Phoolbasan: Fearless, Fierce, and Unfazed Born to Jhadiram and Sumitra, in a small village in Chhattisgarh, Phoolbasan Yadav led a life of great adversity. Like several other families in the Chhuria tehsil, her family was crushed under the debilitating weight of poverty. The siblings and their parents often went hungry- affording even two meals a day was a luxury for them. Phoolbasan rose from these circumstances and became a symbol of resilience not just for her village, but for women across the country. Her story is a stunning example of how one can battle socio-economic factors and emerge victorious. For Phoolbasan, it was always clear that success and well-being cannot be achieved alone. We are stronger together. Right from the beginning, her life was littered with examples of how helping one another led to happiness for all. As a child, she was unable to access an education, as her parents could not even dream of affording the school fee, uniforms, and books and so on. In fact, her father was also opposed to her studying as she was a girl. It was only through financial help from the friendly customers who frequented her parents’ tea stall, that Phoolbasan was able to receive primary education. Her spirit was recognized by those around her, and they were moved to help her. Despite excelling at school, she was not able to progress to secondary education as yet another social evil entangled her- child marriage. In fact, the financial condition of her new household was even worse. Having given birth to her first child at the age of fourteen, she was unable to feed her children. Phoolbasan took it upon herself to not only escape this cycle of poverty but to also empower other women to do the same. She began speaking to the women around her, and organized small self-help groups. Her knowledge and presence of mind led to the entire village making better spending and saving decisions. Though the women were initially opposed by the orthodox villagers, and even the panchayat, they eventually proved to everyone that they were on the right path. Phoolbasan too had to undergo domestic violence at the hands of her husband, who could not comprehend that he was married to a path breaking woman. He supported her later, once he could look beyond his prejudices. Phoolbasan and her Maa Bamleshwari Svayam Sahayta Samiti empowered many villages. They gradually expanded beyond the scope of household finances. They not only spread awareness on the importance of education for children, and bore the expenses of hundreds of poor students, but also organized classes for women who had not had access to schooling during their childhood. Amongst other things, the group held blood donation camps, cleanliness drives, anti-addiction campaigns, and a movement against open defecation. The women even outperformed the men of their village in bidding for the local bazaar. In that scenario, they were faced with physical and verbal threats, and had to rise to the occasion, proving the strength of united groups of women. This is just one example from the life of Phoobasan Yadav, a woman who refused to be held back by social norms.