Recently, Indian government has announced the Padma Awards. This time 7 celebrities will be given Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma Bhushan and 102 Padma Shri. We are going to throw light on the life of a woman who displayed great courage in the face of adversity and proved that even though there are many difficulties, but if we are determined to do something in the mind, then no one can stop from getting success.
The story of Dulari Devi of Madhubani district is truly Inspirational, who received the Padma Shri, is known in the country and the world for her magnificent Madhubani paintings today.
While sharing her journey, Dulari Devi said, ‘My father was a fisherman. He passed away at an early age. My mother face utmost difficulty to raise us up because of financial issues. From childhood, I started going to work with my siblings. So there was never a chance to go to school.”
Dulari Devi was married at the tender age of 12. She lost her daughter just after the 6 months of delivery. After this, there’s started a rift between Dulari Devi and her in-laws. She left them and moved to her maternal house.
Now, the trouble was how to live. The condition of the family was already miserable.
Then she started working at the house of Mahasundari Devi, who lives in the neighborhood. Mahasundari Devi uses to paint Mithila. The government also honored her with the Padma Shri in 2011.
Dulari Devi says, ‘I used to do all the household work at the house of Mahasundari Devi. When I got the chance, I used to start painting on the ground. I was very fond of drawing lines. Mahasundari Devi had seen me doing this. She understood that I was interested in painting. While staying in her house, I came in contact with Karpuri Devi, who has been a very famous Mithila painter. Seeing my interest she started to guide me. Later she became like my mother.”
“At the same time, the government had organized the workshop of Madhubani painting, it helped me to learn many nuances of this traditional art form,” Dulari Devi added.
Dulari Devi also shared that she got information about Padmashri from a telephonic call from the Ministry of Home Affairs and it was a feeling that can’t be described in words.
Dulari Devi is well versed in creating ‘Kachni’, ‘Bharani’ form of Madhubani painting. However, she personally prefers painting in ‘Bharani’ style. She says, ‘I love colours because my early life was so dark and desolate:
Dulari Devi has travelled to various cities in India on government painting contracts, teaches Madhubani painting to children, has had books written on her.
“Teaching makes me happy. I live with my brother and recently, during the lockdown, his paan shop didn’t have much business. That time, it was my earnings from painting a nearby school wall that kept us going. That felt nice,” she says with a smile of immense confidence.
