Married with kids... that is not an excuse to stop living or having a bigger meaning of life... She started contributing to society while matching her household and financial responsibilities.
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| Annapurna Tiwari |
Contributing to society while dealing with
personal challenges, 76-year-old retired nurse Annapurna Tiwari is an
inspiration for women, who limit their life after having children. Tiwari
started her career after having two children, and succeeded enough to earn TNAI
Centenary Award from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
Sharing her story, Tiwari said, “I can’t
say that my life has been easy, but yes, it has been fruitful.” She shared that
she lost her mother at the age of 10, and ended up getting married around the
same time.
“My mother passed away because of
tuberculosis, and that had first invoked an urge of doing ‘sewa’ (meaning
service) in me,” she said. However, because of age and marital
responsibilities, she could not do anything like that.
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| Receiving an award from APJ Abdul Kalam |
“I had my first two sons by the time I was
22, when my father in law died because of heart attack,” Tiwari said. She
admired her father in law, who had always supported her in every day task. “It
was the second time, when I saw someone losing their life, which medical
science can save,” she said.
The urge to join medical service
strengthened in her and she joined training institute. “Initially, it was tough
to manage household responsibilities along with a nursing job,” Tiwari said.
With time, she learned to manage her job and duties.
Talking about how she managed awkward
timings of nursing and her children’s education, Tiwari said, “I had to work
for my satisfaction as well as my children’s future.” She explained that she
wanted her children to become doctors and take up service, for which, it was
must that she sets a good example for them.
“My three sons have successfully
established themselves and my eldest son is a doctor, who tries to help people
as and when possible,” she added.
Apart from her job and other
responsibilities, she provided free service to patients at home. “I lived in
Gulabh Bagh, where there was no hospital or nursing home close by, so I offered
to help people in whatever way possible,” she said humbly.
She worked under ODA project for slum
development for six years after retirement. “Even today, people sometimes come
over or ask me to visit them for treating minor issues like fever or dressing,”
Tiwari said.