Sindhutai Sapkal

Sindhutai Sapkal, known as “Maai”, was a social worker from Maharashtra who spent 45 years caring for orphaned and destitute children. She was named for the Padma Shri in 2021 in the field of social work, from Maharashtra ^[1].

A slate of leaves

Sindhutai was born on 1 July 1948 in Pimpri Meghe village in Wardha district, the daughter of Abhimanji Sathe, a cowherd ^[2]. Her father wanted her educated, against her mother’s wishes, and sent her to school on the pretext of grazing cattle; too poor for a slate, she wrote on the leaves of the bharadi tree ^[2]. Poverty, family duties and early marriage ended her schooling after Class 4 ^[2].

Singing for food

At 12 she was married to Shrihari Sapkal, a 30-year-old cowherd, and suffered violence at home ^[2]. Alone with a baby daughter, she wandered from place to place, travelling by train to temples and singing and begging to feed them both, often sharing what she got with other beggars ^[2]. She placed her daughter, Mamata, with the Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Trust so she could have a better upbringing ^[2].

Mother to thousands

She then gave herself to caring for orphans, who called her Aai, mother ^[2]. Unlike most orphanages, which send children away at 18, her homes kept them until they found jobs, married and settled ^[2]. She raised more than 1,500 orphaned children, and her family grew to include 282 sons-in-law and 49 daughters-in-law ^[2]. Many of her children became lawyers and lecturers ^[2].

Her work ran on private donations ^[2]. She spent her award money on land for a home, and her children now have their own building in Pune ^[2]. She travelled the world giving talks to raise money for them, and also ran a shelter for more than 600 cows at Wardha ^[2]. She received more than 800 awards, including Maharashtra’s Ahilyabai Holkar award in 2010 ^[2].

Sindhutai Sapkal died in Pune on 4 January 2022 ^[3].