I have decided to add a post on one of my field visits...by popular demand (please do not go by the lack of comments.I AM VERY POPULAR)...Getting back to the point...I was in Jodhpur from 26th to 28th November on an NF review visit. NFs are our short term projects and these two projects are on dalit rights and Violence against women.
We started off at 6 in the morning..there I was all sleepy and irritated at having to wake up so early...but work is work. I went off to sleep moments after we had started...I love sleeping in moving vehicles, coz I don't drive. Anyways we stopped at Ajmer for breakfast..my stomach was screaming bloody murder by that time. Parathas and coffee and a good amount of bickering with the dhaba cook (courtesy Prem..he loves to argue with dhaba cooks and waiters on the roundness and thickness of parathas) we were good to go the next 200kms to Jodhpur.
We reached Jodhpur at around 1 pm, an hour later than we had planned...our partners were already there waiting for us at Center point hotel (yes that's where we stayed). After having assured them of our our well being we moved on to our respective rooms. The bathrooms were clean thank god...that is the only thing I insist upon in a hotel room. In half an hour we were ready to go visit Vishaka, a leading women's rights organisation.
Vishaka...rings a bell somewhere doesn't it..no it does not have anything to do with Vishaka guidelines on sexual harassment at workplace..this organisation was a byproduct of that movement though...We have been working with Vishaka for the last two months thanks to an overzealous and dictatorial activist who bad mouthed Vishaka to our CD...so the year long project with survivor victims of violence was cut short to four months. Sad, frustrating but true.
Coming back to our visit..our first stop was the Mahila Salah Suraksha Kendra, a crisis help center for women victims of various forms of Violence. We were received by the project coordinator, case worker and the head of the organisation. Their understanding on VAW and women's rights is extensive..though their work style is institutional based..infact we hope to include more community based work through our project. It was good visit except for one tiny fact..the head of the organisation(name withheld) is a nice chap who has the irritating habit of giggling after every sentence..so i have rechristened him Giggly.
From there we went to Kala Tanki, Sanjay Singhvi Basti where we met women who were survivors of violence. I would call them survivors not victims coz they are all amazing people with such a strong spirit to live against all odds. for the first time in my life i was so close to breaking down in public...and to think that they are living it...One of the women told us how her husband threw her and her children out of their home one night...and when she said "I was standing out there with my kids all beaten up, I didn't know where to go, what to do"...that helpless feeling is something out of nightmare. I wondered then about the sanctity of 'Family'. It is considered to be the ultimate unit of security, shelter and love..it is..in a lot of cases...but it is also the place where a child is taught patriarchy, communalism, regionalism and casteism...Marriage is still the ultimate answer to all problems of a woman in India...it is the ultimate social security package...a woman as an individual , now that's an alien concept. Look at our social security schemes...most of them base family as the basic unity of service delivery, be it ration card, BPL or NREGA.. how would these serve women who have been displaced from their homes by their much adored families.
Coming back to our visit... we got out of the basti by 5 pm and I was going crazy with hunger...we had had to skip lunch...After having said our bye's and tata's to Giggly and group, Prem the die hard junk foodie dragged us around the local shops where we had dhoklas, kachauri, mirchi bada and imarti... My stomach was now a host of acidity...we went back to the hotel and I refused point blank to go for any further food hunts with Prem and Party.
That was the end of day one, a thoroughly tiring but enriching day...part two is soon to come.
Good Night
No comments:
Post a Comment