SAPANA ROKA MAGAR: LIVING WITH A PURPOSE

Sapana Roka Magar’s life from an innocent village girl to becoming an award-winning personality is full of ups and downs. Even at 22, she has already faced so much humiliation, negation, and refutation in her life that now nothing bothers her.

Sapana Roka Magar has dedicated her life to cremating abandoned dead bodies.

By LB THAPA

Sapana Roka Magar is a young girl at her 22. Her innocent-looking face and docile demeanor actually belie her tall personality. Today she is a well-known girl in the country who has been voluntarily cremating abandoned dead bodies and that too all alone, mostly at Pashupati Aryaghat.

 

In a conservative society like ours where most women are not allowed to perform the last rite of the dead bodies. However, Sapana Roka Magar dared to break orthodox tradition and started cremating the abandoned dead bodies who were waiting for someone to cremate them.

 

Sapana Roka Magar’s life from an innocent village girl to becoming an award-winning personality is full of ups and downs. Even at 22, she has already faced so much humiliation, negation, and refutation in her life that now nothing bothers her.

 

Her life is full of good and bad events. Unlike many people who would easily give in before a critical situation, Sapana, however, decided to fight back. When her own world was shattered into pieces and she was on the street, Sapana decided to stand on her own and took the challenge in the face of adversity.

 

Today Sapana Roka Magar has attained a tall stature in the country. She has proved that there is nothing impossible before a strong will to succeed.  

All photos provided by Sapana

 

“I hailed from Barangja Bukeni---a remote village in Myagdi. I loved fun and frolicking and as long as I was with my family in the village, I had no problem in my life. But things took a nasty turn as soon as I moved to Butwal for higher education. At the threshold of a teenager, I made a terrible mistake that I think many teenagers of that age do”, said Sapana and continued.

 

“I fell in love with a boy on Facebook. Very soon our acquaintance turned into an intense love affair and without giving a second thought I agreed to get married to the man whom I knew almost nothing”.

 

As soon as she got married to the boy, Pandora’s Box was opened. “From day one I was exploited and I was not aware of that. I trusted the man blindly. When my parents did come to know about my marriage, they felt vastly cheated. They did not welcome my marriage and advised me to leave the boy at once but I refused”.

 

The boy began showing his true color as soon as the source of money dried up. “So-called my husband he turned into a beast when I could not give him any money. I became the subject of humiliation, torture, and beating almost every day. One day he disappeared leaving me in the lurch”.

 

The trauma of betrayal had left her broken and devastated. Then she lost her sanity for about two years. “Mentally I was so disturbed that I had lost all interest in life. Many times, I thought of taking my own life but I could not succeed. Then I found myself on the street of Butwal where I lived as a beggar”.

 

This is hard to believe that a young teenage girl was living entirely alone on the street. “Yes, this is true. I was living on the street and begging for food to satiate my hunger. I would also eat the leftovers from restaurants and dustbins. I had little sense of what I was doing but I had no control over my body and brain. Honestly speaking, I wanted to destroy my life that way…I did not make any effort to recover from that situation”.

 

There is a popular saying that whatever happens in life is because of the will of God. This was absolutely true for Sapana. Sapana had been fed up with her life and she wanted to destroy her life on the street. But God’s will was different for her.  

 

“I did spend my life on the street for two years then one day all of a sudden I heard a voice. It came within me. The voice said that I should find my own path in life for what I was born for. I felt as if I got up from deep slumber. I became fully aware of my situation. Then I begged on the street and collected Rs.150 and went to my home in Myagdi”, said Sapana.

 

Her parents were happy to find their daughter back home. After having spent some time in the village, Sapana left for Kathmandu to begin a new life.

 

“I cannot forget that strange voice which had shaken my soul. The voice still resonates in my both ears. I decided to go to Kathmandu but still did not know why I wanted to go to Kathmandu. But I had a sense that I will find my true purpose in life in Kathmandu”, said Sapana.

 

In Kathmandu, Sapana happened to find Action for Social Change (ASC) an NGO. This NGO was involved in cremating abandoned dead bodies and other social activities.

 

“In Kathmandu, I was associated with Action for Social Change (ASC). Here I met Binaya Jung Basnet, the director of the NGO, who provided me a much-needed shelter in his house. I’m always grateful to him for all the support and much-needed assistance that he provided me in my time of need. I saw several people who die on the street and their bodies are left in the mortuary. Due to delays in timely cremation, many bodies are rotten. There was no one to commiserate with those abandoned dead bodies.  I really felt pity for those stranded dead bodies. Then I immediately realized that the almighty God actually wanted me to help those abandoned dead bodies…and this way my journey to cremate abandoned dead bodies began”, said Sapana.

 

Soon Sapana left the NGO and began cremating abandoned dead bodies by her own effort. Though the task was challenging, she moved ahead doing the job alone. At times, she had to sell her golden chain and even her mobile phone to cremate those abandoned dead bodies at Pashupati Aryaghat.

 

“When I started cremating abandoned dead bodies by my own effort, it was not easy. No cremation is possible without paying ten to twelve thousand rupees to the Pashupati Aryaghat Samitee and the registration charge is Rs.1800”, revealed Sapana.

 

To give continuity to her philanthropic activities, Sapana registered Sapanako Chahana Samridha Nepal (SCSN), a non-profit organization. Along with her own organization, she does also work with Hamro Team Nepal (HTN). Sapana collects funds through her organization, friends, and well-wishers at home and abroad. This is the way how Sapana is able to give continuity to her great work.

 

When asked what has surprised her during cremating dead bodies, she said that sometimes she receives phone calls from overseas where the caller asks her to perform the last rite of their mother or father.

 

“They say that it is expensive for them to come to Nepal to cremate their father/mother. So that they want me to perform the last rite of their father/mother at Pashupati Aryaghat. They ask my bank account to deposit the fee. In this situation, I want to teach them a lesson by refusing to accept any money from them. But I perform the last rite of their father/mother. This way, I want to make them feel about their moral responsibility towards their loved ones”.  

 

Appreciating the great work of cremating the abandoned dead bodies, BBC did honor Sapana by including her name in the 2020 BBC 100 most influential women list. Sapana received the award as one of the influential women from the Asia region.

 

Until now, Sapana has already cremated over 100 abandoned dead bodies and she is still rendering her services. She did also receive Janasewa award but Sapana refused to accept the Best Daughter of the year award for some obvious reason.

 

“I don’t crave any awards and certificates. My work gives me tremendous satisfaction and that is my award. In fact, I don’t want to receive such an award that is given to undeserving persons. It is better not to accept such a tainted award”.

 

Sapana has a cool nerve and her purpose is steadfast. Despite all this, her organization is always short of money. This has put an obstacle to cremating abandoned dead bodies as regularly as possible.

 

“I do not receive any sort of financial or another type of help from the state. Due to a lack of enough budget, I found it difficult to cremate abandoned dead bodies. I receive awards but not financial aid. But to cremate dead bodies I need to pay cash to the concerned authority at Pashupati Aryaghat. Thus, at present, my worry is how to procure funds to help cremate abandoned dead bodies without any financial worry”.

LB Thapa is a Pokhara-based freelance writer and author.

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