A story of a girl, of her grit and glory

Kashipur block had riveted media attention more often than not in past few decades, sometimes for starvation deaths and sometimes for Cholera outbreaks. But this time, a tale of an adolescent girl’s fight against all odds and valiant display of fortitude will continue to inspire girls and women of Kashipur and beyond, to take a stand of defiance for gender equality. The teen has set an example for other adolescent girls to be undeterred, unfazed in the face of difficulty and take necessary action to secure their future. 

Subhasini was an adolescent girl who lived with her father, mother and six siblings in Dumel village under Kashipur block of Rayagada district. She was the eldest among the children. Her father who was the sole bread-winner of the family found it hard to survive relying on agriculture on a small patch of land. He also started working as a mason. However with less construction activities around, his supplementary income was never sufficient to run the nine-membered family. Literally they lived on the breadline. 

As the children grew up, the financial burdens started to weigh heavier on the family. Immediately after passing Sr. Secondary level (+2), Subhasini’s father instructed her to stop her studies saying that he could not afford education for all children. For him, being the eldest among the siblings and being a girl, Subhasini was supposed to sacrifice her studies to do the household chores and look after the younger siblings. Subhasini had to quietly accept the decision against her wishes. She lamented on her fate of being born as a girl. But she could not raise voice against her father either. Her parents had started looking for a match to get her married. Getting the daughter married was considered to be getting rid of a great responsibility. The sooner it happened, the better it was for the family.     

It was during that time, under ACEH Project, adolescent girls of the village were forming a group. Subhasini had a delayed joining due to restrictions imposed by her father. But Kishori Sathi and other adolescent girls made sure that all adolescent girls joined the group. The PLA meeting Cycle was essential in making the adolescent girls understand and analyse their issues, as well as, in developing an action plan and implementing the same to overcome the issues. 

Subhasini started growing interest in participating in the meeting and discussions. In one meeting while Kishori Sathi narrated a story of a girl named Reena who was forced to become a drop-out, became a victim of early marriage and finally succumbed to malnutrition and early pregnancy, Suabhasini found a strong resemblance in it. As she was aware of the devastating effects of early marriage and she apprehended her parents were going to get her married early, she became restless. She realized that stopping her studies was a discrimination and getting married at an early age would ruin her life beyond redemption. 

After attending the meetings under the PLA cycle she had transformed. From a submissive, docile girl, she had turned into a determined girl willing to take resilient steps. The problem-solving approach learned during the PLA Cycle inspired her to act proactively, it was a matter of “now or never” for her. She did not want to wallow in self pity for the rest of her life for not braving to take initiative.  

 The very next day, she mustered courage and requested from her father that she wanted to study further. Her father was shocked on hearing such a request.  Both the request and the decisive voice in which the request was made enraged her father. He out-rightly denied and said her study would yield no benefit to the family. Subhasini got disheartened, but she was determined to find a way out. She requested her uncle to intervene and convince her father. But to her surprise her uncle suggested her father fix her marriage as soon as possible. Subhasini correlated the discussions held in groups on gender discrimination and concluded that it was not only her father, but most of the male members in her community were inclined towards a discriminative attitude.  She realized “Desperate times call for desperate measures”. 

It was no more a time of whispering; she felt the need of a war-cry. As an act of defiance, she declared that she would not take any food and would starve until her father permitted her to continue her education. She further said that she would prefer to die starving in protest than accepting the discriminations forced upon her. Her news of starving for education became a sensation in no time. The group of adolescent girls pitched in and stood firmly in her support. The group’s continuous effort to convince her father and Subhasini’s determination changed her father’s mind. He allowed her to study further. Subhasini’s happiness knew no bounds at that moment. She too promised her father that after completion of her studies, she would ensure better education of all her siblings. Her father became emotional and appreciated her daughter’s conviction and commitment for younger siblings. 

Subhasini’s mother who was a drop-out since childhood was moved with the determination of her daughter. As there was no money available with the family, her mother arranged the amount required for admission by availing gold loan. 

Now Subhasini is pursuing degree level education at Rayagada college. Her next goal is to find a job and to bear the expenses of study of her siblings, and to support her father in running the family. 

Her gallant act will continue to inspire girls on many accounts.