INSPIRATION
Sindhutai Sapkal: An Embodiment of Love, Divinity, and Resilience Hema Pokharna, PhD
Dr. Hema Pokharna is a Certified Nonviolent Communication (NVC) Trainer. As an Executive Coach and Consultant, she works with leaders and their teams to improve personal and organizational collaborative leadership. Through coaching, she helps leaders who feel stuck, unfulfilled, and overwhelmed to start living an authentic and meaningful life. Hema is also an interfaith peacemaker and mediator. Email: hemapokharna.phd@gmail.com
Sindhutai Sapkal, also known as mother of orphans, was an Indian social worker and social activist known particularly for her work for raising orphan children. She was born as an unwanted child and nicknamed 'Chindhi' (torn piece of cloth). Her father who valued education sent her to school in spite of her mother’s opposition to educate her. She managed to pass 4th grade in spite of abject poverty, responsibilities of cattle grazing and other household work.
At the tender age of 12, she got married to a man twice her age. She had 3 sons by the time she turned 20. With no roadmap to the future but a vision that change is possible, she proposed that the villagers who collected the cow dung for fuel, which was then sold, pay the villagers for their labor. Her agitation brought the district collector to her village and made the necessary payment arrangements. Having rocked the boat and gone against the grain had consequences. Her husband abandoned her when she was beyond 9 months pregnant. He thrashed and kicked her and threw her in a cowshed. While lying unconscious in the cowshed, she gave birth to a baby girl. The husband, other family members and even
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her mother closed the doors on her. She had nowhere to go. All alone in the world with a newborn baby to look after, Sindhutai wandered from one place to another; begging and singing heart rendering songs in trains and temples, which was also her source of income. She would often feed the hungry orphan children who would gather around her. Her compassion and love for these orphan children turned into her life’s mission. She took them under her wings and built a community around her and built orphanages. Sindhutai did not let the struggles of her own life dampen her spirits. She was able to face adversity, build resilience, find joy and inspired others to overcome adversity. Sindhutai travelled extensively sharing her heart breaking experiences with rare honesty and affection inspiring and instructing that a loving and kind world is possible. Her speeches were thoughtful, insightful, and compelling. She raised funds to nurture more than 1500 children. She took thousands of homeless children under her wings and enabled them to become doctors, lawyers, and bureaucrats, among others. She was fondly known as “Mai” (mother). Sindhutai was honored with 750 awards, including 4 President’s awards, honored with D. Litt degree and the highest honor being the Padma Shri Award in 2021. A Marathi film 'Mee Sindhutai Sapkal' released in 2010, is a biopic inspired by the true story of Sindhutai. The film was selected for world premiere at the 54th London Film Festival. Sindhutai’s story is a story of unimaginable pain and loss. Not many human beings have the capacity to endure and succeed. In this article I have summarized my learnings from Sindhutai’s life. The information is based on various online articles, YouTube videos and interviews of Sindhutai with high profile companies. I have also included various quotes by Sindhutai from her interviews which I am sure you will find inspiring. I encourage you to check out the links below to the movie on her life and several links to her interviews.
