Not many people outside India know who “Phoolan Devi” is but after reading about her and seeing the film “Bandit Queen” she is surely now a queen in my eyes. The name Phoolan Devi (born in 1963) means “goddess of flowers” in Hindi. She has been labeled as a murderer, kidnapper and self- fashioned desperado, and she was a living folk legend in India until she was assassinated outside her home in 2001.

Phoolan Devi was a remarkable character, undoubtedly who triumphed over obstacles bigger than most of us would ever face. Phoolan Devi was repeatedly raped by men of landlords and of socially upper classes at a young age. As her marriage brook down, she decided to avenge therefore turned to a life of law-breaking and transgression.

Phoolan Devi became the contemporary day Robin Hood of India, a superwoman to the economically and socially lower stratus of peoples of India. According to her, she symbolized people who very much like herself, were oppressed and molested. Eventually she killed 22 men in 1981 who allegedly had raped her. She voluntarily surrendered.

After 11 years in prison, justice prevailed and charges were dropped and finally freed. Phoolan Devi stood for election and even became a "Member of Parliament" from a town in Northern India. Numerous biographies have been written. One of the good ones includes of the author Mala Sen's Phoolan Devi. It is fantastic and an incredible read.

The tale of Phoolan Devi is mesmerizing but also upsetting. The film made about her is called the "Bandit Queen", portrays her in an incomplete and indecisive fashion. The movie is centered on Phoolan Devi. I don't know, conceivably the nature of Phoolan Devi was reprehensible: she was an outlaw, a brigand, a bandit, unattractive and poor. Although Phoolan Devi is depicted as a champion in the movie, she sternly disputed its accurateness and battled to get it restricted in India. Although it is violent, it is quiet a touching film.

Phoolan Devi was a famous female warrior and a rebel against the Indian social system. Therefore, the revolution of Phoolan Devi is an example set to better the social system of India. The misfortune and hard luck of the great Phoolan Devi is that she came from a poor backward background and that she was denied the dignity both in life and death. Her legacy is of a woman who suffered and someone who lost out in life. The ghost of Phoolan Devi will continue to haunt India for centuries to come.