Sandhya Panigrahi, is not a
celebrity. She is merely popular in the town, but she is one of her kind women.
A women who will make other women be a woman like her. Calm, knowledgeable,
focused, ethical, righteous and all that an ideal human being should be.
The first time I met her was few
years back. Her son was in college,
husband working at a renowned firm and a mother-in-law. I saw her like a
typical housewife who has nothing to do with outside world. Stay all day at
home or so to say in the kitchen and keep everyone's wishes and demands
fulfilled in her family. The one time she invited me for dinner she had
prepared all possible types of Oriya dishes, probably more items than a buffet
in some 3 star restaurant. The one thing that strike me back then was that she
was full of ideas. Any topic we had as a dinner table conversation, she had a
logical point of view to it. She had in-depth idea about starting a business,
investing in shares, cooking off course, general awareness.
The next time I met her was after
2 years of my first visit. It was when her husband had expired, her son had
started working at a big firm in a metropolitan city and that mother-in-law was
bed ridden due to paralysis attack. Things were not the same around her, life for
her appeared to be direction-less. But the very basic nature of her, remained. The
real Sandhya with all her inhibition stayed intact. The inner strength which
shined in her eyes were as it used to be. Ideally in such a situation we expect
the woman of house to go weak and look out for help from other male members of
her family. But this lady was different. She had her siblings beside her, her
relatives from both mother's side and her husband's side. With all these people
around she chose to stand right up. Take the guidance from others and do what
she felt is the right thing to do. She chose to stay with her mother-in-law and
take care of her and get the best treatment possible in that small town. She chose
to let go of her son to pursue his dreams of go ahead with his career. She started
teaching the young girls the art of stitching as she was good at it. She build
her knowledge in investments, shares/equity and all possible sources to save
money and grow herself as an individual. She got on to the social networking websites
to be aware of as many things as she can. Her husband used to drive this car given
by his company. She requested the Director of company to give it to her on a lower
price so that she can use it for her convenience.
At first I was pleasantly
surprised to see her so focused and strong. I was amazed to look at the energy
she had. But as I looked around, I saw people laughing at her. They thought she
has lost her mind as she is trying to do everything at once. They made fun of her for learning car driving
at this age They though she is trying to be an entrepreneur at this age by
starting stitching classes. There were so many things everyone pin pointed and gossiped
about. But nothing shook her from her target, nothing distracted her from doing
what she was willing to do.
I met her again few weeks
back. This time around I saw the change
around her. Every single person in her family believed in her. She was
successful in everything that she started with a good heart. She seemed to have
enlightened her surroundings. Her attitude, value and thoughts has influenced
so many in family and near n dear ones. People ask for her advice when they
want to start something new. People ask her for a ride if they are want to go
some place. It's amazing to see such a change in a small city like Rourkela.
She might not know but she
inspired me as well. She moved me to get up and get going. As I thought of what
can I add to my women empowerment blog I could only think of her...
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