In discussions of Pandit Nilakantha Das’s life and work, not much attention has been paid to the character and strength of the women around him. Yet, starting from his mother, Smt. Hira Debi, and extending to his wife and daughters, the women of his household were striking examples of empowered individuals. They made many of the important decisions involved in managing and caring for the household, thereby freeing the men in their lives to pursue public responsibilities. At the same time, they extended help and support to less fortunate women in their community.
Instead of objecting to such independence and responsibility among women, Nilakantha actively encouraged it.
He also encouraged the well-known Odia poetess Smt. Kuntala Kumari Sabat, as well as several other women whom he came to know through his social and political life.
Even professionally, although Satyabadi School was not a co-educational system in line with its time and place, Nilakantha appreciated the equality between men and women. This had attracted him to Lord Tennyson’s poetry “The Princess” for this theme, and he adopted it to Odia. A stanza from this book Pranayini is given below:

                                                        “…If the female falls, the male cannot stand tall.
                                                                                       In chains or in freedom, men and women walk as one!
                                                            From earliest dawn, the female is nurtured by the male,
                                                                                      In Nature’s grand design, in a sacred bond,
                                                          They ascend together, hand in hand, progress’s carved steps beyond.”
                                                                                                                                                      (Translated from Odia to English)

Here we present the life stories of two women, who were supported by Nilakantha directly and indirectly, to be helpful inspirational to many. They are:
(a) Nilakantha’s wife Smt. Radhamani Debi, and
(b) Her childhood friend: a poor, widowed woman named Smt. Dhanamani Debi.