Gloria Steinem, a prominent American feminist and journalist who passed away this week at the age of 92, spent a transformative year in India in 1957. At 22, she had recently earned a degree in government from Smith College and was traveling on a Chester Bowles fellowship, which supported young Americans in international study. Steinem described her time in India as a "pivotal, life-dividing event [that] made me who I am." During this period, she was engaged to Blair Chotzinoff, a pilot from a prominent New York family, but she found the idea of marriage oppressive, seeing it as a "end of life to me." To fund her trip, she secured a free airline ticket in exchange for an article she never ended up writing. While waiting for her Indian visa in London, Steinem discovered she was pregnant and had an illegal abortion. This experience deepened her conviction that reproductive freedom was essential for women to control their own lives. Upon arriving in Delhi, her romanticized visions of "ageless beauty and jewelled elephants" were replaced by the harsh reality of poverty, where people slept on sidewalks and doorsteps. Steinem lived at Miranda House, one of Delhi University's leading women's colleges, and immersed herself in student life. She adopted the sari as her everyday clothing, believing it helped her stand taller and move more deliberately. Her family had been Theosophists, a spiritual movement influenced by Hindu and Buddhist beliefs such as karma and reincarnation. At college, Steinem wrote a paper on the Communist Party of India. As her fellowship funds ran out, Steinem supported herself by writing for Indian newspapers, doing advertising work, and occasionally modeling, including posing in saris. During her travels, she met Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, a former princess and follower of Mahatma Gandhi who became India's first health minister, and spent time with Indira Gandhi, whom she described as "shy to uncertainty, gentle and a little whimsical." At a Radical Humanist study camp in Mussoorie, followers of the former communist MN Roy discussed democracy, individual freedom, and political organization. Steinem later said she learned that "radical" could mean "going to the root," emphasizing that the means chosen shape the ends achieved. Some of Steinem’s most profound political education occurred during her travels. On a journey from Calcutta to Kerala, she traveled in a third-class railway carriage reserved for women, which she later called "a dormitory on wheels." Women shared food, nursing babies and discussing topics like marriage, childbirth, and family life. Steinem realized that these interactions were crucial, as they would not have happened if she had been isolated. Years before American feminist groups used "consciousness-raising" to connect women over shared experiences, Steinem observed Indian women exchanging intimate stories. One of her most impactful experiences came after caste violence erupted in what was then Madras state in 1957. Steinem joined workers associated with the movement of Vinoba Bhave, a leading disciple of Gandhi, who were walking from village to village to counter rumors and encourage dialogue. She traveled with only a cup, a comb, and her sari. In settlements scarred by violence, meetings were held under trees and in village courtyards. Steinem learned the importance of listening before offering solutions, a lesson she carried with her for life. Steinem returned to the United States in 1958, more than a decade before becoming a leading figure in the women's movement. She later recalled that it was only after the women's movement began that she could integrate her time in India into her life. She often linked her later organizing methods with her Indian experiences, saying, "The first organizing I did was in India, though I didn’t realize it then." When Ms. magazine, which Steinem co-founded, released its spring 1972 preview issue, the cover featured an American housewife depicted as the Hindu goddess Kali, pregnant and holding symbols of domestic tasks. Steinem said the image was inspired by her time in India.