IIn India, a lady is always dependent on her father, brother, husband, son, She has no right to take the decision alone. She is not able to face the world alone. Wait, wait… wait.. not all, some women create history and become an inspiration.
She married in her childhood(12 years of age). Her father was a barber and his husband also.
Shripati farmed the 3 acres of land with his 4 brothers. He was also working as a barber to earn extra money, but soon his brothers decided to divide the land.
Then shripati started to visit another village to find more customers to earn extra income. But it was not enough for his family. He decided to take a loan from rich persons.
Haribhau Kadukar, the sabhupati of Hasursasgiri village, saw his situation and tell him to move to his village because there was no barber in that village.
Shantabhai and her husband shripati came to Hasursasgiri to start a new life. In the next 10 years, shantabai became a mother of six daughters, 2 of whom died as infants. At that time shripati was earning enough money. But in 1984, when her eldest daughter was 8 and the youngest one was 9 months old, He Husband, Shripati died because of a heart attack.
Next 3 months, shantabai worked as a laborer for 8 hours a day. She would get 50 paise at the end of the day. This was not enough for her daughters.
The government paid her rs. 15000 for the land which owned by her husband. She used this money to pay off the debts taken by her husband. She worked hard but this was not enough for her family.
“I had only two choices, either to kill my daughters and myself and give up on life altogether or to hold the ustra that my husband left behind and struggle. I decided to choose the latter,” said Shantabai.
She was humiliated and mocked by the villagers for taking up this profession but she didn’t give up. Every day, she would leave her kids with her neighbors, the Gadiwadars, and would walk 4-5 km to nearby villages in search of more customers. She started by charging Rs. 1 for a haircut and Rs. 5 for shaving the cattle.
In 1985, she received money from the government to build a house under the ‘Indira Gandhi Awas Yojna’. She, on her own, married all her daughters without any financial help. She says:
“This profession has given life to me and my children. Until I can see with my eyes and hold the ustra with my hands, I will continue with this work, ”says Shantabai, who decided to work until the day she died.
