(News) Gulabi Gang's Sampat Devi Pal listed in The Guardian's list of 100 most inspirational women in the World

Gulabi Gang

This time, she's sharing centre-stage with other women achievers like PepsiCo chief Indra Nooyi, film director Mira Nair, human rights activists, Jayashree Satpute and Arundhati Roy, environmentalist Vandana Shiva and coordinator of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood in India, Aparajita Gogoi.

Pal, along with the six others, has found mention in The Guardian's list of 100 most inspirational women in the world, released on International Women's Day on March 8, this year. Pal said: "I am happy that my work is being recognised. The only unfortunate thing is that people outside India seem to value what Gulabi Gang does, more than our fellow Indians. As for being regarded as one of the most inspirational women in the world; it will not change much for me. The Gulabi Gang and I will continue to work as usual,'' Pal said.

A resident of Atarra, one of Bundelkhand's most backward parts, Pal, the leader of the Pink Sari brigade, has been a torch-bearer for poor and marginalised women; she has taken up cudgels against patriarchy, bureaucracy and the police, and though she has never had formal schooling herself, she has now set up sewing centres to create employment, and a Gulabi Gang children's school in Rauli Kalyanpur, to educate children from neighbourhood villages. "Sampat Pal has been a role model for the women in this region. She has reversed gender roles. As a lower caste woman she has carved a niche by doing some very unconventional things,'' said Jay Prakash, a member of Pal's Gulabi Gang.

For Pal, the seeds of rebellion were sown early. Deprived of formal education by her parents and married off to Munni Lal at the age of 12, Pal gave birth to her first child at 13. Her feisty spirit, however, had her fighting for freedom from familial norms. By 15, with her `pheriwala' (vendor) husband in tow, Pal separated from her parents-in-law and started running a tea stall in neighbouring town of Atarra for sustenance. Her first show of aggression came when Ram Milan, a local farmer who beat up his wife mercilessly, refused to relent even after Pal reasoned with him. That was when she gathered a group of local women and beat him up. "We taught him a lesson he won't forget in a hurry,'' Pal said, with a smile of satisfaction.

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Courtesy: timesofindia.com