73-Year-Old Refugee Runs 60 Schools After Fleeing Kashmir

When Maya Kaul left Kashmir for her mother's home in 1989, she packed for a short holiday. Violence erupted in the Valley, and she never returned.

Stranded in Hoshangabad with her two young sons and a single suitcase, Maya watched her husband Manohar lose everything. His office burned down, erasing all records of his government job as a marine engineer. Their home in Baramulla was occupied, and retirement benefits never came because he couldn't prove he'd ever worked.

With a master's degree in Hindi literature but no teaching experience, Maya started tutoring children. Then she heard about a school in a fishing settlement that needed a principal for 300 rupees a month—if she could get students to enroll and pay.

Children came to her classes, but their families couldn't afford fees. When Maya visited their homes to collect payment, she saw households where food mattered more than education.

So she stopped asking for money and started offering work instead. Maya went door to door asking women if they'd make papads and spices to earn their children's school fees. The women thought she was joking until she showed up the next day with rolling pins and ingredients.

After school hours, mothers gathered to roll papads. They sold them, earned money, and paid their children's fees themselves. Maya helped them open bank accounts and register an NGO with directors chosen from among the women, ensuring real independence.

While her older son Manas tutored students to help support the family, Maya stayed awake during her younger son Manav's late-night study sessions. She used that time to earn a law degree, knowing legal knowledge would help her NGO work grow.

The Ripple Effect

Three decades later, Maya oversees 60 anganwadis (early childhood education centers) across Madhya Pradesh. Hundreds of women have built self-reliance through the work programs she started. She's now opening a library to expand educational access even further.

Her son Manav became a respected writer and actor, but Maya remained focused on her quiet mission. She's never called herself a changemaker, even as she's transformed entire communities.

At 73, Maya Kaul's days still revolve around children, classrooms, and questions of dignity—proving that displacement doesn't define you, but what you build from it does.