THE UNSUNG HEROES chapter one : SINDHUTAI SAPKAL(mother of orphans)

Team ANYTHING TO EVERYTHING wishes you all a very happy REPUBLIC DAY. As per the schedule we are here with our first chapter of the series THE UNSUNG HEROES. Our first unsung hero is a lady who has inspired thousands and will surely inspire us too. None other than SINDHUTAI SAPKAL.

It is rightly said that a mother never discriminates between her own children whatever be the number is. She showers equal love upon all.

But the fact is hard to believe if the children are more than 1000, yes you heard it absolutely correct. This lady of love and Mamta is SINDHUTAI SAPKAL.

She is the strongest pillar of support and the reason for a beautiful smile on the thousands of sparkling faces,

which is the only thing she demanded, that is to be happy always.

She always presented the happiest part of her and never reflected the deep scars of pain that she faced in her early times.

     

This lovely mom was born on 14 November, 1948 in Pimri Meghe village of Wardha district Maharashtra to Abhimanji Sathe, a cowherd by profession. She was an unwanted child to her parents so often called “CHINDHI” which means a torn piece of cloth. Her interest in studies didn’t break even when she did not have a slate to write upon. she continued to write upon the leaves of Bharadi tree.

An early marriage forced her to stop her studies only up to forth standard. At the age of 10, she got married to Shrihari Sapkal Allas Harbaji, a 30-year-old cowherd from Navargaon village in Wardha district. She gave birth to 3 sons by the age of just 20.

A chapter of bravery in the book of her life moved her to the way, she never thought of.  She agitated against a local strongman who cheated the villagers. She fought alone against him and proved him guilty. The man could not face his defeat and as a revenge convinced her husband to leave the house when she was nine months pregnant of her fourth child. She gave birth to a beautiful daughter in a cow shelter. She was not accepted even at her mother’s house and the situations forced her to commit suicide. Amidst the struggle of her life, one day she saw many small kids who were begging, had nothing to be happy of but still living their lives with a hope. That moment nailed her heart and she decided to live her life for all such kids. She started begging to feed them all. Today, there are more than 1050 children in her family and she never treated any to be like an orphan; “They all are her own”, she says. Many of her children are doctors, engineers etc. A child of her is doing PhD on her life. She has 207 son- in-laws, 36 daughter-in-laws and over 1000 grandchildren.

At the age of 80 her husband apologized to her about all his misbehavior and wanted her back in his life. She agreed and her reply was breathtaking “yes you can be back in my life as my oldest child, because now I am just a mother.” She won many awards but still majority of us don’t know her. She can be an infinite source of motivation for millions. That was all about a strong lady, a beautiful mom and a huge hearted personality, who will surely inspire us. She is truly one of THE UNSUNG HEROES.