A shepherd girl becomes the first Muslim woman Education Minister of France!

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education, obstacle, politics, struggle, woman

 Always be a first-rate version of yourself instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. –Judy Garland

She was born in Nador(a small village in the countryside of Morrocco) in 1977.The village was so backward that it did not even have electricity. Her father was a construction worker. She was the second child among seven siblings. She learned the meaning of struggle and hard work at an early age, as the 4-year-old was forced to tend goats and gather water from a nearby well. She moved to the suburbs of Amiens in France in 1982 with her family and faced the real world full of opportunities as well as struggles. She fell prey to a cultural shock. Suddenly, she was surrounded by a host of obstacles, the major one being language, as she didn’t know French. Hold your breath, because this girl has grown up to become a very charming Muslim woman and the youngest person ever to become the French Minister of Education. The journey wasn’t easy, but she had no plans to quit either. She decimated every obstacle that came in her way.

Talking about her struggle, she said, “The fact of leaving one’s country, one’s family, one’s root can be painful, my father had already found his place, but for us, for my mother, it was very difficult to get our bearing.”

Najat Belkacem inherited hard work and resourcefulness from her father who laid strict rules for his daughters – no boys and no nightclubs till the age of 18. As a result, the girls completely surrendered themselves to studies. The Moroccan girl who had no proficiency in French learned the language by the end of her first year in college.  Najat’s sister, Fatiha, is a lawyer in Paris. Najat worked two jobs to take the financial load off her parents while pursuing her Master’s in Public Administration. She developed an interest in politics from a very tender age.

After studying hard for years, Najat graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Studies in 2002. Soon after, she joined the Socialist Party and began her fight for citizens’ rights, against discrimination, and housing for all. She married to civil servant Boris Vallaud in 2005 after courting in the university. She also gave birth to a set of twins – a boy and a girl. She also became an adviser to the Socialist Party in the same year.

Soon, her handwork paid off and she was chosen as a council woman in Rhone Alpines and stayed in office till 2008. She was later designated as the Council General of the Rhone department. By then, she had strongly set her foothold in politics.

However, a major turn in her life came when she was elected as Minister of Women’s Rights and spokeswoman for the government under President Hollande, in 2012. As a woman affairs minister, she supported the legislation of gay marriage and gender ideology even as she was criticised by many. After becoming the Education Minister, Belkacem, who calls herself a non-practicing Muslim, made headlines because of her statement that she was opposed to both –from someone being forced to wear burkinis as well as the bans on the swimwear, calling it “a threat to individuals’ freedoms.” Belkacem, however, continues to be attacked in the country for being an immigrant. Sometimes she has also been accused of “flaunting her charms.”

In 2014, she served as the Minister of Women’s Right, Minister of City Affairs, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports. In a major cabinet shuffle, she was promoted to serve as the Minister of Education.

From a shepherd girl to the French Education Minister, Belkacem is a living example that keeping faith in our children and investing in them in a right way, like in proper education can be rewarding. She is an inspiration to millions who have had poor childhoods but wish to succeed immensely in their careers and lives.While advising the youth who want to participate in the country’s politics, Najat said, “I have always advised the youths to get involved in politics. The best way to be happy with your future is by playing a part in it. If you’re just a spectator of collective fate, you’re bound to feel frustrated.”

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The first Afghan female taxi driver

You are about to read the 146 th post on this blog….

“The best protection any woman can have … is courage.”

– Elizabeth Cady Stant

Even now, when it is not common to find lady taxi drivers in India, it is my proud privilege to present Sara Bahai, who fought against all odds and dared to become a lady taxi driver in the male-dominated terror struck Afghanistan.

Sara has very dark memories of her childhood. She recalls many tears and heartache from the years of war and persecution and her father was killed in action 36 years ago. Growing up, it was easier for Sara to live as a boy and act as a tomboy because it was so difficult being a female in a Taliban-run country. “As a kid, I was a real tomboy. I used to wear boy’s clothes. No one could tell I was a girl. But my parents were very supportive of my personality and gave me the freedom to live my life as I wanted. I was very lucky to have parents like that.”

Sara never had any interest in dolls growing up and always played with her brother’s toy cars instead. “I used to make cars with match boxes because my father could not afford many toys,” Sara remembers, who has never worn the all-blue Burka the Taliban had made compulsory for women on the rare occasions they left their home.

While the majority of the country celebrated the fall of the Taliban in 2002, Sara quickly signed up for a two-week professional driving course with the Chief Officer of the Traffic Police and applied for a license to legally start driving her red Toyota Corolla DX.Then, Sara decided to make money for her family and become a full-time taxi driver.

And when Sara finally got behind a wheel and drove a car for the first time she felt as if she was flying. She said: ‘The first time I drove a car I felt as if someone had given me wings. I cannot express the feeling; ‘it was beautiful’. It was my neighbor’s car and I drove for just a few miles around our neighborhood but it was enough – I was hooked. After that, I was determined to learn to drive and buy my own car.’

To attain her driving license, Sara took a class with 30 other people, all of whom were men. They were always ready to vent vitriol for her. But, that did not deter her, and she was among the 10 people in that class to finally get a license.

Sara said: “When women get into my car and see a woman driver they start smiling and giggling, they say they’re very proud of me. I think they’re glad at least one woman is living an independent life. In my taxi, they talk freely. They feel comfortable and talk about families, husbands and crack jokes.” But not all Sara’s customers are as accepting.

Narrating her mixed experiences Sara said, “My male customers are never happy with me. They believe it’s very un-Islamic for a woman to drive – they still have very primitive thinking. They accuse me of setting a bad example for women and nasty things come out of their mouths. But I do not get depressed; I tell them exactly what I think. A woman driving a car is not nonreligious and their opinions are ludicrous.” When people first saw Sara as a taxi driver they laughed at her. But it did not deter her. She was confident about her decision. She wanted to show the world that Afghanistan women are not born to just get married and have children. They can work, look after themselves and be independent too.

Sara Bahai has dedicated her life to caring for her mother Bibi, 60, to helping her sister care for her seven children, after the death of her husband in 2000 during the war against the Taliban. When asked about the reason for not getting married, she said “I’ve had many men ask me to marry them but I’ve never agreed. I have no regrets. I broke the marriage rule in my family because there was no one to feed us or make money so I had to step in as the strong one.” Amongst Sara’s six sisters and seven brothers, Sara is the only one not to marry. But Sara has watched her sisters in very unhappy marriages. So much so Sara adopted her sister’s two sons, now 12 and 18 years old and studying in school because her husband was a drug addict and couldn’t provide for them. She does not believe in taking chances with her safety, so she keeps a loaded hunting rifle at her shanty in a poor neighborhood, at all times.

She doesn’t even pay a mechanic to check her car; she does all the repairs herself. And makes, even more, money by buying and selling second-hand cars. Sara admits she has been very lucky to have never faced any threats from the Taliban, but she knows many women who are too scared to take one step outside their home.

Sara is now determined to contribute as much as she can to the prosperity of Afghan women – and she is doing that by starting her own driving school. She already has three female students learning to drive and she is getting more requests every day. She dreams of having a bustling driving school generating thousands of Afghan female taxi drivers of the future.

Besides trailblazing a path for women on Afghan roads and supporting her family, Bahai is also an active human rights activist. “When I get a call, I have to get the scene as soon as possible and solve the problem,” says Bahai, who works with a coalition of human rights groups in Balkh Province. “This car can be of a lot of help for me. Helping others with family-related issues is one of the reasons why I bought this car.” Still, she claims to have saved several divorces and to have helped many women study.

When asked to give a message for Afghan women she said: “stand up for yourselves, set goals and achieve them, and help to make Afghanistan a happy place to live.”

She works as a house maid and secured 85 % marks in PU exam!

“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.”

–Colin Powell

She has scored 84. 8 per cent in the science stream in the second PU exam and dreams of bigger academic goals. But that doesn’t complete the picture. This high-scorer cleaned bathrooms and scrubbed utensils, cooking and nursing, while juggling studies. That’s 17-year-old Shalini A, whose life story is more like an obstacle race.

Shalini had studied in Tamil medium from class one to seven, when she was shifted to Kannada medium till tenth standard. She then shifted to English medium for her PU studies at SGPTA-Deeksha College. If coping with frequent changes in the medium was not daunting enough, there were bigger challenges on the home front too.

Shalini, a resident of Mariyappanapalya near Rajajinagar, said her father who worked as a laborer, had been bedridden for over a decade after falling off a building. He has started moving around only recently, though he is still confined to the house. After the accident, her mother took up work as a housemaid in several houses so that she could provide for Shalini and her brother. With her mum away, the young girl had to run the show in her own house, doing everything from cooking to cleaning.

Just before the II PU exams, another tragedy struck the family. Her younger brother was diagnosed with third stage blood cancer. Shalini would often be in hospital with a book in her hand. “If I had not put in so much time in the hospital, I might have scored better. But my brother is more important to me than marks,” says the gritty teen, who has been thrown into another tough situation now. With her mother spending most of the day tending to her brother, Shalini had to take up her mother’s jobs. Though she’s preparing for CET now, she also maintains a grueling work schedule.

Explaining her schedule, Shalini said, “I wake up around 4.30 am. After finishing my household chores, I rush to five houses close by where my job is to sprinkle water and draw Rangoli.”She’s done by 6 am after which she rushes to an office where she mops the floors and cleans the bathrooms. “The work ends by 7.30 am and then I head to another house to wash clothes. I am relatively free by 9 am and go home to prepare for CET. My study, coupled with my household chores, ends by 12.30 pm when it’s time to step out again for two more jobs. I come back by 4.30 pm and have time till 6 pm to study.” After quickly squeezing in some studies, she is out for more work, returning only at night and once again pouring into her books till midnight.

The teenager credits her college officials with encouraging her to study. “She is a hardworking girl, friendly with everyone and attentive in nature. Despite her family’s condition, she always has a smile on her face,” Prathap Naidu, SGPTA PU College principal, Thyagarajnagar, said. Shalini has no qualms about the hard work, saying she is happy to support her family.

Life has not been kind enough for her as she had to face agony while pursuing her studies.”I aimed for scoring marks in the range of 90 to 95 percent, but could not, as I had to attend to my ailing brother, “she said. Her ambition is to become the first engineer in her family.

The family stays in a small house shared with Shalini’s mother Vijaya’s brother and his wife. Vijaya only studied till Class V, and her husband is illiterate. But she was perhaps her daughter’s biggest inspiration. Many say the real test of life is usually outside the examination hall. If that is the case, young Shalini is already a winner.

Gulabi Gang

“The strength of a woman is not measured by the impact that all her hardships in life have had on her; but the strength of a woman is measured by the extent of her refusal to allow those hardships to dictate her and who she becomes.”

― C. JoyBell C.

Bundelkhand is one of the poorest parts of the Uttar Pradesh. It’s also one of the most populated areas of an already hugely overpopulated country. The inhabitants face a daily struggle for survival as they cope with infertile land, a corrupt judicial system, and India’s oppressive, outdated caste hierarchy. Domestic violence and discrimination against women is the order of the day. In the midst of this plight, a group of vigilantes who call themselves the Gulabi Gang is fighting, often literally, for equality. The gang is made up of over 10,000 women, all of whom wear the Gulabi uniform of pink saris. They specialize in the lathi, a traditional Indian fighting stick.

Sampat Pal Devi 

 Sampat Pal Devi is a 47 year old wiry woman, wife of an ice cream vendor, mother of five children, who set up and leads the “pink gang”. Her seeds of rebellion were sown very early on when in face of her parents’ resistance to send her to school, she began writing and drawing on the walls, floors and dust-caked village streets. She finally ended up going to school, but was married off when she was nine, in a region where child marriages are common. At 12, she went to live with her husband and at 13 she had her first child. To keep the home fires burning, Sampat Devi began to work as a government health worker, but she quit after a while because her job was not satisfying enough. “I wanted to work for the people, not for myself alone. I was already holding meetings with people, networking with women who were ready to fight for a cause, and was ready with a group of women,” she says.

“The word ‘gang’ doesn’t necessarily denote criminals,” she said. “It can also be used to describe a team, a crew. We are a gang for justice. In rallies and protests outside our villages, especially in crowded cities, our members used to get lost in the rush. We decided to dress in a single color, which would be easy to identify. We didn’t want to be associated with other colors as they had associations with political or religious groups. We settled on pink, the color of life. It’s good. It makes the administration wary of us” she added.

In June 2013, the ‘Gulabis ‘accomplished their biggest triumph. After receiving complaints that a government-run fair-price shop in Attara was not giving out grain as it should have been, Sampat Devi and her gang decided to keep a covert watch over the shop owner. The gang intercepted two truckloads laden with Below Poverty Line-designated grain on their way to the open market. Armed with this evidence, the gang members pressurized the local administration to seize the grain and hand over the shop owner to the police, but again the case wasn’t even registered. The angry gang members attacked and assaulted one of the police officers. Though no formal complaint has been made, the incident immensely bolstered the credibility of the gang in the region.

Some members of the local community compare Sampat Devi to the legendary Queen of Jhansi, Laxmibai. They show their gratitude by supporting the gang. Babloo Mishra allows the gang to use his premises for an office. “The best thing is that these women will take up anyone’s cause as long as it’s genuine, not only those of its members,” he said.

Claiming to be the commander of the Gulabi Gang, Sampat says “I started the association in the 1990s, but I named it the ‘Gulabi Gang’ in 2006. We aim to empower women, promote child education with an emphasis on girls, and stop corruption and domestic violence. I visit numerous villages every day and meet the various members of the gang. We have gang meetings where we decide the plan of action.” Elaborating the modus operandi she added “First we go to the police and request them to do something. But since the administration is callous, we often end up taking matters into our own hands. We first speak to the husband who is beating his wife. If he doesn’t understand then we ask his wife to join us while we beat him with lathis.”When asked about the success rate she said “Our missions have a 100 percent success rate. We have never failed in bringing justice when it comes to domestic problems. Dealing with the administration is the tricky part since we cannot always take the law in our hands. We did beat up some corrupt officials but we were ultimately helpless. The goons of the corrupt officials and the political parties constantly threaten me. ”

Sampat’s family didn’t always support her, but when she resisted and explained to her husband, he understood and supported her. Talking about her difficulties she said “I don’t have enough money. I travel everywhere on an old bicycle. Some of our supporters help us with small donations and charity.” When asked about the future plans she said “I want this movement to carry on and would like support from international or local agencies. I work on a grassroots level and want to set up a small-scale industry for the poor villagers whom I work with. We have talented young men and women who can make organic manure, candles, Ayurvedic medicines, and pickles. They could earn a decent livelihood. If I get funded, I can set up a stitching center for women who can then support their families.”

A great deal needs to be done in the region, and people like Sampat Devi are making a huge difference. Although some cases have been registered against the gang, she believes it is not about breaking rules; it is about standing up and fighting for your rights. “Village society in India is biased against women. It refuses to educate them, marries them off too early, and barters them for money. The girls should be educated and made self-reliant,” she says.

Last year, Sampat Devi contested the state polls as an independent candidate but could muster only 2,800 votes. “Joining politics is not my chosen way to help people. We will keep up our good work, so the state does not take us for granted,” she says. In the badlands of Uttar Pradesh where nothing seems to work for the poor, this itself is a laudable aim. The future of the Gulabi Gang is bright. It’s a people’s movement and will grow bigger and bigger in the future provided we get support from the local administration. The Gulabi gang is the subject of the 2010 movie ‘Pink Saris’ by Kim Longinotto as also the 2012 documentary ‘Gulabi Gang’ by Nishtha Jain.

A bestselling author who works as a domestic help!

“Nature creates ability, luck provides it with opportunity”

_Francois de la Rochefoucauld

The new maid Professor Prabodh Kumar found through the milkman behaved oddly. All day the Bengali lady, a mother of three, worked hard and silently, sweeping, mopping, cooking; but her busy hands would still as she dusted the books, the dust cloth moving with unnecessary slowness through the pages of his Bengali books. Prabodh, a retired professor of Anthropology and a grandson of Munshi Premchand, the well-known Hindi and Urdu writer finally confronted her. “Do you read?” She looked as guilty as if he’d caught her hand in the biscuit tin. Can you believe it, the same maid servant has written two best sellers? She has been on book tours to cities such as Paris, Frankfurt and Hong Kong; her books have been translated into 12 foreign languages — including French, German and Japanese. It is my privilege to share this incredible story with you.

Baby Halder was born and grew up largely in Murshidabad, in West Bengal. She had a motherless childhood and an abusive father. She was abandoned by her mother when she was 7. She had been to school intermittently. Her step-mother married her off at the tender age of 13 years to a man twice her age.  She was pregnant soon after. She had two more children, and then her husband attacked her with a stone for speaking to another man. With remarkable determination, she walked out and took a train to Delhi with her children, where she started work as a household cleaner. Her employers were largely abusive, one forcing her to lock her children in the attic, another demanding never-ending chores and massages.

      Baby Halder with Prof Prabodh Kumar          

When the kind professor offered her the use of his bookshelves, she hesitantly chose Taslima Nasreen’s Amar Meyebela (My Girlhood). “It was as if,” recalls Baby, “I was reading about my own life.” Other books left Prabodh’s shelf in rapid succession: novels by Ashapurna Devi, Mahashweta Devi, Buddhadeb Guha. That was when Prabodh went out one day and bought her a pen and notebook. “Write,” he told her, an order that made Baby almost weep with frustration. “I was nervous when I held the pen in my fingers. I had not written anything since my school days. But when I started writing, words began to flow effortlessly. In fact, writing turned out to be a cathartic experience,” revealed Halder, who has studied up to seventh grade.  “What she wrote had enormous depth. In fact, I showed it to my friends and they agreed with me,” said Kumar, who has translated Halder’s books into Hindi. In fact, her first book ‘Aalo Aandhari’ (Light and Darkness) was published in 2002 in Hindi. In 2006, it was published in English, titled ‘A Life Less Ordinary: A Memoir.

Recalling her experiences of writing she said “It was nearly 20 years since I had ever written in a notebook, I had forgotten spellings. It was very embarrassing, especially when my children wanted to know why I was writing in a notebook instead of them.” But her first words worked their own magic: they unlocked her past. All her searing, suppressed memories of the mother who abandoned them, the night when the man she married climbed into her bed and raped her, the sister who was strangled by her husband, the terror and pain of delivering her first child at 13, memories she had never confided to anyone, didn’t even realize she had, flowed out into the notebook. There was no stopping Baby now. She wrote in the kitchen, propping her notebook between the vegetables and dishes, she wrote in between sweeping and swabbing, after the dishes and before, and late at night after putting her children to bed.

The results were even more unexpected. “All I had in mind when I urged her to write was to take her mind off her problems. But the closely-written pages of the notebook were astonishingly good,” says Prabodh. Mr. Kumar explained that he helped Ms. Halder reorder the text so it became a chronological account of her life, removing repetition and fixing grammar. He said that at first her spelling and handwriting were poor, but that she swiftly improved and gradually gained greater sophistication as a writer. He was excited but did not trust his own judgment. He consulted friends Ashok Seksariya and Ramesh Goswami with whom he shared a common interest in literature. Both were enthused by Baby’s manuscript, hailing it as another Diary of Anne Frank. Prabodh was persuaded to translate it into Hindi. Aalo Aandhari (Light and Darkness) was ready. But finding a publisher for such an unusual narrative was tougher; the book was too strange for their tastes. But Sanjay Bharti, who owns a small publishing house, Roshani Publishers, agreed to risk it even if it lost him money.

There was, however, yet another surprise in store for all the four friends of literature: Aalo Aandhari began selling from the first day of its launch. “Everyone from the sweeper to the retired headmistress next door wanted to buy a copy.” It sold so well that the second edition was out in less than two months. Noted directors like Prakash Jha have shown interest in making a film on it, someone wants to make a play out of it, others want to translate it into English, Oriya, Tamil, Telugu; and a new literary magazine in Calcutta, Bhasha Bandhan, will start serialising the book in Bengali. “This is not a book that can be read and tossed aside. It raises questions about the fate of the millions of domestic workers in our country and their ill treatment,” a review in the newspaper The Hindu concluded. “Truly this is a story of courage under fire. It also illustrates how Indian society treats women who leave their husbands, stigmatizing them and pushing them to the margins of existence.” But for Baby, the best thing about her rebirth as an author is the regard of her new friends. “For the first time in my life, I feel confident that my story is worth telling, and in my own words.” However, there is an intriguing twist in the tale of Baby Halder. This 39-year-old prolific writer does not like to be called an author.”I am a domestic help, not a writer,” said Halder, who has two best-selling books to her credit. She lives in a temporary room on the terrace.

She is often invited to speak at literary festivals across the country. Halder has rubbed shoulders with many top writers at literary festivals and seminar across the world. She is a fan of Arundhati Roy, Taslima Nasrin and Jhumpa Lahiri.  Halder has built a house in Kolkata with earnings from her books. “I need not work as a domestic help anymore, but I am not comfortable leaving my employer who is a father-like figure to me. But eventually I hope to move to Kolkata someday, which I think is the best place for people who want to write in Bengali,” said Halder.Her two children, Tapas, 20, and Piya 17 – are aspiring to become fashion designers.

She rejected a drunk bridegroom

“Alcoholism does more havoc than three historical scourge together; famine, plague and war”

-William Gladstone

It is the third of April 2015.The wedding festivities are in full swing. People are singing, dancing and making merry. They have enjoyed the feast laid out by the parents of the bride. The priest is now guiding the bride and bridegroom to take the seven vows around the sacred fire. He is also explaining the meaning of the seven vows for a healthy, happy married life. The bride observes that the bridegroom is under the influence of alcohol, so much so that he cannot stand on his own .He is being supported by his relatives to stand and move around the sacred fire. There is no time to consult anyone, she takes a decision of her lifetime. She tells the priest to stop it and walks out. She declares that she is not going to get married to a drunkard. People are shocked and surprised-some are amused and bewildered at this bizarre turn of events. This is not the shooting of a film or television serial but a reality. Yes they say reality bites.

If you thought this could happen only in the metro cities of India, then you will be surprised that now even girls in rural India are standing up for themselves. A small tribal hamlet of Chattisgarh was a witness to this truly courageous happening. The bride who is the heroine of this story is twenty year old Urmila Sonwani of village ‘Devbhog’ about 250 kms from the capital Raipur. Urmila is a school dropout after class eight, and works as a daily wage labourer along with her father. The village is so backward that it does not even have proper roads, school or medical facilities. Urmila’s father cannot even afford a mobile phone.

                Urmila with her parents

Urmila’s father was very happy when he came to know that his daughter’s marriage had been finalized to a boy employed in the government sector. In order to arrange for a decent marriage, he had to sell half the small piece of land that he had inherited. But Urmila who took the spontaneous decision of her lifetime to reject the drunkard bridegroom, has no regrets. She consoles her parents by saying that at least her life has been saved from being ruined. She said “if I had fallen seriously ill a lot of money would have been spent in my medical treatment” She has actually saved herself from a disastrous marriage and a drunkard husband who would have made life hell for her!

Urmila’s parents were shocked when she abruptly walked out of the marriage ritual. But she boldly told the entire gathering “what will be my future if I marry a man who cannot support himself, how will he support me?” The news of a girl refusing to marry a drunk groom spread like wild fire in the village. The local panchayat members of ‘Gada ’community met and discussed the case. They supported the brave action of Urmila. They decided to ostracize the family of the bridegroom for such an obnoxious act. The priests of the area decided not to solemnize any marriage where the bridegroom or his relatives are intoxicated.

The active role played by the media in highlighting this incident alerted the CG government. Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh praised Urmila for her courageous decision. Her parents were also presented a certificate by the District Collector Mr Niranjan Das at a special function held in their honour. The Minister for Women and Child Development Ms Ramsheela Sahu visited Urmila’s parents and touched their feet. She praised them for the bold act of their daughter. She declared that Urmila would be the brand ambassador for her Ministry, who would lead the de addiction campaign called ‘Mata Vahini’ in the state. The story of Urmila would also be included in school text books for motivation of girls. Moreover Urmila would also be honoured in State functions. The amount of awareness this incident has generated, can be gauged from the fact that a group of about 40 girls  formed ‘Urmila Vahini’ and took a pledge not to get married to alcoholics. Shankarachatya Jagatguru Swami Swarupanand Saraswati has supported Urmila saying that if the marriage rituals are performed under the influence of liquor then they are not valid.

Let’s take a look at similar incidents happening across the country.  In Ajnar, a small village near Kanpur, in the Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh, Neha, daughter of Shripat Ahirwar, was ready for her ‘jaimal,’ a ritual in Hindu weddings. All of a sudden, she noticed that the groom, Arvind, a native of Ragauli village, was in a drunken state and was fighting with her siblings over the music. Neha’s siblings had stopped the music since it was disturbing the priest, but Arvind and his friends created a scene over this.Neha did not take any time in announcing before the gathering that she would not marry Arvind. She could not tolerate the fact that the boy who was going to be her life partner had come inebriated at their wedding ceremony and hurled abuses at her relatives. When Neha refused to budge, the ‘baraat’ had to return. “She refused to marry the man who was drunk. I did not force her to marry against her wishes,” said her father.

Puneshwari of Medha village, near Bilaspur, too took a courageous step of refusing to marry Deepak Yadav of Mendra village, who, she got to know, was drunk even before the wedding ceremonies began. Deepak’s family pleaded before Puneshwari’s family but to no avail. The villagers too wholeheartedly supported the bride’s decision.

When Dhannu Kumar took his wedding procession from Chakmusa village in Patna district to Navratanpur village in the same district, little did he think that his drunkenness will cost him a bride.  When Renu Kumari saw that the groom had not only reached the wedding venue under the influence of alcohol but was also misbehaving with several of her relatives, she took the bold step of not only ordering the marriage party out of her home but also filing a case against the groom and 25 others for assaulting the wedding guests. What’s more – the groom was arrested and sent to jail for this unacceptable behaviour!

India is now truly shining! India is truly an incredible country. At a time when we are surrounded by reports of rapes, domestic violence, honour killings and the like, these girls who have refused to accept drunkards as their life partners, have brought  pride and glory to the women fraternity. May their tribe increase!

An acid attack victim finds a life partner

In 2003, when she was 17, Sonali Mukherjee had a bright future in front of her. She was captain of the National Cadet Corps (NCC), president of the student union and an honors student, wishing to pursue a degree in sociology. All she wanted to do was provide a better life for her family, whom she had seen struggling for the most basic things. She was a very pretty girl then, as one can see from the photograph below. Unfortunately she had to pay a heavy price for her beautiful face and charming personality. She was not prepared to tolerate any nonsense.  

                 Three men, one of who was in his 40s and one was an 18-year-old, would follow her every day, pass lewd comments and harass her. “When it increased, I decided to protest. I had lots of guts then… I was part of the NCC and was a senior sergeant…I told them to stop troubling me or I will complain to the police,” Ms Muherjee said. The three criminals, who she named as – Tapas Mitra, Sanjay Paswan, and Bhrahmadev Hajra – told her that she had become very “ghamandi” (arrogant) and they would teach her a lesson. Tapas Mitra, had proposed to her but she turned it down.  She told her father of the incident and he in turn complained to the families of the three men. Nothing happened for one and a half months. And then the men struck back, pouring acid on her as she lay asleep alongside her sister and father on the terrace. “It was 2 a.m., on 22 April 2003.” The acid melted her nose, her right ear and some of it went into her ear drum, but luckily it did not enter her brain. She can’t hear from her right ear, which has been reduced to a small glob of flesh.

                      Her father, Chandidas Mukherjee, who had a menial job in a mill earning about Rs. 5,000 a month, had to give up his job. He makes ends meet by working as a priest in homes. He spent Rs.10-15 lakh in the court cases and on her treatment. They had also borrowed Rs.3-4 lakh from relatives, who were demanding the money back. Ms Mukherjee had approached Safdarjung Hospital for treatment, but has been told to wait as they have lots of patients, she said. Recalling the days immediately after the attack, Mukherjee said all she remembers is waking up in excruciating pain. “I would scream in pain, and fall unconscious. I was like that for six months…I would tell God to end my life. It’s very easy for victims of acid attacks to swallow poison but I made the choice to stand up and scream and shout against the violence.”

                    It is a shame on our judicial system that the youngest of the three men was let off on account of being a juvenile, while the other two were convicted and sentenced by the district court in 2006 to nine years in jail. However, they appealed in the high court, which granted them bail, after serving just four months in jail .Justice is really blind! She and her father met the chief minister of Jharkhand, all the legislators, and MPs, but all she got was ‘assurances’. She also approached the union women and child development ministry and has been assured of help. Her younger sister, who also suffered acid burns on her hands and feet, was married off early. “We were getting threats and did not want it to ruin her life, so we got her married off” said her father. Her family were forced to flee Dhanbad and her mother fell into a deep depression. After the incident she shifted to Delhi. Asked whether she would like to go back to Dhanbad, she replied “No, never. I hate that place. Nobody came forward to help me there. I have lost a lot. I also fear for my life there as the attackers are out on bail.”

                  Sonali’s plight drew global attention when she appealed for euthanasia. It was not granted, being illegal in India. “But then my case caught the attention of media and they gave me a platform to air my grievances. After that, support poured in from all quarters. Now I know I am not alone, so I have dropped that idea and am determined to fight like a soldier till the end. If I am alive today, it is all because of media support” said Sonali. Earlier in 2013 some Rs 30 lakh was raised by Mumbai-based Company ‘Beti’ as part of Project Hope which aims to give Sonali a new identity. Celebrities such as Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla and producer Ramesh Tauran also donated funds to the appeal. A Community was created on Facebook “Help Sonali Mukherjee Acid Victim”, which elicited overwhelming response from all over the world. Sonali went to Boston in Oct 2014 to consult doctors regarding further facial reconstruction and regaining her eyesight. Doctors took skin from her thighs and grafted it on her nose and cheeks, to give it a modicum of shape.  After 22 surgeries Sonali can now hear and talk after four years.

                     Sonali’s one wish was fulfilled when she got to meet Amitabh Bachchan on the sets of Kaun Banega Crorepati, season 6. The special episode ‘doosra mauka’ (second chance) was for those people who have been unfortunate victims of trauma and violence.” I could never imagine that I would meet big people. Meeting Big B was the best thing. He is such a big star, but is so humble and down-to-earth. He held my hands and escorted me to the hot seat. He was behaving just like a father would do. I even met Lara Dutta Bhupathi for the first time on the sets. Since I cannot see, Lara came to help me with the questions.” When asked “What will you do with the prize money? She replied, “If I recover, I want to help people like me. I’ve had 22 surgeries and nine more are remaining, so that at least my eyes and ears are functional. I will also keep some amount for my rehabilitation. “

                      Emotional Amitabh Bachchan applauded Sonali’s courage of rising from the ashes and facing the trauma of her life and yet not giving up hope. He posted on his Facebook page several pictures of Sonali who lost her eye sight after the acid attack, with the comment “They that inflict such damage are not humans  …” Sonali, won Rs 25 lakhs on show. Sonali’s winnings would pay for the next round of plastic surgery but she continued appealing for donations to help fund further operations once the money has run out. Her determination not to be a victim inspired viewers and members of the audience were in tears when she won the contest. Amitabh Bachchan, called her “the epitome of courage” for “continuing her fight against all the odds”

                  On 04 Feb 2014, during a function at Kasmar’s Kasturba Vidyalaya in Bokaro on the occasion of Saraswati Puja, Chief Minister Hemant Soren, along with education Minister Geetashree Oraon, handed Mukherjee an appointment letter for a Grade III clerical job in the welfare department of the Bokaro deputy commissioner’s office. Sonali said she would always work for women’s empowerment. “Being posted in the welfare department, I would love to work for disabled as well as the needy,” she said.

                   Mr Chittaranjan Tiwari an Electrical Engineer from Odisha, happened to see Sonali on ‘Crime Patrol’. Wanting to know more about her, he checked up on Wikipedia from where he got her brother’s phone number. When he spoke to her, he was so impressed that they used to talk daily. During one of their long talks, he suddenly proposed to Sonali.She appeared shocked and was dumb for a while, then said “are you trying to gain sympathy like some people in the past, I feel hurt if you talk like this”. “I was in so much shock I told him I had to think about it. I asked him ‘why do you want to marry me; I’m blind?’ and he answered saying that if two people were married and there was a tragic accident they would not separate, they’d stand by one another so this was the same thing. “He told me I was a complete woman for him and that was amazing to hear. I never thought a man would ever say that to me. He part-funded my treatment from his salary as well.”

After persuading for two months, Sonali agreed, as she was convinced about his sincerity. Chittaranjan never considered her as an acid victim, but just a good friend.”I wanted to do something in which I could take pride, and change the outlook of society” said Chittaranjan. Although Sonali’s father couldn’t believe it, but he was overjoyed. On 15 April 2015 Chittaranjan did what one in a million won’t dare to do. He made Sonali his life partner in a court marriage at Bokaro . Their marriage with proper rituals will take place later this month. “My life had come to a standstill but Chittaranjan has brought me back the joy and happiness which was lacking,” said Mukherjee, after coming out of the courtroom in Bokaro city, Chittaranjan’s parents were disappointed because like all parents they longed for a beautiful bride, and were also apprehensive what would people say? Most of his friends were happy but some ridiculed him when they learnt about his marriage from the media. “It was like a bomb explosion.” he said.

Sindhutai -the Mother of Orphans

“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, and kindness in your smile.”

― Mother Teresa –

She got married at a tender age of ten to a thirty year old man. Her abusive husband beat her up and threw her out of the house when she was twenty, and nine-months pregnant. She gave birth to a baby girl in a cow shelter outside their house the same day and walked a few kilometers in that condition to her mother’s place, who refused to give shelter to her. “I cut the umbilical cord with a sharp-edged stone lying nearby,” she recalls. The incident deeply affected her and she thought of committing suicide, but gave up that thought and started begging at railway platforms for food to look after her daughter.

Can you believe it, that she has changed the lives of thousands of people! Till date she has adopted and nurtured over 1,400 orphans, helped them get an education, got them married and supported them to settle down in life. She is fondly referred to as “mai” (mother). The children are not given up for adoption. She treats them as her own and some of them are now lawyers, doctors and engineers. She has received over 500 awards for her extra ordinary support to orphans.

Sindhutai Sapkal is much more than just a name. Sharing her birthday with Jawaharlal Nehru, the 70 -year-old lady hides many stories behind her strong personality. Full of energy and passion, she is commonly referred to as “Mother of Orphans” and as she talks about her life and her children you can see the pain, the troubles and the miseries she has faced and overcome with her hard work during her life time. But, from all the emotions you see on her face, an unusual sense of confidence, which she has derived over the years through her experience, is something you get inspired from. “I am there for all those who have no one,” she says with a lot of affection. You can see flashes of her life as she talks about her journey and how she became the “mother”. Being an unwanted child, she was nicknamed “Chindhi” which means a torn piece of cloth. Though her father supported her and was keen on educating her; she could not continue her studies after fourth grade due to family responsibilities and early marriage.

The circumstances she has faced could force anyone to lose courage and succumb to the adverse situations. But Sindhutai emerged stronger with every difficulty she faced and became a ‘mother’ to over 1400 homeless children, when she herself was in a hand-to-mouth situation! With her love and compassion, she has gathered a huge family of 207 sons-in-law, 36 daughters-in-law and over 1000 grandchildren. Till date she continues to fight for the next meal. She does not take support from anyone but still gives speeches to earn her daily bread and butter. “By God’s grace I had good communication skills. I could go and talk to people and influence them. Hunger made me speak and this became my source of income. I give many speeches at various places and this gets me some money which I use to take care of my children,” she says.

Born in Pimpri Meghe village in Wardha district of Maharashtra, she was keen on completing her education and used Bharadi tree leaves to write as the family could not afford a slate. Her early marriage put an end to her desire to study. “I was told there are only two processions in a woman’s life; once when she gets married and the other when she dies. Imagine my state of mind when they took me in a procession to my husband’s home in Navargaon forest in Wardha,” she says.

During begging, she realized that there are many orphans and children abandoned by their parents. Having faced the difficulties herself, she could feel their pain and she decided to adopt them. She started begging more earnestly in order to feed the many children that she had adopted. Gradually she decided to adopt every child who came across as an orphan and, over a period of time, she emerged as the “mother of orphans”. “When I was out myself on the streets begging for food and fighting for survival each day, I realized that there are so many orphans who have nobody to go to. I decided to take care of them and raise them as my own,” Sindhutai says.

To eliminate the feeling of partiality among children she gave away her biological daughter to Shrimant Dagdu Sheth Halwai, Pune. Her daughter herself runs an orphanage today. Many years later her husband, came back to her and apologized for his harsh deeds. Having devoted all her life to the orphans, she forgave him and accepted him as her child, as she could only harbour motherly love for all. She affectionately introduces her 80-year old husband as the eldest child.

She has six organizations operating under her name which work for various needs of orphans. “I had no one with me, everyone abandoned me. I knew the pain of being alone and unwanted. I didn’t want anyone to go through the same. And I feel immense pride and pleasure to see some of my children doing so well in their lives. One of my children made a documentary on my life,” she says. Her life’s story inspired many and a Marathi film called “Mee Sindhutai Sapkal” was made on her which won a national award. Whatever amount she received as awards, she used it to construct homes for her children. The construction is still going on and she is constantly looking for more help across the globe to give shape to her dreams. “I approached the Maharashtra government several times for help but I never received it. I used to beg earlier to fulfill the needs of my children and I will continue to do so,” she says.

                     The unusual life of Sindhutai is an inspiration for all of us. Even after facing so many hardships, she stood tall and made her way into everyone’s heart. She proved that if you are dedicated, nothing can stop you from changing the lives of thousands of people around you. We salute this brave lady and hope that the country gives birth to many such strong daughters and mothers.

From 50 paise she now earns Rs 200000 a day !

Tags

determined lady, entrepreneur, husband, restaurant, self-confidence

“I had to make my own living and my own opportunity! But I made it! Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them”

– Madam C.J. Walker

She can never forget the day June 21, 1982. The previous night itself, with the help of the local rickshaw pullers, she had pushed the mobile cart to the beach. It was a small move, but thrilling as it was her own and she was going to be a business woman the next day. While such carts sold only tea and cigarettes, she decided to sell cutlets, samosas, fresh juice, coffee and tea. On the first day, she sold only one cup of coffee, and that was for fifty paise only! She was very disappointed and came home crying. She told her mother, that she would not like to continue. But her mother consoled her   saying, “at least you sold one cup of coffee. That’s a good sign. You will do better tomorrow.” Today, of course, the total sales from the 14 outlets average Rs. 2 lakh, daily.

It is my privilege to present Ms. Patricia Narayan, who runs the Sandeepha chain of eateries across Chennai, and has earned the Best Woman Entrepreneur Award from FICCI in 2013.She lives in a posh duplex apartment in Velachery where you will find a luxury car parked outside the door. Her story is as much about success as disappointment and tragedy. An entrepreneur by accident, Patricia belongs to the ilk of those who bloom in adversity. Her tale may sound like the quintessential rags- to- riches story, but it is also a stark tale of survival.

When she was 17, Patricia Thomas secretly got married to the man she fancied, believing that a Mills & Boon story was coming true — it didn’t matter to her that he was 13 years older and a Brahmin. Today, at 56, she is a role model for many, as she narrates her rags to riches story, on how to survive in spite of being wedded to adversity. But it’s been one hellish ride for her, starting from the sands of the Marina where she once sold snacks for a living because she had discovered, immediately after marriage that her Prince Charming was actually a drug addict. “Even today, I don’t know why I got married like that. It was a big blunder,” laughs Patricia.

She was studying in Queen Mary’s College when she met Narayan, the man she married: his family ran a small restaurant across the road on the Marina, and she would frequently hop over to watch chhola-puris being prepared, only to fall in love with him. In 1977, they quietly got married at the registrar’s office, with his friends fudging papers to show that she was not underage. The idea, at the time, was that she would finish college and only then break the news to her parents. Her father worked in the Posts and Telegraphs department and her mother in Telephones. Along with Patricia and her two younger siblings, they formed a typical middle-class family living in Santhome.

“But within three months, he started putting pressure on me to come out. He would threaten me, that if I didn’t tell my parents, he would. I had no choice,” recalls Patricia. When the news spread to relatives, they advised her father that the only way to control the damage was to have the couple socially married. So, Patricia and Narayan took the vows in a Purasaiwalkam church, after which her father told her that he was done with her. She moved in with her husband to a rented house in Anna Nagar, only to realise that life was not a bed of roses. She made discoveries in quick succession — that she was pregnant, that her husband was heavily into alcohol and drugs, and that they had no money to survive.

Pushed against the wall, she returned to her parents’ home, with the husband tagging along. To make herself useful, she started making jams and pickles: her mother would take them to office and sell them to her colleagues. Her husband would stay sober during the day, but at night would turn abusive and violent, if he was not given money to take care of his cravings. Fortunately for Patricia, her father worked night shifts and hardly got to see the ugly side of Narayan. “I reached the crossroads where I had to choose between living and dying. I chose to live.” Keeping her two children in mind, Patricia decided to fight her own battle. Recalling her routine during the period of struggle she said” I used to get up at 5 a.m. in the morning, make idlis and go to the beach. The whole day would keep her busy till 11p.m. My monthly income in those days was around Rs 20,000.”

In 1980, when Patricia’s son was two, she set up a kiosk on the Marina. “I had to do it for the future of the child. For one whole year, I walked up and down the stairs of the Secretariat, with the child in my arms, to get permission from the PWD,” she recalls. One day the Slum Clearance Board gave her an offer to run the canteen at their office with a proper kitchen. The chairman met her during her morning walk. It was a huge success. Thereafter, she never looked back.

One day, after a fight with her husband who used to come to trouble her often, she boarded a bus and travelled till the last stop; she got down and saw the National Port Management training school run by the Central government. On the spur of the moment, she told the security guard that she wanted to meet the administrative officer. She met him and told him that she was a caterer and that she heard they were looking for a one. He said, to her surprise that they were indeed looking for one, as they had problems with the current contractor. Narrating the turning point in her life Patrica said” I still believe it was God who took me there. I got the offer. I had to serve three meals to about 700 students. They gave us quarters to stay. It was a new life for me. I got into the groove in a day. It was successful from day one, and I took care of the canteen till 1998.My first weekly payment was Rs 80,000. I felt very elated.”

By now her children had grown up; her income had grown too. What had gotten worse was her husband’s behaviour: he would beat her and stub her with cigarette butts when she didn’t give him money, and had also taken to disappearing for months together. In 2002, during one such disappearance, he died.

A few  years later, just when she was beginning to put the past behind her, her daughter Pradheepha Sandra, fresh out of college and newly married, died in a car accident along with her husband. The husband’s brother and his wife also died in the accident — they were returning to Chennai from Dindigul. “She had called me from the car just minutes before. She had asked me to prepare biryani and payasam,” says Patricia. She along with her son started Sandeepha, derived from the daughter’s name, in 2006.

Ms. Patricia also operates an ambulance service from Acharapakkam, the spot of her daughter’s accident to Chengalpet. “I shall never forget the sight of my daughter’s corpse which arrived in the boot of a car, as the ambulance had refused to take her.” Willpower is the most important attribute to succeed, claims the entrepreneur. “When she sets her mind to something, she always achieves it,” her son Praveen asserts. Not a complacent entrepreneur, she sets targets for herself. Her next goal? “To operate a cruise liner,” a wish that was triggered off at an event in Tiruchi. Going by her record, this should be a cruise as well.

Ms. Patricia Narayan is now focusing on building a brand image with the able support of her son. It is the story of a determined lady who has travelled a long way from employing 2 people to 200 now and her earnings have soared from a mere 50 paisa to 2 lakhs per day. When asked to spell out her secret of success she said “My only thought was to prove myself and move ahead. There was a fire in me that made me believe that I could be successful without anyone’s help. I did not want to be a failure. If you have that fire, nothing in the world can stop you from succeeding.” Everybody should have an aim in life to succeed.” According to her,” the hallmark of the restaurant is the home-made quality of the food. When asked to give some advice to new entrepreneurs she said,” Do not ever compromise on quality. Never lose your self-confidence. Believe in yourself and the product you are making. Third, always stick to what you know. When you employ people, you should know what you ask them to do.”

Kisan Chachi

“There is no force equal to a woman determined to rise”-W.E.B .Dubois

There was a time when she just had a fistful of sattu (roasted gram flour) to feed her family of four. That she had no money, an unemployed husband and three children below five. But that was 1988. Twenty-one years later, she has not only turned her life around but also those of countless others in Anandpur, Bihar. Today, documentary producers are queuing up to tell the story of Raj Kumari — popularly known as `Kisan Chachi’ — who has been honoured with the Kisan Shree award.

She has become proficient in assessing the quality of soil in her area and ensuring successful harvests. With three decades of experience, Kisan Chachi or Farmer Aunty as she is called has learnt all the nuances of good farming practices. Today, this 58-year-old mother of three grown-up children, cycles almost 30 kms daily through the dusty lanes of villages in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, giving tips to people on kitchen farming and developing the right agro-based products for business. She has mobilized more than 300 women to form self-help groups (SHGs) and become financially independent.

Rajkumari laughingly explains how she got the nickname Kisan Chachi: “Since most people in the area called me chachi, and I also was a successful kisan, everyone started calling me Kisan Chachi.” Although at first glance she appears to be like any ordinary village woman, the moment Rajkumari starts talking about farming practices, she emerges the true expert that she is. In fact, people from across the block regularly invite her to inspect their land and predict their crop quality. “I am no scientist. But over the years, I have come to know the soil of this area well. I might not be 100 per cent right always, but I do know what can grow in this region,” she says. But Rajkumari was not born a farm expert. Thirty-five years ago, she had nothing, except one acre of arid land, which she inherited from her husband’s family. But she had the will to make life better for herself and her family. So, in the early 1980s, a determined Rajkumari picked up the shovel and sickle to help her husband. He grew tobacco for many years because, like most farmers in this block, that was the only thing he knew. When he was away in nearby towns to sell the leaves, Rajkumari would single-handedly toil on the farm.

That’s how she learnt everything there was to know about her land. As time went by, this hardworking farmer realized that there was much more to agriculture than just growing tobacco. So she embraced change. “Over time, I understood my farmstead so well that I knew what to grow where. So I divided the land into plots and began to grow vegetables and fruits instead of tobacco,” she says. Initially, people had a hard time accepting her new role. Even nature not really on her side — the annual floods would wipe away all the assets she built over the year. But despite the tough times, Rajkumari persevered and perfected the cropping cycle. She grew paddy and wheat in the low-lying fields and rows of banana, mango and papaya trees in the remaining land.

As she got busy transforming her land, fellow villagers — especially women — watched her hard at work. Soon, her neighbours began emulating her and she, in turn, gave everyone her wholehearted support by sharing her expertise freely. She also helped form SHGs in her block. Today, inspired village women across Saraiya have got together in groups of 10 and formed around 35 SHGs that are working on integrated farming and agri-business. They get the capital to run their farms from bank loans and government support from the Swarna Jayanti Swayam Rozgar Yojna. A happy Meera Devi, 40, of the Pipra Khusboo SHG, says, “We were simple housewives until Kisan Chachi taught us how to grow vegetables and fruits. We are now self-reliant and can earn up to Rs. 3,000 a month.”

The road to success, though, has been tough for Rajkumari, and only she knows how. After a split in the family’s assets left her on the verge of penury, she took charge of her fields, allowing her husband Awadhesh Choudhary to run his tobacco shop. As relatives and local residents questioned her motive and made fun of her daring – even her husband opposed her decision initially, and said she was treading into male territory – she spent endless nights staying awake, thinking how she could skirt the thorny issue. “Finally, I found a way to do what I wanted without hurting sentiments,” she said, looking back. “I started working in the fields after sunset and would come back before my husband returned from the shop. I used to keep my three children on a small cot near the field.”

When that didn’t work – the limitation on working hours affected her crops – Rajkumari started spending time in her fields from three in the morning till sunrise every day. Her husband eventually yielded, allowing her to work during the day. Not surprisingly, it invited the wrath of family members who live in the same house. The most vociferous opposition came from her father-in-law, Kalika Prasad.

Rajkumari, who is in her fifties now, began championing farming techniques among fellow villagers after she met social worker Viji Srinivasan in Saraiya. Srinivasan also promised her a bicycle if she learnt to ride one. The bicycle would later allow her to visit Rajendra Agriculture University in Pusa, where she collected information on the latest farming practices. Her fields became her laboratory. Soon, Rajkumari branched out into food processing. Her pickle business, which has the support of Saraiya Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), has flourished and now has an annual turnover of about Rs 5 lakh.

Her contribution to society hasn’t gone unnoticed. She’s officially the only woman farmer in Bihar to have earned the distinction of being called Kisan Shree. The Union ministry of agriculture, too, has feted her and made a documentary on her life, which will be shown throughout India. In fact, another documentary on her, made by the Bihar Agricultural Management & Extension Training Institute, has already been screened at many fairs organised by the agriculture department. “People like Rajkumari Devi are a rare breed and we made a film on her life to inspire others,” said BAMETI director R K Sohane, adding that her achievement is all the more noteworthy because she had to fight not only poverty but gender bias in feudal Bihar.

Though she has achieved many times over what she set out to do, Rajkumari is not one to rest on her laurels. She writes songs on the scourge of dowry and sings them whenever there is a gathering of farmers. She is also learning English and saving up to buy a motorbike. “It comes from the need to save time and reach out to more people,” she explained, smiling. In Anandpur, many will tell you, nothing is impossible for Kisan Chachi.

Rajkumari has also set up a non-profit organization, which not only picks fresh produce from the SHG-run farms nearby, but also employs women to make agriculture-based products. Such has been the impact of Kisan Chachi on farming practices in Muzaffarpur, a district that is just 80 km from Patna, that even Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar visited her when she was conferred the Kisan Shree Award a few years ago. “He had asked me what I wanted. And I said, ‘All I want is that our backward district be less afflicted by the devastating annual floods,’” she recalls.She is also likely to visit Bangkok as part of a team of women entrepreneurs working in food-processing and agriculture. She still remembers how Lalu Prasad had admired her suran at an exhibition in Patna a few years ago.

Rajkumari’s son Amarendra has taken to farming after his graduation. Her eldest daughter Sanju is married to a Pusa businessman and the youngest, Upriya Sonali, a BCA student, helps Devi make mango, lemon and litchi pickles. To further her work, this feisty woman took the plunge and contested panchayat elections from the neighbouring Manikpur Gram Panchayat, which is reserved for women. She lost. Rajkumari says ruefully, “I did not win because people here vote on the basis of caste and that matters more than development.” But despite the defeat, Kisan Chachi continues to be a greatly respected figure in these parts. Manju Devi, the present Mukhiya of Manikpur Gram Panchayat, speaks for everybody when she says, “Kisan Chachi has done a lot for all of us. She is a real role model.”