Jaipur, March 8 (IANS): This is the story of a woman from Rajasthan who overcame many odds to emerge as a famous folk dancer making a mark on the world stage and winning the hearts of global audiences.
Gulabo Sapera, a Kalbelia (folk dance of Rajasthan) dancer, was born in 1973 in Rajasthan's Pushkar in a nomadic family and was buried alive just an hour after her birth. However, she was rescued by her aunt and mother.
At the time of her birth, she was taken away by the midwives and buried alive in the woods as her mother already had 3 daughters and the people of her community were against raising this fourth girl child who was the seventh kid in the family. Gulabo's mother was not even informed about the sex of the child and when she came to know that her newborn was taken away, she begged the members of her community to let her know the little girl's location. Gulabo's aunt told her mother the location and both the sisters then went to the jungle to rescue the newborn.
“My mother knew that I, being her daughter, cannot die like that. When my aunt told her the place where I was buried, she told her to take her there. My mother was confident that a girl whom she kept 9 months in her womb can’t die like that,” says Gulabo adding, “Women are born strong and can face all situations.”
Gulabo adds that she faced all challenges with elan and took all opportunities with confidence and garnered fame and success. She says that her life changed after she participated in the Bigg Boss season in 2011. Gulabo featured in the reality television show as contestant number 12. “Bigg Boss changed my life because I appeared as a celebrity dancer here on screen. The difference here was that I appeared without a ghoonghat on screen in front of so many people . People started identifying me from my face. Earlier I used to dance in a ghoonghat,” she says.
Gulabo was honoured with the Padma Shri award in 2016. She has a message for the younger generation. “Trust in your parents and respect them for when you respect them, people will respect you and you shall secure a decent place for yourself in society. I respected my parents and followed what they said and they too respected me in return and fulfilled all my wishes despite facing the opposition of society.”
This woman of substance says that she looks forward to all opportunities. “I don’t look back, but I love to look forward. I want to take my dance to the next level so that it spreads to all corners of the world. I am glad to have received the Padma Shri. Also I want that each house is blessed with a daughter like Gulabo whose success story continues to echo in the country," she says adding, “A girl child is a blessing for every household and girls should be allowed to spread their wings.”