I'm not doing anything for publicity: Bhumata Brigade's Trupti Desai

On January 26, when Trupti Desai and 500 women set out in buses for Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district to break a bizarre custom, she planned to end the gender bias. The Lord Shani stone idol in the shrine "emanates vibrations that harm women". The myth has meant no woman has been allowed inside the Shingnapur sanctum sanctorum for over four centuries. But Desai's plan failed.

The 26-year-old housewife and members of the Bhumata Brigade — an organisation she set up with friends in Pune in 2010 — were detained at Supa village, 70 km away.

"My organisation made the decision," Desai told TOI. "We were affected when the temple was 'purified' after a girl entered the sanctum. We'd been thinking of a way to break the tradition which discriminates against women. So, in December, we decided to take hundreds of women and march into the temple. You can say it was an impulsive decision."

It was not the first time Desai grabbed headlines. In 2009, the mother of a six-year-old — her deposits stuck in a bank whose licence RBI cancelled — launched a movement to recover her savings and those of hundreds of others. It was her first agitation and its success led her to join other agitations.

She went on to take out rallies in Pune supporting Anna Hazare's agitation for a Lokpal Bill and the stir led by Baba Ramdev to bring back black money. She also led an agitation for the rights of sugar-cane farmers.

Her critics say she wants to hog the limelight. But Desai stands her ground. "I'm not doing anything for publicity," she says. "I'm not a right-winger nor a left-wing activist. I'm not politically motivated. In fact, I'm a devotee of Shani and I want the temple trust to respect women. "

When not organising dharnas, she takes care of her son Yogiraj. "My son said once that 'god must have come from his mother's womb. He must have a mother like I have. Then why are they not allowing you to see him?' My sisters have also joined me."

Desai pursued two years of home science in Pune, then gave up studies due to personal reasons. She later completed her BA through distance education. She has been focusing on strengthening Bhumata brigade for the past five years and says it has 4,500 members across 21 locations in Maharashtra.