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THE CARE-WOMEN'S FEATURE SERVICE FELLOWSHIPS, 2008(Personal Account)
 | 'What was even more amazing was that almost everyone stopped to greet her and touch her feet'
By Swapna Majumdar
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'Athithe devo bhava'. This maxim, meaning 'a guest is akin to God', had been just another turn of phrase for me until I visited the villages of Chhattisgarh to find out how Kalyani, a television programme on health, had made women agents of change. Just how seriously the rural folk believed in the maxim dawned on me when I reached a village where women had formed a Kalyani club to tackle health problems ranging from diarrhoea to HIV/AIDS. Not only were all the club members present, but the sarpanch, his panchayat members, and other influential persons had also congregated and, yes, many of the local children too.
Each one of them came forward individually, welcoming me with the traditional garland. At the end of this welcome session, I had collected a large pile of garlands and bouquets! Then the president of the Kalyani club came forward. With the words, "Athithi devo bhava" on her lips, she draped a shawl around my shoulders. Despite the heat, the Kalyani club members had insisted on presenting me a shawl as a token of their respect.
The welcome did not end there. I was presented with delicious snacks (all of them specific to Chhattisgarh) prepared by the members of the club - prizes were to be awarded to the best three. I later learnt that club members often held such competitions among themselves. This was a novel way indeed to strengthen the bonds between them while providing an opportunity to discuss issues of health, hygiene and nutrition.
In the villages of western Orissa, I found that the watershed committees had facilitated changes not just among women who headed their village watershed committees but, more importantly, among women who held no positions but were just members of the committee. It had given them a new self-belief that was reflected in small but significant ways. Being able to come out of their homes for meetings may not seem like a big step to many of us but for these women it was their first move towards self assertion. Taking the decision to become a member of a self help group has been the outcome of this new found confidence. Interestingly, even after becoming economically empowered, women were more interested in improving sanitation than using the money to buy personal effects like jewellery and so on. One woman told me that being able to earn had given her the confidence to impress upon her husband that a personal toilet was necessary. She ensured that it was constructed. She said that she didn't want her daughters to go through the trauma of waiting until dark to be able to relieve themselves or find themselves vulnerable to snake bites by going to the open fields. The fact that her husband respected her decision is an indication of the quiet transformation taking place in these far-flung and remote villages.
The winding hilly road from Kalka to Nichla Badho village in Jagjit Nagar, in the Himachal district of Solan is really a tourist's delight. Not only is the region green but the hills provide a perfect backdrop with cool breezes constantly blowing and billowing clouds gently making their way in the skies. For me, travelling in a bus under the gentle skies was heaven, especially after the heat of Delhi. However, as the adage goes, good things don't last forever. Within minutes, the gentle clouds turned a menacing black and the heavens opened up. Darkness descended as rain pelted down on us. As thunder boomed and lightening cracked across the sky, my heart missed a couple of beats. It was only after the driver assured me that he had driven in such conditions many times before on this same road that was I able to relax a bit.
After two hours of crawling on the winding roads, we finally reached Nichla Badho village. The rain had mercifully stopped. Not wanting to take a chance, given these weather conditions, I rushed off to meet Shanti, the 80-year-old dai I was interviewing. Expecting to see an old lady preparing to retire for the day, I was pleasantly shocked to see a woman playing with great enthusiasm with her grandchildren. She revealed that she had delivered all of them. My second shock came when she took me to meet the families of the children she had delivered. She skipped nimbly down the slope, her speed defying her age while I struggled to keep pace with her. Her enthusiasm and energy even at 80 could put anyone to shame.
What was even more amazing was that almost every person we met on the way stopped to greet her and touch her feet. When I wondered whether this was a traditional form of greeting in her village she informed me that all the persons we met had either been delivered by her or she had helped bring their children into the world.
After listening to stories of Shanti's commitment and care-giving, narrated by the women whose children she had saved, it came as no surprise to learn that the young pregnant wife of the driver who brought me to the village now wanted Shanti to deliver her child!
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