Her Life is a showcase of India’s unsung heroes, women navigating their way through a changing world. Using audio, video, photos and text, women share their successes and hopes on Her Life, but also their failures and fears. It’s her life – in her own words.
Raised by a single mother, Smiley Thabu, a 31-year-old transwoman, strives to give children and youth from marginalised communities near Chennai a boost in life by giving supplementary lessons and skill development programmes.
Widowed young, Fatah Begum became a labourer to feed and educate her eight children. With a firm belief in women’s contribution to nation-building, she became a sarpanch at 80, busting myths about gender and age.
Shunned by her forest-dwelling community, Tina had to leave home when she was a teen because of her gender identity. At 20, she teaches Van Gujjar women – who stood up for her and accepted her – their dying art.
To get her educated, Saraswathi’s parents enrolled her in an orphanage. From getting married as a teen to leaving her abusive husband, she trudged through her hardships and now runs an orphanage where she nurtures young girls.
Skipping school and homebound because of a polio attack, Krishna Tashi Palmo enrolled in a Tibetan thangka art school at 22, finding purpose in life through art. Now she is one of the few renowned women thangka artists.
While trying to earn through her SHG, so as to care for her widowed ill mother and abandoned niece and nephew, Minati Panda came face to face with corruption. Since then she has been working towards eradicating corruption.
Laxmi Maravi, who grew up surrounded by forests, but was intimidated by forest department staff, now serves as khaki-donning forest guard. In addition, she is in charge of a school inside the Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh.
Harassed by family, Shoaib Khan, shut hurtful words out and focussed on breaking transgender stereotypes. After becoming a woman, she chose to retain her male name. Shoaib works at an IT company and hopes for society to become more inclusive.
Archana M Siddi, a 19-year-old from the marginalised Siddi community, overcomes adversity with ambition. Rising from her impoverished background, she clinched javelin honours in an athletics meet, aspiring to make her mark in the Olympics. Her story, in her words:
