Bhanumati Narsimhan

Babasaheb Dr Bhimrao Ji Ambedkar had said- “I estimate the progress of any society by the fact that how much progress has been made by women in that society.” The 21st century is full of jovial prospects in the life of women. Women are now coming forward and providing leadership in every field. Today’s women are now conscious and active. Someone has well-articulated that “when a woman starts breaking the shackles and chains imposed on her, then no power in the world will be able to stop her.”

At present women have started breaking the shackles of orthodoxy. People’s outlook is also changing, yet more efforts are needed in this direction. Women constitute almost half of the population of our country. For this reason, the goal of nation-building can be achieved only by keeping in perspective the role and contribution of women towards the nation’s development. There is no dearth of such women in India, who have completely dedicated themselves to transforming society and ‘women’s respect’. One such example is Bhanumathi Narasimhan Ji.

Born on January 11, 1958, in Papanasam, a village in South India, to Mr. S.V. Ratnam and Mrs. Vishalakshi Sriratnam. Shri S. V. Ratnam was a learned astrologer and a specialist in Ayurveda. He nurtured a sense of belonging with all. He often narrated stories to his children. Through tales, he established ideals and values in the children. Growing up in a joint family with a simple lifestyle and high values, Bhanumathi Ji acquired meditation from her brother as a teenager and continued the practice ever since. At a very young age, she witnessed the inequalities in society, where schooling for the girl child was not considered vital. She says- “When we were younger, I used to play with the house help’s daughter. His brother used to go to school, but she didn’t. You and Gurudev were small children at that time, but you asked if I could go to school, why not she? Especially the concern for the education of girls came to mind at that time.”

Giving another example, she said that her father’s words often come to her mind- “When you educate a boy, you educate a person, but when you educate a girl, you educate a whole family”. An educated mother will ensure that her children also acquire knowledge. She founded the program ‘Gift a Smile-Care for Children’. It provides value-based holistic education to underprivileged children from rural, tribal and slum areas. Today in India there are 982 free schools across the country, educating more than 80,000 children. What started as a school with 30 children has grown to a gigantic size, but it’s still just a drop in the ocean and wants to reach many more children and make them educated.

Our nation will be called a civilized nation only when illiteracy against women, sexual violence, domestic violence against women, rape, prostitution, human trafficking and other such issues will bring awareness in our country and work will be done towards their total eradication.

She did several things at her level to bring neglected and marginalized women into the mainstream, such as providing economic and social self-reliance to underprivileged women through Vista India (Value Integrated Services for All). Through this more than 8000 vocational training, entrepreneurship and self-development workshops are provided to women. Presently, two centres are running in Tamil Nadu and Bengaluru where they are taught skills related to tailoring, candle making, incense production, packaging etc. The aim is to formulate women financially independent. So far more than 1,70,000 women across India have benefited from this initiative.

“Nature is the elementary source of human civilization, when we will be aware of nature, then only human civilization will be able to course together.” Bhanumathi Ji has worked on many projects giving prominence to serious issue like the environment. The ‘Hari Prithvi Project’ comprises strategies like cleanliness awareness, tree plantation, no plastic drives and cleanliness camps. Till now 5000 saplings have been planted in about 300 villages in India. Over 810 cleanliness camps have been organized and 117 schools and 2,450 homes have been made independent of plastic.

He also worked for preserving the endangered art and culture in India, which is identified as a country of civilization and culture. She has also started the ‘Weaver-to-Wear’ project. The project connects artisans skilled in traditional arts from rural areas to consumers across the globe.

She contributed towards awareness regarding women at the national as well as the international levels. As the president of the International Women’s Conference (IWC), she reflected on issues related to women. These conferences have so far been attended by more than 6,000 women from 100 countries. The address inspired political, business, social, cultural and spiritual delegations from various walks of life. The convention supports global initiatives for women’s education, prisoner rehabilitation, poverty alleviation, women’s health awareness, female feticide eradication, environment, and domestic violence.

Bhanumathi Ji is a social worker as well as an efficient writer. She has also authored the book Gurudev on the Plateau of the Peak, which gives a glimpse into the life of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar from childhood to adulthood.

For these amazing works, she has been honored with many awards like the Rotary for Professional Excellence in the year 2014. Additionally, she was honored with Nari Shakti Puraskar, Lifetime Achievement Award in the year 2018. Bhanumathi Ji believes – “Where women are honored and respected, there is natural bliss. When women are well-educated and content, there will be progressive social change in that country, which will lead to universal harmony.” For these unprecedented works, in the year 2022, the “Sant Eshwer Foundation” made itself proud by conferring the “Sant Eshwer Vishesh Seva Samman” to Bhanumathi Narasimhan Ji.