Meet Dehati Madam | An Online English Tutor Who Shun All Stereotypes To Rise Above | People First

India 365
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'Before the Nirbhaya movement, before the MeToo Campaign, before most of us even had the basic awareness of our rights as women, there was Bhanwari Devi. Bhanwari Devi has spent 30 years seeking a conviction for the men who raped her. For raising her voice, she was pushed to the edge of her village, denied access to water from the village well and socially ostracized. What many of us do not know is Bhanwari never got justice for herself but it is her personal courage that has birthed the sexual harassment guidelines that protect millions of women at the work place.' Read more

'It is often said that a woman’s fingers are too delicate, not made for the roughness of the world; Sukanya Ramgopal quashes that stereotype and how. India’s first woman Ghatam artiste, her fingers much like herself march to their own beat. She has received several awards including the very prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. Her passion and her power are both exemplary as she says… “If musicians don’t want to see a female player, it's their problem”. Today Sukkanya has her own all- women's ensemble called Stree Thaal Tharang' Read more

'Abdul Gaffar Jhandewala started his Tiranga journey during the Emergency. The time he says was tense, and shopkeepers wanted to protest the emergency by putting a tiranga jhanda outside their shops. Abdul Gaffar learnt tailoring when he was a child to help his father out a bit, and today he sports the record of making 1000 flags in a day! But what he fondly remembers still are the 500 rupees he made 60 years ago when he had just started making flags!' Read more

'In a world of bashful brides, with stereotypes of being demure, Shilpa Sreekumar – an engineer, became an overnight sensation when she donned the role of the new-age drummer girl. Playing the chenda – a traditionally male instrument – to her heart’s desire at her wedding. Sreekumar has been playing the chenda for 12 years, and when it was time for her to play it at her wedding, she didn’t find it unusual at all but says that she didn’t anticipate a small act of joy would spark such an impact for young girls!' Read more

'Majiziya Bhanu’s story is an inspiration. Having grown up listening to slurs about her religion and identity, she didn’t let the naysayers deter her passion. Instead, she shut all her critics by excelling at powerlifting – a feat no one around her thought she would achieve. Her inspiration though? Her mother – who asked her to go for her dreams, being the wind beneath her wings! From a difficult childhood to being a world champion – this is her extraordinary story.' Read more