Rising from the Slums to respect for the Society!

“All women of this society are my extended family. I have to live and fight for them.”

One would not believe that a single woman has in fact, moved the entire system to reopen a bus depot and cover up electric transformers in the area for the sake of public safety. This and many other feats achieved by Phoolan, have led to her becoming a qualified social worker.

Losing her son at the age of 14 to muscular dystrophy, caring for a paralyzed mother-in-law and supporting a family of six could just be the source of Phoolan’s strength to combat destiny. But that resilience is seen today. In the past, with her son dead and having been driven out of a joint family for towering medical expenses, she went heavy on tranquilizers and was on the brink of suicide. Reactions of extreme medication adorned the face, as she was driven deep into the black hole of depression.

Misery and poverty are often presented together in the most unpleasant manner. And Phoolan could no longer shelter them both, all under tin roofs. It was then that she read about Tanishka Foundation and decided to change her life for herself. Motivational inputs from the Tanishka Foundation features inspired her to take up yoga and soon enough she enrolled herself in. Learning soon became teaching and Phoolan was not just a yoga teacher, but soon a trained beautician and culinary expert.

Today, Phoolan is a forum by herself. A foster mother to a girl-child afflicted by leprosy, Phoolan is the first voice on the street for issues ranging from road pits to garbage dumps. As an entrepreneur, Phoolan runs a snack center and a beauty parlor where she is assisted by homeless widows like one Habiba Shaikh, whom she supports in spirit and finance. Habiba might just be another Phoolan in the making with her employer pushing her towards further education. While Phoolan is busy hunting for an issue to solve!

Phoolan has also led the Tanishka group to take up different projects like generating awareness among 50,000 people on waste management, initiating a snack center with 4 women with a business plan which today helps women earn Rs. 5000/- per month. Her remarkable contribution was starting up the closed bus depot in Nerul along with the Tanishka members.

The Tanishka Foundation and Delivering Change Foundation salutes women like Phoolan Shinde for their inspiring stories. Presently she has expanded the forum by bringing in 30 more members.