Life is unfair, life is tough, life is a challenge! It is through these unjust barriers that a true hero finds the way to spread the shine of courage, bravery, confidence and belief. In this paper, I seek to bring forth a story of one such Hero who choked all the challenges of life and pierced her way out to become an independent and contributing citizen of the country. The story is of a 24-year-old girl, Sasmita Biswal, who is currently working in the retail segment of Urban Micro Development Centre where she earns a monthly salary of INR 4000 along with food and accommodation. Apparently, this might sound a pretty ordinary affair however, if we come closer to the life of Sasmita we shall realise how ordinary are we in front of the strength of this girl.
Sasmita was merely 3 years old when she was sent to a Child Care Institute. The reason being that she had lost both her parents. Her mother decided to suicide after being raped by the elder brother of her father. Her father was put behind the bars on attempting to kill his elder brother after his shameful act. He ended his life in the jail. Sasmita, who could barely understand the heat of the events happening around her, was handed over to Palishree Mahila Samiti to start her life all over again without the warmth of her parents.
Just when she began her new phase, life hit her yet again. Already distressed with pain mentally, this time she suffered a physical challenge. The right part of her body was struck with paralysis. She could not move her right hand and right leg smoothly. All of a sudden, a normal child fell under the category of physical disability. However, she did not give up. She fought hard and tried to make her life as normal as possible.
As time passed by, she and her friends at the Child Care Institute grew up. It was time for her friends to leave the Child Care Institute to begin their careers and start earning. She could not because she was disabled and would not be accepted outside. Batch after batch passed out but she still remained at the Child Care Institute. On talking to her, she said that it was a very difficult phase for her. She started to feel that she had become a burden to the society and would never be able to live independently. She started to feel very lonely in life. Her life saw many people coming close to her and then leaving her. Everyday people around would make her realise how different she was from the rest and how unfit she was to live in the society. However, she did not sit idle, she underwent trainings in candle making and phenyl making. There was no employment available from these trainings. She wanted to stand on her own feet and had a belief in herself that someday she shall.
When Catalysts for Social Action (NGO I was working with) started working with Palishree Mahila Samiti, it got to know about Sasmita. Being over the age of 18, CSA decided to focus on making her employable. CSA saw tremendous confidence in her and felt she deserved the support. On seeing someone coming to help her for the first time in her life, she started rebuilding in her the lost courage.
CSA pushed for her being allowed to undergo a 6-month training in the field of retail and packaging. However, the Child Care Institute was not ready to send her out as they felt she would not be able to work in the outside world due to her disability.
CSA contacted the Child Welfare Centre and the District Child Protection Officer and invited them to visit the Child Care Institute. On their visit, CSA made them meet Sasmita and tried to obtain their backing for allowing her to go for skill training. CSA tried hard to garner their support for Sasmita. Seeing the spark in the girl, the CWC gave the permission to the Child Care Institute to send her for training and allow her to join a job after that with a condition that she would work in Bhubaneswar or Cuttack and would not go too far for her safety. With this permission, Sasmita stepped out of her cage with a heart full of confidence and a simple desire of being independent and contribute to the society.
It took 6 months for CSA to take Sasmita out of the Child Care Institute to allow her start a new journey. Today, Sasmita is an independent woman who has fought all battles of life to become what she is. She now displays a wide smile which was long lost. She is happy and proud of herself. She acknowledges that CSA’s support made her what she is today. Sasmita is role model for many and her story is worth being told to the world so that it motivates many other such Sasmitas in the society and give birth to many more organisations like CSA to play the role of a catalyst.
Author: Aayush Jhawar, PGDM Finance (2017-19), SPJIMR
Vishwas 