The unsung heroes- Sindhutai Sapkal

We all look for heroism in our movies.. knowing that somewhere its not true.. but we have to find those heroes...they raise a sense of joy in us... a hero beating 10-20 people... showing his muscles.. minting some heroic dialogues... we enjoy those...

But somewhere we forget about the real heroes of the society. Here is one such story of a lady which made a huge impact on my mind...This is the story of one such lady named Sindhutai Sapkal...

She has got 273 awards so far for her work...

A 4th standard pass out born on 14th November 1948.. who got married to a 30 year old man at the age of 10.. who had given birth to 3 sons till she turned 20 and was thrown out of the house by her husband when she was pregnant with the fourth child because she raised a voice against the local strongman..
That man convinced her husband to abandon her..she gave birth to a child outside her home at a shelter that night on 14th October 1973...she walked few kilometres after that to her Mother's house who didnt accept her...

She went to the railway station, she had the option to end her life..only option i guess... but she started begging... there he saw many orphans roaming... she started taking care of them too... she begged more to feed them...she adopted them..she gave her child to a ashram so that there is no discrimination between her love for other kids and her own child...
Kids adopted by her are not beggars.. they have done very well academically.. one of them is doing Phd. on her...
She has adopted around 1042 kids by now... She won a lot of recognition for her work...a Marathi movie "Mee Sindhutai Sapkal"inspired by her real life was released in 2010. The film was selected for world premier at the 54th London film festival.
Her husband came to apologize to her when she was 80 years old.. she forgave him saying she is a mother for everyone now.

What does her live teach us?

I am an atheist but somehow I feel that we all are here for some purpose...make your life worth living for the others... its good to take care of your needs but its not good to take care only of your needs.... as Swami Vivekananda once said "So long as the millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every man a traitor who having been educated at their expense pays not the least heed to them"

Author's Note

This is a real story.. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sindhutai_Sapkal) with certain inputs from me...

Reviews

[Riddhi]

Best of all the writings you have written so far ...and i agree with you that true heroes are those who do all the heroic work in their life like Sindhutai Sapkal..and actually this story has special liking from me because the village from which sindhutai sapkal belongs is near my grandparents' town...This might be just a story for many but its far more that that for me....Thank you for writing for such a great women .....

[CA Anurag Sharma]

Thank you so much Ridhi, yes when I heard about this great lady I was surprised that how can someone be like this. Really glad that you could feel this story more than others due to your location being close to this great lady :)

[Nisha]

What a story amazing. Loved it.

[CA Anurag Sharma]

Thank you so much Nisha :)

[nazia]

Swami vivekanand has been an inspiration to a lot of people. Its really good to read about him and the way your portray is lovely... Smooth write Anurag :)

[CA Anurag Sharma]

Thanks Nazia but sorry you commented on a different story.. its about Sindhutai Sapkal..... anyways no issues.. glad that you liked the Swami Vivekananda story

[nazia]

In had two stories on two different tabs opened at the same time.. thats what made this happen.. silly me :p

[CA Anurag Sharma]

Dont worry, it happens .... :)

[Sami Khalil]

You bring us so inspiration with this story which is needed for all. We all do need those heroes. Excellent, sir.....:).....

[CA Anurag Sharma]

Thank you so much Sir for the kind review :)

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome. ......:).....

[Tania]

truly inspiring ... I enjoyed this :D

[CA Anurag Sharma]

Thank you so much :)

[ANTO]

Its been a while Anurag - I hope you are well. Your writing never fails to provide inspiration. Thank you for the RR my friend. More power to your pen.

[CA Anurag Sharma]

Thanks ANTO... was caught up in life a bit ... missed some great writings by you and other brilliant writers.. thank you so much for your kind review :)

[Saddam]

Inspiring story.
Yes, Our life is worth if it work for others.
Great tale friend. India needs lots of these people.

[CA Anurag Sharma]

Thank you so much Bhai... agree with you completely :)

[Lord of the Kings]

what a tale? inspiring for everyone who thinks there is no hope in life. and I too am an atheist don't believe in destiny but I do believe in good deeds

[CA Anurag Sharma]

Thank you Sir.. yes it indeed is inspiring, had she ended her life then things would have been different for the kids she took care of.. may be this is called destiny...

[Roland Petrov]

Thanks for introducing us to a real hero. It's interesting how destiny can work: if she'd thrown herself under a train, there'd have been one less hero on our planet, and no one would have known or remembered her name. Truly a story worth sharing.

[CA Anurag Sharma]

Thank you so much Sir... yes little moments in life make a big difference... many people end their lives thinking themselves as useless... but she lived a life of purpose ....