Story of Dignity, self respect and courage...Must read & share this She chose dignity over shame, literally back breaking hard work over the easy way out by begging.
She stands out at the local railway station - the lone female coolie among all the men. Maya (40), who lost her husband 1year ago and has a
12-year-old son, has chosen this tough profession to eke out a living.
Rather...
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than beg, borrow or steal, she carries the luggage of passengers on her head, with dignity.According to the station superintendent, Ludhiana,
Ravinder Sharma, Maya is among the
handful of woman coolies in north
India, the others being in Jhansi (Uttar
Pradesh), Divisional railway manager,
Ferozepur division, NC Goyal confirms
that she is the only female porter
north of Delhi.Maya, who hails from
Haryana's Sonepat district, is also
carrying a debt burden of lakhs of
rupees. Her husband, Ram Kumar, did
this back-breaking job for more than a
decade before he was declared
medically unfit. He was also not
considered fit to join as a gangman 6
years ago when then railway minister
Lalu Prasad Yadav ordered the
promotion of coolies.After Kumar's
death, the railway authorities offered
Maya a job in his place. She promptly
accepted it."I don't want to beg to
make ends meet or pay off the debt
taken for my husband's backbone
treatment. It's not an easy profession
for a woman as one has to run after
passengers and bear with sarcastic
remarks by people. But I took this
decision for my son," says Maya, who
sports batch number 56 on her left
arm.It's a gruelling 12-hour job (5am
to 5pm). She's all praise for her male
colleagues. "They are very supportive.
"It's better to work than to beg,"
We salute the strength that is a
woman..

source : click here