Pandita Indrani Rampersad

Indrani is a women’s activist who, in 2013, received Trinidad and Tobago’s national award GOLD for Outstanding Contribution to The Development of Women’s Rights and Issues in the sphere of Religion and Community. She studied at Benares Hindu University (India) for the BA Hon degree (1976); and at the University of Pune (India) for the Master’s Degree (1998) and PhD (2003) in Communication and Journalism. In her professional life she has worked as a teacher in Trinidad and New York and as a senior journalist in Trinidad. Indrani is also Trinidad and Tobago’s first state certified female Vedic-Hindu priest in the Arya Samaj tradition. She is retired but fully consumed in research and publication of scholarly papers on Indian Culture and Dharma in the indentured Indian diaspora. Her latest publication, “Ram Lila-s in North India and Mauritius” was published by Ayodhya Research Institute (India) in 2008. Indrani continues to work tirelessly to encourage women and girls to dream the big dream, reach for the skies, and derive empowerment from their spiritual identity. She is a Peace Advocate who propagates mutual respect as a necessity for harmonious living; and sees cultural identity as a human right.