Punam Rai, a 47-year-old woman from Varanasi, was paralyzed after a dispute with her husband and in-laws. This occurred after Punam gave birth to a girl child. Despite her paralysis, she was able to empower hundreds of girls via taekwondo and painting. Poonam’s NGO, Bindeshwar Rai Foundation, is carrying out inspirational work.
Punam Rai’s marriage started with a lie
Punam was born in the Bihar district of Vaishali to a PWD engineer and a housewife. She grew up with two brothers and claims that her parents never discriminated between their boys and daughters.
When her family relocated to Varanasi due to her father’s job transfer, Poonam studied and got her diploma.
She married a year after graduating in 1995. Within a week, she discovered that, contrary to what his parents had told her family, her husband had not completed high school.
Punam says, “Before the marriage, my in-laws had described my husband as an engineer, due to which my parents had to pay dowry. In fact, my father gave them two trucks’ worth of gifts, which covered everything. I had no idea about the dowry agreement.”
One can only imagine the pressure on the bride’s father in places where the dowry system is still prevalent, such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
How her in-laws mistreated Punam till she became paralysed
Her husband mistreated Punam, in spite of receiving a dowry of lakhs. As she faced mental and physical harassment on a regular basis, Punam fled the residence a month after the marriage.
When her in-laws discovered she was pregnant, they urged her to return, and her husband vowed to treat her well.
The situation appeared to be improving. However, everything fell apart, when the baby girl was born.
Her in-laws and husband had subjected Punam to cruel remarks for having a baby girl for the previous two months. Due to this, the argument on the day of the incident looked as usual initially. So, she returned to trying to reason with her family after putting her baby to sleep, but in vain.
As the situation worsened, her in-laws and husband hurled Poonam from the third storey of the building.
Punam’s post-paralysis life
Punam says, “I was only 22 years old when they shoved me from the balcony. My husband stated that it would be better if I die so that he could marry again. For six months, I was in a coma. The incident left my spine severely damaged, and I had fractures throughout my body. During the healing phase, I was placed on life support. Because of a thing like a dowry and this dowry system that was abolished decades ago, my in-laws deprived me of my dignity. They also snatched away my hope of living a lively life like any other 20-something due to the dowry system.”
Punam was in a coma and fully paralysed when she opened her eyes a few days after the incident. She could only cry and blink her eyes shut.
The doctors were to some extent, correct when they claimed that she would never be able to walk again. Punam was bedridden for nearly 15 years. Hours of physiotherapy, exercises, and every available treatment began to show results, and her condition began to improve, if slowly.
Punam’s upper body began to recover thanks to her family’s love, fortitude, and support, despite the arduous physiotherapy sessions. She maintained a cheerful outlook, seeing this as her second shot at life.
However, things changed after her father Bindeshwar Rai, died in 2014. Punam still remembers her father as “the strongest pillar of my life.”
What led Punam to establish the Bindeshwar Rai Foundation?
Punam’s father was her best friend, but she lost that friend when he died. She established the Bindeshwar Rai Foundation in his honour to preserve his memory and they are working toward bringing change in the dowry system.
Punam adds, “I felt hopeless for a few days, but my father wouldn’t have wanted that. With the help of my brother, I established the Bindeshwar Rai Foundation in 2015. I began teaching for free and took part in many exhibitions.”
Punam learned self-defence in 2016 and quickly began training others with the assistance of the Bindeshwar Rai Foundation personnel.
The importance of self-defence led her to take it a step further and teach students martial arts, taekwondo, with the help of the Varanasi Taekwondo Association (VTA). Punam worked with VTA to help girls and women who couldn’t afford the training.
How Punam is empowering girls through the Bindeshwar Rai Foundation
Punam Rai is a Banaras Hindu University (BHU) Painting Honours graduate. She has employed taekwondo instructors for the Bindeshwar Rai Foundation. But, she herself teaches painting at the NGO, which has trained over 3,000 pupils. A total of 20 of the students have gone to compete in state and national events.
Punam has continued to hold painting exhibitions in order to meet the NGO’s financial needs. In 2017, she started her first major painting on a six-foot canvas. The painting, titled ‘The Phases of Faces,’ depicted the journey of a woman from birth to death through 648 faces. The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign inspired the painting. She expects to complete it shortly and present it to the Prime Minister.
Punam’s life now
You can now see frequently see Punam learning upper body martial arts techniques at the NGO, in addition to teaching painting. She also plans to initiate a complaint against her ex-husband and his family shortly in order to obtain justice for herself.
Punam’s daughter Priya is now 24 years old and is pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration degree.
Punam is a rare example of strength and tenacity. She has fought her circumstances not just to empower herself, but also to inspire others. That includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who she gave a painting that she made of him, in 2018.
Punam’s elder brother, Naresh, says, “My sister is made of steel, and the least I can do as a brother is be there for her. She has inspired many people, including me. All I want to say is that if a family member is through a crisis, do not leave them alone.”
Satya Singh, secretary of the Varanasi Taekwondo Association, says, “We’ve been training girls at our academy for a long time now, but a role model was missing. Punam agreed to share her experience and empower girls, particularly those from rural homes to change the Dowry system. She also counsels our girls who are subjected to discrimination at home, eve-teasing in public, and other forms of harassment. The number of girls interested in learning taekwondo has increased dramatically as a result of her efforts.”
About storyofsouls
Leave your comments on how did you like this story. If you love it do share it to bring that change that we wish to see in the world.
You can also share your inspiring story with us at replytosos@gmail.com. St
Storyofsouls is glad to inform you that we are now a Google news verified platform.
