The Village That Didn’t Wait

Sita was never the kind of woman who waited for things to change. In the dusty village of Narnal, while many waited for the government or outsiders to bring opportunities, Sita decided to create her own. After attending a community meeting led by SmartGram, she signed up to become a Gram Mitra. Her neighbors scoffed—“Technology isn’t for us,” they said. “Women don’t run businesses here.” But Sita had other plans. She got trained in basic healthcare services and started offering free BP and diabetes checkups at the local temple. Slowly, people stopped laughing. They started coming to her not just for health but for guidance—with smartphone apps, digital payments, online shopping. Soon, Sita opened a small center where she helped people book online doctor consultations and even placed Amazon orders for nearby families. She wasn’t just earning—she was growing. She sent her daughter to an English-medium school. Bought her first washing machine. And most of all, she changed how her village saw women, work, and the web. Sita’s story is no longer rare. Across rural India, women like her are rewriting what development looks like—one village, one family, one device at a time. Listen to the full episode with “Prabal Pratap Singh” on The Collaborative Canvas Podcast—now streaming on YouTube and Spotify.