Freda Bedi

Freda Houlston

Sister Palmo

New Delhi, India

Freda Houlston was born in Derby. After her father was killed during his service during the First World War, her mother remarried, and Freda was educated in Derby and France. She excelled academically and had a particular aptitude for French. In 1929 she obtained three competitive scholarships to read French at St Hugh’s, University of Oxford.

At Oxford, Freda became friends with women who would go on to occupy important roles in British social and political life. They included Barbara Castle (then known as Barbara Betts), who became a Labour MP and the first woman to become a Secretary of State, and Olive Shapley, a pioneering radio producer. Over time, Freda became disillusioned with the stark contrasts between the privileges Oxford offered and the suffering many people across Britain were experiencing because of the Great Depression. This influenced her politics, and she became involved with left-wing societies such as the Labour Club and October Club, a Communist student organization which attracted Indian students such as Syed Sajjad Zaheer, founder of the Communist Party of Pakistan. Her spirituality and commitment to non-violent resistance was similarly affected by encounters in Oxford, such as talks given by Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi.

During this period, she met Baba Pyare Lal Bedi, also known as BPL, a PPE student who was similarly involved in left-wing student organizations and the Oxford Majlis, which was an important space for Indian students who were committed to the cause of Indian independence. They shared common interests in social change and Communist politics. As students, they co-wrote a three-volume book titled India Analysed on contemporary Indian politics and society, which was published by Victor Gollancz in 1933–4. Moreover, Freda became increasingly committed to the cause of Indian independence and was introduced to like-minded students. Her romantic relationship with BPL was controversial. Freda was shunned by her peers, and BPL was the target of harassment. Freda was, at one point, caught going into BPL’s room without a chaperone and was banned for the rest of the academic year. On 12 June 1933 Freda and BPL married at the Oxford Registrar’s Office. It was the first recorded instance of a white Oxford undergraduate marrying a racialized minority student and the issue was discussed among statesmen from both Britain and India. Freda married knowing BPL’s commitment to Indian independence and Gandhi’s resistance movement, and understood that his arrest was therefore likely.

In 1934, after a year in Berlin where BPL studied at Friedrich Wilhelm University, Freda, BPL and their son travelled to India. During their time in Berlin, the couple became friends with Subhas Chandra Bose and continued to support the Indian independence movement. They settled in Lahore, and Freda became a journalist. She contributed to publications such as The Tribune and the journal Contemporary India. By 1939, BPL was jailed for four years for taking part in violent resistance against British imperialism. Later, Freda was also arrested for involvement in Gandhi’s civil disobedience campaigns as a satyagrahi. Freda continued fighting for independence and social justice after her release.

In 1947 the Bedis moved to Srinagar in Kashmir, where they were involved in Kashmiri nationalist politics, education and social change. By 1956 she became a Tibetan Buddhist after being sent to Burma by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on a UNESCO mission. She became a prominent Buddhist and the first western woman to be ordained as a Buddhist nun. Her new name became Karma Kechog Palmo.

Her son, Kabir Bedi, is a prominent actor in the Indian film industry.

Freda Bedi died on 26 March 1977 in New Delhi.