Manavi’s Journey: A Story of Compassion and Complete Surrender to Selfless Service
- She says, rapid urbanization, growing population, lack of sterilization and proper treatment as root cause of growing population of stray dogs in India.
A woman found her calling on a visit to India in 2020. Manavi Rai is a social activist and animal lover who sold all her assets to start a dog shelter called Udgam. The pandemic was hard on humans and animals alike. Once she started feeding the village and rescuing stray animals, she knew there was no looking back. Since then, she has been an angel to these voiceless and abused animals. She lives in a village close to Delhi and has adopted 8 villages and is trying to help and bring reforms in animal welfare.
Her name truly defines her life. A woman with humanity. Manavi Rai’s journey towards animal rescue is a story of fortitude and empathy. Her commitment to helping stray dogs has not only sparked reform and brought attention to the significance of small acts, but also led to a massive personal transformation, leading her to reconsider her priorities and pursue her true purpose in life.
Manavi spoke to me in an interview and had this to say about her family: “I think my family knew I had this nature of constantly helping others and giving my all because I still remember my brother used to say you don’t find friends you find projects you love finding projects and you know you make them fly and then you look for the next project and if you’re asking specifically for rescuing dogs they’re my biggest fans they’re extremely proud of me they’re super supportive.“
She loves the dogs in her shelter like her own kids and believes that they are far superior to human beings who are too arrogant about having a conscious mind.
Manavi faced several challenges when she started this work. She said, “Power and money plays a huge role in India and there is a lot of corruption and bureaucracy in India and no field is exempt from it, it’s prevalent everywhere so now suddenly this girl is coming who’s not asking for donations she’s doing everything herself and she’s also very vocal about the fact that you know things are not as pure as you think, the animals are more like a business for most people running NGOs or being into oppositions for animals they are siphoning off the money and not giving them the right treatment. I realized that a lot of animal welfare also turned against me. It was hard, but what they say is that if you are on the path of truth and religion, then you should not be afraid of anyone, and with God’s grace and all this support that he’s sending from social media itself. It’s amazing that so many people came together in spite of the fact that I got so much hatred. Now that hatred is like two percent and 98 is love from all the people that are you know on Instagram on YouTube on Facebook”.
Please do follow this inspiring and determined woman on her social media.
Manavi Rai talked about the rapid urbanization, growing population, lack of sterilization, and proper treatment as the root causes of the growing population of stray dogs in India. I read that there are 62 million stray dogs in India and 16 million reported dog bites in the last three years.
Manavi believes, only humans are to be blamed for this situation. She proudly says that despite not having any knowledge about animal welfare, her Dog shelter has been rabies-free since its inception. She hopes the government welfare department will take input and help from NGO’s like hers and find a solution to this grave problem of rapid population growth of stray dogs in India. She also urged people to adopt Indian dogs as they are extremely smart and more in tune with the weather and environment. They also don’t have too many health issues and are very strong. Some of her dogs have been adopted by families in the USA and Canada.
She loves the dogs in her shelter like her own kids and believes that they are far superior to human beings who are too arrogant about having a conscious mind. She believes humans are made to serve and take care of the lesser beings.
Please reach out to me if you are an animal lover and would like to donate to her Udgam Charitable Trust in Delhi.
My email is namritay910@gmail.com.
Namrita Yuhanna is a poet and San Francisco Bay Area-based host of the radio talk show “Off the Cuff with Namrita” on Bolly 92.3 FM. Her recent book, “Bolti Tanhaiyan,” is available on Amazon. She believes everyone has a story to tell and the potential to enrich others through their actions.