AGELESS ACHIEVERS: My greatest achievement is bringing smiles to women’s faces

Born and brought up in Lucknow, she founded the War Widows Association in 1972, the Guild of Service in 1979, and also chaired the National Commission For Women from 1995 to 1998.

LUCKNOW Mohini Giri, 86, is a career social worker who later also had a brief stint as a teacher. She received the Padma Bhushan in 2007 for her activism centred primarily around empowering widows and providing education for children. Born and brought up in Lucknow, she founded the War Widows Association in 1972, the Guild of Service in 1979, and also chaired the National Commission For Women from 1995 to 1998.

Mohini Giri has had to face backlash from society as well as the administration in her time as an activist. (HT Photo)

Early days

“My father passed away when I was 10. He was the founder of the political science department at Lucknow University. Six months after his passing, my mother was told that we could no longer live at the bungalow provided by the university. She was told that she had to wrap up her life, take her seven young children, and vacate. That was the first time I encountered what a struggle it was for a widow living alone and raising seven children.” This was when Padma Bhushan Mohini Giri’s sensitivities towards widows began to come alive. “Although my mother had a doctorate in music from Bhatkhande University, she was not empowered enough to undertake the day-to-day activities handled by the man of the household in those days.” At 86, she is managing rehabilitation centres for widows and schools for underprivileged children, in multiple locations across the country.

She studied at IT College in Lucknow, which according to her championed the principles of serving the needy, and after completing her master too, she married into a family “who gave everything to the nation” - her father in law, Varahagiri Venkata Giri, was a freedom fighter who then went on to become the president of India from 1969 to 1974. Born and brought up in Lucknow, Giri is widely travelled and has had her fingers in multiple pies in social work across the country. She founded the Guild of Service in 1979, and was awarded the Padma Bhushan for her work in 2007 by then President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

Working for war widows

“The 1971 war happened, and as the daughter in law of the President, I had the opportunity to visit all the hospitals, and meet with all the jawans who were injured or dying. They said to me -- ‘Mrs. Giri, don’t look after us now as we are dying, take care of the ones that we leave behind’.”

This was when she started War Widows Association in 1972. Since then, WWA has active branches all over the country, helping widows in difficult situations. She continued with this mission even when she became chairperson of the National Commission for Women. She visited Varanasi, Vrindavan, Tirupathi, Puri, and witnessed widows living very unhappy lives conforming to religious rules -- with shaved heads and always dressed in white garbs, living in temples, even when they would rather choose not to. Giri took these women under her wing and gave them refuge at her rehabilitation homes.

“Our Kashmir centre is full of militant widows, we house them straight through to old age. It is a very difficult period of their lives, when they get supremely lonely,” she said. She has started schools for underprivileged children at these centres as well, and ensure that the kids interact and engage with the senior citizens on a regular basis -- “they spend time with the old women, exchange stories…”

She said that her social work was relatively easier while her father-in-law was still in office as the President. “I had cars wherever I went, I could travel as far as I wanted, and I have been very blessed with these conveniences,” but after VV Giri’s presidency, she had to work harder to organise fund raising campaign and donation drives to keep her rehabilitation homes running in Rajasthan, Vrindavan, Kashmir and other places. “The ladies have started their own businesses, are selling their own art and doing very well for themselves. With great satisfaction, I am going to leave this world,” said Giri.

‘No good work without its share of challenges’

Giri has had to face backlash from society as well as the administration in her time as an activist. She even has had eggs and tomatoes pelted at her in Tirupati. She was refused help and had to deal with red tapism and false accusations in her attempts to rehabilitate and empower widows. However, she chose to accept them all graciously and move forward in her mission. “Challenges are also sent by God. There is no good work without its fair share of challenges along the way. When I encouraged 15 widows to wear colourful clothes and jhumkas, when I spoke on inter-faith, people thought I was out to spoil their societies,” she reminisced.

She recalled young men and women approaching her later in life in various parts of the country, and abruptly touching her feet or giving her hugs -- all children that were provided schooling because of her efforts. She attributes all her achievements to the higher power -- “my greatest achievement is when I see the smiles on the faces of these women - in their smiles, I see God.”