यह मेरी पहली नौकरी है। मैंने पहले कभी फील्ड पर काम नहीं किया था। मैं खुद सुपौल की रहने वाली हूं, लेकिन हमारे ही समाज में कितनी सारी परेशानियां हैं, ये पहले कभी न देखा था, न समझा था। तो जाहिर है, जब मैंने इस काम की शुरुआत की, तो मुझे नहीं पता था कि मैं क्या कर पाऊंगी, और क्या नहीं। मैं सिर्फ़ इतना जानती थी कि मुझे कुछ करना है माताओं के लिए, बच्चों के लिए, अपने सुपौल के लिए। शुरुआती दिनों में ही एहसास हुआ कि बदलाव सिर्फ़ सोचने से नहीं, करने से आता है।

Remember how our mothers would encourage us as kids, saying, “Mera bahadur baccha jaldi se dawa kha lega! (My brave child will take medicine quickly!)” whenever we refused to take medicine? Their gentle encouragement and warm reassurance made all the difference. Recently, in Triveniganj, I have seen this happen often—but with women, not children. Many women avoid Iron Folic Acid (IFA) tablets, even though they are crucial during pregnancy and lactation.

While India has reached Mars and aspires to be a global technology leader, millions of women in rural Bihar still struggle to access basic knowledge about their own bodies. In the absence of education, myths, fears, and whispered half-truths shape their understanding of reproductive health. Today, I share the story of Neha, a 25-year-old woman from a village in the Supaul district. She never went to school and got married so young that she cannot recall her age at the time.

Eight months ago, ZealGrit decided to step into Supaul, where data speaks of a grim reality. 69.4% of children aged 6-59 months were anaemic, and 42.9% of children under five were stunted. But beyond the statistics, we saw stories of silent battles, of mothers trying to raise their children with little to no support. If we wanted to improve maternal and child health outcomes, we had to start from the very beginning—from conception to the first two years of life.