Mud house to high-rise, a story of big dreams

On the eve of Women's Day, entrepreneur Swati Anna Bhoyar from Palghar shares her story of emerging from the tribal pockets of Palghar with her meagre means and immense grit

Mud house to high-rise, a story of big dreams

Swati Bhoyar with her husband Ravindra Patil

From a drought-affected hamlet in Dapchiri, Palghar district, to an entrepreneur, the journey has been full of struggles for Swati Anna Bhoyar. The 33-year-old spent her childhood in poverty, with no access even to electricity and water but a firm belief in the ideals of former President APJ Kalam. The youngster now works for the betterment of tribal girls in tiny hamlets of Palghar. On International Women's Day, Bhoyar shares her journey with mid-day.

A lecture at school she studied

She will be addressing over 500 tribal students of Swami Vivekananda School, Wada, on March 12, explaining to them menstrual hygiene and distributing sanitary napkins among them with the help of an NGO. It happens to be the school where she had herself studied and her father Anna Bhoyar works as a peon.

"In those days, our school only had one common toilet for students which wouldn't even have water. One day, a friend alerted me about bloodstains on my uniform and I panicked. A teacher later gave me a male handkerchief to use as a napkin. I was sent home that day and I cried," recalled Bhoyar, who could not speak to her mother about it. "A friend later told me to use cloth and I learnt that many tribal women would use the same cloth over and over again due to scarcity of water. This issue was never discussed at home even by mothers. Sanitary napkins were not affordable to tribal women. Not much has changed in the tribal belts even today and hence I decided to give it back to my roots," she explained.

'Studied under street lights'

Bhoyar's mother worked as a maid and supplied tiffins to kids outside school. "We could not afford any luxuries. We studied under the street light until our parents brought us a kerosene lamp," said Bhoyar, who said that despite her means being limited, her dreams were big.

"I started working in Class VIII at a telephone booth and then delivered tiffins to workplaces and also participated in extracurricular activities at school. We did not have a guide or mentor to guide us but I wanted to be an inspirational image for everyone," said Bhoyar who soon began taking tuitions.

Swati Bhoyar with her parents, Pramilla and Anna

"I also made customised pots and sold them. I would earn R3,000 a month but that wasn't enough for my Interior Decoration course. I shifted to Thane after my HSC and lived on a single vada pav a day and worked as a maid to pay for the rent and continued to take painting classes," said Bhoyar.

Turning point

Sometime in 2005-2006, Bhoyar's father happened to forget four hall tickets of SSC board students in a state transport bus after fetching them from the State Board office in Vashi. "The school had threatened to dismiss him from service," said Bhoyar who visited the Mantralaya and managed to meet the education minister. He helped in the matter and issued hall tickets to the kids in question.

'A due credit, respect to my dad'

"The school he served for decades did not trust him and it is the same school where I am returning to educate tribal girls. This for me is the best way to give my father his due credit and respect," said an emotional Bhoyar.

She later joined a Transportation and Logistics company and eventually started her own firm and expanded it to exporting vegetables, fruits and farm produces to middle east countries. "I have also started a production house for promoting Marathi plays and I would like to give platform to the untapped talents from the tribal areas," said Bhoyar who now lives with her family in a plush flat in Thane.

The mud house Swati grew up in; (right) the high-rise she lives in today

The entrepreneur tied the knot in 2018 with Ravindra Patil, who works at a garments outlet chain in Pune. The duo also want to adopt a child in the future.

To all the women out there, Bhoyar says, "Realise your worth and the world will adore you. Combine smart work and hard work, to make your identity, and never ever give up."

12march
Day Bhoyar will deliver her next lecture on menstrual awareness

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates