Sr Sudha Varghese: A Life Poured Out in Service For The Marginalized of Bihar

Patna, Bihar, November 1, 2025: For over five decades, Sr. Sudha Varghese, a nun from Kerala, has lived among Bihar’s most marginalized communities — walking, teaching, and fighting for their dignity.

Born in 1944 in Kottayam, Sr. Sudha left the comfort of home in her teens to serve in Bihar. The harsh realities of caste discrimination and poverty deepened her resolve. “I came not just because I could, but because I felt I must,” she says.

Living with the Musahar community, she began teaching girls in a grain shed — offering literacy, sewing, and hope. Her work expanded into advocacy, founding an organization in 1987 to fight for women’s rights and justice. Later, she pursued law to defend victims of violence, becoming a bridge between the voiceless and the system.

In 2005, she opened a residential school near Patna — once a dilapidated structure, now a thriving hub where girls learn, grow, and dream. Many of her students are now professionals, proof of her enduring impact.

Even at 81, Sr. Sudha cycles through dusty lanes, visiting villages, mentoring women, and listening to their struggles. “Service is not a title,” she says. “It’s a dawn-to-dawn journey.”

Her mission — rooted in compassion and courage — continues to break barriers, reminding the world that transformation begins where empathy meets action.

By Fr. Santosh Digal