In 2015, something horrific happened in Kishangarh Bas, in Alwar district, that shook up Asha Suman, a government school teacher.

“A girl was raped in a nearby village. The immediate consequence was that parents just stopped sending their daughters to school,” Suman said. There were a few girls who studied at the Government Primary School, Delhi Wale Rajputo Ki Dhani, Khanpur Mewan, and who travelled five kilometres or so every day to get there, and they stopped coming too.

It was perhaps this, said Suman, that made her determined to do something to empower the girls, so that they could defend themselves in times of peril.

The department of social justice and empowerment awarded the teacher with the Ambedkar Mahila Puraskar Award in 2023.

So, the same year, in 2015, Suman attended a course in self defence at the Police Academy in Jaipur. And embarked on a challenging journey to train village girls in self defence.

Also Read: A teacher posted in a Naxalite-affected area transforms the village school, wins community’s trust

She began to visit one school after another in the Kishangarh Bas area, training girls in self defence. She organised camps too. During the summers she visited 12 districts in the state and held free self-defence camps for the girls. She also trained online and nearly 8,000 Teachers across 24 states in the country have learnt from her virtually.

After school hours the teacher visits women in rural areas and talk to them about health matters, and their rights as women.

“Over the years I must have trained about 30,000 girls. I even went to Mumbai where I learnt to teach self defence to girls who were visually challenged or were hearing impaired and mute. I have trained about 300 such girls,” Suman told Gaon Connection.

A self confidence building crusade

Monica Bairva who was doing a B.Ed internship at Kharkheda in Rajgarh, said she learnt self defence from Suman. “My self confidence improved after that,” the 24-year-old told Gaon Connection. Her mother Kalawati is happy too. “I feared sending my daughter anywhere alone, but no more,” she smiled.

The teacher began to visit one school after another in the Kishangarh Bas area, training girls in self defence.

“Asha Suman has even trained women constables in Alwar in self defence in 2020-21. What she is doing will definitely increase the self confidence amongst girls, and will hopefully bring an end to eve teasing and other crimes against women,” Sriman Meena (RPS), who was the then Additional SP (Rural), Alwar, told Gaon Connection.

Also Read: Bridging the education gap for children with special needs in Barmer

Asha Suman has also published two books on self defence. The first book that was published in 2020 elaborates on the different kinds of self defence girls could learn. Then, This Year 2023, she brought a second version of the book with illustrations on self defence that has been quite motivating for children from classes one to eight.

“For me education, health, students and their safety, are everything,” the teacher told Gaon Connection. Hindi, Political Science, and Geography are her areas of study and she has a Masters in each of the subjects besides doing her B.Ed. The 44-year-old also holds a Bachelors in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Creating animated content for children

The innovative teacher has also made animated educational videos for children of classes I to V. “I found that these videos helped the children grasp lessons faster,” she said.

In the 13 years she spent at the school, the enrollment of students went up to 120 and soon there were classrooms too.

About a 100 videos she has made have been telecast in Doordarshan’s programme, Shiksha Darshan. She also had a YouTube channel called Aasha Ki Pathshala. She gave it off to the education department Rajasthan that uploads education related videos on it.

“Asha Suman is doing a wonderful job of training young girls in self defence. She is now training master trainers,” Neki Ram, chief district education officer (Primary), told Gaon Connection. He added that her work with visually challenged and hearing and speech impaired girls was commendable.

Also Read: Jaisalmer: A principal ensures that kids who stood by the highway selling kair now study in a school

“She is also preparing content for the Rajasthan State Council of Educational Research & Training in Udaipur and was even honoured by them,” said Neki Ram.

The innovative teacher has also made animated educational videos for children of classes I to V. 

The intrepid Suman has gone way beyond the classroom. “After school hours I visit women in rural areas and talk to them about health matters, and their rights as women,” she said. During the pandemic she distributed sanitary pads to 8,000 women, spending her own money.

Awards and accolades

It was in 2005, that Suman began teaching at Delhi Wale Rajputo Ki Dhani, Khanpur Mewan village in Kishangarh Bas in Alwar district, at the government primary school. “There was no school building then. About 20 children would turn up to study and classes were held under a tree,” Suman recollected. She worked there till 2018.

Monica Bairva who was doing a B.Ed internship at Kharkheda in Rajgarh, said her confidence improved after she learnt self defence from Suman. 

In the 13 years she spent at the school, the enrollment of students went up to 120 and soon there were classrooms too, she said.

She was posted out of Kishangarh Bas to another school at Kharkheda village (Rajgarh Block), in Alwar district, at the government higher secondary school where she continues to teach.

Also Read: Learning English on tree tops and baking millet cakes at a village school in Bihar

Because of the tremendous role she has been playing in women empowerment, Asha Suman was chosen as the brand ambassador this year for Alwar district for the Beti Bachao, Beti Padao movement.

Over the years Suman has trained about 30,000 girls in self-defence.

The department of social justice and empowerment awarded her with the Ambedkar Mahila Puraskar Award in 2023.

In 2021, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot honoured her in Jaipur at a State Level Teacher Award Ceremony.

“I am grateful for all these awards. But the best reward for me is when every child is capable of taking care of herself and there is a glow of confidence in her eyes and she always has a strong voice,” she said.