Sheetal Iyer, the only Gold Badge Women Referee in Asia, was recently at a function in Mumbai honoured with "Hirkani Award" by one of the most popular Marathi TV Channels - Sahyadri Channel - with their annual achievement awards for Women excelling in different & new fields of work. It is a very prestigious award in Maharashtra and MSLTA is very proud of Sheetal's achievements and wish her to scale new heights in her career.

A poor milkmaid - Hirkani - who used to supply milk to the fortress of Raigad - The capital fort of King Shivaji's kingdom - was late in getting back to her village which was on the footholds of the fort after delivering the milk. The gates of the fort were closed for the night and she was told that she could now go down to the village only in the morning when the gates open. Hirkani who was a mother to an infant, was concerned & restless that she would not be able to feed her infant baby and tried to request the soldiers to open the gates. The soldiers refused as that was the procedure. She was however, desperate to reach home & feed her baby. She started looking around the fort which was engulfed by the darkness of the approaching night. Searching for an escape route that would lead her to her child whose cries she could hear in her mind, she saw & thought of the vertical drop that had no wall in one of the dark areas of the fort. No person including brave soldiers of King Shivaji had dared to come up or go down that slope as it was extremely steep & dangerous. As a result this portion was unprotected, thinking that nobody could ever come up or go down through there. In the dark night, Hirkani having a resolve in her mind, climbed down the steep mountain. The thorny bushes scratched her, but the thought of her baby hungry without her, kept her going. Hirkani reached the bottom of the mountain and to her baby beaming with happiness & satisfaction. The next morning she was at the fort door as usual with her can of milk. The soldier at the fort's gate was surprised and suspicious to see her. He took her to Shivaji Maharaj. Shivaji Maharaj heard her courageous story and looked at her scratched hands and torn clothes. He believed her story. He ordered for a wall to be built at the unprotected vertical drop and named it "Hirkani Burj". This buruj still exists. 400 years later Hirkani's story is still popular and has inspired several books. This true story of courageous Hirkani is a legend in Maharshtra and we pay tributes to her and her braveness.

Hirkani Awards thus, is a tribute to the motherhood & braveness of a woman; of a mother.

MSLTA congratulate Sheetal once again for getting this award.