DEFINING HEROES
W ho are heroes? What makes them
heroes? How do you become a hero?
Defining the word hero is challenging.
The dictionary states that a hero is any
person admired for courage, nobility, or
exploits, especially in war. However, for
most people; the definition of “hero” is
left to their interpretation. For example,
to a coffee addict, the daily milkman or
the local barista would be their hero. To
a patient a blood donor and to vendors,
farmers would be their heroes.
I believe a hero is someone who gets the
job done regardless of the difficulties it
may bring.He or she faces the odds,
social stigma and prejudice without a
hint of fear, and there are more heroes
out there than we could imagine.
People who are heroes do not always
get recognized, some don’t even think
of themselves as heroes. True heroes are
more than action figures, actors,
personalities, they are ordinary people
who accomplish their goal which
bravery, calm and kind.The trail of
‘Unsung heroes’ begins at home; our
mothers.
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In this world of athletes and actors who
are revered as heroes, there stands apart
one unsung hero, who with her quiet
strength, wisdom and courage, has raised
a nation. Unfortunately, not every child
is blessed with good mothers.
India is home to 20 million orphans and
only four percent of them are sheltered
in charities. Luckily though, an unsung
hero was born in our motherland on 14
November 1948, in Maharashtra – the
mother of orphans, Sindhutai Sapkal.
Sapkal, unlike Mother Teresa, didn’t
give up her comfortable life to help the
poor, she rose from the depths of despair
as an orphan and dedicated her life to be
the mother she wished she had.
Despite her interest in academics, she
was forced into child marriage at the
age of ten, to a thirty-year-old
abusive man. After getting beaten up
every day, she was finally thrown
out of the house when she was
nine-months pregnant. Sapkal gave
birth to her daughter in a cowshed
and cut the umbilical cord with a stone.