Sindhutai Sapkal, 62, wears cotton sari, no jewellery only a large bindi and a warm smile.
Her story so far: she is a farmer’s daughter from Wardha, Maharastra. A class 5 dropout. At age of 12, she was sent to her in-laws home, were she was beaten, mistreated and overworked. At age 24, she was thrown out of home after a domestic dispute. She was then 9 months pregnant.
She delivered her daughter in a cowshed, cutting the umbilical cord with a sharpened stone. For livelihood she sang and begged on trains. In her worst phase of life she tried to commit suicide thrice but, survived. While she begged she saw urchins living on platforms and tired to take care of them by sharing food.
Six months after her daughter was born, she made her toughest decision and some say most brutal-decision. She left her daughter at a social welfare trust in Pune. And she began to adopt urchins living on platforms.
For the next 13 years, Sapkal cared for street children and urchins with funds she could raise from her singing and begging and with donations she solicited through powerful speeches. In 1986, she registered her 1st orphanage in Amravati.
Nearly, 2 decades after her 1st orphanage was opened, she got word that her husband, then 75 was ailing and alone. He was old and orphan. She had to help him. Now she has 4 orphanages and is a beloved Mai (Mother) to more than 1,000 orphans.
Along the way, Sapkal gave up her daughter so as to remain impartial to her other children, forgave and nursed her husband on his deathbed than reconciled with her child after 20 years. As a mother she was worried that her daughter would never understand why she had to leave her. But now she is with her again and this makes her believe that she did the right thing.
Many of the children that she adopted are well educated lawyers and doctors, and some including her biological daughter are running their independent orphanages. One of her child is doing phd on her life. Till date she is honoured by 272 awards. She used all that money to buy land to make home for her orphan children.
All these years, she went about her work quietly, begging, pleading and struggling to find money and resources. She came into limelight after a film was made on her life. If you know of an individual who has been working like her but has not been appreciated, then please start posting about them on social networking sites. It will definitely help them in fund-raising and encourage others in participating.
*· *Extracts from Hindustan Times and Websites.
