Titled ‘Looking around’, chapter V of the Class IV book on Environmental Studies describes Anita as a role model for her determination to educate herself while rearing honeybees. The ordinary girl with extraordinary grit and determination heralded an economic revolution in parts of North Bihar before being declared the poster girl of UNICEF.

Extraordinary tale
After all, hers is not the run-of the mill success story. Hailing from a nondescript village in Muzaffarpur and belonging to the lower strata of the society, Anita, 18, remembers the day when her parents wanted her to get married and settle down when she was studying in Class IX.

Fighting all odds, the girl refused to tie the nuptial knot and instead took up tuitions to save some money on her own.

The bee story
“Everyday she used to watch people rear bees,” a UNICEF official said, “Trucks collected those boxes in the morning and dropped them in the evening.

One fine morning, she decided to buy a box with a queen-bee for Rs 2,500, the amount she had saved from tuitions. The box started yielding honey.

This prompted her mother Rekha Devi to purchase one more box. The raw honey fetched Anita Rs 40 per kg. Emboldened by his daughter’s pursuit, her father Janardan Singh, too joined her.

Today the family has 100 boxes and their savings from honey business is more than 1 lakh per year.”

Role model
Anita’s example has led to a beehive of activity in this sleepy hamlet.

“The same people who used to poke fun at me, now shower encomiums on me and dwell at length on my success.” she says proudly.

“I am doing English (Honours) from Mahant Darshan Das Mahila College where I attend my classes after cycling for 14 kms,” said the UNICEF girl, who is also creating awareness about health and hygiene among rural women.