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THE CARE-WOMEN'S FEATURE SERVICE FELLOWSHIPS, 2008(Personal Account)
 | 'Here I was before a woman who was resilient enough to emerge unscathed every time she was attacked'
By Manisha Prakash
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It was like seeing a whole new world which I always knew had existed, but which I had never experienced first-hand. Being awarded the Care-WFS Fellowship for this year gave me the opportunity to explore new fields for reporting, literally. Though I had been to Jharkhand earlier, I had never had a chance to report from there. Two of the stories I did for the fellowship are based in Jharkhand. The third one was from Begusarai, a district of Bihar.
The first story was, in fact, the Begusarai one. I had to go to the interiors of Begusarai in order to write about three swimming champions, Payal, Baby and Savitri, who had done Bihar proud with their extraordinary achievements - despite the lack of basic facilities. I thought I would meet three chirpy, little ones having a great time in the backwaters of their village. Little did I know that I would come face-to-face with young girls whose dreams were dying due to poverty and Naxalism. It was disappointing to learn that Bihar's three 'Star Sports Girls', showcased as symbols of the state's development, had been abandoned to their fate. While I could easily find one of them, the other two were missing. When I probed deeper, I got no convincing response.
It was with great difficulty that I could meet Baby. Unaware of her supposed Naxal links, I came to know that she was in hiding, as the police was after her family. I could not meet Savitri, despite trying very hard to do so. She had reportedly gone underground. This was not what I had expected. I had come looking for a positive story but my storyline changed quite unexpectedly. Perhaps no journalist found time to investigate the truth. Payal, Baby and Savitri had received praise, adulation, certificates and medals but no one had cared to write about their real struggle. The search for Baby and Savitri opened my eyes to the struggle of children damned by their parents' political leanings and social beliefs. But their story was also about how young people in the country's distant corners are struggling to find themselves.
For the remaining two stories I went to Jharkhand. The moment I set my foot in that state I became aware of why it was so different from its neighbour, Bihar, despite having once been a part of that state. One aspect that emerged clearly was the remarkable ways in which women have asserted themselves. It was not unusual to see women engaged in heavy physical activity. They were moving about on cycles, climbing trees or were perched on high walls picking mangoes. The women here also seemed to enjoy more freedom than their counterparts in Bihar, despite the fact that crimes against women are a burning reality in Jharkhand as well.
Meeting Shanti, a health volunteer under the National Rural Health Mission for my second story was comparatively easy. However, it was my third story on witch-hunting that proved to be the most difficult.
I came across a victim of witch-hunting (she has been the toast of the media for the past several years) who wanted a price for telling her story. I rejected her story and kept up my search. At last I met Birsi after making several rounds of her village. When I saw her and talked to her, I immediately knew that her struggle was worth writing about. Here I was face to face with a woman who was resilient enough to stand up again and again like my son's 'Hit Me' toy. Every time she was attacked - often very savagely - she proved her innate courage and resilience by emerging unscathed.
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