Raja Rajeswari, the first person of Indian descent to become a judge in New York City, says the first love was dance. As a young woman in Chennai, she had mastered Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. Dance also gave her the opportunity to travel and one of her stops was New York — it was easy enough to fall in love with the metropolis.
So, at the tender age of 16 she decided to follow her heart and moved to the Big Apple. The rest, as they say, is history.
A life hard earned
Life was not without its share of trials though. Brilliant in academics and two dance forms, Rajeswari lost her mother Padma Ramanathan, in a road accident while on the way to perform at a charity event in Canada. But she recovered from the trauma to continue to perform brilliantly in her law studies at the Brooklyn Law School and then from the College of Staten Island to pass summa cum laude, moving on to practice with the District Attorney’s Office in Richmond County.
A classic immigrant’s tale
Rajeswari’s story is a classic tale of an immigrant making it big in the US. Does she subscribe to the general theory that immigrants work harder in an alien country? “Absolutely. But you also do have incredible opportunities here. You have to be able and willing to work really hard to take advantage of those opportunities,” she says. But has she faced any discrimination so far? “I have personally not faced any major discrimination other than everyday gender discrimination. But I have always felt that women in India are discriminated from birth due to a variety of reasons, not the least of which is money and the financial burden that a daughter brings to bear on her parents.”
Early days
She recalls her early years in Chennai – Boston Matriculation School in Nandanam, her mother “Sudarkodi” Padma’s Padmalaya Dance Academy on Bharathi Dasan Road, visiting many countries with her mother’s dance troupe – most fondly while also admitting candidly that though they did not have a lot of money, what helped was that their lives were filled with music and dance. “I was fortunate to be brought up in an atmosphere where my parents taught me to respect everyone regardless of religion, caste or social standing.”
Social service
Rajeshwari has also been able to do a very humane task in addressing trauma of people as the deputy chief of the Special Victims Unit. Dealing with domestic abuse was also very much in her field of work as a prosecuting attorney and she admits to coming across numerous cases of spousal and child abuse within the South Asian community in New York.
“My mother bequeathed me with her love for dance and the inherent belief that the world could become a better place if there was even one person who cared enough. I believe that if an immigrant like me from a city in India, can make history by becoming the first South Asian female judge in New York City, there is hope for every young woman who aspires to a higher office,” she says.
On women’s plight in India
It was almost embarrassing to ask her then about the gender discrimination in India, but in the manner of a lawyer who has fought such causes, she was blunt. “Any Indian government, whether it is BJP or any other party, must acknowledge that horrendous crimes such as gangrape are still present to this day and it is not acceptable.
“Unless it is a gruesome death, no one pays attention to the victimisation of women. They rarely report these crimes because they know they are never going to be taken seriously. Until we deal with our ingrained social prejudices and end discrimination of women in our society, we will never be able to achieve our true potential as a country.”
So, what impelled her to take on a tough profession like law in New York? “Seeing my young female friends married off in lieu of an education deeply affected me since many of them were brilliant. One of the reasons I wanted to become an attorney was to show that women can succeed in anything they set their minds to, especially in an important field like law,” says the 42-year-old, who has seen the best of cultural life as an ambassador of dance, a law student with a dream in Brooklyn and as a tough prosecuting attorney.
Changes needed back home
And if she were to change something in India, what would it be? “The speed and access to justice administered here is something to take note of. While it’s not perfect in the US, it is still much more efficient than the legal system in India.” What she likes best about the US administration of justice is that everyone, regardless of his or her sex, race, colour, sexual orientation or social standing, has the opportunity to seek justice. But overall, what brings out her greatness beyond her achievements in her field is the fact that Rajeswari made a career choice and joined public service in lieu of a financially lucrative career so she could serve the community, which had given her so much.
