They say that an act of kindness never lives in isolation. A ripple of change always follows it. And, that’s exactly what happened with Sifiya Haneef.

A native of Palakkad, Sifiya had just lost her husband, and in her sorrow, she was trying to gather the strength to support her two sons. Her parents urged her to live with them or maybe consider remarriage.

“I was a widow, but I didn’t have to depend on my parents or someone else. I wanted to study and support my sons on my own,” begins Sifiya who decided to move back to Bengaluru in 2011, this time with her youngest son, to find a job.

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“My friends had assured me that they would have my back in the city, but on reaching, I realised it wasn’t true. None of them came forward to help. We were miles away from home, and I was scared and helpless. My son who was just a year old at the time was burning up with fever, but I knew nothing of the city and had to spend almost two nights, sleeping at Majestic bus station,” she recalls.

Today, Sifiya is one of India’s most prominent social workers. Thanks to her efforts through which she has empowered over 100 widows and more than 600 families, she was conferred with the prestigious Neerja Bhanot Award last month.

But, she would not have been here as a beacon of inspiration, if not for a stranger.

“Sitting on the bench of the bus station and crying helplessly with my child on the lap was one of the lowest points in my life, and I might never have recovered if patti (grandmother in Tamil) had not come to my rescue,” she quips.

This old woman, whom she had just met at a bus station, took her to her house, gave her food and shelter and helped her out in every possible way for the next eight months.

“Patti said I reminded her of her daughter, who was also widowed young. She urged me to live with her. I got a job in a call centre, continued my Class 11 and 12 education from Kerala in correspondence, and all this while she looked after my son now and then. She would not even take a penny from me in all this time,” remarks Sifiya.

After managing this way for almost a year, Sifiya could no longer stay away from her elder son, who was a 3-year-old at the time. She returned home, but this time with patti’s blessings and a valuable lesson that stayed with her forever.

“Patti gave me a lot of things, but the most important one was a lesson⁠—to never abandon those in need. Back home, that got me thinking about other widows who had neither the means nor the education to fight all odds,” she says.

By that time Sifiya had completed Class 12 and was pursuing a degree in BA Literature, while also working as a receptionist at a local hospital.

“I decided to help these women by giving them a part of my salary, and have been sponsoring the full expenses of 60 families since 2013,” informs Sifiya.

But by the end of that year, during a visit to a few of those widows, she made another sad realisation.

“A few of those women had children living with mental disabilities. But they had to survive, so the mothers would lock their children at home and go to work. I decided that I needed to help, and with whatever little money I could muster, I began to give them food, clothes and a monthly pension ranging from Rs 1,000 to 2,000,” she says.

It was this conviction to truly help, that pushed Sifiya to start a Facebook crowdfunding page, Chithal in 2013. She shares stories of these widows seeking help of any kind whatsoever through social media while continuing to do her bit through the Chithal Charitable Trust, which she started in 2015.

Talking about Chithal and the work, she shares, “In Malayalam, Chithal means termites. To many it might seem funny or even something with a negative connotation but its truly not. A termite shows up when you least expect it, I’m trying to do the same, for these women and eat all their worries away.”

With BA, B.Ed, Diploma in public administration, a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree, and an ongoing MA in Literature degree, Sifiya is a strong example for not just these women, but all of us.

Also Read: Life Insurance For 2000+ Fisherfolk: Show Your Gratitude To Kerala’s Flood Heroes

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

Pictures courtesy: Sifiya Haneef

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Nine years ago, Neeti Palta brought to the English stand up comedy scene in India what it sorely needed – a female perspective. And she does not just presents a female point of view on a variety of subjects but does so in a manner that drives important messages home while also making you laugh.

Palta’s tryst with comedy began during her childhood.

Growing up in an army household in different nooks and corners across India meant making friends every year as she transferred schools, with her father’s deployment.

“It was an amazing life. My brother and I were raised equally by our parents. We developed a love for physical activity and sports, which our father encouraged. A lot of my dad’s personality has rubbed off on me. He laughs at his own jokes. And I laugh at mine,” she says in an exclusive interview with The Better India (TBI).

Another major contributor to the sense of humour in the then scrawny little girl was her older brother who managed to overpower her in every fight.

“I couldn’t beat him. So, I took potshots at him and pushed his buttons through the limericks I penned. My words became my weapon. I would wait outside the washroom and read aloud my limericks to him. When he burst the door open, I would run for my life. Thinking back, if I wasn’t a satirist or comic, I would be a long-distance runner,” she laughs.

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And yet, comedy didn’t happen to her for a long time. Despite knowing that no regular 9 to 5 job would be able to contain her energy, Palta started off her professional career in the field of advertising. After spending 12 years in the field, she made the big decision of quitting as a Senior Art Director at one of India’s well-known ad agencies, J Walter Thompson. Why? To work for a small production agency which produced the iconic muppet show—Sesame Street’s Indian version, Galli Galli Sim Sim.

The doors of stand up comedy opened to her when she attended a show in India by Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood of the Whose Line Is It Anyway? fame. When the duo required volunteers for the sound effects round, Palta came forward eagerly.

“I had always been a fan of the show. When I went up on stage, I was being really cheeky and naughty, making funny sound effects for Colin when they played out a situation. When the round ended, Colin told me, ‘She has an innocent face but such a devil!’ He told me I had a flair for comedy and I should try standup. This was nine years ago. I wasn’t even sure if anything like stand-up comedy existed in India.”

Little did she know, she would be one of the first women in India to carve a niche for herself in the Delhi comedy circuit.

Reception in initial years & struggling with low self-esteem

“My first ever gig was at a Cheese Monkey Mafia open mic, thanks to Raghava Mandava.”

How did that go? I ask.

I always tell people, ‘Your first time on stage can go really well or really bad. And I really pray that it goes bad. Because if it goes well, then you have confidence that isn’t proportional to your talent at that time. Since my first performance went really well, I felt invincible. The second time around, I fell flat on my face.

To put it simply, making people laugh is an onerous task. Increasingly difficult when you are a female comedian.

“And it is only getting more difficult and hard lately because people are so cynical. It’s like they are waiting with a checklist of things to get offended,” she adds.

“In Delhi, I remember being the only woman on a lineup. Very honestly, I did not think I was doing anything unusual. I was just making people laugh. It was the reaction and perception of those around me that made me feel different. There is no rulebook that says, ‘Ladkiyan comedy nahi karti.’ Yet when I walked onto the big stage, I often felt people tense up. When I said something edgy, I could hear the siren of the Indian Judgement system go off.”

One of the most hilarious things that a fellow comic told her at the time was – ‘Neeti, you don’t look like a comic!’

“And so I dressed down. Fitting clothes gave way to loose and baggy t-shirts. I did everything I could to draw attention away from myself to the words coming out of my mouth. I had developed low self-esteem. Until I decided it wasn’t me. If I wanted to do good comedy, I had to do it as me.”

The gender disparity

When asked if gender disparity is as obvious in the field as the conventional professions, Palta says, “When you are in a mixed-line up — four boys and one girl. If two boys fail to make people laugh, the failure is considered individualistic. But when that one girl doesn’t do well, the feedback is generalised. Nobody says this woman is a bad comedienne. They say, all comediennes suck. You are not allowed to fail as an individual, it becomes your entire gender that fails. It is too much weight for a person’s shoulder to carry.”

“When incidents like these happened, my angsty self would play scenes in my head where I wore a moustache while on stage. And when it turned into a success, I would rip it off and laugh in everyone’s faces. Comedy comes from angst. I was so desperate that I became filmy,” she laughs.

Palta admits that having been in the field for almost a decade and curating shows of her own, she earns a decent wage when compared to many male comics. Yet, the change in perception of female comics has a long way to go in India.

“What is annoying is that when it comes to a public platform, typically, you will see the poster of the male comic solo act. Women don’t get that. We are told— Solo women comic acts won’t sell out. And so you see us perform in all-women line-ups. I have been on a solo-tour and sold out modest-sized venues with 100 seaters. But am I confident enough to risk opting for 1,000 seaters? I don’t know.”

Having been in the field for a decade, does she see a pattern of evolution of audiences?

“Audiences have certainly evolved. There are many curious first-timers and then there are regulars who expect better standards with every show they attend. They challenge us and we like it. Even amongst them are two sets of people. Ones who are anti-establishment and love political jokes and the others who are hecklers with checklists waiting to find offence. They say, ‘English standup comedy is the devil’s tool.’ I don’t know what’s with that perception. If you are looking for offence you will find it. Funnily, logon ko bhagwan dhoondne se nahi milta, but offence dhoondne se milta hai.”

What must a comic be careful of then? “Anti-establishment jokes are easy to get applaud. But they have to be funny also, no? A lot of upcoming comics make statements with zero information and zero gravitas to back it up. That can be irresponsible. Therefore you see, when they are called out for statements that they cannot back up with facts or logic by critics, they apologise in a heartbeat. Make a point, but do your research and back your jokes up with facts and logic like Kunal Kamra does. If you don’t have gravitas, shut up.”

As an artist, she continues to get better at her craft. But does she still get nervous?

“I have gotten better at faking confidence. I don’t think there is a single comic artist out there who is not nervous before getting up on stage. Live shows are unpredictable. You cannot predict who in the audience will react in what manner. My biggest fear is not being able to shut down a heckler if they come up with a point that I cannot defend. Another fear is being arrested. But I ensure, I don’t say anything that I can’t defend.”

A lot of people often walk up to Palta, saying her comedy is relatable. But she personally thinks her USP is managing to say exactly what she wants to, without causing offence.

“At least to the sensible,” she adds.

I do not talk down to my audience or rip apart my front row because I don’t think it is cool. Because these are people who have spent hard-earned time and money to be there. At best, if someone pokes me good-naturedly, I give them an intelligent comeback. These are never jibes on their looks or apparel. I have a tongue-in-cheek sense of humour. I pull someone’s leg in a good-natured *nudge-nudge-wink-wink* way. That is my USP.

From once asking her ‘if she was allergic to success for quitting her cushy advertising job’ to maintaining scrapbooks with all her media articles pasted on them, Palta’s parents though unsure at first about a career in comedy, are now her strongest supporters.

“They are ridiculously proud of me. My mother maintains a scrapbook where she cuts out everything media-related and puts it in that. She shows it to all her friends. I get super embarrassed but it is damn cute. As parents, often when they read nasty comments and trolls by hecklers, they fear for my physical safety too. Those people fail to realise that I may be unbothered by their words, it affects my parents. My father has always encouraged me to have a backbone and stand by what I say. My mother, on the other hand, fears that someone may throw acid on me. So it’s difficult to pay heed to different orders at the same time,” she says light-heartedly.

Even as she bids adieu, the successful comedienne, who also established one of Delhi’s oldest and most successful comedy outfits – Loony Goons, (where she organises shows for corporates, pubs and private parties), has a message for aspiring women comics.

“Develop a thicker skin. That is the only tool you’ll have. Have a strong sense of self. But always have a stronger sense of humour. Because honestly, we take ourselves far too seriously man. And it’s time to lighten up!”

Also Read: Change Through Humour! Meet Nidhi Goyal, India’s First-Ever Disabled Woman Comedian

Get in touch with Neeti Palta on her Facebook, Instagram or Twitter handle.

(Edited by Saiqua Sultan)

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Maria Simi, a resident of Pottore, Thrissur, has devised an unusual way to grow vegetables while also repurposing the household plastic waste.

She has started growing organic vegetables in discarded PVC pipes, and claims that her methods have yielded amazing results!

“Now we don’t need to buy vegetables from the market any more,” exclaims her husband, Deshin David, to The Better India.

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Maria is a gardening enthusiast, and a walk through her terrace and backyard reveals a diverse range of vegetables, herbs and ornamental plants.

“When we moved to our new home in Eden Gardens (Pottore), we found a lot of unused PVC pipes lying around, among other waste materials from the construction. The pipes were surplus from the newly-built drainage system. Given their bulk size and length, it was difficult to get rid of them,” informs Maria.

That’s when the unique idea struck her. She drilled standard-sized holes (2-3 fingers in width) at regular intervals along each PVC pipe. The pipes were then filled with a highly enriched mixture of soil, cocopeat (shredded coconut coir), dried cow dung and a few organic fertilisers.

A series of these porous pipes were arranged in a horizontal array on their terrace and hanged with tight ropes. Maria then planted saplings of tomato, eggplant, chilly, okra, spinach, amaranthus, lablab beans as well as common herbs like mint and coriander. Some of the shorter pipes were also kept upright in earthen flower pots.

The plants have flourished and fruited within a shorter period than usual. Needless to say, the harvest has been organic, healthier and much tastier than the products available in the market.

The family, especially Maria and her two sons, have been continuing their efforts in full-fledged scale ever since, thereby turning the home kitchen completely sustainable.

The entire pipe farming set-up in their home has been fashioned within an area of barely 450 square feet.

“A 3-foot-long pipe can support up to 30 plants of the same or different species. From time to time, liquid natural fertilisers can be applied to the roots of the plants to accelerate their growth. The rapidly growing plants can be protected with nets once they reach a standard size,” she explains.

Maria added that farming in these pipes can save a lot of space and can be easily practised in small flats and urban houses. The plants also need much less water and soil than usual in this method.

Before PVC pipes, she had successfully planted vegetables in the spin-dryer of an old washing machine.

“I removed the spin-dryer basket, which has pores all over and filled it with nutrient-rich soil. Later, I planted seeds through the finger-sized pores. After a few days, saplings started sprouting through these holes, which then grew into full-sized plants that bore vegetables and fruits.”

Maria’s farm has now become the talk of the town in Pottore, and other families in the locality are looking to replicate her idea.

Also Read: Kerala Woman’s Backyard Polyhouse Gives Her Organic Veggies & Rs 20000/Month!

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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Have you had a closer look at the ingredients on the soap that you use daily? Though common the world over, very few of us actually know what we are applying on our skin.

Want to try these amazing ghee soaps and other handmade products by Rakhi? Check out the Green Sage’s products on our website!

Most soaps available in the market are heavily concentrated with chemicals like parabens, surfactants, triclosan, petrochemicals, preservatives and sulfates which are deadly for your overall health! Most of these chemicals strip moisture from your skin leaving it dry and itchy, and others are carcinogenic.

Ask Anvita W, 36, a freelance make-up artist in Goregaon, Mumbai and she’ll tell you. Anvita has a skin issue called Keratosis Pilaris which leaves her skin with red acne-like bumps. This condition gets worse when the skin gets dry.

“I realised about this condition quite a few years back as my father has it too. But as it kept getting worse, I wanted to use organic and natural products that my skin would react well to,” says Anvita.

She was looking for products that contain natural ingredients like shea butter, and oatmeal. This is when she stumbled across Green Sage’s soaps. She went on to order the Shea butter and activated Charcoal soap, and Aloe Vera and Lavender Moisturising Cream.

“The soaps are really good and work really well with my skin. Usually, my skin gets really dry but I haven’t really faced it with these soaps. For others who don’t have any skin condition, I reckon they would not even have to use any moisturiser,” she says.

These soaps and moisturisers are all made at home by Rakhi Pikle under the name, ‘The Green Sage’ founded on 9 April 2019. The 38-year-old quit her job four years back in the corporate sector after 10 years to spend time with her son who was only three-years-old at the time.

“They say necessity is the mother of all inventions. I did not want my son to be using soaps, creams and moisturisers that contain harsh chemicals. At this point, I started researching and reading a lot about making hand-made soaps, creams etc.,” says Rakhi.

How these products are made

The Green Sage is a beauty and wellness brand that manufactures cold-process soaps, skincare, body and bath products. All the products are handmade and handpacked by Rakhi.

To learn how to make these products in natural and environmentally friendly manner, Rakhi attended various workshops on cold-process soaps, moisturisers, creams and lip balms two years ago.

“Except for the cold-process soaps which have a curing period of about three months, I make the other products in small batches so that when my customers order it, it retains its freshness,” she said.

Using cold process soaps has several benefits. These soaps not only clean your body of dirt, but they also ensure that your skin is properly moisturised. This soap-making technique allows the use of the best natural ingredients and essential oils, making the product gentle even for those with sensitive skin.

Rakhi says that one of the bestselling soaps, that is also one of her personal favourites, is the Pure Ghee with French Clay. “I formulated this soap with pure ghee which I had made at home. I am so glad that I experimented and came up with this soap,” says Rakhi with excitement.

Rakhi is a very environmentally-conscious person, which is evident in her choice of ingredients. “I knew that whatever I start as a passion or as an entrepreneur will be eco-friendly. This is why the main ingredients that form the base of my soaps are olive oil and coconut oil. I do not use palm oil as it contributes to environmental degradation,” says Rakhi.

The products are also packaged in a sustainable way either in paper packaging, glass jars or tin containers.

Quality products

Since the brand is in its nascent stage, there are a few challenges that Rakhi faces. “For me the challenges are operations related, like designing the packaging material, getting it printed, keeping stock of the raw material, sourcing cost efficient eco-friendly containers,” she informs. Despite these challenges, Rakhi has built herself a loyal customer base.

Deepam Yogi, 36, an HR advisor who runs a consulting firm, is one of the first people who personally tried and tested the products that Rakhi came up with.

The two were going to the same gym where they met and struck a conversation about work. “Rakhi told me that she had just quit her job and was planning on starting her own brand of products like soaps, creams and lip balms,” recalls Deepam.

She was completely taken by the idea and admired Rakhi’s entrepreneurial skills. Now, Deepam orders and uses these handmade natural products on a regular basis.

“I love the Cocoa Butter and Peppermint Lip Balm. I really think this combination is so unique and I like its flavour,” she says. Deepam is also a big fan of their aloe vera and lavender moisturising cream.

In the past five months, since she started selling her products commercially. Rakhi has already sold around 65 units of her products. Rakhi has now gained the confidence and is experimenting with new ingredients in her products. “I have recently come up with the Moringa soap and Dalchini soap, which are also my favourites. Both of these feel wonderful on the skin and have various skin benefits,” she says.

So, what lies ahead for this one-woman army?

Rakhi says that she truly wants to stay true to her values of sustainable living where natural ingredients will be a driving force in her product line. By the end of the next year, she aspires to secure a Diploma in Organic Skincare Formulation from Formula Botanica, which will be an added feather to the many hats she has worn.

“I feel that my thirst for knowledge is something that is always going to fuel whatever I aim to achieve with my brand. I want to always keep trying to bring forward the best formulations for soaps, skincare and bath products. I see ‘The Green Sage’ as a leading brand in Natural Skincare in next 5 to 7 years,” says determined Rakhi as she signs off.

Also Read: Try These 5 Handmade Cosmetics to Detox Your Skin of Harmful Chemicals!

(Edited by Saiqua Sultan)

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This article has been sponsored by MG Motor India

Growing up, Renelle Snelleksz recalls herself as not being a very likeable person.

“I was a bully in school. I was seriously the kind of person that nobody wanted to be friends with,” she shares.

According to Renelle, her behaviour was a manifestation of her internal struggle, “When I was 10 years old, I experienced sexual abuse for a number of years. And I never thought I would ever talk about it to anybody. Basically, I thought that I would take it to my grave.”

And in a way, it took over the person she was becoming. Someone who was always angry and bitter.

Caught in the midst of all this turbulence, she never thought she could ever be healed or freed from it.

Join Renelle for a workshop that uses music, movement & art to release stress, overcome challenges and have fun. No prior dance training is required, just an openness to creative exploration. Book your slot here. 

But, she had never been more wrong. It was only years later, in 2011, when she resigned from her job in a media organisation to take a three-month sabbatical, that she stumbled upon Dance Movement Therapy (DMT)

“My life changed when I experienced dance/movement therapy for the very first time. I was completely blown away by its power to positively impact a person,” adds Renelle who has always loved the art, and is even trained in contemporary dance. Yet despite her exposure to dance, she was unaware of its healing properties.

Intrigued, she signed up for a 10-day intensive programme in Mumbai. And this was the beginning of a new and transformed life, not just for her, but for many in the next few years.

MG Motor India and The Better India present MGChangemakers Season 2, with stories like that of Renelle, which prove that when individuals curate meaningful experiences, large scale social change can be triggered.

Check out her inspiring story here:

Dance/Movement Therapy or DMT is an approach that implements the collaborative use of movement and dance to support the emotional, social, cognitive, and physical integration of the individual, with the underlying focus centred on improving one’s health and well-being.

Now a changemaker herself, Renelle began to delve deeper into its potential of helping people with severe trauma by allowing a release through a therapeutic implementation of dance and movement.

She soon began to work with a non-profit organisation called Kolkata Sanved, which used the DMT model to heal and empower individuals from marginalised communities, including survivors of human trafficking, gender-based violence or even at-risk children and youth.

“Unlike the stress or trauma that burden most of us, it was the survivors of such gruesome incidents that required serious addressing than just counselling or rehabilitation. What they undergo while grappling through the trauma often remains embedded within the body akin to muscle memory, and as much as one’s inner turmoil remains shut underneath, everything they do henceforth remains mostly triggered through the feeling of anger, self-deprecation and negative self-image,” she explains.

These emotions aren’t something that you can always explain in words, sit across a table and process. At this juncture, dance/movement therapy provides an outlet which is safe, non-judgemental, non-threatening or intrusive.

“We let them be. For instance, using instrumental music sets no definition as to how one can move; it gives them the freedom to be and explore through their emotions,” explains Renelle who has been working with Kolkata Sanved for the past seven years and has taken its work to Pune and Mumbai.

She says she has a glimpse of success every time a participant breaks free from their ‘survivor mould’ tagged upon them by society, and move on with life without being burdened by the past.

“I’ve personally worked with a few girls who found a sense of self-worth and are today working with the police force and in the medical field—because they wanted to save and help others. It is similar to the overwhelming moment of joy and pride that parents feel on seeing their child excel in life,” Renelle adds.

Besides trafficking and domestic violence survivors, Renelle has worked with senior citizens, young children with cancer and also convened DMT sessions for corporate settings, because, at the end of the day, healing is a necessity for all of us, irrespective of our personal or professional background.

Apart from conducting DMT sessions in groups of 20 individuals, Renelle also holds private one-on-one sessions that provide a profound impact on the individuals. She is currently based in Pune and is also working as a guest lecturer at the Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS) which offers a diploma in DMT in collaboration with Kolkata Sanved at their Centre for Life Long Learning.

Join Renelle for a workshop that uses music, movement & art to release stress, overcome challenges and have fun. No prior dance training is required, just an openness to creative exploration. Book your slot here. 

Having fought her own demons, Renelle now lives a fulfilling life where she helps hundreds of individuals confront their deepest and darkest emotions. And to each one of her participants, she says, “Even when we don’t realise it, our bodies are wired for healing. We just need to take that first step and we can find joy again. It’s a human thing!”

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As a teen, the only period products I knew of were sanitary pads. So the idea of something that had to be inserted inside me was alien to me. Oh, how things have changed over the years. From having so many questions of my own to now being a mentor for those who wish to try, it has been a long two years as a (loud and proud) ‘cup-vert’ for me. So here, let me answer some frequently asked questions about the menstrual cup and share some experiences.

Ready to try it out? I got my Sirona cup from Karnival. Click here to get your cup now!

How does the menstrual cup work?

The cup, much like a tampon, is inserted into the vagina. But unlike tampons or pads, it does not absorb blood. It collects it.

Menstrual cups are made from silicone and are flexible. They last much longer than your disposable hygiene products. One cup lasts up to 10 years!

I am a heavy bleeder and used to go through three pads on the second and third day of my period. Now, however, I have to empty the cup only twice throughout the day.

During light flow days, I can keep it on for nearly 12 hours in a stretch!

Convinced already? Click here to buy a cup now!

How to insert a cup:

It would be very hard to insert the cup unfolded. So do fold it first. There are two ways of folding the cup- the videos below are quick guides for it.

“I found it a bit difficult to insert initially, but I quickly got the hang of it once I started my cycle,” says Angarika who is on her first cup cycle – a recent convert and my friend.

She tried squatting, lying down and sitting on the toilet to insert the cup. Finally, a half-squat squat worked for her.

For me, putting one leg on the toilet seat and half-squatting is the most comfortable position.

Try wearing the cup when you are not on your period. This way, you can experiment with positions without anxiety.

Pro tip: Wash the cup in cold water to lubricate it. Once the cup is properly inserted, it will pop open. The cup forms a vacuum which keeps it from getting pulled out – no matter what.

This also makes removing the cup tricky for some. The answer is to pinch the bottom of the cup (where the stem meets the cup). This will break the vacuum, and you’ll be able to pull it out easily.

Click here to buy one now.

Can you go swimming with a menstrual cup?

Absolutely you can! And you can go about your routine without care for your period.

Angarika shares, “I think this has by far been the best period cycle of my life. There was zero discomforts, no leakage. I’ve sat on bikes, I’ve walked so much, exercised. There were so many times where I forgot I was on my period!”

As for me, I have completed a 15-hour bus journey with the cup. When the bus stopped for dinner, I quickly emptied and reinserted the cup since it was a heavy flow day. But, no leakage, no stinks and certainly no discomfort in the long journey which I may have entirely skipped if I were still using pads.

Join the cup-club! Head here to buy the menstrual cup of your choice!

Are menstrual cups dangerous?

Far from the rashes of the sanitary napkins or the strict 7-hour or less rule of tampons, menstrual cups are actually very safe for you and the environment.

But that being said, since you are to reuse the cup every month, you must clean and store it in a proper way. Every time you empty the cup and have to reinsert it, wash it under cold or hot water.

At the end of the cycle, put it in boiling water and if need be, wash with a water-based soap or disinfectant (oil/ petroleum-based soaps are a total no.)

When cleaned and dried, store the menstrual cup in a cotton bag (the cup will most likely come in one).

Want a hassle-free period? Head here to buy a cup now!

You may also like: Plastic-Free but Good for Hair? I Used a Shampoo Bar & Here’s What I Found

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

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When 26-year-old Nazish Mir, a Delhi resident, lost her friend to Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS), she knew she had to do something about period-products.

The fatal condition is caused when staphylococcus aureus or streptococcus bacteria starts releasing toxins in the bloodstream. This bacteria lives on human skin and if menstruating women use super-absorbent tampons or pads they become vulnerable to the invasion of the bacteria.

After the tragedy, Nazish approached her cousin, Amir Ali and friend, Monica Bindra to do something meaningful for in the sanitary hygiene space.

The result was Laiqa—a Delhi organisation which is trying to disprove the belief that disposable pads will always be uncomfortable and are redesigning them to assure ease to the users and less stress on the environment.

Click here to buy a pack now!

Witness to her teen daughter’s monthly discomfort and rashes, it did not take long for Monica to get onboard with Nazish’s idea.

“I wanted to help not only my daughter but numerous girls and women find the dream pada—gentle to the skin, sustainable and one that does not cause rashes or allergies. Currently, pads, made of and wrapped in plastic, are floating around in the market and all three of us wanted to make these mainstream options sustainable,” she says.

While Nazish and Monica joined the cause for personal reasons, Ali has a passion for a sustainable tomorrow.

“This was the meeting point for me, Nazish and Ali to join hands and come out with Laiqa,” the Delhi entrepreneur shares.

But Laiqa is not just another venture in the market. The Delhi entrepreneurs want to offer you a happy period and it begins with the packaging itself.

“We’ve put a lot of thought into what the consumer should take back from seeing a Laiqa pack. We had some basic rules that we wanted our team to follow,” says the team and add that eco-friendliness was their peak priority.

When it comes to products like sanitary pads which are used and discarded every month, we must take the responsibility of keeping them from harming the environment. Laiqa does so with its packaging with its recyclable and reusable cardboard box and with the pad too.

Click here to get your eco-friendly disposable pads now!

Check out the distinguishing features of the pad.

The certified products are free of chlorine, artificial fragrances and most of the plastic that commercial brands use (Laiqa claims that only 7 per cent of the pad is made from plastic which does not come in direct contact with your body).

Additionally, the pads are made to suit the tropical weather of India. The breathable back sheet helps you stay sweat-free and thus avoids the breeding of bacteria.

“Our aim was to bring to India a napkin adaptive of the intense weather conditions in India where it is super hot in summers and super cold in the winter. We wanted to bring to the market pads that guarantee quality, are absorbent, rash free and leak-free – to keep you secure and comfortable. We went the extra mile procuring the best raw materials and changing the structure of the conventional sanitary napkin,” says Monica.

You too can enjoy a leak-free, plastic-free period, thanks to Laiqa. At just Rs 219, you can buy 10 large-sized pads and at Rs 239, you can buy a pack of extra-large pads. Click on this link to get your pack now!

Also Read: “Best Period Cycle of My Life”: I Used a Menstrual Cup & Here’s What I Found

(Edited by Saiqua Sultan)

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In recent times, financial inclusion has received tremendous attention from policymakers as a development objective. They see it as a prime facilitator for the efficient delivery of social programmes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), or other Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) enabled schemes. As a result, achieving greater financial inclusion now tops the policy priorities for inclusive growth in India.

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And this focus shows up in the numbers. The percentage of adults who have a bank account in India increased to 80 per cent of the population in 2017, up from 53 per cent in 2014.

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), which was announced in 2014, helped open 36 crore bank accounts, with over 50 per cent of these account holders being women. The gender gap in account ownership has also shrunk from 20 per cent three years ago, to six per cent today.

However, a closer look at these numbers reveals gaps, primarily around usage. While access may have improved with supply-side efforts, demand-side efforts for financial inclusion still attract little focus and investment. This is evident in half of the new accounts being inactive, especially for women account holders.

One of the primary barriers to active usage of formal financial services is the lack of financial literacy. Women in rural areas have limited or no access to information on how to engage with the evolving formal financial space, especially when it is online and digital. They also have limited literacy, constrained mobility and access to public spaces, and are intimidated by the male-dominated physical banking space and the English dominated online financial interface.

In a country where 23.5 per cent of rural households have no literate adult above the age of 25 (one of the categories of deprivation measured by the Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011), and of the 64 per cent literate rural Indians, more than a fifth have not even completed primary school; it is not only important—but essential—to have a systematic platform for financial education.

The inability to understand and engage conveniently with the formal financial space has huge implications on the financial behaviour of these households. This is further exacerbated by language, connectivity, and socio-cultural barriers.

National-level efforts to enhance financial literacy have been focused on setting up Financial Literacy and Counselling Centres (FLCCs) by leading banks of a district. FLCCs are meant to be the district-level structures for imparting financial education. However, they have not been very effective, especially given their camp-based approach to financial education and limited outreach.

Financial exclusion for women is different from that for men

To make sure women benefit from the programme, it is important to understand why financial exclusion for them is different from that for men.

SIDBI’s PSIG programme, supported by the Government of UK, offers key insights into how a gendered approach to financial education and capacity building has a positive ripple effect on household health, sanitation, education, and other key socio-economic indicators.

The Financial Literacy & Women Empowerment (FLWE) programme comprised pilot and scale-up programmes on gender and financial capability building and was implemented in four states—Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha.

It focused on capacity building of rural women on gender issues, their rights and entitlements, basic health, sanitation, and a detailed module on financial well-being. It used a mix of classroom teaching, learning by doing, audio-visuals, and technology-based interactive platforms for delivering training.

Each woman received an average of 30 hours of training over 15-18 months. The trainers were chosen from among the community and the training sessions were followed by financial linkages, mass awareness camps, exposure visits to ATMs and banks, which helped the participants link with financial products and services of their choice.

The independent end-line evaluation of the FLWE programme revealed several benefits for women. The training and exposure visits raised their confidence in dealing with formal financial institutions, enabled them to play a greater role in household financial decision-making, and resulted in positive change in the attitude of male members who attended the sessions.

In terms of numbers:

• Subscription to local Ponzi schemes went down from 32 per cent to two per cent.
• The number of women contacting their local microfinance institution staff for assistance rose from 41 per cent to 66 per cent, as they began to understand grievance redressal mechanisms.
• There was an improvement in awareness of MNREGA benefits; it rose from 13 to 33 per cent.
• Clients opting for insurance increased from 53 per cent to 85 per cent.

Key learnings about building financial capability for low-income women across geographies and languages

Here’s what we learnt while helping build financial capabilities of more than five lakh women in four states across geographies, and diverse languages.

Programme design

Financial capability programmes have to be integrated with gender issues to effectively address barriers to women’s financial inclusion. Gender-integrated FLWE programmes have strong returns, not only in terms of improved financial behaviour but also improved mobility and higher confidence.

Behaviourally-informed content and visual aids using storytelling help in better retention of financial concepts in women.

Mobile IVR-based short episodes on FLWE are also effective in providing customised need-based learning. However, it has to be complemented initially with on-ground volunteers and front-line workers to create awareness and demonstrate the usage of such platforms.

The programmes also generated an increased demand for financial services. However, when women face problems in accessing these services through local institutions, it demotivates them and erodes their confidence.

It is therefore important to bring all stakeholders—local bankers, government departments, and Panchayat office bearers—on one platform in the community. This can be effectively done through mass awareness camps where the local functionaries interact with the local community about financial services and products.

Outcomes for women

Women were able to cope better during stressful times and financial emergencies, as the programmes improved savings, provided them with an understanding of entitlements under government schemes, and access to financial security measures like insurance and pension.

Financial capacity building, followed by financial linkages leads to a better understanding of accessing relevant financial products from the right institutions. It also leads to a significant reduction in vulnerability to financial frauds and Ponzi schemes.

There was a significant change in women’s perceptions. Before the training, they perceived financial products as a ‘luxury’, suitable only for better-off households.

Women with very low levels of family income and equally low levels of education benefited significantly from the training. The evaluations confirm the highest value of the training for the most disadvantaged segment.

More participation by men in the training session encourages joint decision-making at the household level. However, given field realities and socio-cultural taboos, it is difficult to ensure regular participation of men and women at the same time.

Women’s lack of independent disposable income is the key barrier to the increased usage of financial products. The FLWE programmes witnessed an overwhelming demand from women for skill development and income-generating activities. Our research corroborated that active account usage, and usage of financial products increases if women are gainfully employed.

There is an urgent need for greater investment on the demand side of financial inclusion using gender-integrated approaches to financial capability building, so we can extend the gains of more women having bank accounts, to more women meaningfully using important financial services like insurance, credit, and the next frontier of cashless and mobile financial services.

Footnotes
54 per cent of women account holders reported not using their account, as opposed to 43 per cent male account holders.

Also Read: India’s Education Policy Updates After 30 Years: 4 Experts Share What It Really Means

This article was written by Sonal Jaitly and originally published on India Development Review. You can view it here.

Sonal Jaitly is Theme Leader, Gender and Financial Literacy, at the Small Industries Development Bank of India’s (SIDBI) Poorest States Inclusive Growth (PSIG) programme. Her work focuses on integrating a gender perspective into policies and programmes, and gender equality in the financial system for women’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment. She has previously worked with UN Women, where she led programmes for ending violence against women in public spaces, and use of technology to bring about change. She has authored and contributed to several reports on gender equality, and her writing has been featured in The Washington Times.

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“During my time in school and college in Tirunelveli, I would often laugh at those who spoke about destiny. But having come so far and the struggles I went through, I will have to admit that I have started to believe in it,” says the gritty 33-year-old Uma Maheshwari who cracked her way through the Civil Services Examination (CSE) in her sixth attempt.

A wife and a mother, Uma did not let the failures get her spirit down. The determined woman had made up her mind, and her perseverance paid off in 2018 when she cleared the CSE.

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How the CSE spark lit in Uma’s mind

Uma spent all her growing up years in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. After completing engineering, Uma pursued MBA in her hometown. “During my days in college I had absolutely no idea that I would end up appearing for the CSE. It was my professor, Abu Backer, who almost pushed me to write the exam. The first time I wrote it, in 2011, was without any preparation.”

Incidentally, upon leaving college, Uma had the tag of being the best student along with three offer letters from blue-chip companies.

Life in the corporate sector

“With great hope and a sense of achievement, I entered the corporate world. Life was truly a bed of roses for me until my father passed away unexpectedly. For me, everything revolved around my parents and losing my father and then my mother soon after was a huge shock.”

Uma continued working for five years in institutions like Syntel, Karur Vysya Bank, Standard Charter and also Oracle Financial service.

“All through my corporate life, I continued to write the CSE, though I had no time or chance to prepare for any of them. I gave five CSE examinations while working,” she informs. Unfortunately, Uma wasn’t able to clear any of the prelims.

The sixth and successful attempt at CSE

One would normally give up after facing so many failures, contrarily, Uma just got bolstered with the results. So what kept her motivated? “I saw that everyone around me had given up on me. I needed to clear the exams and prove to not just everyone else but also to myself that I was certainly capable of doing this. It was imperative for me.”

In 2017, Uma decided to quit her corporate job and spend her time in preparation alone. “It was a very tough decision. No one around me saw any reason why I would do this, that too after failing five times before this. Everyone suggested that I keep my job and prepare side-by-side. But I knew that would not do justice to my preparation.”

Schedule during preparation

Explaining how she divided her time between managing her child, running the home, and preparing for the exam, she says, “During the time I was preparing for the prelims I would wake up at 5 in the morning to study till 7 AM and then spend the next three hours getting my daughter ready for school and getting the house in order.”

She adds, “I would then spend time from 10 AM until noon studying again. Once my daughter came back from school, I would spend time with her. Evenings and nights, once my husband returned from his work, he would take care of our daughter so I could study again.”

While she followed this routine for the Prelims, she stayed up from 10 PM until almost 3 AM preparing for the Mains.

When asked about family support, she mentions a very interesting reason that made her husband and in-laws change their view about the exams.

“When the 2018 results were announced and Anu Kumari, an aspirant from Haryana, managed to clinch the second position, despite having a child and family to look after, things started looking bright for me.”

Uma says that Anu’s success gave her in-laws and husband the confidence that it was possible for a young mother to do this.

In her last attempt, in 2018, Uma managed to clear all her rounds. Her interview took place in early 2019 and she now awaits her posting details. When asked what posting she is hoping to be given, she says, “I have given my preference to be in Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS) because I felt that given my corporate experience, I would be able to contribute well to this stream.”

What is ICLS?

Given the rapid pace at which India’s corporate sector is growing, the ICLS is a very robust stream. Officers from the ICLS deal with a wide range of fields related to corporate governance. Until 2008, ICLS officers were recruited only through lateral entry, however, now the officers are recruited via CSE.

In conclusion, Uma says that she was deeply impacted by something that Steve Jobs often spoke about – connecting the dots. “You have to place your trust and belief in something and keep working towards it. It will all somehow start making sense and come together,” says Uma.

Also read: IAS, IRS Officers Bust 6 Myths About UPSC, the ‘World’s Toughest Exam’

(Edited by Saiqua Sultan)

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Up until seven years ago, Anju Devi was struggling to make ends meet, living in Gaya, Bihar. The mother of two could not find work anywhere, and her unemployed husband could not help them financially.

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But, things changed for her when she heard a few women speaking about a crochet workshop that was being conducted in her hometown for free! Anju immediately signed up for it.

Now, seven years later, Anju is a craftswomen with exceptional skills in crocheting. She works with threads to make beautiful crochet laces for earrings, hair clips, necklaces, and embellishments, after receiving training that spanned a few weeks.

“I work about four to five hours in a day and can also take care of my children. The best part is I feel secure because I am employed now,” smiles 32-year-old Anju.

The force behind this change is Samoolam, a social enterprise based in Gaya, which empowers women by skilling them in crocheting.

Samoolam was officially started in early 2012 by Usha Prajapati, 39, in her hometown in Gaya. “I always wanted to give back to my community by starting a skill-building and livelihood-based activity for rural women in Bihar that is also my birth place,” says Usha who has worked as a designer, a consultant for crafts-and-design-based livelihood with various organisations in India and South-east Asia.

So far, Samoolam has enabled over 100 women earn a livelihood via skill-development.

How Samoolam Came to be Founded

After finishing her studies in Gaya, Usha went on to pursue her degree in design at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad when she was just 19. After that she worked in the corporate sector for an export company. She soon realised that her heart was in social work and went on to contribute in a livelihood Project in Uttarakhand.

Throughout her career, Usha has worked with famous organisations like Dastakari Haat Samiti and the Asian Heritage foundation that worked exclusively with handicrafts. Through her work, she got the opportunity to travel to countries like Nepal, Thailand, and Sri Lanka, among others, to develop on various livelihood projects.

After working for a few years, Usha went on to pursue her Masters in International Development and Social Change through the Ford Fellowship Programme.

The germ of Samoolam’s idea was sown in 2009, when, on a visit from the US, Usha had been sitting beside her mother who had been crocheting at the time.

“I looked at Maa and told her that the crochet work she does is so perfect and beautiful that she could do something big with that. She told me what is the point in that. Had she also studied like me and my siblings, she could have also done something with her life by working,” says Usha.

This point really pinched Usha and she wondered why her mother had said that. In the following days, she had ventured out in the streets to run some errands when she started noticing things around her.

“In Gaya, there is a big agarbatti (incense stick) industry. You could see women working and making agarbattis. I was intrigued and asked them how much money do they get in a day. What they said shocked me!” says Usha.

She found out that these women were making about one kg of agarbattis in a day for just Rs 4!

“I had just come from the US at the time after my higher studies, where a cup of coffee was about Rs. 200. It just hit me that this is what these women make in a month!” says Usha.

She realised that she needed to do something to change the situation. She spoke to her parents and this is what led to the inception of Samoolam.

“My family was so supportive. I asked my mother if she would help by training these women in crocheting and she agreed at once. My father, on the other hand, let us set up the workshop in his garage where these women would come and receive the training,” shares Usha.

She was working on a livelihood project in Uttarakhand in 2010 when the training workshops for these women started. Since Delhi was not too far away from her work site, she would buy threads, beads and other raw materials and send it to Gaya.

Operations, Challenges and Impact

Madhulika Chaudhary, 52, has been running a brand called Anjori in Mumbai since the past 16 years. Despite coming from an IT background, she was very interested in the arts and through Anjori, she worked with artisans who create items like sarees and dupattas.

About four years ago, she was looking for crochet laces and accessories that she could use to embellish the embroidered dupattas.

“The quality of the crochet laces I had come across were not good. One day, I was browsing through the internet when I came across Samoolam’s products,” recalls Madhulika. She was immediately impressed at what she saw online and ordered a small batch of crochet flowers and applique work.

“The quality of the products took my breath away. The designs were so neat. I could see that good raw material was used because of the quality of the laces,” says Madhulika.

Now, Madhulika and her brand has a running association with Samoolam. “Whatever requirements we have, we communicate it to them and they deliver so well. Also, I love the fact that this initiative is empowering women. I can truly see that the products are made with love.”

“I was very sure that for the first two years, the women would only train so that they can learn the skill properly. And slowly and steadily, they started making small hair clips, earrings and small laces and even started taking small orders,” says Usha.

Usha further explains that she did not want to burden the artisans with large orders like making bedsheets in the early days. This would not only put pressure on the workers, but also require more time, she says.

After receiving training from Usha’s mother and having made a few products, Usha felt that these products were ready to be sold. “We took products worth Rs. 30,000 to set up a stall in Delhi at the Dastakari Haat Samiti. All our products were sold out!” says Usha. Since then, there has been no looking back for Samoolam.

However, Samoolam had its own share of challenges. Usha explains that marketing is something they need to constantly focus on as the women’s livelihood depends on more orders.

“Running the organisation with semi-skilled workforce become challenging at times because teaching them requires patience and time. Also, hiring trained staff can be very expensive for self-reliant social enterprises because we run with limited resources,” she says.

Despite that, over the course of eight years, Samoolam has sold over 1.5 lakh pieces of their products and has come up with 1,500 designs for these.

Looking back, Usha says that Samoolam wouldn’t have been possible without help from her parents, siblings, her husband and her staff who she’s worked with over the years.

Usha is confident that Samoolam will be able to sustain itself and will introduce more products in the future. “I was very clear that I wouldn’t want any kind of funding. We price our products in a way that we make a profit margin. We don’t want free money, we want to be self reliant,” she shares.

Also Read: Cutlery to Decor, This Pune Studio’s Hand-Crafted Copperware is a Must Have!

(Edited by Saiqua Sultan)

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Two years ago, when Shneel Malik was on a trip to explore India, she discovered the seed of innovation. It started when she came across various small-scale artists, jewellery workers and textile dyers. Though she was fascinated with their work, Shneel noticed that the outcome of their art was not just a thing of beauty, but also of danger and destruction. The process of producing textiles often released toxic residues like cadmium, arsenic and lead into the waters in the area, not only polluting the water, air and soil, but, also jeopardising the life of the artisan community.

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But, the answer to this problem was not to eliminate their skill and means of livelihood, but to focus on just the putrid waste-water. Inspired, Shneel, an architect and currently a PhD candidate at the Bio-ID Lab under the Bartlett School of Architecture, London, along with a diverse team of experts, created INDUS—a modular bioreactor wall system capable of cleaning water polluted with dyes and chemicals.

“Indus comes out from the research journey over the last few years where I have been investigating the large scale fabrication of biocompatible membranes for applications within our environment. In 2017, as part of an EPSRC Global Challenges Research Fund Project, I, along with Dr Brenda Parker (Biochemical Engineer, UCL) and Dr Laura Stoffels (Biologist, UCL), travelled to India to meet NGOs and conduct site studies to better understand the existing scenario within the artisanal communities; identifying potential design opportunities,” Shneel informs, in conversation with The Better India.

Brenda, a biochemical engineer and Shneel’s Ph.D supervisor, has been conducting research using microalgae to treat wastewater. And Shneel’s research on designing biological scaffolds for the photosynthetic activity of microalgae, complimented her research.

“Neither the artisans have any space available for Westernised high-tech water treatment solutions, nor do they have the economic capacity to get additional support. Therefore, we started to design a system which is both spatially compatible, but more importantly, can be constructed and maintained by the artisans themselves,” says Shneel.

Based on the principle of bioremediation, Shneel, Brenda, and Professor Marcos Cruz have designed this structure which is layered with microalgae and seaweed-based hydrogel. It cleans heavy materials from waste-water, everytime it passes through it. And, all of this has been done in a cost-effective way.

Along with the help and support of NGOs like Pure Earth and CEE that focus on battling pollution, the team conducted on-ground surveys of multiple sites in Kolkata (bangle-makers) and Panipat (textile dyers), among others.

“These site visits made us better understand the site and context-specific constraints and challenges in wastewater treatment,” she told TBI.

But, how exactly, does the system work?

The tile-based modular bioreactor wall system, much like Shneel’s previous projects, is an extension of nature itself, and is designed to clean polluted water through an assembly of tiles. Inspired by the complex architecture of a leaf, the tiles have vein-like channels carved inside containing algae prepared in a seaweed-based hydrogel which isolates the pollutants every time the water flows through the tile.

After some time, thanks to algae’s natural bioremediation capabilities, the hydrogel becomes saturated with pollutants like cadmium. It can then be processed to recover heavy metals safely, thus eventually filtering water for reuse for the purpose of manufacturing textile. One can pass the waste-water multiple times through the tile, depending on its toxicity.

While on the one hand, the Indus project plans to tackle water and soil pollution caused by textile dyes in a cost-effective and technically-accessible manner, it also hopes to empower the communities in the process.

It aims to enable panchayats and rural community of artisans to sustainably regenerate water within their manufacturing process for reuse, as these tiles, according to the makers, can be produced locally by the communities using traditional clay-making methods.

“What was extremely enlightening was the fact that these communities are becoming more and more aware of the urgency of fixing the manufacturing processes. They seemed ready to take that extra effort in making their surroundings livable. Therefore, a system like Indus is designed to empower the community, making them capable of adopting new forms of daily practices,” she adds.

After a few years of research, the team participated in an international research program and competition called the Water Futures Design Challenge by A/D/O, Mini, New York. The competition invited interdisciplinary designers from across the globe to design and develop potential solutions to tackle the increasing water crisis.

Indus, which is developed as part of a research lab called Bio-ID (Bio – Integrated Design) at the University College London, eventually went on to win the category award under the future systems and infrastructure along with the audience vote earlier this year.

“I then travelled back to India to work with the ceramic artists in Khurja (ceramic capital of India) to make the very first ceramic prototypes of the tiles – which were then exhibited in New York,” adds Shneel.

Their Indus project is currently in the Research and Development stage. The next immediate step is to test a fully-functional prototype in-situ in the UK where they can refine the set-up for efficient performance. Following this they are hoping to do a pilot-test on site (in the courtyard of a textile dyeing unit in India) within the next 1 year.

“I imagine a system like Indus to revolutionise how we interact with our natural resources. We are making high-tech engineering techniques available in a rather low-tech manner, which will allow these communities to leapfrog into the future, while setting trends and new forms of daily practices for our next generation,” concludes Shneel, who envisions to make Indus available to local communities in every corner of India, in the next coming years.

A venture with an extraordinary promise, we extend our best wishes to Shneel and her team of innovators!

Also Read: Meet the Architect Behind India’s First Ever 5-Star SVAGRIHA Green Home

(Edited by Saiqua Sultan)

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Even at 92, Kamakshi Subramaniyan from Chennai is a force to be reckoned with. Be it the corporation officials or the residents; everybody reveres Kamakshi ‘paati’ as much as they love her. For anyone not acquainted with her, she might come across as a kind lady with the sweetest grandmotherly vibes.

That is, until someone dares to violate a civic norm in her presence.

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“Be it 4 AM or 10 PM—Kamakshi paati will not hesitate to resolve a problem at the earliest. Even at this age, she can take to the streets for protesting an unwelcome government proposal or approach the highest authority to get an issue sorted,” shares Ramakrishnan, who has been closely fighting civic issues with her for the past 12 years.

Kamakshi paati is perhaps the best example of the popular adage⁠—age is just a number. In a stirring conversation with The Better India, she speaks her heart out with a contagious optimism.

“I have led a very fulfilling life,” she begins with a hearty laugh.

Born in Thanjavur, she was named after the world-famous Kamakshi temple. She studied in Bengaluru and later moved to Delhi after her wedding.

“Those three decades in Delhi were perhaps the best time of my life. I moved there in 1948, it was a time of turbulent politics in a newborn nation. Situations were tense, for sure, but the people were so much more open and friendly,” she narrates.

Her bureaucrat husband would share all the nitty-gritty of the Indian administrative system with her, and she imbibed a lot of that information at that time, which is now coming to her aid when she takes up any civic issue.

“I moved back to Chennai in 1981 and was taken aback by the culture shock. Although I hail from Tamil Nadu, I had become adjusted to a different socio-cultural ambience in Delhi. It took me time to adjust, but slowly I got the hang of how things are done around here.”

An accidental activist

Interestingly, Kamakshi paati was not so much of a vocal activist during her days in Delhi. In Chennai as well, she did not become the neighbourhood’s go-to problem-solver, overnight.

It all started with a stretch of road surrounded by fallow land in front of her home in Besant Nagar. Being near the beach, Besant Nagar was one of the most pleasant and decorated neighbourhoods to reside in.

However, the road gradually turned into a pathway to hell as people unabashedly used it as an open toilet. Dead animals were buried in the adjacent plot of land and waste was being dumped regularly.

Utterly disgusted at the appalling scenario, Kamakshi paati took up the responsibility to set the wrong, right, and made futile appeals to authorities over and over again, only to be met with irrelevant excuses from the other end.

“This is a side road, Ma’am. We cannot plant trees or beautify it,” they bluntly responded.

“But there is the word ‘Avenue’ in the name of the road, right? The dictionary definition mandates the presence of trees along the road,” Kamakshi paati reminded them.

Three years of persistent appeals and protests later, she earned her first victory as the corporation officials beautified the road and built a roadside park. The park was presented to paati as a gift on her 80th birthday by the then Commissioner of Chennai. By then, she had built a great rapport with the corporation officials and local lawmakers.

Thanks to paati’s strict supervision, the maintenance of the park in on-point even 12 years later.

“I always insist on the importance of keeping up a habit. If you have renovated a place once or cleaned an area once, your job is far from done. You have to keep up with regular maintenance and cleaning. You have to ensure that the place is not littered or misused. It is your responsibility,” she advises.

The park was the start. Ever since then, Kamakshi paati has been at the forefront of raising and resolving all civic issues in Besant Nagar. She has even co-founded SPARK⁠— a public forum for Chennai citizens to voice their grievances and ensure that the administration duly addresses them.

One of paati’s most notable accomplishments was the restoration of the Karl Schmidt Memorial in Besant Nagar beach.

Raised by Lieutenant-Colonel Sir George Frederick Stanley, the then Governor of Madras, the memorial was constructed to recognise the sacrifice of Karl J Schmidt, a Danish national who died in 1930 after saving the lives of three English girls drowning in the sea.

However, over the decades, it had ended up in a dilapidated state. It had fallen prey to a lot of nuisance by local urchins, who used to smoke, drink, scribble on the walls and even urinate on the beautiful memorial.

“When I told paati about the history of the memorial, she immediately took up the onus of its renovation. Her active leadership accelerated the momentum of the entire operation. Within a while, the municipality promised to restore the memorial to its former glory. Not only that, the Ambassador of Denmark extended his support to maintain the memorial henceforth. All because of SPARK’s escalation of the issue and paati’s influence over the municipality officials,” shares TD Babu, the founder of SPARK.

Babu adds that paati has emerged as a proactive and experienced senior citizen whose appeals are resolved by officials with alacrity, only out of sheer respect and love for her.

“Paati will always ensure to express her sincere gratitude towards the concerned official or department once a problem is taken care of. She even sends a positive word about any young corporation employee to his or her supervisor,” reveals Ramakrishnan.

Paati’s initiatives for a better Chennai

Kamakshi paati’s success is not limited to her neighbourhood road or the Schmidt Memorial. She has succeeded in resolving many more, ensuring the citizens stay safer, better and happier.

When the Smart City Programme was launched in Chennai, there was a proposal to expand the sidewalks, which would constrict the street.Fearing that street vendors or cars would occupy the footpaths in Besant Nagar⁠—she had seen this happen in other places⁠—she contacted the officials, who refused to budge.

Then, she called up her neighbours and SPARK activists to arrange a road protest on Besant Avenue and ensured that the workers did not extend the sidewalks beyond six feet.

Until recently, Besant Nagar used to be a popular location for the Tamil film industry. A lot of movies would shoot extended scenes in the neighbourhood.

“Every other day, film crews would throng the beautiful streets, creating a lot of commotion and mess. So, I visited one such movie set and politely asked them to find a non-residential location. They argued with me that they have a permit. I sat down on a chair and waited for hours, asking them to show the permit. It turned out that they did not have one, and finally they had to pack up,” she mentions.

Besant Nagar, being a coastal neighbourhood, has predominantly sandy soil, which negates the need for any stormwater drain. Yet, the corporation allotted a massive sum of money for constructing stormwater drains across the neighbourhood. All the residents unanimously agreed that it was unnecessary, but it was Kamakshi paati who went a step ahead and organised protests and discussions. She ensured that Besant Nagar does not get any more stormwater drains, but get recharge wells instead.

Thanks to her, the young and old of Besant Nagar can now sleep peacefully at night after she convinced the construction workers to stop their work at night.

Miles To Go

Being a civic activist is hardly a cakewalk, even for everyone’s favourite paati. There have been instances where she was threatened, and her anti-corruption stances are often met with inherent nonchalance. Young people littering the streets rudely responds if she requests them to refrain from doing that.

She believes that the public has to take a strong stand against corruption. They should not get into the practice of bribing government officials to get their work done quickly. At the same time, she also advocates that everyone remain aware of their rights and privileges as citizens.

“After all, the corporation can delay but never deny our rights.”

She specifically mentions how grateful she is to the corporation officials and lawmakers for listening to the demands of the citizens and getting their grievances addressed in time.

Despite her tireless work, she mentions that her younger neighbours often leave her disappointed. Their sole dependence on her is everything she advises against. “They complain to me about their issues but do not take up any responsibility to solve them. It is no Herculean task to approach a government official or patiently protest about a recurring issue. Everyone has to take the responsibility to solve their issues.”

Yet, Kamakshi paati wishes to continue her efforts for as long as she can. “I do not want to leave the world in a hurry. I have a lot on my plate now. I have to solve many more issues.”

Also Read: Shattering Stereotypes: 6 Senior Citizens Who Defied Age to Do Amazing Things!

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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It was 2002, and Asmabi Kareem had just gone into labour. She and her husband, Abdul Kareem, a businessman in Kerala’s Kunnamangalam town , were ecstatic about the arrival of the newborn who would soon join their family of three.

This Diwali, gift some joy to the little folks at Snehalaya, an NGO that fosters children of sex workers, minors rescued from the sex trade and children orphaned by and/or living with HIV. 

But when the doctor left the labour room, he had a troubled expression on his face. “Congratulations! You’ve been blessed with a girl. But, she is missing forearms and a foot.”

While it was a painful reality to process, Abdul and Asmabi only counted their blessings. They named the baby Noor, after the Arabic word for light, and promised to do whatever it took to ensure that she grew up to be a happy and healthy child.

Today, at 17, Noor Jaleela is a budding artist who not only paints but also sings, plays the violin, and has shared the stage with stalwarts such as KS Chithra and Stephen Devassy.

In December 2017, ‘Dream of Us,’ an NGO working with children with disabilities, featured two of her paintings at their exhibition ‘Swapnachithra,’ at Kozhikode Lalitha Kala Akademi Art Gallery.

The Better India (TBI) got in touch with her to document her journey.

Growing up Different

Noor grew up in a very sheltered environment. When she would get upset after seeing her able-bodied classmates in school, her sister, Aysha, would calm her by saying that her arms and feet would grow soon. “It was a white lie. But it made me happy,” says Noor.

Her father, on the other hand, maintained a scrapbook which had newspaper cuttings and pictures of people who suffered disabilities that were more severe when compared to Noor.

“When I saw the stories of some of these personalities, including Nick Vujicic and Marc Elliot, I was motivated. They overcame their disabilities to carve a niche for themselves. I wanted to do exactly that.”

While her family never treated her differently, the world could be a cruel place at times. “Strangers would stare at my underdeveloped arms, or pass comments on the way I walked. Many schools rejected me due to my disability. Some even went to the extent of saying that studying with me would affect the progress and development of other kids,” she remembers.

Hope entered her life when she got accepted into the Navajyothi School in Kunnamangalam. The conducive and supportive atmosphere at the school helped her family discover her many talents.

“Once, when Aysha left her record book home, I mistook it for a colouring book and got to work. Though the record book was damaged, my parents realised that I could paint really well!” mentions Noor.

In Class 7, when her school dedicated two slots of the day for extra-curricular activities, Noor’s best friend Shreya opted for the violin class, and she followed suit. While Abdul and Asmabi wondered how their daughter would pull it off without forearms, they bought her a small violin.

But Noor had it figured out. “I’d seen videos of people playing the cello, and asked myself, why don’t I try playing the violin just like the cello?”

She soon tied a hairband to her arm and fixed the bow of the violin on it and started playing the instrument in the reverse direction, It took some time to master, but she managed it successfully.

Accepting, Going Beyond Disability

Today, Noor is a student of St Joseph’s College, Devagiri, and wants to attempt the coveted civil service exams and become an IAS officer. She was fitted with artificial limbs at Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, and can walk without much difficulty.

“Acceptance was the first step for me. I knew nothing could alter my condition, but that did not stop me from finding newer ways to make the best of my life, to explore my potential, undertake new skills and motivate others around me.”

She adds how her family and Dr Anwar Husain, the Director of the Institute of Palliative Medicine in Calicut are her role models.

Noor and her mother joined Dr Husain’s NGO as volunteers and have been impacting several lives over the last eight months.

“With my mother, I tend to patients at the institute who are bedridden and have lost all hope. We provide them with maximum care and support during their numbered days. I try to keep them smiling by spending time with them, speaking, reading, painting and singing for them.”

Dr Husain and Noor have clearly formed a mutual admiration society. “Even though she says I am her role model, it is Noor that inspired me. She is such a strong young woman, and her optimism is infectious. She is an exceptional motivational speaker too. We are very proud of her,” he quips.

Noor ends the conversation, with an important message for our readers.

“People with disabilities don’t need your sympathy. Instead, give them your care, support and motivation. Help them become independent. The first step towards doing that is inclusivity in all spheres of life⁠—education, job opportunities, accessible public space, transport facilities or rights. You can help create a barrier-free society to help them move ahead in life.”

Also Read: 2 Trains Ran Over Him, Amputating His Legs. Today, He Moonwalks on National TV!

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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Preyashi Majhi’s third pregnancy was the most difficult, not just because of natural causes, but also because of the prevalent idea that women can bear it all.

“What is so special about childbirth? Haven’t I given birth to four children? My mother-in-law did not stop me from doing regular household chores, even when I was pregnant. Why should Preyashi be an exception?” remarked her mother-in-law when a social worker tried to convey Preyashi’s deteriorating health.

At the time, Preyashi was only 25, living in a family battling poverty in a small village of Harua, in Murshidabad district of West Bengal. She was married at 18 and soon gave birth to a baby girl. Two years later, she had another daughter.

These pregnancies in quick succession took a heavy toll on her health, which declined further due to poor diet, leading to weight loss. With a family of six to support, including her two daughters and parents-in-law, Preyashi and her husband began to work in a beedi-rolling factory.

Eight long hours of continuous duty in poorly lit shabby rooms, with frugal daily wages, only contributed to her deteriorating health. On top of this, after a long day, she would still have to do her routine household chores, take care of the kids, and her bed-bound father-in-law. All this while surviving on a single meal as her mother-in-law insisted upon half-a-day fast for the entire month of June, for religious reasons.

Owing to this strenuous routine, Preyashi’s weight rapidly reduced to only 35kgs, all the while nurturing another child inside her womb. Despite taking all the preventive measures to protect her baby, regular check-ups and medicines, she was still at a severe risk of malnutrition putting the her own and her child’s life in danger.

It was then that a member of the Child in Need Institute (CINI) along with Anganwadi workers, came to her rescue.

A training session was organized with the ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, ANMs and village SHG women. Like many other pregnant women, Preyashi was invited along with her mother-in-law.

At the session, the CINI volunteers used a unique way using a doll and a few sticks to spread awareness of how exhausted, and undernourished mothers may give birth to children with stunted growth.

The women were asked to sit in a circle holding ends of a few sticks, and a doll was kept at the centre. The doll symbolized a newborn baby suffering from ill health owing to the negligence of the society, represented by each stick. With a story narration in the background, each woman was asked to slowly remove one stick at a time, depicting the lack of support. By the end of the exercise, all the sticks were removed, and the doll fell to the ground.

Seeing the doll lying on the ground, the dark reality struck Preyashi’s mother-in-law, who was, by then, overwhelmed with tears. That was the moment, Preyashi’s life began to change for the good, and in the next couple of months, she gained over 10 kilos, and soon gave birth to a healthy baby girl.

Preyashi is one among the thousand lives CINI has transformed, with one basic principle — it takes a village to help bear and raise a healthy child!

CINI is a West Bengal-based NGO that is battling malnutrition by empowering mothers, and subsequently the communities, in remote parts of India. Since the last 45 years, CINI has been weaving a community-based safety net for better health of children in a country which continues to grapple with the issue of malnutrition.

In the Global Nutrition Report 2018, India topped the list of countries with the maximum number of stunted children — a condition caused by long-term insufficient nutrient intake and frequent infections. India was said to have 46.6 million stunted children, while Nigeria had 13.9 million, and Pakistan 10.7 million.

Despite the overwhelming wave, CINI continues its efforts to combat malnourishment by bringing together various stakeholders, like central and state governments, donors, NGOs, local communities, and various corporates.

They call it, the CINI Method.

Speaking to The Better India, Ranjan Panda, Chief of Programmes for CINI, explains, “The method involves a micro-level process divided into four stages — prevention, setting accountability duty, participation and convergence of all stakeholders. In other words, all our stakeholders, the government, the individual or collective donors, panchayats as well as the communities, come together on a single platform, fully involved in all the four stages, to initiate substantial change from a grassroots level.”

Through this, CINI ensures improvement in the health of the community, especially expectant mothers, by combating malnutrition in the region, and forge a long-term relationship with them, so that there is a regular follow-up through the community to a family-based safety net.

He added that while the devastation of malnutrition triggered the inception of CINI, the founders realized that it is a single piece of a larger puzzle. “There are various socio-economic aspects that contribute to it. Be it lack awareness, illiteracy, social taboos, etc.; we realized that it all could not be addressed in silos but more like as a network where one comprehensively contributes to another,” he adds.

Over the recent past, CINI has undergone a methodological shift in its policy and action through the adoption of a human rights-based approach in the development work. CINI’s rights-based approach aims at creating child-friendly community, where families, schools, police stations, social and physical settings are committed to respect, protect and fulfil children’s rights in the spheres of health, nutrition, education and protection from all forms of abuse, exploitation and violence. Owing to this, as critical rights-holders, children and women are encouraged to participate in making decisions that affect their lives.

However, much like every path towards transformation, there have been a few hiccups along the way for CINI changemakers. Apart from on-ground issues of convincing communities, a significant challenge, Rajan says, has been convincing donor communities to have patience with respect to impact. “This is not the kind of work which provides quick results. It’s a slow, in-depth process of change and evolution. And, that’s where we found great support for HCL foundation under HCL technologies, which contrary to other donor companies, has a more long-term approach,” he adds.

Back in 2017, HCL Foundation recognized the CINI Method with a Rs 5-crore-grant running across 5 years under its flagship programme, HCL Grant, towards a comprehensive on-ground fight against the vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition.

“A couple of years of work has led to significant changes in terms of improving community convergence platforms, capacity building of frontline workers on RMNCHA (Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health) and developed strong government collaboration at district and state levels. It is learnt that acting at the right age donned with proper strategies can make a big difference in the battle against malnutrition,” says Samir Chaudhuri, founder and director of CINI.

Elaborating on the collaboration, Nidhi Pundhir, Director, HCL Foundation says, “Anemia and malnutrition are severe problems among women in West Bengal which makes them vulnerable to an increased probability of complications in pregnancy during delivery, resulting in maternal death, infant death or both. We recognized CINI’s work in the region towards creating a community safety net to have access to quality healthcare with a focused intervention for pregnant women and malnourished children in the three districts of the state. This intervention has made a significant impact in strengthening Village Health Nutrition & Sanitation Committee (VHSNCs), leading to an increased level of awareness among the beneficiaries.”

After almost four decades of work, CINI has been able to leave a lasting impact on seven million lives, a number they hope to multiply qualitatively in the next few years.

We salute their exemplary work and extend our support to their ultimate mission—India’s healthier and whole tomorrow.

Also Read: Lychee, Malnutrition or Heat Wave: What, Why & How of Deadly Encephalitis Epidemics

(Edited by Saiqua Sultan)

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The mother stood at the edge of the precipice, looking down at the sheer vertical drop beneath her feet. The dark of the night did not help. Yet, the thought of her child, hungry, crying and waiting for her, firmed her chin. Taking a deep breath, she began the precarious journey down the cliff-side.

The tales of heroism rising from India always speak of ordinary women and men with extraordinary abilities – people do the unexpected, the unthought of. Although for those brave few, courage was the only option in a dire situation, for us, they are the inspiration we need at times.

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Such was the resolve of Hirkani, a poor milkmaid, living in Shivaji’s kingdom. The act of bravery that this mother exhibited to get to her child forced the Maratha ruler to acknowledge her strength. He not only praised her but also built a wall across the sheer cliff that she had climbed down and named it— ‘Hirkani Buruj’.

The incident still echoes down the corridors of time and is a source of fascination to many. Like the recently released movie—Hirkani—directed by Prasad Oak with the popular actor Sonalee Kulkarni playing the lead.

Hirkani and her story

Hirkani lived near the famed Raigad fort, situated near Pune. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had seized the fort and turned it into its capital in 1674. The fort sits atop a hill in the Western Ghats and massive walls protect it from all sides. A sheer drop on one side seemed protection enough. Who would climb up or down the dangerous and steep hill-side?

A village sprawled at the base of the hill was the source of the daily merchandise needed by the citizens living within the fort’s compound. To sell their wares, the villagers trekked up the hill via the road leading directly to the Fort gates. The fort gates opened at dawn and shut at dusk each day and the rule dictated that the gates would not be opened for anyone till the next morning.

Like everyone else, Hirkani would also stand in line at the main gates every morning.

On one such day, while getting ready to leave for the fort, Hirkani got delayed as her child was inconsolable.

However, the milkmaid managed to make it to the daily market and sold milk to her regular customers. Unfortunately, she was late to reach the gates that day and the Mavla (soldier) in-charge had already shut them at sunset.

Since she had left her baby at home, not returning was not an option. Hirkani tried pleading with the Mavla who did not budge and told her that Chhatrapati’s orders had to be followed at all cost.

With the thought of her baby being alone and hungry, Hirkani did something she had never done before.

She scaled-down the dangerous hillside in the dead of night. Though severely shaken, scratched and hurt from the harrowing journey, the mother managed to reach her baby.

A new day!

The next day, like all other days, Hirkani was at the fort’s gates for the daily market. The Mavla was shocked to see the milkmaid entering the gates. He immediately took her to Chhatrapati Shivaji for breaking the rules.

Shivaji heard her story and then looked at the scratches on her hands and face. Instead of punishing Hirkani, he praised her bravery and immediately ordered for the construction of a wall at the unprotected vertical drop and named it after her.

This Buruj still exists, and so does the tale of Hirkani. While Hirkani did not have any magical powers, what she did have, was a mother’s will to get to her hungry child.

Also Read: Shooter Dadi: The Story of an Octogenarian Who’s Breaking All Barriers With Her Awesome Aim

(Edited by Saiqua Sultan)

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Anna Chandy, India’s first woman judge, was a trailblazer whose fearless pursuit of gender parity across different spheres of life, made her an icon of the 20th century.

As the first woman to become a high court judge in India and in her brief stint as a legislator, she fearlessly advocated a woman’s right to access the job market at a time when they were expected to remain confined in their homes, and control over their reproductive health.

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Born in 1905 in Thiruvananthapuram, Anna Chandy belonged to the Syrian Christian community. Losing her father soon after birth, watching her mother ably support the family and growing up amidst matrilineal traditions probably had some bearing on how she saw women as more than capable and well-rounded individuals.

Additionally, she grew up in the reign of Maharani Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, the Regent of Travancore, who promoted women into key positions and opened doors for them into educational institutions.

But that’s where the advantages end because for the large part; women were denied entry into certain professions, chiefly restricted to the household and generally denied of their agency.

By 1926, she obtained her post-graduation degree in law from the Government Law College in Thiruvananthapuram, making her the first woman in Kerala with a law degree. She began her practice a few years later as a barrister, fighting criminal cases and earning her stripes.

Besides growing into her profession, she also founded and edited Shrimati, a Malayali magazine which espoused the protection and advancement of women’s rights.

Challenging everyday misogyny, questioning the barriers to widow remarriage, speaking out against the gender wage gap and espousing a woman’s freedom to choose, Chandy definitely ruffled more than a few feathers. In many ways, she was a ‘first generation’ Indian feminist icon.

However, her public profile took off when she decided to contest elections for a seat in the Shree Moolam Popular Assembly of the erstwhile Travancore state in 1930. Unfortunately, she was subjected to classic smear tactics with opponents spreading rumours about her alleged relationship with the Dewan of Travancore.

It’s a tactic straight out of the patriarchy playbook that is still used today to shame women or attack their credibility.

But Chandy wasn’t deterred and fought elections the following year. This time she wasn’t denied and would go onto serve in the assembly for two years between 1932 and 1934.

A major cause she took up during her time as a legislator was proportional reservation in government jobs for women and demanding the status of a ‘depressed community’ community for them.

Responding to a fellow legislator who spoke out against her proposal, Chandy said, “From the elaborate petition, it is clear that the plaintiff’s immediate demand is to ban all efforts by women to gain employment, on the grounds that they are a bunch of creatures created for the domestic pleasures of men, and that their lives outside the hallowed kitchen-temples will harm familial happiness.”

“It was due to her unrelenting fight for reservation for women in government jobs that led to the abolishing of the statute that prevented women from working in government jobs,” claims this profile on Feminism in India. Following her lead, other ‘first-generation feminists’ in the region “also explicitly connected women’s political rights with other kinds of rights, for instance, legal and reproductive rights, an effort especially palpable in the writing of Anna Chandy,” write J Devika and Binitha V Thampi in their book ‘New Lamps for Old? Gender Paradoxes of Political Decentralisation in Kerala.’

For example, in 1935, Chandy argued against the exemption of women from the death penalty in Travancore law, besides challenging another law that gave men conjugal rights without taking into account their wives’ consent.

“Many of our sister-Malayalees have property rights, voting rights, employment and honours, financial independence. But how many have control over their bodies? How many women have been condemned to depths of feelings of inferiority because of the foolish idea that women’s body is an instrument for the pleasure of men?” she once wrote.

In 1937, she was soon elevated to the office of munsif (judge) in Travancore by the Dewan Sir CP Ramaswami Iyer. She was acutely aware of the responsibility that fell on her shoulders upon accepting this office:

“I must admit that I was not free from trepidation when I first stepped up to the Bench. However, what was foremost in my mind was a fierce determination to make a success of this experiment. I knew I was a test case… If I faltered or failed, I would not just be damaging my own career, but would be doing a great disservice to the cause of women.”

Following Independence, she was promoted to the office of district judge and in February 1959 became the first woman judge in an Indian High Court when she was appointed to the Kerala High Court. It was a position she held onto until April 1967, following which she worked with the Law Commission of India.

During her retirement, she published her autobiography titled Atmakatha in 1973. She eventually passed away in 1996 at the ripe old age of 91.

Having paved the way for women in a male-dominated profession and society, Anna Chandy leaves behind a tremendous legacy, and it is the work of pioneers like her that has allowed women’s right to reach this far.

Also Read: 5 Women Who Challenged the Status Quo To Become ‘Firsts’ in Indian Cinema

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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In October 2013, Sachin Tendulkar played his last domestic match at the Chaudhary Bansi Lal Stadium near Rohtak. Among the 5,000-odd spectators in the audience was nine-year-old Shafali Verma, perched on her father’s shoulder, cheering the loudest for her favourite batsman.

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Six years later, Shafali, now 15, has shattered her idol’s 30-year-old record, becoming the youngest Indian to score an international fifty. Her performance came in the first T20 international match against the West Indies in St Lucia.

Tendulkar was 16 years and 214 days when he achieved his maiden half-century (59, versus Pakistan in the second Test at Faisalabad on 23 November 1989). At 15 years and 285 days, Shafali broke her idol’s record by scoring 73 runs off 49 balls.

Who is Shafali Verma?

Born in 2004, Shafali entered the Indian squad when Mithali Raj announced her retirement in 2019. She was included in India’s Women’s Twenty20 International (WT20I) squad for their series against South Africa. Following this, she made her WT20I debut for India against South Africa on 24 September 2019.

Being inducted into the squad was not easy for her. Sanjeev Verma, her jeweller father, speaks of the struggles she endured. He would diligently take her to play against neighbouring teams during weekends. In this report, he says, “Most teams refused to play against her. They said she could get hurt and that I would complain if that happened. Even when I insisted she was my daughter and I was okay, most didn’t agree.”

Given their socio-economic background, it was uncommon for girls to step outside and play such sports. He suggests that it is frowned upon, even today. Verma’s ingenious idea to circumvent this issue was to give Shafali a haircut that made her look like a boy. This allowed her to play every weekend.

But this was not the end of her struggles. Verma adds that he would often get taunted by neighbours and relatives who discouraged Shafali from the sport. Thankfully though, he stuck to his guns and encouraged his daughter to follow her passion.

According to this report, Shafali would cycle 8 km every day to practice. She would train with boys, get hit and bruised, and continue the game. In this interview, the teenage cricketer says, “It was a struggle initially, playing against the boys. I often got hit in the helmet. On a few occasions, they even smashed my helmet grille. But there was no question of giving up.”

Shafali’s earliest inspiration was Sachin Tendulkar, who is idolised by both father and daughter. In this report, Verma says, “I have always been a Sachin fan and I made sure that I introduced her to his batting very early. We watched so many Sachin innings together.”

Just like her idol who made his international debut at 16, Shafali also made it early.

Accolades pouring in

Former Indian Test opener WV Raman took to Twitter to urge people to catch Shafali’s superb innings on YouTube. His tweet read – “Folks, make it a point to watch Shefali Verma’s innings in the first T20 on YouTube. You will not regret the time spent.”

Shafali’s coach Ashwani Kumar, former Haryana opener and state team ex-coach, said in an interview, “She was just nine when she came to our Ram Narain Academy, and the girls were no match for her. So, I started playing her with the U-19 boys. She used to take the U-19 bowlers to the cleaners.”

Also Read: Sachin Backs India’s Blind Cricketers, Asks BCCI to Support Association

As spectators and fans of the sport, we have a lot to look forward to. We wish Shafali Verma the best as she gears up to represent India at the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia in February-March 2020.

(Edited by Shruti Singhal)

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Aadhaar Card Verified
Bhandi: Rs. 800 PM
Jhadu Pocha: Rs. 800 PM
Kapde Dhuna: Rs. 800 PM
Roti Making: Rs. 1000 PM

Other Kaam if required: Dusting, Vegetable Cutting etc.

—reads the business card of Geeta Kale. And since it went viral on 5 November 2019, Geeta’s phone rang so many times, that she had to switch it off. This never-before-seen business card of a househelp has Dhanashree Shinde—a concerned employer, behind it. Let’s find out how it all happened.

It had been a regular morning at the Shinde residence – the doorbell rang and Geeta (27) walked in as usual but the usually talkative and cheerful person seemed quiet that day.

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Dhanashree, her employer, asked her about what was troubling her.

And out tumbled the response.

“Maza ek kaam gela o tai kaal. Mazi kahich chuki navati taripan hatatun kaam gela.” (I lost one job yesterday, sister. It wasn’t my fault but I still lost it).

Dhanashree spent a few moments consoling her and asked Geeta what she intended to do now. The conversation ended and each of them went their way.

For Dhanashree however, it did not end there. She knew she wanted to help Geeta in some way and being from the advertising industry, she decided to use her skills to help Geeta.

“Armed with my cup of tea, I looked through my phone. I came across a website where you could design visiting cards online. Without wasting time, I put down the rates she charged for various housework and designed a visiting card for her,” informs Dhanashree.

Dhanashree also remembered to put in Geeta’s Aadhaar card number for verification. “When Geeta Maushi started work at my place, I got her Aadhaar card verified at a nearby police station before employing her. So I thought it must be mentioned on her visiting card.”

Within ten minutes, the card was designed and ready, an order was placed and within 2 days 100 visiting cards were delivered to Dhanashree. Recollecting the moment, she says,

“I remember the happiness I felt when we got the cards delivered. I gave Geeta a bunch and urged her to hand it over to the watchmen of the buildings where she worked and kept a few for myself.”

Later, Dhanashree clicked a picture of the visiting card and shared it with a friend on WhatsApp.

Within minutes the card went viral.

The next day, Geeta Maushi came to work as usual. A few minutes into work and Geeta’s phone started ringing, not once or twice, but almost back to back.

She was getting calls from everywhere, even Mumbai, shares Dhanashree and adds, “I remember how surprised she was. She spoke to each one of them courteously, all the while wondering how they got her number.”

A little while later Dhanashree’s phone buzzed with a message, she found out that Geeta’s card was being circulated across social media platforms too.

So did this help Geeta Maushi? Dhanashree answers, “Initially she was just swamped with calls and had to switch her phone off. Because of these cards, she has managed to get two or three new jobs now and is truly ecstatic about it.”

It just takes a tiny bit of effort to make a big difference in someone’s life. Dhanashree’s timely help proves it.

Also Read: Kerala Fruit Seller Turns Defunct Bus Stop Into Free Kitchen for 200 Needy People!

(Edited by Saiqua Sultan)

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In the last decade, several all-boys’ schools in West Bengal opened their gates to girl students, hailing the concept of co-education.

However, in many of them, there was a serious drawback⁠—the provision of separate toilets. In some cases, there would be makeshift and unhygienic toilets or worse, the girls would have to share bathrooms with their male classmates. Helpless and uncomfortable, many girls would drop out of school, putting an end to their dreams.

Thankfully, one organisation, Soroptimist International of Calcutta (SIC) noticed their plight and came forward to help. In the past year, it has built 12 toilets in primary schools, high schools as well as rural daycare centres.

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Through Project Dignity, one of their most successful initiatives, SIC has managed to construct toilets in schools and creches across West Bengal.

“It is impossible to comprehend that a simple toilet can stand in the way of a girl’s education,” says present SIC president Uttara Dasgupta.

In addition to toilet building, Project Dignity also organises menstrual awareness workshops for adolescent girls to ensure that the biological phenomenon does not become an impediment to their dreams.

A journey of 40 years

SIC is a four-decade-old non-profit organisation, launched in 1979 to uphold the spirit of sisterhood for all women, irrespective of their background.

The word ‘soroptimist’ is an anglicised improvisation of the Latin soror, meaning sister, and optima, which means the best.

Soroptimist International was started in 1921 in USA, and the UK Federation, namely Soroptimist International  of Great Britain and Ireland or SIGBI (to whom SIC is affiliated) started in 1928. Over the years, it has expanded its branches to several cities of the world where privileged women have time and again provided the pedestal for their deprived counterparts.

In Kolkata, the movement was replicated by Aroti Dutt, the daughter-in-law of the eminent writer, folklorist and civil servant Gurusaday Dutt.

She was supported by Chitra Ghosh, the niece of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Dr Padma Lahiri, an accomplished physician and the niece of Acharya Kripalani and Koely Roy.

In the last 40 years, SIC has welcomed doctors, professors, managers, lawyers, engineers, activists and other women of mettle who have lent their unconditional support to village school girls, tribal women and even women prisoners in correctional homes.

“Until a few years ago, as per the policy of SIGBI, the premise of membership was restricted to professional women only. But, in the light of recent times, we concluded that was discriminatory. Now any woman in Kolkata, willing to help others can join our team. Mostly, the membership is extended through an invitation to experienced women with a background in social endeavours,” shares 69-year-old Uttara Dasgupta.

Ms Dasgupta has had an illustrious career graph and was the Chief General Manager of State Bank of India (SBI) at the time of her retirement. While she has been engaged with several top financial firms post-retirement, her key focus at present happens to be on SIC and the upliftment of its target groups.

How SIC empowers women

SIC follows a multi-pronged approach to foster women empowerment⁠—from education, healthcare, financial independence to sanitary hygiene. Their past and ongoing projects have together catered to a wholesome approach of problem-solving.

For instance, its very first project in the early 1980s was Project 5 O or 5 Organisations. Five international non-profits came together to set up an integrated facility for women in Joka, a locality in Kolkata. Hundreds of women and children from 20 surrounding villages were provided education, healthcare and skill-based training to expand their livelihood opportunities. Even today, SIC continues to support the Shishu Tirtha school established at the site.

Sewa Sahayika was another remarkable project by SIC started in 1993, where young girls above 15 from daily wage-earning families were trained to be healthcare workers or ‘Sewa Sahayikas’.

Almost all the women found employment in the medical sector as nurses or help. The doctor members of SIC organised several free medical camps from time to time where these ‘Sewa Sahayikas’ attended to hundreds of patients.

However, the Prison Project remains one of SIC’s most impressive campaigns. Speaking about it, Ms Dasgupta says,

“We were the first organisation in the city to be given access inside the prison, back at a time when prisons were yet to be rechristened as correctional homes. Our members closely interacted with women prisoners, many of whom were also suffering from severe mental health issues. They were incarcerated in pitiful conditions.”

With SIC’s intervention, these women underwent vocational training in areas like embroidery, jute crafts, painting, card making etc. Their works were sold in the urban market, and the sales proceeds were spent on their welfare. Through colours, threads, art and music, the ostracised women experienced a fresh lease of life.

Among SIC’s present projects, Hold My Hand deserves a special mention. Started in 2009 for underprivileged children, this educational programme is aimed to supplement the gaps in their school syllabus.

“The project used to be conducted in Kolkata Municipal Corporation School at Chetla from 2009 till 2015, after which the Corporation discontinued the practice of NGOs conducting such programme. From 2015, the project has been conducted at Sujata Devi Vidyamandir which is a state government aided school,” states Ms Dasgupta.

Three days every week, the SIC team visits these schools and conduct free doubt-clearance sessions, amid distribution of healthy snacks, munchies and other fun activities.

‘Sharing is caring,’ this proverb is reiterated to young students in ten reputed schools of Kolkata through SIC’s Project Fistful of Grains.

“The aim is to make the students the importance of sharing while blurring the socio-economical differences between them and their lesser privileged counterparts.”

Students are instructed to save a fistful of raw grains like rice, pulses etc. at home everyday which is amassed at the end of every two weeks. The collected grains and cereals are then donated to orphanages and community schools across the city.

“Today’s children must learn the basic humane tenet of sharing and support so that they grow up to be ideal future citizens,” asserts Dasgupta.

The Legal Awareness project, started by Achina Kundu who is herself a lawyer, also deserves special mention since it fetched SIC a covetous award by Soroptimist International global forum.

The programme was operational for women in low-income schools and colleges of Kolkata, in association with Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Law College. “Established lawyers would explain to young women about their rights and advocacy to help them combat the constant struggles they face in our society. After almost every session, a couple of girls would inevitably approach our experts to vent their grievances and seek earnest help,” reveals Meenakshi Ray, the past president of SIC.

The story of SIC will remain incomplete if the contribution of their incredible members not mentioned.

Dasgupta shares how the members ensure that they attend meetings, held twice a month on weekends, where the ongoing and upcoming projects are tabled and discussed. Every member is granted equal freedom to execute her idea of doing good.

Perhaps, this equality and discipline have helped the organisation to sustain through the thick and thin of forty long years. And their number of beneficiaries only continues to grow exponentially.

Also Read: Kolkata’s ‘Food Man’ Joins With Doctors to Open Free Dispensary For Homeless Kids

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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When Anurag and Shikha Jain decided to quit their lucrative corporate jobs in search of a frugal, simple and sustainable life, they did not find it hard to explain to their families why. Anurag had been working for a year with L&T and Shikha, with an MNC. Among the many pro-rural development projects that the couple runs, is the natural, handmade soaps venture named—Neev Soaps, aimed at empowering the rural women.

“We saw trends change. Parents started encouraging their daughters to continue their higher studies and did not pressure them to get married. These women are now contributors to the family, not just financially but otherwise too. They are decision-makers. Mothers use their incomes to send their kids to better schools. We are now training them in self-defence, organic gardening, computer skilling, carpentry and incense stick making,” shares Shikha, speaking to The Better India (TBI).

Buy Neev’s 100 per cent organic, eco-friendly herbal handmade soaps and other products here

“Drawn by the teachings of the philosopher, J Krishnamurti, we wanted to be more aware of our being, be attuned to nature and find answers to fundamental questions of life. This inquiry led us to give up our corporate jobs and join an alternative school by the Krishnamurti Foundation of India (KFI). It was here that we developed a vision for an alternative and holistic education system that is based on collective inquiry. Education was our calling because we knew that would allow us to shape young minds,” Shikha narrates.

Wanting to make education accessible to poor children, the couple began NEEV School for the urban and rural underprivileged children in the year 2006. Apart from that, they also ran several projects including setting up self-help groups and micro-enterprises for rural women, setting up health centres and camps, learning centres and promoting sustainable farming practices amongst 600 farmer families.

“While the school successfully ran for almost a decade, sustenance was difficult, since we did not have any certain source of income. So with a very heavy heart, after trying our best to sustain the operations of the school, we shut it down in March 2018. It was difficult, but it taught us an important lesson. To keep the other projects running, we would have to find an alternative source of sustained income.”

The answer to this dilemma lay in the natural soapmaking workshops the NEEV school once ran for its Class 7 students.

Looking at the products, some of the village women in search of better livelihood opportunities, approached the couple. They expressed an interest in learning the manufacturing process of these natural soaps.

After six months of training, when the couple sold the soaps made by the women to their friends and family, they were mindblown at the feedback. Thus NEEV Herbal Handmade Soaps became the couple’s entrepreneurial venture.

Registered under the Khadi Village Industries Commission, the vision of the company is not only to generate profits to promote the activities of the NEEV Trust but also provide livelihood opportunities to  rural women while honouring the planet too.

What makes NEEV soaps different?

Shikha highlights:

As opposed to the soaps available in the market, Neev soaps are made with vegetable (coconut, castor, olive and mahua) and essential oils. They have no added chemicals or artificial colours.

Mahua Oil has been traditionally used by the tribal communities of Jharkhand and helps to keep the skin healthy and glowy. The couple’s organic farm provides most of the ingredients used in the soaps (e.g. rose, aloe vera, mehndi, ashwagandha, Shatavari, bhringraj, Brahmi, clove, basil, cucumber, amaranth, Harar, Behera, lemon etc.). Other ingredients like papaya, neem, khadira, tomato, carrot, drumstick, custard apple, are organically grown in the village.

All product formulations are based on Ayurveda, aromatherapy and naturopathy.

The products are mild and nourishing to the skin and do not rob the skin of its natural oil.

The soaps are made in small batches using cold-process method, which preserves the beneficial qualities of herbal ingredients. All of the products are handmade by rural women.

No air, water, or soil pollution is caused during the production of the soaps since the unit is as silent as any other village house using as much electricity and creating no wastage of any kind. The runoff water is used to water the couple’s farm.

The shelf life of all products is from six to 18 months and though this hurts the business, it is an assurance of the fact that there are minimal or no chemical preservatives in the products and that the consumers get to use freshly made herbal products.

Neev employs only rural women for the production of soaps. Though the current number of women working at the unit is about 50, till date, the unit has improved livelihoods for more than 400+ rural women. Most of whom also go to college and pay tuition fee through their income at the soap unit.

Describing the success of the soap venture, that also won a national award, Shikha adds,

“In 2008, when we showcased our products at a trade fair in Delhi, our first ever exhibition, our band of women who had never stepped outside their own villages on their own, travelled to the national capital. Many of the women who worked with us moved to take up jobs in sales jobs in malls and popular brands.”

The village that was once plagued with social issues such as mahua addiction, early marriages, violence, criminal activity, is now becoming more progressive. The immediate impact was the empowerment of the village women.

Praba Munda, who works at the unit, says, “I have lived the entirety of my life in this village. But it wasn’t until NEEV came to our village that my mind opened to the world that existed outside. It not only skilled me to produce soaps, lotions, oil, lip balms, shampoos and other body care products but made me financially independent. Earlier I had to ask my husband for money for any personal expenses, but now as a working woman, I can handle them on my own.”

As a recognition for their work, Anurag and Shikha have won various state and national-level awards. Their vision is to now set up other such units, and generate employment for more rural women.

Vision and what lies ahead for Neev

“The vision of Neev is to question the way man has lived on Earth and see all the limitations of his living, thereby bringing a mutation in the consciousness of man, for a.holistic way of living, free from all conflict. The way forward for Neev is to bring about this mutation in ourselves, and keep sharing the journey with others, engaging in dialogue with those who would be interested in the same vision,” smiles Anurag.

If this story inspired you, support Anurag and Shikha’s cause.

Buy their 100% eco-friendly handmade herbal soaps on Karnival here.

Also Read: No Additives, 100% Organic: Delhi Girl’s Love of Pickles Empowers Women!

(Edited by Saiqua Sultan)

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