10 Inspiring Women Padma Awardees Who Spent Their Life Making Our Society And India Better

This year the Government finally noticed some of the most inspirational women who have been changing our country for the good.

Some of them have a story so inspiring it is surprising that the common people did not know their story until they announced the Padma Shri awardees.

These women have toiled hard in the background, away from all spotlight to make life better for people around them. And that is why their story needs to be told.

1. Dr. Bhakti Yadav – the Doctor Dadi who has not charged a single patient since 1948

She is a gynecologist who started practicing in Indore way back 68 years ago. In all this time she has delivered thousands of babies. And she hasn’t charged these pregnant women any money for her services.

Today, at 91 years of age, she is in no shape to treat patients, but she still goes out and gives out medical advice.

Fact Source

 

2. Basanti Bisht – the first and only woman singer who sings the ancient music form of Jagar

Jagar is an ancient music form that is used to invoke deities and spirit from a body. Rationally speaking, the music is so good it lifts your spirit. It was a form of music only men practiced traditionally.

But Basanti Bisht became the first woman to sing in this style and won hearts all over India and internationally too.

She completely deserves this.

Fact Source

 

3. Meenakshi Amma – a 76-year-old Kalaripayattu teacher who has mastered the martial art for the last 68 years

Meenakshi Amma is the oldest female practitioner of the ancient Indian martial art. Even today she teaches almost 150 students in her ashram in Kerala.

Is she a master then? No, Amma says.  “I still consider myself a student in the process of learning. There is no ending in the process of learning Kalari.”

A humble master. Those students of her are indeed lucky.

Fact Source

 

4. Dr. Suniti Solomon – she diagnosed the first AIDS case in India and pioneered the fight against the disease

She is a microbiologist who diagnosed the first AIDS cases in Chennai in 1985. She studied in India but initially practiced in the UK and Australia.

In 1973 she came back to India because she thought India needed her services more. She established the first AIDS research facility in India and made sure the Indian public was socially aware of the deadly disease. She passed away in 2015.

We owe a lot as a country to her.

Fact Source

 

5. Anuradha Koirala – a Nepali activist who saved more than 12,000 girls from human trafficking.

She set up Maiti Nepal in her small house to fight the problem of sex trafficking. Apart from the 12,000 girls she rescued, she has prevented human trafficking of more than 45,000 girls across the India-Nepal border.

The victims who were not accepted back into the society were given a home in Maiti Nepal. She has received multiple awards from countries like Germany, Jordan, and England.

Fact Source

 

6. Deepa Malik – the first Indian woman to win a medal in the Paralympic Games

She once swam a kilometer against the current in the Yamuna river and drove 3000 kilometers to Leh. Did we mention that she is paralyzed from the waist down?

She had several tumors in her spinal cord. When the doctor diagnosed it, they gave her two options – either operate and get the tumors out, but be paralyzed for life or simply die.

She chose paralysis, believing in herself and she did make a name and inspired many.

Fact Source

 

7. Sukri Bommagowda – the nightingale of Hallakki Vokkaliga who can sing more than 1000 songs flawlessly

Hallakki Vokkaliga, a tribe in Karnataka is thankful to Sukri ajji for preserving their culture. She knows every song by heart that is required for any and every ritual in the village.

She is also a strict campaigner against alcohol in her village of Badigeri Haadi.

Fact Source

 

8. Nivedita Raghunath Bhide – brought development in the tribal areas of Tamil Nadu

Adept in Marathi, Sanskrit, Hindi, English and Tamil, Nivedita Bhide has served as a principal in the girls’ school of Swami Vivekananda Kendra. She also works to bring education in tribal areas where access is limited.

Fact Source

 

9. Eli Ahmad – the editor of the only woman’s magazine Orani in the North East

She has been running the only woman’s magazine in the North East since 1970 and also established the first film institute in the region.

She has worked actively for women empowerment in North East and bringing many social reforms for women in the region.

Fact Source

 

10. V Koteswaramma – the first woman to receive the “Best Teacher” award on a national level

At 92, she is still dedicated to education as she was 40 years ago and was the first woman graduate in Vijayawada taluka way back when women did not venture out of houses after they turned 13.

She broke stereotypes and helped establish the Montessori type of education throughout India. She believes that –

“One must keep working, the recognition will automatically come”

Fact Source

And that’s what each of these women has done. They spent their whole lives to improve lives of those around them and in turn improved our country as a whole.

They deserve the Padma awards and the gratitude of our nation as a whole.

Cover Image Source 1, 2