Education is the stepping stone to a good and fulfilling life. It gives one the strength to stand on their own two feet and become independent. Education gives us hope, courage, and the ability to stand up for ourselves.

With a literacy rate of 74%, India still has a long way to go. According to the Indian Constitution, it is the fundamental right of every child between the ages of 6 and 14 to receive free primary education. But it is disheartening to know that only 69.5% of the female population has been able to avail herself of this privilege in our country. But there are still a few unstoppable women like Taetri Devi who dare to break the societal shackles and mould themselves into inspirational figures.

Taetri Devi lives in Ranchi, in a village named Dandol, with her husband and two grown kids. She works as a cook at the local school, where she cooks midday meals for children, and her husband is a labourer. Coming from an extremely poor and impoverished background, neither Taetri Devi nor her husband could receive a basic education. Due to their lack of education and any special skills, both of them have been forced to choose low-rewarding jobs that offer them a meagre income that can hardly make their ends meet. With this limited income, providing a quality life for their kids was something they could only dream of.

Her family has also been through some rough phases when they were forced to go days without food. On top of all these, there were times and situations when Taetri Devi faced embarrassment for not being capable of reading or writing. As she worked as a school cook, there were times when she would be assigned to procure the basic requirements from the market. But she did not possess the ability to recognize or understand numbers or keep proper purchase records. Thus, going to the market was a source of discomfort for Taetri Devi, who often shied away from this responsibility.

This is when Taetri Devi stumbled upon the Women’s Literacy Centre that had been set up in her village by the Udyogini organisation. Udyogini aims to provide basic education to women and help them find proper sources of livelihood so that they can earn for themselves. They hold regular classes for women to teach them the basics of math and inculcate the practise of reading and writing in them. These training classes not only help the women with their education but also go a long way in instilling confidence, strength, and motivation to work to improve their living standards.

When Taetri Devi came to know of this organisation, despite being the mother of two grown kids, she found the strength within herself to start her education at her age.

Taetri Devi has progressed at a swift rate since joining the Literacy Centre. Her willpower motivates her to wake up early and attend her classes regularly, without affecting her daily household duties. Due to her cooking duties at the local school, she is unable to attend the full class every day, but she makes up for it with her effort.

Presently, Taetri Devi can not only read and recognise numbers but is also good at it. She wishes to improve in mathematics and do away with her problems in subtraction. What’s more, she can now write short stories by herself. She is eager to learn to read longer sentences.

Taetri Devi now regularly visits the market to buy essentials for the school and no longer falters when it comes to transactions. She is also responsible for updating the school procurement register and can sign off on the receipts given by the traders without any difficulty.

The regular classes at the Women’s Literacy Centre have helped Taetri Devi gain new confidence in herself. Seeing her remarkable progress, her husband has also become supportive and helps her with cooking at home.

With the newfound faith and confidence within her, Taetri Devi now motivates and urges other women in the village to take up the regular classes at the Women Literacy Centre. She inspires them to become self-sufficient and also encourages them to work towards earning a respectable place in society.

This brave and optimistic woman now wishes to develop a skill in candlemaking so that she can work after her literacy classes and earn more to add to her present income.

The regular classes at Udyogini’s Women Literacy Centre have proved to be a vital instrument in instilling hope and self-confidence and in helping Taetri Devi in her zeal to improve her life and her financial condition and social status in the village.