Barefoot mom in sari runs 3km to win Rs 5k for kids' education
A 47-year-old mother named Ramabai Ranvir ran a 3km race barefoot in a sari to win a cash prize for her daughters' education. Her determination to support her children's schooling moved the community and highlighted her personal struggle as a widow working in a kitchen.
Why it matters
The story highlights the extreme lengths to which parents in impoverished circumstances will go to secure educational opportunities for their children.
PUNE: Ramabai Ranvir had no idea what running a race meant. All she had heard was there was Rs 3,000 to be won if she finished first.So, the 47-year-old widow hopped onto the pickup with a group of police aspirants from the Beed academy where she worked, hoping to compete in what would be the first race of her life. It didn't bother her that she hadn't trained for the rigours of a long-distance run. It hardly mattered that she was the lone runner without shoes.In her sari, barefoot after her slippers gave up midway through the run, Ramabai ran 3km with the indomitable spirit of a mother competing for a cash prize that would ease her struggle to pay for her daughters' education, repo-rts Ardhra Nair."I ran like my life depended on it. I didn't know how much time I needed to cover the distance.
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