Gritty women script stories of success

Vanita Srivastava. Hindustan Times, March 8, 2007 - women's day special

TWENTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD Krishna of Tikariya village in Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh is a proud woman today. She is a primary school teacher in a government school. She is the ‘first’ girl of her village to have passed the 12th grade exam. The secondary school was very far from her village and one by one all her friends dropped out. Krishna, however, did not lose hope. Her father who had dropped out of school in grade seven knew how difficult it was to get a job without education.

He promised himself that he would educate all his children. Krishna would trudge several kilometers on foot to reach her school. Later, she started running night classes under the ‘Mahila Padhna-Badhna Andolan’. “Education enables us to express our thoughts and ideas to a wide spectrum of people,” she says. Krishna is one of the three women from the State who have been beautifully featured in ‘Girl Star’, UNICEF calendar of 2007, which focuses on those girls and women who have achieved something defying odds.

26-year-old Rupali Jain aka ‘Ruby’ runs a beauty parlour in Guna. After her father’s death, Rupali took over all the responsibilities of the family. She underwent training for a beautician’s course and also completed her Class XII exam. After that she did her BA. “My education helped me obtain a loan from the bank to open my parlour. Education is the only thing that helps a woman during hardship. It gives a woman the strength to brave challenges,” she says.

28-year-old Premlata Varma works as an accountant in the office of superintendent of police in Jhabua. She is the youngest in her department but has risen to this level through sheer hard work. She has four others working under her. Her grandmother who raised her was adamant that she should go to school although she had herself never been to a school. Premlata’s journey was, however, full of struggles.

As a child she used to collect water from a river for her neighbours and thus earned money both for her own and her sister’s education. She also had to look after her Nani (maternal grandmother) during her student days. Today, she has a masters in economics, a government job and lots of water in her house. “There was a time when I used to collect water from a river for others. Today, I have a house, a scooter and a tap for water,” she reminisces. The UNICEF calendar has some very beautiful pictures, which captures the strength of twelve different women from different areas of the country. Krishna, Premlata and Rupali are featured for the months of July, October and November respectively.

The calendar unveils the story of 12 ordinary women with special stories. All have written their own destiny by tasting the beauty of education.