The Better India Presents ‘Spotlight 2018’: A celebration of trailblazers, champions, and pioneers of change! Ordinary folks whose extraordinary and inspiring actions have made the world stand up to take note. Join us in honouring 50 heroes, whose brilliant path to a better future deserves all the spotlight we can shine on them!
While the world continues to divide individuals into collectives, there exists a rare breed of persevering people who rise above that, to redefine themselves and those around them.
These are the change-makers who are not willing to let others define them, their roles in society and what they can or cannot do.
And, this spirit is best defined in the work of strong women, who, despite several obstacles, have redefined and transformed the lives of several other women.
With another year coming to an end, we at The Better India are celebrating these female heroes who have truly made a difference to thousands of lives with their unwavering patience and resilience.
Here are the 10 wonder women of India that we would like to honour with The Better India Spotlight, 2018.
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Popularly known as the ‘padwoman of India’, Maya Vishwakarma calls herself the ‘standing example’ of the dire repercussions caused to the girls and women of India, by the taboo and stigma around menstruation.
Born to a family of agricultural labourers in a village in Narsinghpur district of Madhya Pradesh, Maya did not have access to sanitary napkins until she was 26. This caused her to face many health issues later in life, thus triggering her ambition to remedy the situation.
Despite financial obstacles, she continued her education and did her post-graduation in Biochemistry from a university in Jabalpur. This was followed by her stint as a researcher at AIIMS Delhi, after which she went to the US to become a cancer researcher in Leukemia.
Through all of this, her personal health issues tied her back to the cause waiting for a solution back in her country.
“During my first period when I was in the 9th grade, I was told to use a cloth instead of pads, and I continued to do so until I finally had access to sanitary napkins at the age of 26. However, the unhygienic methods in those formative years left a mark as it caused several infections. Those made me realize, that if such a thing can happen to an educated person like me, what about all those women in rural areas shrouded in lack of awareness. That is when I knew I had to do something to change it,” said Maya.
Eventually, at the age of 36, she quit her job and started the Sukarma Foundation in 2016, to create awareness around menstruation, promote the importance of using sanitary napkins and busting the stigma and myths around it.
“After two years, I still feel that the work has just begun. I have started an important conversation and it needs to continue. Meanwhile, I want women all across the country and beyond to look at their own selves and care. Most women here grow up to put others before them and thus end up ignoring themselves. That needs to change for a better and safer future,” said Maya.
In the midst of a country stricken with a 21-month-long Emergency, Dr Rukmini Rao was among the few who rose to make their voices heard. Her trigger, she says, was an inability to stomach the injustice routinely reported in the daily news.
Her group, Saheli, was established in 1981 to help women facing domestic violence, through social, economic and legal support.
“I gathered a group of like-minded people to take all the needed efforts to support women harassed for dowry and eradicate all possibilities of such deaths in the future. This has led us to push for almost seven pro-women legislation,” said Dr Rao.
These legislations include a law on domestic violence and a law against the pornographic display of women.
