Right Word | In An Age Of Doomsday Narratives, Vatsalya Gram Offers A Story Of Hope

Sadhvi Ritambhara, known more as a firebrand leader and one of the leading lights of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, has created a unique Bharatiya model of caring for the destitute.

As we live in a chaotic world where doomsday narratives constantly tell us how bad the world has become, there are still stories that must be told — stories that strengthen our faith in humanity. This is one such unique story of a Hindu ascetic that reiterates the age-old dictum that Hindu ascetics do not live merely for their own salvation. Many among them transform their life mission into serving society.

Around 175 km away from Delhi, Sadhvi Ritambhara, known more as a firebrand leader and one of the leading lights of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, has created a unique Bharatiya model of caring for the destitute. This project is known as Vatsalya Gram.

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What she has done is bring together destitute children and abandoned women to create new families. In these families, children are treated as sons and daughters, while the women become mothers, grandmothers and aunts — not merely in name but also in spirit. This model may be known as the “Yashoda Maa model".

It is well known in history that Sri Krishna, one of the most revered divine figures in Hindu tradition, was not raised during childhood by his biological mother. Instead, he grew up under the loving care of his foster mother, Yashoda. The relationship between Mother (Maa) Yashoda and Sri Krishna is regarded as one of the highest benchmarks of maternal affection and devotion in Hindu thought.

This same emotional and spiritual model has been replicated in Vatsalya Gram.

Many of the children here — some of them with special abilities — were found as orphans, with their parentage unknown. The journey began in the 1990s when Sadhvi Ritambhara started taking care of such abandoned children.

Over the last three decades, the project has nurtured these children into adulthood, enabling them to build meaningful professional and personal lives. Today, the same model is expanding to other states as well.

Ratan Sharda has chronicled the story of this unique initiative in his book Vatsalya Gram: Manifestation of Shakti as a Mother. He explains the larger social significance of the concept:

“Bharat has nearly 30 million orphans, though according to some activists it could be as high as 70 million. Of these, only 0.5 million have access to shelter or orphanages. Only around 4,000 children are adopted per annum. These arid statistics bury the heart-rending stories of millions of children—why they were abandoned in some dark alley or left at the doors of an orphanage, and what crime they committed."

He further notes: “There are no official figures about destitute women, but various data suggest that the numbers could run into lakhs. In our minds, these two marginalised sections of society have no commonality. However, there was one person who thought of creating loving and caring families by bringing together abandoned women and orphaned children."

That person was Sadhvi Ritambhara.

She drew inspiration from the relationship between Yashoda Maa and the young Krishna. Initially, the project began in a small flat in East Delhi. However, as the number of families increased, it was shifted to Vrindavan in 2003.

Today, Vatsalya Gram in Vrindavan — where hundreds of such families have lived over the last two decades — has evolved into a mini-universe in itself.

It not only provides residential facilities for these newly created “Yashoda-Krishna families" but also houses state-of-the-art educational institutions, vocational training centres and health facilities — all dedicated to supporting these families.

Vatsalya Gram is filled with innumerable heart-warming stories of modern-day Maa Yashodas and their Bal Krishnas. Over time, they have grown into a vibrant and cohesive community.

There are many inspiring stories of abandoned women who discovered a renewed purpose in life through motherhood. There are also accounts of young women who voluntarily chose to dedicate their lives to serving society through this mission.

According to Ratan Sharda: “Today, hundreds of children who might have ended up in the dark corridors of society have instead discovered a higher purpose in life — as young patriotic citizens, successful professionals and highly educated women managing both professional and family responsibilities."

The guiding spirit behind the entire project has been expressed by Sadhvi Ritambhara herself: “A child that has not heard a lullaby, that has not received a mother’s affection, often turns into a heartless person in youth. A child learns the first lessons of compassion, love, sensitivity and affection in the lap of the mother. We must bless each child with motherly affection so that they grow up with a well-rounded personality. Just as Yashoda’s love for Krishna inspired him to reach greater heights, in a similar manner my love and compassion for the destitute has been the foundational inspiration behind Vatsalya Gram."

(The writer is an author and columnist. His X handle is @ArunAnandLive. Views expressed are personal and solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.)

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