She had lived through a political struggle where appearance meant nothing and courage meant everything. She had seen how women could be reduced to decoration in wealthy households. So she raised us differently. And in that simplicity, she gave us a wealth far greater than ornaments.

Heera Devi Yami sat there with her breast-fed infant, Dharma Devi, shielding the child from bug bites through sleepless monsoon nights. The Rana regime thought this would break them. Then smuggled newspaper clippings arrived. The Statesman in India had reported: Independence Day was observed in Kathmandu. Activists arrested. 

Heera Devi Yami: Pioneering Women’s Leadership in Nepal’s Fight for Democracy

Under the shadow of the Rana regime, carrying her children, Heera Devi Yami quietly became the lifeline of Nepal’s underground democratic movement. Walking from Singha Durbar to Patan, she risked arrest, exposure, and even death to deliver banned leaflets—her courage and endurance keeping the revolutionary network alive when every step could mean danger.

Heera Devi Yami’s story urges us to look beyond celebrated political figures and recognize the women whose intelligence, labor, and courage sustained political movements.