The road less travelled

Poverty and gender did not deter this strong-minded woman from Uttarakhand

Many of us choose to become a victim of our circumstances. We resign ourselves to what we call fate as if we were helpless. When we do that, we’re taking the easiest way out. Like the saying: “Anyone can walk with the wind. But it takes great courage to walk against the wind and emerge victorious.” There are some people who do that, even though they see that the odds are against them. Their indomitable faith in themselves gets them to battle fate — and win.

Ganga Devi from the Sara village in Paudi Garhwal district of Uttarakhand grew up in a family too poor to afford a formal education for her. “I used to write in the soil as I wanted to read and write,” she remembers. Her parents sent her to a local school but it wasn’t easy. When she was about eight, she wanted Rs15 for books. There was no way her parents could have given it to her. She understood. She went to her guruji’s house and offered to work at his home. In turn, he agreed to pay her Rs15 as wages.
 
But times were hard and soon her parents couldn’t afford to send her to school at all. Every month was a struggle to make ends meet. When she was in the fifth standard, she was pulled out of school.

At the age of 18, her parents got her married. In time, she realised that her father-in-law was struggling to plough the field as his eyesight was very poor. She asked him to rest and took over the plough, emerging as the first woman in the area to have ever ploughed a field. People kept asking her to behave like all the other women. But she didn’t care.
Well-wishers persuaded her to contest the sarpanch election. She was hesitant at first, but she agreed and decided to give it her best shot. She lost. But that did not take the fizz out of her spirit. Instead, she started working on various developmental concepts to improve the quality of life. In the next election, she contested again and won.

Naturally, she got moved up the ladder to become a member of the zilla panchayat. Her husband, Mohan Singh, became the sarpanch. He had only a vague idea of how to live up to his responsibilities, so she ended up doing most of his work. The local media called her the Patnipradhan (ruler of her husband).

It is important for each of us to empower ourselves, she says confidently. Only then can we earn respect, she adds. Nothing can be closer to the truth. Empowerment does not come with education. It comes with a determination to break shackles and walk the road less travelled.

Ramesh Menon is a documentary filmmaker and corporate trainer