Stories

Stories related to Rural Indian Women Achieving The Impossible

        Impossible means I am Possible, all the things in my life see all the stories below is Possible with an hardwork and Honesty.

1.Nauroti, the Sarpanch of Hardama, Rajastan

      For long a fighter for justice Nauroti who was born in a poor Dalit family in Rajasthan’s Kishangarh district is now the sarpanch of Hardma village, a land that has bred freedom fighters during India’s struggle for Independence. Starting with the fight for proper wages when she was working as a stone cutter, her ascend to become a living symbol of women’s power is nothing short of astounding.

2. The women behind Lijjat Papad

       Lijjat is a highly popular pappad brand in India. While many may remember the buck toothed bunny that appeared in their TV commercials, many may not be aware of the fact that it’s the power of rural women and their self-employment initiative, ‘Shri Mahila Griha Udyog’ which made the brand possible. Started with a loan of just Rs. 80, today the co-operative has annual sales of more than Rs.3.1 billion.

3.Mann Deshi Bank: An amazing success!

              This is an extraordinary story of women's empowerment in rural India. Women in Satara district in Maharashtra run a bank and a B-school successfully.
Founded by Chetna Gala Sinha, the Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank was formed with the active participation of illiterate, rural women in 1997.
               It was a struggle against all odds for Chetna Sinha who wanted rural women to be financially independent. The women needed to be removed from the shackles of poverty and money lenders in the drought-prone areas of Satara district in Maharashtra.
               Money was the root cause of all their troubles. Finally, the relentless efforts of 500 rural women led to the mobilisation of a shareholder capital of Rs 600,000 to start their own financial institution.
               "Founded in 1997, it is India's first rural financial institution to receive a cooperative license from the Reserve Bank of India. Today, Mann Deshi Bank based in Mhaswad, a village in Satara district, is the largest microfinance bank in Maharashtra with about 127,000 clients. Besides a business school to train women into success entrepreneurs, Mann Deshi Bank offers individual and group loans, savings, insurance and pension plans," says an optimistic Chetna Sinha.
Mobilising these poor, illiterate women, making them understand the need to start a bank that could be their economic lifeline was quite a daunting task.
                   "The biggest challenge was money. We needed deposits, people to fulfill conditions of the Reserve Bank of India. When we submitted the applications with thumb impressions of the members, our application got rejected. It was a tough battle, which lasted for two years. The women were then trained to read and write and given training in basic finance. It was very fulfilling to go back to the Reserve Bank with a group of women who had learned to calculate interest on any principal amount. The RBI officials were impressed," says Chetna.
              With this, the bank crossed the biggest hurdle and got the license. The Mann Deshi Bank today prides to have assets of over Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million) and a share capital of Rs 3.5 crore (Rs 35 million). Last year, the bank's net profit stood at Rs 20 lakh (Rs 2 million). "The bank has helped more than 62,000 women to build assets, own property and start small businesses," she says.
Besides this, the Mann Deshi Foundation runs a B-school which trains women to become successful entrepreneurs.
              In 2002, Yale University appointed Chetna Sinha as a World Fellow, and in 2003 Harvard University recognised her as a 'Bridge Builder'. Chetna has received several additional awards for her pioneering work with women in drought affected areas of Western Maharashtra and Karnataka.

4.Social Work

              Kiran Bedi was born and bred in the holy city of Amritsar, Punjab. She is a social activist and the first woman IPS officer in the country. She has not only served her department with full conviction, but has also made whole-hearted contribution to many social causes. A former tennis player, the multi-talented social activist from Amritsar is credited for bringing down the number of crimes against women in West Delhi during her service. She introduced several reforms at Tihar Jail, which gained worldwide acclaim and won her the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1994. In 2003, Kiran became the first Indian woman to be appointed as a Police Advisor to the Secretary-General of the United Nations in the Department of Peace Keeping Operations. She resigned in 2007 to focus on social activism and writing. She has written several books, and runs the India Vision Foundation.

         She has stepped beyond the traditional role assigned to women and set a benchmark of courage for others. Because her stand against corruption put her at the forefront of the neo-nationalist anti-corruption movement in 2011. Because her drive for social justice goes beyond her uniform. Because she was India's first female police officer.

          "The year 2011 passed by fighting against corruption by way of an effective system in place which does not exist so far. 2012 would be a natural sequel to what was sown and invested during the time," she says. Her focus in the days ahead is to prepare with Team Anna, a compelling ground for an effective Lokpal at the centre and Lokayuktas at the state level.
           "Convictions, beliefs, value for time and for personal growth and constant contribution for others. These things drive and sustain me."
           "When I look back, the fondest memory of my career in the Indian police service was when I conducted a meditation programme for prisoners at Tihar Jail in 1994. That set in motion everything that was to come later in life," she says. 
             She outraged politicians with her public enactment of their hypocrisy. "I did not apologise for my actions. I believed in them."


5.Chanda Kochhar

Chanda Kochhar
51, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, ICICI Bank Limited

           She heads India's largest private bank with total assets of Rs 4,062.34 billion and recorded a profit of Rs 51.51 billion in 2011. Because this year the bank expects to maintain its net interest margin (a measure of lending profitablity) at 2.6 per cent, at a time when most lenders have reported a drop because of a hike in RBI interest rates.
             Because besides being on the board of ICICI Bank, she is a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade & Industry, US-India CEO Forum and is a member of the Board of Governors of Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER). Because she topped the Fortune India list of most powerful women in business in 2011.  
            Staying calm in difficult times and focusing on the task at hand. "My passion lies in the pursuit of excellence. Can I do it very well, better than others," she says.
         Balance Kochhar has balanced her family life and hectic work schedule for three decades now. "You often feel as if you are walking a tightrope," she admits.

 6.SINDHUTAI SAPKAL

 

                India is the second most populated country in the world and a significant part of this population are children. But it is appalling to witness the fact that a chunk of these children are usually orphaned or abandoned and are forced to live in poverty and face continuous abjection from the society.
The story of Sindhutai Sapkal is an evidence of similar dejection. Born on 14th November 1948, Sindhutai saw this world from the eyes of a cattle grazing family in the Wardha district of Maharashtra. Always considered unnecessary, she was named ‘Chindi’, which means a torn cloth, by the society. But the young Sindhutai’s hunger to learn more was omnipresent. Her father was keen to educate her, but her mother opposed this. Hence was able to complete her education only till Class 4th and at the nascent age of 10 years, she was married off to a man of 30 years.

                     Even after being crushed and chained by the shackles of child marriage, young Sindhutai never lost hope. Instead her passion to the help the helpless and wronged aggravated. Settling in the Navargaon forest in Wardha after marriage, she strongly opposed the exploitation of village women, who collected cow dung, by the Forest department and the Landlords in 1972. Little did she knew, that her fight would change her life for the worse. During her pregnancy, a nasty rumour of infidelity was circulated by an angry landlord. This raised a rejection for her from the community. Even her husband abandoned her. Beaten, she gave birth to her daughter Mamta on 14th October 1973 in a cowshed. Sindhutai went back to her maternal home, but there too she faced an unapologetic rejection from her mother. Feeling lost and betrayed, Sindhutai started singing and begging in trains and on the streets just to make ends meet. She continued to fight for herself and her daughter’s existence and made train stations, cowsheds and cemeteries her home.

Sindhutai teaching children in her Ashram

           In this constant tussle to survive, she found herself in Chikaldara, situated in the Amravati district of Maharashtra. Here, due a tiger preservation project, 84 tribal villages were evacuated. Amidst the confusion, a project officer impounded 132 cows of Adivasi villagers and one of the cows died. Sindhutai decided to fight for a proper rehabilitation of the helpless tribal villagers. Her efforts were acknowledged by the Minister of Forests and he made appropriate arrangements for alternative relocation.

            It was during these experiences of poverty, abjection and homelessness that Sindhutai came across dozens of helpless orphans and women who were blatantly ignored by the society. She started adopting these orphans and worked and sometimes begged incessantly to feed them. To avoid partiality towards her biological daughter, Sindhutai sent her daughter to a trust in Pune. After years of hard work she raised her first Ashram at Chikaldara. She travelled across villages and cities to raise money for her Ashrams. Many a times she even had to fight for the next meal due to lack of funds. But Sindhutai never stopped. Till date, she has adopted and nurtured over 1200 orphaned children. They fondly call her ‘Maai’. Many of her adopted children are now lawyers and doctors. Now her biological daughter and the adopted children are running orphanages of their own.

Sindhutai feeding children in her Ashram

          Sindhutai Sapkal has received around 270 awards from various national and international organizations. A Marathi film “Mee Sindhutai Sapkal” was also released as her biopic in 2010. She has founded numerous organizations across Maharashta which provide education and shelter to thousands of orphans. Even today, at the age of 67, Sindhutai Sapkal works relentlessly to shape the future of these orphans because she believes that a deprived child means a deprived nation.

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