saw” and the other “Reasons I found.”
- As a group, fill in what Ramabai saw at Fulham on one side and what she read in Father Goreh’s book on the other.
- Ask: which side do your friends who don’t believe most need to see from Christians today?
- Each person writes privately one way they could show Jesus’ kind of love to someone others look down on this week.
Week 7 — Out of Nazareth
After her baptism Ramabai kept asking hard questions, argued with her teachers, and resolved to read “the Bible only” rather than be ruled by human opinions. In America she wrote “The High-Caste Hindu Woman” and gathered support for a school for widows, insisting that despised women would, by God’s grace, help redeem India, just as the Redeemer came out of despised Nazareth. In 1889 she opened Sharada Sadan in Bombay as a religiously neutral school, but prayed each morning with her door open, and girls began to come in of their own accord. The big idea: test everything against Scripture, and hold fast to what is good.
“prove all things; hold fast that which is good;” — 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (ASV)
Memory verse
But test everything; hold fast what is good.
1 Thessalonians 5:21
Talk together
How did Ramabai respond when Christians disagreed so much among themselves?
She decided “not to take the opinion of men as my ground of belief” and read the Bible for herself, instead of giving up her faith or simply obeying one church.
What did she mean by “out of Nazareth”?
That Jesus came from a despised town, and God often works through people the world despises. She believed the hated child-widows, once educated, could help renew India.
What was the “open door” at Sharada Sadan?
She prayed and read the Bible in her own room each morning with the door open, and girls were free to come in if they wished. No one was made to come.
Activity
Go to the Source
You will need: Bibles, paper and pens
- Ask each person to write down privately one thing they believe about God mainly because someone told them.
- Invite a few volunteers to share theirs if they are comfortable, and choose two or three for the group to look into.
- In small groups, use a Bible, its cross-references or a concordance to find passages that speak to each belief.
- Have each group report in one sentence what the Bible actually says.
- Ask: how did going to the Bible itself help Ramabai when Christians disagreed so much?
Week 8 — Building from the Top
Six years after her baptism, Ramabai was unhappy and dissatisfied as she read the Bible itself. A book by William Haslam, who had been “trying to build from the top,” showed her that she had found the Christian religion but not Christ, and in 1891 she surrendered herself to him. What amazed her was that salvation was a free gift, open to women, earned by no caste, sex or work. The big idea: believing Christianity is true is not the same as trusting Christ himself, and his salvation is a gift to anyone who believes.
“The people that sat in darkness Saw a great light, And to them that sat in the region and shadow of death, To them did light spring up.” — Matthew 4:16 (ASV)
Memory verse
The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
Matthew 4:16
Talk together
What did “trying to build from the top” mean?
Having the religion without the life: being busy with church and believing the creed without ever personally turning to Christ.
What difference did Ramabai see between “the Christian religion” and “Christ”?
For eight years she believed Christianity was true and practised it, but had not personally trusted Christ as her Saviour, “the Life of the religion.”
Why was the free gift of salvation such good news for her as a woman?
She had been taught that liberation was closed to women and that everything had to be earned. In Christ she found salvation given freely to anyone, whatever their caste or sex.
Activity
Building from the Top
You will need: Paper and pens
- Explain Haslam’s picture: trying to build a house from the roof down, with no foundation.
- As a group, list things that can look like faith from the outside: knowing the songs, coming to church, serving, knowing the answers.
- Talk about why none of those, good as they are, are the same as trusting Christ himself.
- Each person writes privately an honest answer to Ramabai’s question: “Have I found Christ, or only the Christian religion?”
- Encourage anyone who is unsure to tell God plainly, and to talk with you or another trusted adult afterwards.
Week 9 — The Storm of 1893
In 1893, as more girls at the school came to Ramabai’s open morning prayers, three Hindu board members, including Ranade and Bhandarkar who had once welcomed her, resigned, saying the school had broken its promise of neutrality; parents withdrew thirty-one girls and she received threats. The chapter shows both sides had a point: she forced no one, yet a devout Christian’s open door could not be neutral as parents understood it, and some of her supporters even had a girl baptised without her consent. Ramabai said she was delivered first from the fear of man and then from sin. The big idea: be open about your faith, fair to those who disagree, and unafraid.
“What time I am afraid, I will put my trust in thee.” — Psalm 56:3 (ASV)
Memory verse
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
Psalm 56:3
Talk together
Why did Ranade, Bhandarkar and Bhat resign from the school's board?
They believed the school, promised as religiously neutral, had become a place where girls were drawn to Christianity, and they would not support a school that made converts.
How did Ramabai answer them?
That nothing was done in secret, her room was always open and no girl was forced, but she could not in conscience stop girls who wanted to come to her prayers.
What did she say she had been “delivered” from twice?
First from “the slavery of man's opinions,” the fear of what people think, and second from “the bondage of sin.”
Activity
Both Sides Fairly
You will need: Paper and pens
- Split the group into two halves: one represents the Hindu board members, the other Ramabai.
- Give each side three minutes to write the strongest fair case for their position, using only what the chapter says.
- Let each side present its case calmly while the other side listens without interrupting.
- Ask: where was each side partly right? What did Ramabai refuse to do, and what did she refuse to hide?
- Finish by talking about how to disagree about faith with a friend and still treat them fairly.
Week 10 — Remember the Days of Old
When famine came in 1896, Ramabai at first told herself there was nothing she could do, until God reminded her of her own famine childhood. She was haunted by three small children she lost track of, exposed the selling of girls from relief camps, and set out to rescue three hundred girls without the money to do it. On one journey she meant to leave a runaway girl behind as an example, but, remembering how God had called her back, she stopped the cart and waved; the girl, Girija, ran to her. The big idea: God does not wait for us to prove we are sorry before he calls us back, and we should give others the same second chance.
“Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations: Ask thy father, and he will show thee; Thine elders, and they will tell thee.” — Deuteronomy 32:7 (ASV)
Memory verse
Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you.
Deuteronomy 32:7
Talk together
Why did Ramabai feel she had to go into the famine districts?
God reminded her to “remember the days of old.” She had been a famine child herself and could not sit comfortably while other children starved.
What did the girl mean when she said she was “kept” in the poorhouse?
That a man was holding her there and sexually exploiting her. The official who was told said he could not help it.
What did Ramabai learn from Girija?
That as God had loved her and called her back while she was still a sinner, she should call back the wandering girl instead of waiting for proof that she was sorry.
Activity
Stop the Cart
You will need: Paper and pens
- Read aloud the passage where Ramabai sees Girija sitting alone in the dusk and orders the driver to stop.
- Ask: by the rules, was Ramabai right to leave her? Why did she stop anyway?
- Each person writes privately about a time someone gave them a second chance they didn’t deserve.
- Then each writes the name or initials of someone they could give a second chance to this week.
- Close by reading the chapter’s line “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” together.
Week 11 — The Sweeper
Driven out of Poona by plague in 1897, Ramabai moved her famine girls to a bare farm at Kedgaon and began Mukti, named for the liberation she had once been told no woman could reach. Inspired by George Müller and rebuked for wishing someone else would start a work of faith, she stopped asking people for money and prayed, and for twenty-five years Mukti was fed, though her approach was sometimes hard on her workers. Kripa Sadan sheltered exploited women, and she called herself simply “a sweeper,” sweeping in child-widows, deserted wives and orphans. The big idea: instead of wishing someone else would meet a need, take the first step yourself and trust God to provide.
“Bring ye the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” — Malachi 3:10 (ASV)
Memory verse
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
Malachi 3:10
Talk together
What did God say when Ramabai wished someone would start a faith mission in India?
“Why don't you begin to do this yourself, instead of wishing for others to do it?”
Why was “Mukti” such a meaningful name?
In Hindu thought it means liberation, which she had been taught a woman could never attain. She used it for salvation in Christ, freely given to women and girls.
What did she mean by calling herself a sweeper?
That she gathered in the people society had thrown away, taking the lowest place even though she was a Brahman and an honoured scholar.
Activity
Why Don’t You Begin?
You will need: Paper and pens
- Read God’s rebuke to Ramabai: “Why don’t you begin to do this yourself, instead of wishing for others to do it?”
- In small groups, list needs you have noticed in your school, church or neighbourhood that you wish someone would do something about.
- Rank the list from easiest to hardest to start on.
- Each person picks one need and writes the smallest first step they could take this week, such as one phone call or one hour of help.
- Talk about what calling herself “a sweeper” tells us about the kind of humility that gets real work done.
Week 12 — Fire
Ramabai told her American supporters honestly that her school had become Christian and urged them not to build on her, saying “Ramabai is dead.” At Keswick she asked prayer for a hundred thousand Indian men and women to preach, and in 1905 a prayer circle at Mukti that prayed “including ourselves” grew into a revival marked by confession, returning stolen things and praying for thousands by name. Ramabai said the true sign of the Holy Spirit is not noise but perfect divine love. The big idea: real revival starts with ourselves, and its sign is love.
“Yea and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days Will I pour forth of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” — Acts 2:18 (ASV)
Memory verse
Even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
Acts 2:18
Talk together
What did the prayer circle at Mukti pray for?
For the true conversion of all Indian Christians “including ourselves,” and for the Holy Spirit to be poured out on Christians everywhere.
What did Ramabai say was the real sign of the Holy Spirit?
“Love, perfect divine love.” Other gifts were not to be discarded, but love was the one necessary sign.
Why did she tell her American supporters “Ramabai is dead”?
She meant the work must not depend on her, because she would die one day. She wanted them to support the work, not one person.
Activity
Including Ourselves
You will need: Paper and pens
- Read the Mukti prayer circle’s request: the true conversion of all the Indian Christians, “including ourselves.”
- Ask: why is it easier to pray for other people to change than for ourselves?
- Each person writes a private list of five people they want God to work in, with their own name on it.
- Talk about the chapter’s marks of real revival: confession, giving back what was taken, praying by name, and love.
- Encourage everyone to pray for each name on their list every day this week.
Week 13 — Having Nothing
In her last years Ramabai led the translation of the whole Bible into simple Marathi village women could read, and the girls of Mukti printed it to be given freely. Her daughter Manorama died in 1921, and Ramabai answered, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.” She died in April 1922, shortly after the translation was finished, and people of every caste stood together at her coffin. The big idea: having nothing, Ramabai possessed everything in Christ, and she urged her readers to prove the Lord for themselves.
“as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” — 2 Corinthians 6:10 (ASV)
Memory verse
As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
2 Corinthians 6:10
Talk together
Why did Ramabai want a new Marathi Bible?
The old one used high, Sanskrit-filled language that village women could not understand, and she wanted a Bible in their everyday speech.
How did she respond to Manorama's death?
With Job's words, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, Blessed be the name of the Lord,” and she kept working until her own death less than nine months later.
What happened at her funeral that showed what her life had done?
People of high castes, low castes and outcastes stood together by her body, and an old Brahman widow cried out, asking whom she could now call Mother.
Activity
Prove One Promise
You will need: Bibles, paper and pens
- Read Ramabai’s last appeal: “I entreat you, my readers, to prove the Lord as I have proved Him.”
- In pairs, look up and choose one promise of God from the Bible.
- Each person writes down one specific way they will act on that promise this week.
- Look back together over the thirteen weeks and name one moment in Ramabai’s story that stayed with you most.
- Invite anyone who wishes to tell you later what happened when they acted on their promise.