Droupadi Murmu, the first tribal President of India, has served as a remarkable source of inspiration for countless individuals.

Her transformative journey from Uparbeda village in Odisha to becoming the Constitutional head of state is a remarkable tale.

Kasturi Ray, an experienced journalist, endeavours to illustrate the challenges Murmu encountered on her path to success in her book, Droupadi Murmu: From Tribal Hinterlands to Raisina Hill.

The day Murmu’s presidential nomination was announced, “Murmu and her family were not able to watch the news due to the power cut,” writes Ray.

While already a public figure, life has become way busier for Murmu ever since the news of her presidential nomination broke. Ray has given voice to people close to Murmu to describe her journey.

Itishree, Murmu’s daughter, said, “I knew that once she has been named by the party and if she becomes the president, she would not remain only my mother.”

Early struggle

Being from a poverty-stricken family, studying every day was a challenge for Murmu. She studied under kerosene lamps, but her grandmother ensured that the lamps were turned off as she didn’t want to waste kerosene.

However, Murmu’s father encouraged his daughter’s education. She was the first girl in her village to attend college.

Ray writes about Murmu’s everyday struggle, where even 25 paise worth of groundnuts seemed like a big treat!

For women to join politics is still tough due to the gender inequality prevalent in our society.

Murmu herself had said that it was easier for women from urban background or those belonging to families of politicians to join politics than women from a tribal background.

Divided into seven chapters, the book tries to showcase to the reader each aspect of Murmu’s life — as a mother, a teacher, and a politician.

Delving into her political life, Ray introduces us to Murmu, the new councillor of the Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat in Odisha for the BJP. From there, the reader witnesses her journey from being the MLA candidate for Rairangpur constituency in 2002 to being the Governor of Jharkhand in 2015 to eventually becoming the President of the country.

Ray emphasises that Murmu never forgets about her roots. Throughout her political life, she has consistently fought for tribal rights. Be it the strong support she gave for the introduction of the Santhali language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution or working to provide education for tribals.

But Murmu’s life is also filled with tragedy. Ray writes with painful detail about the number of times Murmu had to witness death. She lost her eldest daughter due to an ailment and lost her 25-year-old son, Laxman, in 2009. In 2013, she lost her younger son, Sipun, in an accident. On August 1, 2014, she lost her husband. Between 2009 and 2014, she lost her mother and one of her brothers.

People have different ways to cope with grief. For Murmu, it was the path of spirituality and the warmth of her loved ones that made her go back to work.

Ray also mentions about how some felt that Murmu’s Presidential candidature was motivated by politics.

The book, however, gets repetitive in parts. It also seems to rather favourably interpret BJP’s decision to select Murmu as the Presidential candidate.

Similarly, some individuals express their opinions in a lengthy and extended manner. For instance, BJP National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala’s arguments occupy an excessive amount of space. The book could have benefited from a greater emphasis on its core essence.

Title: Droupadi Murmu: From Tribal Hinterlands to Raisina Hill

Author: Kasturi Ray

Publisher: Rupa Publications

Pages: 237

Price: ₹595