Back in the 1980s, an unlettered woman from a poor family dared to take on the dangerous timber mafia in Chamoli, a border district of Uttarakhand. Nobody in her village, a fiercely male dominated society, expected her to succeed but not only did she succeed but she also won the respect of the men. No matter the adversary, whether it was corrupt government officials or out- of- control alcoholics, the determined lady took them on to make life better for her fellow villagers.

    Kalawati’s story of activism began in the early 1980s, shortly after she married and moved to Bacher, a remote village in Chamoli. Power was yet to reach the remote village, a fact that made life very difficult for the villagers once it got dark in the hills. Discontent with the absence of electricity, 17-year-old Kalawati soon discovered that the lack of electricity had more to do with the lackadaisical attitude of the government officials, than the distant....