Barefoot mom in sari runs 3km to win Rs 5k for kids’ education

Ramabai ran 3km with the indomitable spirit of a mother competing for a cash prize

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. I only sto-pped once I was past the finish line,” she told TOI. “I am so happy they gave me Rs 5,000 instead of Rs 3,000. I bought notebooks and pens for my daughter Pooja. The remaining money is for Arti.”Ramabai works in the kitchen at Dnyandeep Acad-emy, making over 200 chapatis a day for a monthly salary of Rs 9,000.The native of Potra, Hingoli, took the job to fund the education of her two daughters after her husband died in 2012.On Aug 28, her younger daughter Arti (20), a BSc computer science student who lives alone in Nanded, called asking for money for food and rent. Ramabai, who didn’t have any cash to spare, had a sleepless night.At dawn, she heard the academy’s trainers rounding up aspirants for a running competition nearby. She instantly decided to join in.“There is no pain worse than that of not being able to take care of your children. The moment I came to know of the race, winning was the only thing on my mind.”Datta Darade, who heads the academy, said Ramabai’s determination moved him. The academy had enrolled her elder daughter Pooja (22) free of cost and given her employment and a room to stay in. “I was taking my students to the marathon. When Ramabai said she wanted to come along, I asked her, ‘What will you do there?’ She said, ‘I will run.’ I couldn’t believe it when she won in the above-30 category.”

Pooja finished second in the 18-30 age group and won Rs 2,000. Arti said she was dumbstruck when her sister called to say their mother had won.“Our mother studied till Class 7 and has worked all her life, not taking breaks even when she was unwell. She didn’t hesitate to send me to Nanded for my studies. I am not surprised she decided to win a race for her family,” she said.