“I worked for my daughters like every parent does. Why the award?” whispered Muktaben Dagli, evoking a chuckle from President Ramnath Kovind as they posed for the cameras. Amidst a thunderous applause, Dagli walked off the stage with India’s fourth highest civilian award — Padma Shri in March last year.
I could not help but smile myself when I heard her recall the incident.
Padma Shri is the second national award that Dagli received after the Nari Shakti Puruskar in 2001 for her work towards empowering blind girls in Gujarat.
In 1995, Dagli started the Pragnachakshu Mahila Seva Kunj (PMSK) with her husband. It is a non-profit organisation in Surendranagar and provides education, food, accommodation to blind girls.
Till now, the 58-year-old has shaped the future of around 200 blind girls. In addition to that, she has also undertaken the responsibility of taking care of 30 people with various disabilities and 25 elderly abandoned by their families.
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At 7, Dagli lost her vision to meningitis and had to drop out of school.
A resident of Ankadiya Nana, a small village near Gujarat’s Amreli district, Dagli’s parents did not feel the need to educate their daughter.
But even that age, Dagli was drawn towards academics for she knew it was a gateway to a better life. She convinced her parents to send her to a school—Udyog Shala for the Blind in Bhavnagar district.
It was at the age of 14, that she heard of a news that changed her life.
Her best friend had not turned up post vacations, and when the school authorities enquired, they found out that she had died. Her parents had allegedly burnt her after feeding her poison.
“That incident affected me a lot. Though I was sad about losing a friend, I was fuming with anger. My life’s purpose became clear. I knew I wanted to help blind girls who were a burden to their parents,” says Dagli.
“I was fortunate to get parents and friends who did not treat me any different. It was because of their immense support and encouragement I was able to study and pursue my dream of opening a school-cum-hostel for the blind girls,” she shares.
She was fortunate to find a life partner who was in sync with her goals.
The newly-weds taught in a blind school in Amreli for nearly 12 years before embarking on their shared dream of opening a residential school for blind girls in 1995. The couple soon adopted four blind girls and accommodated them in their one-bedroom flat lent by a relative in Surendranagar.
They would teach them on weekdays and on weekends go around asking for donations from relatives, friends and strangers.
