Swadhina

                                                                  WOMEN’S DAY 2015

Every year International Women’s Day is an event we look forward to. Being a women’s organization, it is a special opportunity for us to reach out different issues to the masses, especially giving a reason for the women to celebrate a day specially designated to them. This year we decided to orgnise the day in three different venues, covering women from different backgrounds . So, the programmes were organized at Kolkata in West Bengal, Moubhandar near Ghatsila in East Singbhum-Jharkhand, Benasole village in Mosaboni block in East Singbhum-Jharkhand and Betnoti area in Mayurbhanj district of Orissa. While in Kolkata the invitees comprised of women from contrast backgrounds like women from urban locales as well as slum dwellers; in Benasole and Betnoti the participants were all tribal women belonging to the extremely impoverished rural regions whereas in Moubhandar it was an interesting mix of women belonging to Harijan colonies and women involved in factory work. The overall experience was richly rewarding because irrespective of the background, one thing was loud and clear – women are changing! The thought process, the involvement in the society, the participation of women were gradually undergoing a drastic change in the positive direction. What was more interesting was the fact that except in Kolkata where the meet was organized by Swadhina main office, the meets in the other two areas were organized totally by the local initiative with the whole-hearted involvement of local women. It was a sign that a positive change is finally happening!

1) Kolkata: 8^th March 2015 :

On 8^th March 2015, the day was celebrated near the main office premises at Kolkata. The community reading room of a local library was the venue. The programme began at 10:00 am and concluded at 2:00 pm.  35 women participants from different strata of the society took part in this meet. The event began with a welcome speech by Supta Mukherji, the founder of Swadhina. Swadhina Secretary Saswati welcomed everyone to join in for a song. A popular song of Tagore was chosen as the inaugural song. All the   participants sang along.

A section of the participants

Smriti read out the theme paper. Highlighting the historical significance of Women’s Day, the theme paper touched upon the commitment for the coming days in the Post 2015 scenario where the violation of women’s rights are to be considered a serious human rights issue. She stressed on the fact that 2015 is a landmark year since it is the beginning of a new era when we can rectify the shortfalls of the MDG  goals and put forward new issues that have come across in the past decade. Chhanda then went on to give a brief about Swadhina and how it was contributing to the women’s empower-ment process as a whole. She also spoke on what activities could be incorporated into Swadhina’s future activities to ensure a meaningful contribution to Post 2015 agenda.This was followed by an interesting pictoral presentation on women – stories of women who came from simple background but brought in a change in the society. From Savitribai Phule to Mary Roy; from Mary Kom to Bachendri Pal – the stories gave an insight into how women have the capacity to fight against odds, against social norms and against a system that can think of women only in stereotype roles. This was followed by an interaction where each one was asked to describe as to why she felt that she was special. While one pointed out how she was managing home, her job as a teacher with equal elan, the other pointed out as to how she worked for the poor children and helping them express themselves through various art forms. A few felt that they were ‘merely housewives’ which did not involve much creativity. This myth was dispelled through a game. Posters of different vegetables were kept unseen and the participants were divided into groups of two. Each group was asked to select any three vegetables without seeing the picture. They were then asked to plan out a meal for guests using only those three vegetables, without any restriction on spices. Each of the teams came up with some brilliant food courses beginning from starters to desserts! They were even asked to share the recipes! At the end of the exercise, everyone was convinced that there couldn’t be a better creative process than being a home-maker!

This was followed by yet another activity where each had to narrate an incident from their lives that they feel was daring. The activity threw up many interesting stories – from combating harassers on train to travelling abroad for the first time – the activity gave a very good opportunity to the women to look back at incidents that brought out the daring beings in them. For instance there was this woman from the slum areas who narrated how Swadhina had given opportunity to a handful of young slum women to present a play in front of a huge audience for the first time. “That was the first time we were ever standing on a stage, leave alone performing”, she added with a smile. She then went on to narrate how then on their group had performed various plays at various places.

The following activity was yet another interesting activity where each participant had to contribute a paragraph and build on a story. It was interesting how the story of a girl emerged as a process where the finale was in empowerment of the girl. Interestingly everyone of the participants, though coming from diverse backgrounds, focused on education and social involvement of the girl, rather than on marriage!

An over-whelmed Mala Roy Chowdhury hands over a token donation
as a mark of solidarity to Swadhina during the event.

Finally there was a play-read session by Smriti and Srichandra about the experiences of a maid and her old, lady employer about ‘Valentine’s Day’! Peppered with humour the play highlighted how we often fall into the folly of being unfriendly mothers-in-law without realizing how we could ourselves seek happiness ourselves! In between the participants expressed their talents in music by enthralling others with some great songs! The programme finally concluded with a group song.

2) Moubhandar: 14^th March 2015:

On 14th March the International Women's Day was celebrated at Moubhandar in Ghatsila region in East Singbhum  in the presence of 32 participants. The programme was organised at the Worker’s Union Community office located at Moubhandar.

A performance by Swadhina Social Choir team

The program began with an introduction of each of the participants . The programme began with a song rendition by school teachers Mita Chatterjee and Ratna Das.The Swadhina Social Choir team  dressed in yellow cloak set the tempo of the day with a Hindi  song “Asma hai Pita, Bharat Bhoomi Maa” – a song stressing on the need to resolve all conflicts and build a situation of communal harmony .

  The whole program was  coordinated by Swdhina Secretary, Ms. Saswati Roy. She gave a brief speech about the foundation and establishment of Swadhina . Swadhina founder and tresaurer Ms Supta Mukherji  reminisced about the struggling days of Swadhina and how Swadhina had worked towards the vision of women’s empowerment many years ago.

Swaswati explains about Women Change-Makers through Flash-Cards 

In the next part  Saswati  narrated the history of Interntional Women's Day from the hand outs. She explained how International Women's day is  homage  given to the women  liberation movement which started in 1908  in America where the women workers of the cotton mills in America demanded three things : 1)Reduction of working hours 2)Voting rights 3)Equal wages for women workers. She then went to detail out the visions in the Post 2015 period for Women’s Movement, highlighting on ensuring the basic human rights to every woman of every strata of the society.

Zilla Parishad Chairperson Sonia Samant speaks

The chief guest of this meeting was Zilla Parishad Chairperson Ms. Sonia Samant who gave an inspirational speech urging women to shed their inhibitions and work towards women’s empowerment – for themselves as well as for their next generation. She stressed on the need for overall participation of women in all spheres of the society – including political participation.

The best part of the celebration was the way each and every woman took this opportunity to express themselves and display their hidden talents in one way or the other. Anita Sing read out from her personal writing, social activist Supriti Murmu shared her feeling  about the day explaining  that all the women who have privilege to gain education should think about deprived women and help them become literate,                                                                                                   

 Sandhya Kumari and Nilima Sarkar recited poems , Pramila Mishra sang a beautiful song.                                                                                            

Smriti Sarkar from Swadhina gave a presentation through Flash Cards about women change-makers, who had dared to give wings to their dreams. Following this all the women present there were asked to share their dreams and achievements. This was a wonderful session where the women could share the dreams they had nurtured but were not able to fulfil or dreams that they still think possible.

Different games were played through which the role of womanhood was celebrated.

The day concluded by singing the Hindi version of the song – “We shall overcome”.

3) Benasole: 15^th March 2015:

On 15th March the International Women's Day is celebrated at the Benasole Panchyat Bhavan  .The 

Swadhina Social Choir shares a song on Dowry harrasment

The Magic Show liked by the villagers very much !

program started  with the opening song “Hum Ek Hai” by Swadhina Social Choir team, followed by Swadhina song “Manush to ek din”. This program was also coordinated  by Swadhina seceratary Saswati Roy.The welcome speech was given by  founder- treasurer Ms. Supta Mukherji . Swadhina field worker Kumari Rajbiri  read out the history of International Women's Day. She also explained how Women’s Day has become a crucial platform for bringing women’s issues to the forefront. A flash-card journey through the lives of different women change-makers prompted many women to share the challenges that they face in their daily lives. During the interactive session the local women came up to explain how their little kitchen gardens have become their own symbols of rights over their land. Many interesting games were organised for the women through which they could not only bring their talents to the forefront but could also share knowledge.

The finale included an entertainment package for them – a magic show! Being a women living in the rural areas, seldom do they get the privilege of.The finale included an entertainment package for them – a magic show! Being a women living in the rural areas, seldom do they get the privilege of.

but could also share knowledge.The finale included an entertainment package for them – a magic show! Being a women living in the rural areas, seldom do they get the privilege of.

4) Betnoti : 26^th March 2015: 

On 26.3.15 from 10 am-2pm at Benoti Women's community center Swadhina celebrated International Women's Day . The partcipants attended in this celebration came from 4  villages surrounding the region . 70 women partcipated in this program .

A section of the participants listen while Participatory Resource Mapping prepared by them adorn the wall ! 

A team travelled from Kolkata to Betnoti to attend this program. Swadhina Social Troupe members sang Oriya song ”Bhaiya re kori jaa” and Hindi song “Asma hai pita Bharat bhumi ma”. Swdhina Orissa Field Co-ordinator Nirmala Sahu gave a short speech on history of women's day . She 

Active participation

explained about the women’s liberation movement  that occured  in 1908 in USA. Swdhina's tresaurer and founder Ms Supta Mukherji reminisced about earlier struggling days of Swadhina .In her short speech she welcomed every partcipant  and narrated the back ground of Swadhina as an establishment. She also said that the main goal of Swadhina was the upliftment of women’s social status  through education and empowerment. She said that children's health and education is another area  were Swadhina concentrate on.

The chief guest in this program   was Mukhiya of Benoti Panchayat Smt. Panmoni Dinda . During her speech she said that she firmly believed that no nation can develop without the  development of women .She thanked Swadhina for taking initiatives to build awareness among women . On this occasion chairperson of women's community group Smt Sanjukat Majaya and Assistant Chairperson Binota Bera was also present.From Swadhina Kolkata team  Manju Bairagi  spoke on how women must have and exert their rights over different  government schemes like Indira Awas Yojana, Antaday  Ration card scheme, Old-age Pension scheme etc which help women in becoming self reliant . She also spoke on how kitchen garden could help women in establishing their rights over the family land. Inviting women to be part of this process, token seed support were given to marginalized women.

This was followed by different group games.All the participants present there was divided into 5  groups each groups were given a piece of papers were   vegatbles name were written each groups were asked to share a recipe made out of those vegetables .A game was played where the participants had to enact the topic given to them without speaking a single word. The program ended with a group song.

 photo: NAVA Communication, Kolkata