No Shoes..No Sportswear..Just a Saree for the Run

Kavita Devi, also known as Kavita Mahto, from Ramgarh in Jharkhand, has won admiration on social media for her determination to secure a Home Guard job. A widow and mother of two, Kavita is carrying her family responsibilities alone and is striving for a stable government job to provide a better future for her children. During the recruitment trial, she had neither running shoes nor sportswear, but that did not stop her from taking part.

Wearing a saree and running barefoot, Kavita completed the 1,600-metre trial in around six minutes, well ahead of the 10-minute time limit reportedly set for women. After a video of her run went viral, a local running academy learned about her circumstances and visited her home to provide running shoes, a jersey and other sports equipment to support her training. Her story has drawn widespread praise for her determination to overcome difficult circumstances for her children.