India’s ‘mother’ of 1,700 orphans continues still struggling to find next meal after 40 years

Kicked out by her husband and rejected by her own mother, Sindhutai Sapkal took to begging at railway platforms in the early 1970s to feed herself and her newborn daughter. Soon she took in other abandoned children and started pleading for enough food for them too. Over time, people took notice and donated enough to help Sapkal and the children build a home as well as provide them with food and education. Over the past 40 years, she’s taken in 1,700 orphans, who all affectionately call her …