Mother to the abandoned

ARUNACHAL PRADESH: Desai Linggi, a 47-year-old woman from Roing in Arunachal Pradesh, has become a beacon of hope for abandoned and destitute children. Over the years, she has dedicated her life to caring for them, earning recognition from government agencies, public sector undertakings, NGOs and the local community.

From tending kids as a nursemaid, she now runs five institutions, a hostel, a school, a children’s home, a one-stop centre and an adoption agency, under the banner of the Nani Maria Society. Linggi’s empathy for abandoned children stems from her own difficult past.

Born into a broken family, she never experienced a stable home. Her parents separated three months before her birth, and by the time she was six, her father took her away, leading to a custody dispute. “I was given a choice to stay with either my mother or father. I chose my father, knowing my mother’s financial struggles,” she recalls.

But life with her father was not easy either. He remarried twice and she grew up in an emotionally fragmented household.

She pursued her education in two convent schools in Assam before returning to Roing. However, loneliness and instability affected her studies, and she failed twice in her Class 10 board exams. By then, her father had shut down his business due to financial losses, and she started working as a nursemaid at Divine Word School in Roing.

Seeing a lack of hostel facilities for toddlers, she decided to open one herself. “I love children, and that’s when I thought of starting a hostel,” she says. In 2000, she rented a piece of land and, with help from well-wishers, built Nani Maria Hostel using bamboo and other materials. It began with 25 children, and over the years, the numbers grew.

“I still remember a couple looking for a hostel. When they inquired, I confidently told them I was starting one. I didn’t have a building yet, so I showed them someone else’s house,” she admits. “When they asked about the fee, I randomly quoted Rs 5,000 per year. They immediately paid. That child is now a law graduate.”