Vijaya Durdhawale is our fellow from Nasik, Maharashtra.

Her success story is an inspiration for many. In spite of facing many pressures from her parents who insisted on her marriage like her elder sisters. She was the fifth daughter in her family and her education was not a priority. “My mother had to suffer from many taunts when I was born because having so many daughters was seen as her failure” she says”.

However she had witnessed so many instances of domestic violence within her family and neighborhood she decided not to get married till she's economically independent. So she made up her mind to continue her education and become financially independent. Her parents put many conditions on her to prevent her from seeking higher education. She recalls “I received no financial or moral support from them and began working at a local hospital to pay for my degree in Nashik”. She used to return home on the weekends to help her family with domestic chores..

Despite all odds she earned a Master's degree in Political Science at IIPS Mumbai and pursued a PHD in TISS .

She also was influenced by writings and life of Savitribai Phule and wrote books on her life “Savitri ki Gatha” to contextualize Savitribai ideology in today's world, to encourage women to educate themselves, help widows in distress and help prevent any kind of violence against women. Through organization's like Satyashodhak Students organization she assembled many mass movements and workshops for women's empowerment in Nashik and Aurangabad.

She has also authored multiple books in Marathi like Nava Satta Sankalp.

She has also worked with many renowned organizations at Village and block levels. She has organized movements like MAHILA RAJSATTA ANDOLAN to encourage women to participate in Panchayati Raj institutions .

At both personal and mass levels Vijaya has encouraged many women to escape conditions of violence by fighting for their rights and rights of their children. She also recalled an incident when he had to motivate a woman to leave her abusive husband who committed violence against his wife and children. Vijaya along with many women brought him to justice by getting him arrested for his actions.

Now, she began her relentless pursuit of spreading education among women of poor households. She doesn't want other women to face hardships like she did in the beginning of her career and wants to provide moral and financial support to women. She wants to change ancient practices which inflict social disabilities on women.

Vijaya joined Indira Fellowship to further her political goals to represent women of all sections in Maharashtra. She wants to encourage ground level women workers to pursue active politics at Village, block and district levels. She wants women to be mobilised at the grassroots so that we have female candidates at all levels. She believes that women are more loyal to their parties and this would limit defection and corruption within political parties.

She wants to create “MOHALLA CLINICS '' for women who are victims of domestic violence where women in distress could come and seek legal aid as well as psychological counseling. Another mission close to her heart is to create a safe space where women can freely express themselves in case they are failed by the police and justice system.

Another important aspect of women's safety, that she wants to work for women to have access to free public transport which encourages women to become independent and come out of their houses in large numbers.