Not all superwomen wear capes; some sport a turban

Tossing away 65 just like another number on the scale, she literally sprints in the mountain terrain, effortlessly walking through the fields, working tirelessly with an enigmatic smile on her face.

She always has a stick in her hand.

But wait, that stick has no function of providing support to walk. Instead she uses it just to scare away the wild animals and point direction to lost wanderers.

There’s a Pantha system in the villages of Uttarakhand, which includes the work of distributing water to every field equally . And this job is done by this jovial lady who walks to the length and breadth of the village to ensure that every field gets water as per the need. In a way she’s been nurturing everyone’s field since ages by her work as the Pantha head.

When asked about her involvement in agriculture, she says she has always been working in the fields as far she remembers. Her ideology is that it’s her karma to work in the fields and remain attached to the earth. She says, the earth gives us so much that we will always remain indebted. There’s no way to repay what Mother Earth does for us.

She wakes up at 6 in the morning and is off to the fields to work by 7. She works under the Padyali system, which is barter of labor and involves working in each other’s fields. If not spotted in the fields she will be found in her house, never sitting idle. Either she will be found preparing meals for herself or drying the harvest. She gets money and part of the harvest from the people, in barter of taking care of the water distribution to their fields. And that’s her only source of livelihood.

Her daughters had to leave eventually after marriage, so now she lives alone. She’ll never allow anyone to go empty stomach from her house. Having such a welcoming, warm and humble demeanor, when somebody meets this gracious lady, forgetting her is next to impossible.

Imprinting lives of many, fetching respect from all and eventually becoming the revered grandmom for every village member.

Meet Saraswati Devi !

Not all superwomen wear capes; some sport a turban