Munni of all Trades

Award winning Lifestyle and Travel Blog by Khushboo Motihar

Social Work

#MoreIndianThanYouThink: 3 Decades of Indo- German friendship at Gudalur

More Indian than you think
More Indian Than you Think: The Adivasi Tee Projekt

It is strange how small incidents change and define our entire life. Meeting someone, going to a place far far away from your home and yet feeling one with the people around. It is a once in a lifetime experience. Let me tell you a true story of two German students from the Heidelberg University, who don’t wish to be named.

Nine years before the beginning of the 21st century, they came to visit the little-known hill town of Gudalur in South India. This town had a hospital of all but two beds. Run and led by the indigenous Adivasi communities of the region it was a hospital born from the grit and desire of an unassuming people’s want to improve the lives of their kin. Many hundred Adivasi communities with their distinct languages and cultures reside throughout India. They are known for their shared ways of life and the sustainable approaches they adopt to living with the forest and its resources. The core values of their cultures have remained unchanged despite several centuries of external oppression and exploitation due to their tolerant and forgiving nature. The culture of the Adivasis is a true blend of the most beautiful values to be seen in the diverse cultures across India. It combines them all in simple yet profound ways.

The students went back to Heidelberg influenced by this experience of living within a culture that practised the ideas of oneness, compassion, sharing and tolerance in their daily lives. They began the Rice Group in Heidelberg University as a way to raise money for the hospital in Gudalur. While distributing boiled rice to students they shared with them the values they had absorbed during their stay in India. Many a student listened with intent and purchased their rice. The money was collected and sent back to India thus helping to run the Adivasi Hospital.

As years passed, the rice group grew until a time in 1995 when discussions led to the forming of the Adivasi Tea Projekt (ATP). A student group came together and decided to help pay the loans for the purchase of a plantation estate that the Adivasis of Gudalur had decided to buy and run as a collective. They helped sell their Tea and to raise money. Help has come in many ways in times of distress and of hope to the communities in Gudalur. Adivasi people who had never previously stepped outside a few miles of their villages were invited to the homes of their German friends. An exchange of relations has continued through the years with groups crossing continents to meet each other at their homes. A group plans to visit their German friends this May, 2017 too.

In this near three decade long faithful friendship of help and love across countries lays a commitment born from the ideologies, values and cultures shared by them. One that arose from the experiences and interactions two young medical students had with the Adivasis in India many years ago. A stark improvement in the level of happiness can be seen in the lives of the communities in India and in the group in Germany. Both benefited from each other in more ways than one. A beautiful story this is of how an Indian community who arose to help themselves, received help from people across the globe for being what they are best at. Being Indian.

I believe that these 2 students and the entire community should be ambassadors of the concept of “More Indian than you think”. They are truly Indian at heart and I salute the work that they have been quietly doing with no want of any credit. Do check their work here: http://www.adivasi-tee-projekt.org/

Meet the unsung heroes of India: #SaathHainHum

Hey guys,
 
I hope you had the chance to read about Finolex’s #SaathHainHum initiative that I had written about here. Today, I am going to share with you my first hand experience of interacting with a farmer from Bharuch, Gujarat.
 
At the end of this video, Finolex had encouraged the viewers to write to them if one would like to interact with a farmer. I decided to take this up and within a few hours the call details were sent to me. I was actually quite nervous and was bubbling with myths like:
Myth 1: My hindi is poor and the farmer wouldn’t know English!
 
And this was busted! When I was first started speaking with Mr Kamlesh, I peppered my Hindi with a lot of English words. To my surprise, Mr Kamlesh started responding in English as well. This prompted me to ask him a few questions about his educational background and bam! Another myth was busted there and there.
Myth 2: Farmers in India are uneducated, sometimes even illiterate
 
Mr Kamlesh is a B.Sc Botany graduate who completed his studies 25 years back. He came back to his village to use the innovative methods of farming like irrigation which were fairly unheard of back then. He then want to expand his farm and currently holds 80 acres of land. He has 3 borewells and 3 drip irrigation systems from the Narmada river.
 
Myth 3: There is no scope for the youth studying in villages
 
Absolutely untrue! Mr Kamlesh’s son is studying MBBS to become a doctor and his daughter is completing her HSC exams in the science stream. Both of them dream of excelling in their own streams.

Once I got these three myths out of the way, I started asking him a little more about his day to day life. Mr Kamlesh and hiw wife get up around 6 for some yoga and then immediately proceed to their fields to carry out their day to day tasks. They grow sugarcane, bananas, toor dal and cotton in their farm seasonally and use irrigation on their land. They do face a low voltage problem which hampers the functioning of their farm but they have learnt to overcome this difficulty.
 
 I also asked them to tell me about the time when they started irrigation for the very first time and Mr Kamlesh says that they were lucky enough to get a 50% subsidy. The rest he had to pay on his own for which he took a loan. As I listen to Mr Kamlesh describe the various processes that go into farming which feeds and clothes us city dwellers, I have a new found respect for him. Yes, he had a graduate degree and could have opted for a job in the city like you and me. Instead, he chose to go back to his roots to ensure that you and I could live easy. 
 
As we end our conversation, I realize how much we owe to the farmers across India who are toiling away on their land while we sit in our air conditioned offices and homes in pure comfort. Hats off to these unsung heroes of rural India.

Aastha Parivaar: Truly Made of Great

Please note all names have been changed to protect identity. All the stories and incidents that I have mentioned in this post are true and it is something that I have personally experienced. 

Prostitution and Women in Prostitution. Did you just flinch? It is a very common reflex for anyone. They are the “dirty secret” of our society which we choose to turn ignore by firmly shutting our eyes. One issue that we refuse to acknowledge the existence of. Who cares about a group of nameless, faceless women doing the “dirty work” day after day, night after night? We call them a number of vile names, appreciate an art film made by a popular director and then erase it from our memories.

But for me, there is a group amongst them, a seemingly small group, which is dedicatedly fighting for their cause. These remarkable women are a part of Aastha Parivaar. They have a simple agenda; women in prostitution exist and they deserve to live a life of dignity. I have worked with them for a very short duration and my contribution to the cause has inconsequential, but it is with them that I have had the greatest experiences of my life.

Before I started interning with this organization, I had a vague idea about the issue of prostitution. Sure, I would participate in heated debates on the issue and would snootily advocate my ideas to improve the situation but reality hit me hard when I had to convince my parents just to go for the first interview. My parents, my sensible educated middle class parents who would openly talk about issues, were fearful. They posed a hundred million questions, tried various tactics, ranging from anger to logic, to dissuade me and then finally just decided to let me go.

In my first week with AasthaParivaar, I was caught in a whirlwind of information. All the beliefs I had were broken down to nothing. Sometimes I could not help but let out a snort of laughter; everything I ‘knew’ was wrong. I interacted with the members, got to know the work they do and learnt to have an immense respect for them.

The issues that these women would have to fight for were basic; things we would take for granted. Things like getting a little dignity in government hospitals, using sanitary napkins, getting their children admitted in a good school, finding a place to live or just knowing that one day when they would die, there would be somebody to light their funeral pyre. The last one is the most shocking, isn’t it? Yes, I had seen a lady like that who had passed away and nobody came forward to give her a funeral till these very women, who we disparagingly call ‘prostitutes’ contributed money to light her pyre and conduct a puja for her.
These women have formed 13 Community Based Organizations that work for male sex workers, female sexworkers, the LGBT community and the transgender. They collectively reach out to thousands of people every month and provide them basic health services along with counseling, legal help and much more.

I wish I could tell compress my experience and tell it all to you in this one post but I can’t. But what I can do is tell you three very inspiring stories that will help you understand why these women are #madeofgreat.

Shivani’s story

Shivani was around 20 when she left Bengal to come to Mumbai to look for work. She wanted to study and do something with her life but the circumstances did not allow her follow her dreams. I met Shivani on three separate occasions and I remember these clearly. She would always be beautifully dressed and was particularly fond of make up. Shivani even showed me a lipstick case that one of her regular clients gifted her and offered to apply make up for me because I would never bother. In all these meetings, I never asked her how she ended up in the flesh trade. Rather our conversatiosn would revolve around her future.

She would speak to me in English and would tell me the latest topic that she was attempting to master for her exams. Shivani was about 42 and had enrolled herself in a distance course to complete her Bachelors in Management Studies. Yes, she would go on the street every night to get clients and she was quite frank about it. But she also went to English classes and studied hard whenever she could hoping that one day she would get a job in a proper office with a table and chair. Yes, that was her dream. To get a table and chair with a nameplate stating her name and designation.

Along with her studies, Shivani was also involved in spreading information about AIDS and HIV in certain localities. She was involved in distribution of condoms and advocating safe sex and along with that, she would always have the time to whip up amazing meals. I particularly enjoyed the aloo sabji she made for me once.

Last when I spoke to her, she told me that she had completed two years of college now and was gearing up for the final year.

What Tina Di shared with me

Tina Di is a very fashionable woman. Tottering high heels, skinny jeans, a long kurta and a dash of kajal is her favourite look. When I first met her, I was completely tongue-tied. Do I call her he or she? You see, Tina Di belonged to the transgender community. After half an hour of sitting quietly in the corner, I mustered the courage to speak to her. I frankly told her my confusion and she burst into peals of laughter. Tina told me it was completely upto me. She didn’t mind what I called her and smiling she want about her business at the counseling centre. Di worked as a full time employee at this particularly centre that worked for the LGBT and the transgender community. She had a sharp wit and warm smile that made you feel so welcome.

One important lesson that she taught was that sometimes all people wanted was a little respect and some friendly conversation. And this is one lesson that has held me in good stead. When I was travelling to Solapur in a train, my fellow companions were from the transgender community. I was looked a little menacing to me and at first I decided to ignore them completely. But then, I remember Tina Di’s words and decided to strike a conversation. I must tell you that was the most fun journey that I have ever had in my life. We exchanged stories, sang some songs and had the time of our lives.

Sneha’s Baby

Sneha has been in the trade for as long she can remember. But there is one thing she is particularly grateful for is her beautiful daughter who she adopted many years ago. The baby was found abandoned near her house and everybody was too scared to go to the police. Something in her made her decide that she wanted to take care of this child. Sneha never believed that she could change her present but she the least she could do is brighten this child’s future.

She put her daughter through school and college and when the time came got her married to a wonderful young man. And that is one thing that makes her beam with pride. Her wonderful daughter gave her the strength to start working for the community and help out the women who were forced to be here against their will. Sneha currently is a part of a Community Based Organization in Mumbai and actively works with the children of women in prostitution to ensure that they have a future just like her baby girl did.

These are just three of the many inspiring stories that I have come across during my short internship with Aastha Parivaar, an organization that does wonderful work at the grassroots level. For me, each and every one of these women who are contributing for the cause are #madeofgreat. They don’t demand credit, they are not looking for awards, all they want is that their sisters get an opportunity to live life fully and with some dignity and respect.

The Unsung Heroes: #EveryWomanIsALeader

When I typed in a simple search term in Google to look for women leaders, I managed to come across a lot of articles. Prominent politicians, actresses, businesswomen and entrepreneurs were all featured in the list but to my surprise, none of these women were from rural India. We may talk about how India lives in its villages but we fail to acknowledge the role of women in rural India. I wanted this post to be a little different because I think it is essential for us to know the unsung leaders that come from the villages of India.
Meena Behen
 
Meena Behen from Vyara in Gujurat always stood up against patriarchy and in order to ensure that the women in her village participated in the Panchayat, she stood for elections and became the first woman Sarpanch of her village. It was no easy task; some women did not approve of Meena;s choice to stand for elections but she fought against all odds. Today her village has an all women Panchayat board and these women are all set to build a government hospital for their village.

 Lalfakzuali
 
 
She may not be as famous or well known as compared to other women entrepreneurs but Lalfakzuali’s achievements are no less than the rest. After being divorced by her husband, she managed to leave the house with her son and returned to her father. She and her sisters wove to create puans (Mizo skirts) and beautiful shawls for a living. Slowly the business picked up and they managed to get a loan with which they bought new looms. Currently, Lalfakzual employs four other women and intends to expand her business in the future.
 
Arati Devi
 
 
Former investment banker, Arati Devi chose to leave her plush job to make a difference in her village Dhunkapara in Odisha. She is considered to be the country’s youngest sarpanch and one of the most active ones too. Arati has launched a campaign to revive traditional folk art in her village and she also ensures that the benefits of the various government schemes reaches the people who need it the most.
Her work was recognized internationally when she was selected to be a part of International Visitors Leadership Program by the US Consulate to speak on the importance transparency and accountability in the government.
Ela Bhatt
 
Any list of women leaders in rural India is incomplete without mentioning Ela Bhatt and the Self Employed Women’s Association. Started in 1972, this association helps women buy solar lamps which they can sell or rent out in their villages thus earning a source of livelihood.  She was a part of co-operative and micro finance movements that brought women in the forefront and she was won the Padma Bhushan and the Ramon Magsaysay award for the work that she has done.  
Thinlas Chorol
 
 
Thinlas Carol has the unique distinction of being the only Ladhaki women who has been trained in mountaineering. However, she wanted to change this and in 2009 she founded Ladakhi Women’s Travel Company through which she helps women earn a living by taking up mountaineering and related activites.  
With this post I want each and every one of you to know that #EveryWomanIsALeader. It does not how big or how small one’s achievement is, what matters is that these women had the courage to break the shackles and do something for the society.

Banega Swachh India: Ground realities, My Hopes and Dreams

Her morning has started yet the sun has barely risen. She washes her face carefully and goes to the well to bring back ice cold water in a pot. She fills her lota with it, takes a torch along just to be on the safe side and starts walking. Rani has not woken up even today; she was just too tired. She is going to come back crying again when those boys… She closes her eyes and trudges to the middle of the forest. She keeps the lota carefully on the ground; God forbid it spills! Then balances the torch on a nearby bush to let the others know that someone is present  here . She hunches up her sari and prays that no insects or snakes are around today. After some time, she makes her way back to her house, ignoring the smirks of a few boys who are always are up to make fun of young girls. She wishes fervently that Rani would manage to escape their eyes…
 
This is a story that was narrated by each of these women you see in the photography above and I am sure it is also the reality of a majority of women and young girls in the villages of India where toilets are still considered to be an unnecessary luxury. Yes, the toilets that you and I take for granted.Being a student of rural development has been an eye opener for me. Sitting in a comfy little office cubicle had blinded me to so many evils in the society. Health, sanitation and hygiene being the most important of themWe sanitizer carrying, tissue using hygiene freaks take sanitation for granted. Our house keepers keep our house impeccably clean, our offices are well dusted before we even enter and the roads don’t matter to us because we rarely have to walk on them. But one thing that we cannot ignore is that the cleanliness of our surroundings is an important issue.
There is no point passing the buck and saying, “It’s the government’s job”. Let’s not forget, it is our job, too. Sanitation and hygiene, affects each and one of us. We urban dwellers know all about it, but unfortunately there is no one to tell us the ground realities in rural India. And today, I am going to share just that with you. Open Defecation or OD in social work jargon was the first concept that we were introduced during the course of our lectures on Rural Development.

You see, it had an important relation to both health, sanitation and the economic well being of a family. Sanitation for the obvious reason and health because a lot of people did not think it was important to wash hands after defecation. This meant that the germs and pathogens could easily pass on to the entire family leading to illness. Illness meant two things; one that there would be medical expenditure to cure the disease and second, if the breadwinner of the family were to fall ill, then the family would be in financial trouble especially if it was a long term disease. So what could we do?Well, we were told one important thing; “It is very difficult to sell the idea of a toilet in a village. But if you could get one person to adopt it, then others would eventually follow suit”.We bright eyed young social workers took this statement to heart and started working towards understanding people’s mentality about health and sanitation in their village.One thing was certain, we had to raise awareness about the issue so that people understood its gravity. We took this too heart and during each and every field work, health and sanitation were given top priority. We decided to start off with children as their minds are more open to newer ideas.

Through nukkad natak, games and showing videos, we taught them the basics of hygiene. We told them the importance of washing their hands with soap, taking a bath daily and not littering the village. 

We should them interactive videos that explained why Open Defecation was not good hygiene and why they should ensure that at least their schools had separate toilets for boys and girls.
 

Women were asked not to burn the waste generated in the village as it caused a number of health problems, not to mention pollution.

These were the small initiatives that we took in the period of one month.

But the bigger issues like building toilets was beyond our reach. Yes, we counseled women and told them about various schemes available but the final decision was of their husbands. They had tried applying for a toilet under Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan but we all know how government schemes work. 

I hoped for a better India, with toilets in every household and basic hygiene being followed but I was in for a big disappointment. It was not easy to get even one person build one, forget about the rest of India. 

It was then that I resolved to make my own hygiene wish list which I would work towards fulfilling in the future. 

It included:

Soap or ash usage in every household to wash hands.

  • Toilets in every household or at least one toilet for every 3 to 4 households
  • Clean public toilets in the cities and towns
  • Spotless streets with no litter and dustbins in every corner
  • Eco friendly sewage system where all waste would be reused as compost in the future
But what about you and me? We know all about cleanliness and we also claim that we are much more sophisticated than our rural counterparts. Yet our cities are dirty. How can we do our bit? Well, I have five simple ideas for you, me and all of us who want a Swachh Bharat.

Don’t think, just act

Did you spot a person throwing wrapper? Instead of thinking what a bad person he or she is, why don’t you call them out and request them to throw it in a bin? Or if the person refuses to listen, calmly pick it up yourself and ensure that there is no litter around. The time for thinking is long past gone. If India needs to become clean, we all need to act and FAST!

Don’t forget to K.I.S.S.
Oh yes, don’t ever think that simple initiatives cannot have a big impact. 
Pick your battles
Always getting into a fight is not a solution. If you feel that your advice is falling on deaf ears then do the work yourself. Clean the place up and you will definitely feel proud of yourself.
Educate yourself
Many a time all we need to do is read upon the schemes available or write a strongly worded letter to get something done. Let’s educate ourselves about who should be approached whom. Hope you enjoyed the post 🙂