Usually, a man is seen as the head of a house. But here at our SOS Village in Bhubaneswar, a woman is all that matters to the otherwise orphan inmates. Miss Annapurna Das has for 25 years been our SOS (Save Our Soul) mother.
We call her our Maa. Being a single woman, she knew many fingers would be pointed at her for what she is not; still, she showed the courage of becoming the only Maa for us. We don’t remember who gave us birth, but all we remember we saw her face when we opened our eyes. When we were toddlers and unable to walk, she was there for us and affectionately caught us whenever we used to fall. As we started growing up year by year knowing that she was always there, we forgot what fear was. She stood as a strongest pillar of our house always motivated and encouraged us and gave us the strength to fight against all our odds. We as children fought with her many times thinking she was very possessive and interfering. It must have hurt her, but she never left us alone because she was our Maa. Now when we are grown up and recall those years, I believe in it must have been very hard for her.
leaving her parents, siblings, her society, she sacrificed her dreams, ambitions and came forward to nurture us to become good citizens which we are today. She is a Maa of 26 children for 25 long years. On the Women’s Day, just saying “Thank you” to her is a very inadequate expression of our indebtedness to her. We just want you, Maa, to know how fortunate we are to be blessed by such a wonderful mother like you!