Feisty, full of life: 'Calendar girls' of substance & true grit make a splash in special 2023 tribute

BURDWAN: This year's West Bengal State Women's Commission calendar raises a toast to the living, instead of icons from the past.
So, rather than Tagore and Netaji and other all-time favourites, there's someone like the feisty Renu Khatoon, who hit the headlines last year after bouncing back from a terrible personal tragedy. There's Tagari Seal, who makes ends meet doing a male-dominated job, but who also finds time to be a teacher to underprivileged kids, and did exceptional social service during the pandemic lockdown. There's also Moushumi Mojumdar, who has a day job in a college teaching philosophy, but also takes self-defence for free.
In June last year, Renu's husband had chopped off her right hand because she had got a government job as a nurse. Showing unbelievable grit, she learnt to write with her left hand, even as she was recovering in hospital, even earning the admiration of chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Now, she works as a staff nurse and hostel in-charge at a nursing training school in East Burdwan. She says she is very excited to have featured in the calendar. "When I got a call from the commission that they wanted my photograph to feature me in the calendar, I felt very excited," she told TOI.
And even as she confessed she was yet to see the final product, she thanked the commission for standing by her during her ordeal.
Her joy was multiplied several times, she said, as it coincided with a call from the Burdwan zilla parishad, whi-ch has promised her Rs 4 lakh towards a prosthetic hand. But she still faces her ordeal day in and day out, she confessed. "I will also move Calcutta High Court to plead that he (her husband) does not get bail," she said, a steely resolve in her voice.
"Our work allows us to meet some exceptional individuals," said commission chairperson Leena Gangopadhyay, adding, "This is an effort to recognise and highlight their work, to inspire many others battling odds. We hope this effort will embolden others to step out and fight back."