Chikkamagaluru: For 50-year-old Jubedha, public service is not limited to her official responsibilities. As the president of the Narasimharajapura Municipality and secretary of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat, she has built a reputation for standing by people facing difficult circumstances. Over the years, her efforts have helped around 1,000 women acquire livelihood skills, while she has also assisted abandoned people, supported families during crises, donated blood 56 times and helped conduct around 106 funerals.
Her journey from a financially struggling childhood to a life dedicated to community service has been shaped by personal hardship. After her husband left while her two daughters were still young, Jubedha had to raise them on her own. The experience of struggling for financial independence strengthened her determination to help other women build livelihoods and live without depending on others.
Childhood shaped by hardship and determination
Jubedha was the eldest of five daughters in a family where her father worked as a driver. The family faced financial difficulties, with the sisters sometimes sharing clothes and footwear and having little money for celebrations.
Despite these hardships, her father encouraged his daughters to learn skills and become independent. He taught Jubedha to ride a bicycle at a time when some people in the neighbourhood questioned why such a skill was being taught to a girl.
That encouragement left a lasting impression on her. She also began helping people in her neighbourhood while she was still in school. During Classes 6 and 7, she would wake up early to help neighbours observing Ayyappa rituals by preparing food and assisting with prayers.
According to Jubedha, her parents taught their children not to differentiate between people based on caste or religion. The values she learnt at home later became an important part of her community work.
Raised two daughters after husband left
Jubedha married and had two daughters, but her husband left when the children were young. She was suddenly responsible for raising her daughters and managing the household alone.
To support her family, she took up whatever work was available, including assignments during election campaigns and political programmes. While these jobs were primarily a means of survival, they also gave her the opportunity to interact with people from different sections of society.
Her experience as a woman raising children alone also made her aware of the challenges faced by women who lack financial independence.
“I have struggled a lot to raise my children. I don’t want another woman to go through the same experience,” she has said, stressing that women should be able to stand on their own feet and earn a livelihood.
Around 1,000 women receive livelihood training
Jubedha’s efforts to support women took a more organised form in 2012, when she became associated with the Mahila Samaj.
Through the organisation, women have received free training in tailoring, mehendi, beauty and grooming, and embroidery. Jubedha estimates that around 1,000 women have benefited from these programmes over the years.
For her, the objective is not merely to provide temporary assistance but to equip women with skills that can help them earn an income and support their families.
Her own experience of financial struggle has remained a major motivation behind this work. Rather than allowing her difficulties to limit her, she has used them to understand the problems faced by other women and help them find a path towards self-reliance.
Helps abandoned and vulnerable people
Jubedha’s service extends beyond women’s empowerment. In Narasimharajapura, she is often approached when someone is found ill, elderly, abandoned or without family support.
She helps such people reach hospitals, attempts to trace their relatives and, when family members cannot be found, assists in arranging shelter or other support.
Her efforts became particularly important during the Covid-19 pandemic. At a time when many people were hesitant to venture outside because of the risk of infection, Jubedha drove an ambulance to help take people requiring medical attention to hospitals.
She has also supported the final rites of people who died without relatives to claim their bodies. Around 106 funerals have been conducted with her assistance, with the last rites carried out according to the respective religious customs of the deceased.
Donated blood 56 times
Jubedha has also contributed through blood donation, having donated blood 56 times.
For nearly two decades, she has been associated with a shelter for people living with mental health conditions. She assists residents with hospital visits and other needs and also helps arrange funerals when a resident dies.
Much of this work has taken place without public attention. For Jubedha, however, helping people in distress is an extension of the values she learnt during her childhood.
Brings communities together through festivals
Jubedha’s community work also includes organising cultural and religious programmes that bring people from different communities together.
For the past 18 years, she has helped organise Ganeshotsava and has been unanimously elected president of the committee responsible for the celebrations. The festival, known as ‘Bhavaikya Ganapathi’, attracts participation from people belonging to different communities.
She is also involved in programmes associated with Holi, Deepavali and Karthik Deepotsava.
Jubedha believes that when children grow up watching people from different communities participate in each other’s festivals, they learn that religious differences do not have to create divisions.
The values she absorbed as a schoolgirl while helping her neighbours have therefore continued to influence her work decades later.
Balancing public service and literature
Jubedha’s community work has also led her into public life. She currently serves as president of the Narasimharajapura Municipality and has been the secretary of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat since 2024.
Her interest in literature has continued alongside her social work. She has authored two poetry collections, published in 2001 and 2013.
Her contributions have earned her several honours, including the Corona Warrior Award, Nagarika Seva Prashasti, Udaya Kannadiga Prashasti, Kannada Rajyotsava Prashasti and the Junior Mother Teresa Award.
Turning personal hardship into service
Jubedha’s story is ultimately one of turning personal hardship into a reason to help others. The financial struggles of her childhood, followed by the responsibility of raising two daughters alone, could have limited her opportunities. Instead, those experiences became the foundation for her commitment to women and vulnerable people.
From training women to earn a livelihood to helping abandoned people find medical care and shelter, her work has focused on ensuring that people are not left without support during difficult times.
“I have seen a lot of pain in my life. But I have chosen to find my happiness in making other people happy,” she says.
Her journey demonstrates how personal struggles can become a source of empathy and service, creating a wider impact in the community.