From 5 gurukul students to 900 in three decades: Padma Shri winner Acharya Sukama is married to the cause of girls’ education

Sukama is currently the principal of Vishvavara Kanya Gurukul in Rohtak’s Roorkee village. Born in Akupur village of Haryana’s Jhajjar in 1961, she completed her PhD from Haridwar’s Gurukul Kangri (deemed to be university). She has remained unmarried so as to be able to devote her life to the education of girls.

Sukama recalls that her father Rajender Dev Singh was impressed with the teachings of Swami Dayanand and focused on the education of girls. Keeping in mind her keenness for social service, her family honoured Sukama’s wish to remain unmarried. Her father wished to see a gurukul established in her home state of Haryana and even offered land for the same, but Sukama was clear that she wanted to establish one in Amroha in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh as there were already several gurukuls in Haryana, she said.

With financial help from the society, Sukama and Sumedha, who is from Amroha, started the gurukul on a two-acre plot in Chotipura. “Two rooms were built on the land which was surrounded by fields of sugarcane. In one room, the girls started living. Another room was partitioned by erecting a six feet wall. In one part of the room, we (both teachers) were living while another portion was left for a kitchen,” Sukama said.

“During summers, we used to sleep on wooden beds. We always surround the girls with our beds so that wild animals don’t harm them during sleeping hours. Once a gentleman from Moradabad saw our gurukul. He was extremely worried about the safety of the girls in the absence of a boundary wall. He built a boundary wall and an additional room above the current rooms. It was a great help for us,” the Acharya added.

According to Sukama, with consistent help from people engaged in social service, the gurukul kept spreading its wings. “The size of land for the gurukul spread to 12 acres and a school building was also built, apart from four hostels.”

Several persons from across Haryana continuously supported Chotipura gurukul and also urged her to move to Rohtak to run a gurukul in Roorkee which today has 15 teachers for 150 girls, she said. During her academic career of nearly 35 years, Acharya Sukama has been honoured by different organisations, especially those associated with Arya Samaj.

Asked about the Padma Shri award, Sukama said the honour has increased her sense of responsibility to carry forward her mission.

Parvesh Arya, an Arya Samaj activist from Haryana who is engaged in the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, says: “We are very happy that the government has acknowledged her contribution to the education of girls. She is an inspiration for every girl that a girl from such an ordinary family may get such an award. It would be a boost for the ideas of Arya Samaj as well.”