Tulasi Munda – Life as a Mission

She has triggered a silent revolution in Serendra – a village about 30 km from the mines city of Joda in Orissa and its vicinity. The mission started by her in 1964 has borne fruit. The village once under the grip of illiteracy and poverty now boasts of a model school which has served as a catalyst for the over-all development of the area.

 

What makes Padma Shri Tulasi Munda’s achievement in this sphere all the more extraordinary is that she herself had never gone to a school in childhood. But it did not prevent her from dreaming to sow the seed of education in the village which would someday grow into a huge tree to provide shades of relief to the ill fated populace of the area that suffered from abject negligence and underdevelopment. 

 

Today Tulasi commands an iconic recognition not only in the area that she once chose to be the beneficiary of her social mission but also in the entire state of Orissa. Her dedication to the cause has aptly been recognised by the Govt. of India which conferred the prestigious Padma Shri award on her in the year 2001.  

 

A MOMENTOUS DECISION

 

A chance encounter with the renowned Bhoodan leader Vinoba Bhabe in 1963 changed Tulasi’s outlook in life. It made her take an instantaneous decision to dedicate herself to upliftment of the down trodden. She promised Vinobaji that for the rest of her life she would pursue the ideals and principles propagated by him for the service of the underprivileged.

 

Then in 1964 she once hppened to be present in a meeting being addressed by the eminent social worker Malati Choudhury in a meeting in Keonjhar District. She attentively listened the speech. At the end of the meeting when Malati asked any of those present in the meeting to stand up if he or she was really willing to join her in the social mission, Tulasi was the first one to rise. And since then she has never looked back.   

 

Prior to that she had already undergone a training in social service at a camp in Indore. It laid the foundation of a dedicated social worker within her. She joined Vinobaji's padyatra in Orissa. 

 

CHOOSING THE ARENA

 

When it came to identifying a place where she could turn her long-cherished dream of dedicating her life to a social cause into reality, her natural choice was the Serendra village in Keonjhar District. This village, inhabited by about 500 tribals, was deprived of the benefits of modern civilization. It was also under the grip of complete illiteracy. Most of the villagers were below the poverty line. She found that it was a place which was in dire need of the services she wished to render as a social worker.

 

She set out on her mission by forming an association of the villagers named Adivasi Vikas Samiti. Her first task was to bring the light of education into the village. It was a difficult task considering that the inhabitants of the village hardly ever understood the importance of education. Why should they forego the wages earned by their children by subjecting them waste time in a school for the entire day? Tulasi took upon herself the onerous task of making them realise the true value of education. She did it painstakingly and was at last successful in convincing the villagers to send their children to school.

 

The next problem was mobilisation of funds to start the school. It was an almost impossible task. Undaunted, she started her school in the open under a Mahua tree. To raise funds for the school she took to the occupation of selling vegetables in the market. Her committed endeavours greatly impressed the villagers. In due course they also contributed their lot in whatever way they could, such as donating labour for cutting blocks of stone from the nearby mountain to be used for the construction of a school building.

 

Today the school building in Serendra stands as a glorious testimony to the complete dedication and hard work of enthusiastic tribals of the village under the leadership of Tulasi. The school has about 350 students on its rolls with a hostel facility for 80 of them.  Being impressed with Tulasi's exemplary dedication to the cause, now donors have come forward to patronise her noble mission.

               

THE JOURNEY AHEAD

 

With her educational objectives fulfilled Tulasi has her eyes set on the other developmental needs of the area. Today at the age of 60, her spirits are charged to a no lesser extent than what it was when she set out on the mission at her young age. She now wants to eradicate alcoholism from the village. She is pained to find that the tribals have been suffering economic catastrophe due to their traditional addiction to Hadia – one form of country-made liquor.

 

Providing the hapless villagers adequate means of livelihood is also on Tulasi’s agenda. She is exploring ways to uplift the economic condition of the people of the area by bringing to them the benefits of various developmental schemes of the government.

 

It seems her journey is unending. Because to her social service is not a destination, but a life-long mission. She is determined to carry it forward with renewed vigour even at this age. Because she has promises to keep – the promises made by her to the great souls like Vinoba Bhabe and Malati Choudhury at the formative stage of her life.