The Pahadpur village in the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, home of India's new President is now the hotspot of visitors across the country. Inside the village, there are numerous stories all around associated with Draupadi Murmu. Around 2.5 Kilometers inside the village is a school by the name ‘Shyam, Laxman, Shipun Higher Primary Residential School’. There was once a house here where Draupadi Murmu had come as a bride 42 years ago. The house then didn’t have cemented walls or roofs.
The house witnessed 3 dreadful tragedies in 4 years. Between 2010 to 2014 Draupadi lost her two sons and husband, Shyam Murmu. The reason behind the death of her elder son is still not known to anyone in the village. People familiar with the matter when asked about his death, they said that he was out for a party that night, and he returned exhausted and asked everyone not to disturb him. The next morning he didn’t open the door when somehow people barged into his room after breaking the door, he was found dead. Two years later his younger son died in a road accident. Keeping in mind that there should be no silence in this building, so Draupadi got the school built here.
Draupadi’s sister-in-law Shakyamuni says, “When her elder son died she went into the depression for 6 months, it was getting tough for us to handle her. She chose the path of spirituality, probably that helped her to get out of this.” She further added, “That Draupadi who was devastated upon the death of her first son, while informing about the demise of her second son said, Don’t come to my home crying, come her as of you are on a usual visit.”
A resident of that village Sunita Manjhi stayed with Draupadi last year in December, on her schedule, routine and timetable says, “Draupadi never failed to follow her routine. She leaves her bed at sharp 3.30 in the morning.” Sanjay Mahato, representative of MP in Rairangpur said, “While her term in office as the Governor of Jharkhand the doors of ‘Raj Bhawan’ were always open to one and all. She never let her old tragic and struggling days get over her. During her tenure, she repealed the bill of her party in the state.”
In the year 2017, when she was the governor, she repealed a bill presented by the then government of BJP in the state on the amendment of CNT-SPT. Draupadi while repealing the bill upheld her firm beliefs on the rights of the tribal and raised questions about the idea of this bill.
From her childhood, she was determined towards her values and always stood for what is right. Her teacher Basudev Behera, reminding one of her incidents said, “She was a class topper as per the rule she was supposed to be the class monitor, but the number of girls in the class was too low, there were just 8 girls among 40 in the class. There was a bit of apprehension among us about how will she be able to manage the class. But she stood undeterred and lastly was chosen as the monitor.”