Poornima Arvind Pakvasa

Who is Poornima Arvind Pakvasa?

Poornima Arvind Pakvasa, also known as Didi of the Dangs, is a social worker from Gujarat in India. She is the daughter in-law of Mangaldas Pakvasa and the mother of dancer Sonal Mansingh.

At the age of 18, she participated in her first freedom protest, the Dandi March in Saurashtra, during which she was arrested. Her inmate in jail was Kasturba Gandhi. Pakvasa taught her how to read and write English. Mahatma Gandhi was appreciative of this act and gave her his blessings to continue on the path of education. In 1956 she started "Shaktidal", an institution for the cultural, physical and spiritual education of women. Later in 1969, it was transformed into Ritambhara Vishva Vidyapeeth and extended its activities into a full fledged residential school and college at Saputara. In 2004 she was awarded the Padma Bhushan award for her services to the society. She turned 100 in October 2013.