The saddest part is she walked a few
kilometers in this state with a newborn
to her mother’s place and was turned
away.
She started begging at railway platforms
to feed her daughter. When she realized
that there were many orphans and
abandoned children, she adopted as
many as she could and took care of them
as if they were her own. Sindhutai
Sapkal now has a huge extended family
of 207 sons-in-law, 36 daughters-in-law
and over 1000 grandchildren. Some of
them are engineers, doctors, and
lawyers. She has won over 500 awards,
including the Mother Teresa award, but
how many of us could proudly say we
have heard of her?
In the words of Joseph Campbell, “A
hero is someone who has given his or
her life to something bigger than
oneself”, which perfectly describes the
hero that is Sindutai.
MALLIKA SENTHIL
37