Bioscope

A visit to Dilli Haat took us back down memory lane, where as kids back in 1980s & early 1990s this was a scene from any lane or by-lanes of any Indian town or city. Wonder how many were inspired by this in the past, today just a showcase at the prestigious Dilli Haat.

Never mind we do have the idiot box to snub our kids creativity.

Just another Indian woman

She is around 40, hails from a village in West Bengal where electricity is yet to make its appearance. School was a few days dream for her.  When she was merely out of her teens, she was married off to a stranger from Uttar Pradesh.  She has two kids, a 20- year old daughter and a 10-year old son.  Her husband is an alcoholic and a gambler.  He does not earn a penny, beats her, and throws her out of the house.  She now works as a domestic help, her daughter is suffering from high fever and is lying unattended in UP. Her son is being raised by a kind doctor in the south.

A common Indian story, right?

Not quite.

What makes her special is her indomitable spirit...her thirst for knowledge.  At this age, she uses the little free time she has to learn how to read, write, and do simple calculations.

At one hand she wants to know if airplanes fly by lord shiva in heaven.  On the other, she wants to know how to read the meters in auto rickshaws. she tells her children not to waste time in chatting with friends but to read the news papers instead.  She longs for some love and security but has none. She dreads that she wouldn't even have a place to stay when she grows old. She gets no legal help in that village in UP to get her due as a helpless woman whose husband treats her cruelly. Her family, poor as they are, is in no condition to travel to UP and stand by her while she fights for her rights.

And the last but the most difficult part is that she is physically challenged.  Her auditory capability is next to nil. Without the highest power hearing aid, she will not get to hear the loudest car horns on the busiest Indian roads and might be mowed down by a speeding truck. Her eye sight is also failing.

She wants to get her daughter married but has no dowry to offer.

Her dream is to fly. If only we can help her break the millions-of-years-old shackles of poverty, suppression of women in a male society, and tricks played by nature on her physical capacities.

How can we help?

By getting her some legal aid in fighting for her rights, by trying to get her daughter married without dowry, and by pulling in an organisation or a fund that will help her purchase her hearing aids when needed (priced at 6000 INR at least) and get her a pair of contact lenses.

Spread the word and respond if you or any organisation is ready to support the cause.