“Sabse badi baath to ye hui ki jis kaam ke liye mujhe peeta jata tha aur shak kiya jata tha aaj log wahi kaam mujhse sikhne aate hain” (the biggest thing happened to me is that the very reasons for which I was once beaten and taunted, now people come to learn the same from me” Rambha Devi is in her late 40s, and she smiles with pride and says that she has gone through very hard times in her life. She was only 12 years old when she was married off to Suresh Ram who was only 15 years old and illiterate. The family did not own any agriculture land and belonged to the SC category. She, along with her husband worked as agriculture laborers. In 1992 Rambha Devi joined the Mahila Samakhya as a facilitator and was assigned the task of group formation by mobilising the community women. Initially for 6-7 months there was no remuneration paid other than travel reimbursement. Very soon she realised the strength in getting organised and building her capacity, but the real challenge was yet to come. When she started travelling into the field to participate in training programmes, the villagers began passing vulgar comments and taunting her. Whenever she encouraged the adolescent girls and women to participate in meetings or trainings at nearby locations, she faced lot of objections from community members who suspected that she was involved in some wrong practices. Rambha Devi’s husband too was convinced by the community that Rambha was engaged in some amoral activities and her character was not pure. As a result, he started beating her and restricting her movement and participation in meetings. The person who was emerging as a ray of hope for thousands of women and adolescent girls facing domestic violence, found herself being just another victim.
But Rambha Devi was not deterred and she mustered up her confidence and fought fight back and continued doing good works. Slowly, people began to notice and talk about her contributions and support to the community. Her husband Suresh came forward in support of her. He observed how the adolescent girls completing their education with Rambha’s support, were getting selected as ASHA workers and Sevikas. Suresh dropped his false pride and requested Rambha to teach him. She took on the role of a teacher and taught him how to sign his name and read. Today Rambha Devi leads the Swadha Mahila Samakhya as its President. She is a mother to five children. Her elder daughter is a graduate and now working as a Sevika in the Anganwadi center. Her younger daughter is appearing for her matriculation exam. Her older son is also married to a girl who is now the Vice Mukhiya of area. Rambha Devi has been a source of inspiration for thousands of women in the area to come forward and prove their abilities in diverse fields like education, agriculture, business and politics.