A mother to the abandoned

Amarjot Kaur

For the 26th Neerja Bhanot Award, Sarojini Agrawal of Lucknow is the chosen one. The award was instituted in the memory of senior flight purser, Neerja Bhanot, who saved hundreds of lives while sacrificing her own, during a Pan Am plane hijack at Karachi Airport in September 1986. The award celebrates the spirit of an Indian woman who battles social injustice with grit and offers a helping hand to those in distress too.

In 1984, when Lucknow-based Sarojini Agrawal decided to set up a home for destitute girls, Manisha Mandir (named after her daughter Manisha), she was probably struggling between nursing the pangs of separation and pacifying a deep regret. “It was in 1978 when I was driving a two-wheeler with Manisha, who was only eight years old, sitting behind me. We met with an accident and she died on the spot,” she says.

Born in 1937 and a PhD degree in Hindi literature, Agrawal was then a writer. She had authored short stories and collections of poetry. She had even penned an autobiography titled Baat Swayam Bolegi. “I was deeply troubled after Manisha’s death. She was one of the twins I was blessed with after the birth of my son. As I pinned for her, I realised she wasn’t coming back. That’s when I decided to open my home to destitute girls. That was the beginning of setting up Manisha Mandir, first at my residence, in 1984, and then moving to a three-storey home in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar in 2000. I paid the instalment worth Rs 20 lakh—not a penny from the government,” she adds. “The government money reeks of corruption and I wouldn’t use that for a noble cause of helping the abandoned women.”

Agrawal invested the money she earned in royalty from her books for the Manisha Mandir. “At first, we only had three girls. In 34 years, we have hosted 700 girls here. My husband and I live in this ashram and we do get support from people. We don’t just give these girls food, clothing, and shelter, but a family and a future. They go to school; we (my husband and I) fund their education,” she adds. 

On its website, Manisha Mandir claims to have a library, computer lab, recreation hall, dormitories, and basketball and badminton courts, among many other facilities. Here, the girls are also taught stitching, knitting and other vocational skills. 

Agrawal has received numerous awards for her work, including the National Award for Children’s Welfare and she recently set up the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, Beti Badhao Academy to facilitate higher education for underprivileged girls and instituted Manisha Higher Education Scholarship. “We offer Manisha Uchh Siksha Scholarship to bright girls on Manisha’s birthday which falls on September 24. It is given for a period of three years to pursue bachelor’s and master’s degrees across the country,” she signs off. 

Kaptan Singh Solanki, Governor of Haryana, will confer the 26th Neerja Bhanot Award to Sarojini Agrawal on September 7 at PHD Chambers, Sector 31, Chandigarh. The award consists of Rs. 1,50,000, a citation, and a trophy.

One big family

Manisha Mandir is not an orphanage, but a home where girls live together as a huge family. Here, Agrawal is their mother and her husband, VC Agrawal, a retired engineer, their father. The girls have a common surname, Bhartiy, which binds them into a family bond. “I have one lady who’s my Man Friday and a driver. That’s all the staff I have. But, I’d rather do everything on my own, so the girls have a special bond with me,” she shares. 

amarjot@tribunemail.com