Iron Lady with a Soft Heart; Image Source: Wikipedia Commons

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The devoted Gandhian, freedom fighter, humanitarian, and social activist Nirmala Taayi lived a life of humility and compassion. She saw promoting communal harmony and peace as the ultimate life goal that she would strive for until she died. The people who were close to her still follow it up to this day. A woman like Nirmala Taayi and life like hers set a right example of why humanity matters more than anything else, for which she even walked as far as 40000 km on foot. Let's take a look at this inspiring human's life.

Nirmala Deshpande, Padma Vibhushan awardee, is a name that is associated with the period of the country's British occupation prior to independence, and also with the international peace initiatives of the globalization period. She contributed significantly to Indian Political History because she spent her time championing peace and harmony, working on the empowerment of women, upliftment of the poor, and basically every common man who suffered. Nirmala Taayi was a people's person and as she desired a secure, autonomous and self-sufficient nation without communal or related conflicts, her aspirations were pure.

The daughter of Purushottam Yashwant Deshpande, recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award, she hails from Nagpur. As a child, Nirmala was born during the time India's struggle for independence was in great momentum. It however also indicates that this was an experience that shaped her desire to see peace prevail at some point in the future. Moreover, she became fascinated with the stories of the nonviolence movement and found herself embracing Gandhi's philosophy and allying with its ideals. Afterwards, she completed her master's degree in Political Science and worked as a lecturer at Morris College, Nagpur for many years.

Throughout her life, Nirmala always had a heart of gold and was determined to help those in need. Deshpande, who never married, started her social service career with the Bhoodan movement in 1952. As a disciple of Acharya Vinoba Bhave, she actively participated in his movement which promoted landless labourers, whose struggles had been exacerbated by the government's legalisation of the Bhoodan Act in the mid-20th century. Her subsequent autobiography was written as a tribute to Vinoba Bhave's ideology.

> **Her Hindi work includes "Seemant" describes a woman's journey towards empowerment, and "Chimlig", which explores Chinese cultural ethics. Nirmala Deshpande has written several plays, travelogues and a highly regarded commentary on Isha Upanishad as well**.
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Being a great follower of Gandhian philosophy, she made arrangements for a long and arduous *padayatra* (on foot) which spanned as much as 40,000 kilometres throughout India. Along with it, she carried its revolutionary Gram Swaraj message of transforming every village into an entirely self-sufficient entity. Even though practising Gandhian principles is tough, she firmly believed it had to be done in order to edify a truly democratic society. In 2004, the Akhil Bharat Rachnatmak Samaj that won the National Communal Harmony Award was established by her.

> **As the president of Harijan Sevak Sangh, she extensively worked for the abolition of untouchability, supporting the underprivileged, and aiding the downtrodden.**
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She wanted a society in which everyone could live with dignity and equal respect, and where there was inclusivity, peace and brotherhood, even within a small group of people. She thus successfully established bilateral ties with other nations, which often led to the peaceful resolving of disputes at both the national and international levels. As a matter of fact, it is said that Nirmala Deshpande is responsible for resolving the conflict between Punjab and Kashmir and for the continuation of peace today. She was also involved in the peaceful resolution between Tibet and China, and in the aftermath of the India-Pakistan conflict after the 1995 war. Until she breathed her last, Nirmala Taayi had dedicated her life to people and remained an active member of the Rajya Sabha. Her name had been once proposed for the President's post based on obvious grounds.

> **She is among the first to be awarded the "Rashtra Gaurav Puraskar" by Banarsi Das Gupta and was likewise posthumously conferred the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Pakistan's third-highest civil award.**
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Sadly, after 79 years of life, this beautiful soul passed away, leaving a void among us. She was a remarkable humanitarian and social activist who was accessible to all, and because her ideals and principles guided her throughout her life and her message of peace spread compassion for others, she ensured that the same would continue to resonate even in her last rites. Thus, the cremation ceremony of Nirmala Taayi was conducted by Shambhavi, an 11-year-old girl who had a special bond with her and immersed her mortals in the Indus river of Pakistan's Sindh province. 

> **In Panipat, a small museum was established in her honour which displays all her belongings, and a school named Hali Apna School, which aims to provide primary education to poor children is run by Nirmala Deshpande Sanstha.**
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The name did rounds in India's political circles when she was named a candidate for the highest post in the country. Despite losing that opportunity, her entire life is still revered as supreme by every Indian today.  It is the story of a brave woman who spoke her mind and remained a very kind-hearted citizen, just like her name.