More Than Caregivers

Representational image

Now that the hype around Mother’s Day has come and gone by (wrapped in predictable imagery - flowers, gratitude posts, and carefully worded tributes) it is time to appreciate the role mothers especially those from underprivileged backgrounds playing in reshaping the future through education. This is not a symbolic contribution but a quiet revolution happening, unseen.

Consider Prabhas’ mother. Her reality was unforgiving. She sells balloons at the busy traffic signal in the Shivajinagar area of Pune for Rs 200–300 a day, alongwith her children to support the family. In such a situation, sending a child to school is not a simple moral decision but an economic risk. It means choosing long-term possibility over immediate survival. And yet, she chose education.

Her decision did not come easily. It was shaped through exposure, through conversations, through watching her son slowly transform and becoming curious, confident and eager to learn. Prabhas is a 10-year-old boy whose family migrated from Ahmednagar district in North Maharashtra to Phule Nagar slums in Pune a few years ago. He along with his parents and two elder sisters sold balloons at the traffic signals nearby. A visit to the CRY education centre along with his mother changed his life. Here the mother heard about the importance of education and started visiting the centre regularly where she saw Prabhas playing, learning and actively participating in the centre’s activities. She began noticing changes in him and his growing interest in learning as well as an increase in his confidence.

When the CRY team explained to her the various educational facilities available here free of cost and that her child’s future could change through education her mindset began to shift. Despite the financial challenges, she finally made a strong decision to send her child to school.

What changed was not just Prabhas’ routine, but his trajectory. On his first day of school, his words were “I am going to school again!” These words carried a sense of hope. That moment existed for him because a mother made a very important decision despite everything going against her.

Similarly consider the case of Soni Sukale from Pune’s Ekta Nagar. Married young, her education had stopped at 8th grade and like many women in similar circumstances, her life quickly narrowed to taking up household responsibilities. But what stood out was her return to studies.

After long days of domestic work, she carved out time to learn again. No dramatic declarations, no shortcuts, just constant persistence. When she passed her 10th class exams with 53.40%, it was more than a result. It was a statement that education is not bound by age, circumstance, or past decisions. Today, as she prepares for her 12th exams and dreams of working in an office, Soni represents a growing number of women who have shifted their mindset to that of mere resignation to taking sole agency of one’s life.

Then there is Sehnaz Ibrahim Harnal orginally from Shindgi taluka in Vijaypur, Karnataka who migrated to Pune years ago. If resilience had a daily routine, it would look like her life. Managing a household of five, working in multiple homes, navigating financial instability, and dealing with her husband’s alcoholism, Sehnaz who lives in the slums of Wadar Wasti near Vishratwadi in Pune, has many challenges yet, her clarity is unwavering. She wants her children to stay in school.

There is something profoundly powerful in her quiet assertion, “We are struggling, but my children should not have to live like this,” she says time and again.

Again for Sehnaz, it is not just an aspiration but a route towards a better future.

What ties these stories together is not charity, luck or coincidence but decision-making. These mothers are not passive recipients of change but are active agents driving it. They are choosing education repeatedly, in small, difficult and often invisible ways.

When underprivileged mothers prioritise education they are doing what any system should have done before them, provide access. Access to education is something that continues to evade a lot of mothers and their children even today.

And this Mother’s Day, perhaps this needs to be looked at. Instead of limiting appreciation to sentiment we should recognize the deeper transformation underway. Mothers like these are not just raising children, they are disrupting cycles of poverty, challenging generational limitations and redefining what is possible within constrained circumstances.

They are not waiting for change. They are creating it—quietly, persistently and with remarkable clarity.

And if we are serious about celebrating mothers, then the real tribute lies not just in acknowledging their sacrifices, but in understanding their vision and ensuring that the systems around them finally rise to meet it. This means schools that are not only accessible but reliable—where teachers are present, classrooms are safe, and learning is taken seriously.

(The writer is Western Region Director, Child Rights and You, an NGO. Views personal.)