A Letter to All

26.08.2014

Dear All,

I wouldn’t know how to make for the content of this letter but what I would ask of you all, before you start reading this letter, is to set aside all you’re doing, sit for a minute, and take your time to scroll down as you read the contents of this letter, for at the end of it, I would require of you all to make a moral decision, a decision which might seem a little dazed but beyond an individual alone for it would require engaging one’s affirmed self to do what one would think is rightful - the morally rightful.

I say this considering and giving due weightage to the fact that I am not someone who has scaled moral heights, but rather I am at the ledge of a precipice. With that I have set out to write to you. To make for the content I pondered a lot, thought what I could do, and finally thought of sending the letter out to you all in the good faith that its content would be understood with good reason.

The internship requires us (Aparna and I) to be posted in the Baduria block in North 24 Parganas. This place has its own issues, from arsenic yellow water to malnourished mothers and children. Life is slow paced, development occurs, programs run their ‘vertical course’, and the divide between the government’s actions and the communities’ needs remains prima facie. Primarily an agriculture based area, the means and resources of income are limited. Viable economic resources and work participation of women is poor, and so is their health. However, the Block does perform well on other social indicators such as education, but falters in many including inter gender disparity. Thus, women here have poorer outcomes in health and education and are more prone to social malpractices. Many are victims of child and women trafficking as there exists a porous border.

Amidst this Block is the village of Atghara where we currently reside. It has what is called a Short Stay home called Ananda Kendra (a program run by the NGO called SEVA also in part financed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Central Social Welfare Board, Government of India). We live in there amidst the children in the same building which houses the office and the guest rooms.

Ananda Kendra is a project which has been in operation since 1984 when Mr. Asok Ghosh, now an octogenarian, decided to quit his ‘plush’ government work and devote himself to the upliftment of the people of Atghara. There have been successes and failures, from his beginning his stay in a mud hut and the kaccha roads, to the first electrical pole being erected. This village, like many a village in India, has its own story. The village has transformed itself over the past thirty years. From the village bazaar to the petty stores, Asok da (as he is lovingly called) helped transform lives. From a place where everyone was used to defecating in the open fields, all houses now have a toilet of their own. Improvement in sanitation needed a social voice and it found it in Asokda. The home is an allegory of what one can achieve when collective commitment and participation is undertaken and when people unite for upliftment. It’s one of its kind in the Block and among four others which exist in the district. It houses girls, from as young as three to adolescents, and working women above the age of twenty one. They number about forty in all. Many girls have walked out of the house, better off in life, settled and living a gainful life which gave them opportunities. Many have come back to Asokda to thank him for his efforts. These girls stay here and eat frugal meals (however they receive an egg three to four times a week).They lead all the workings of a village life, they attend schools; one of them is also on her way towards pursuing education in the field of Nursing. They all have a story to tell, from women who have been victims of violence to girls who have been abused by their near ones. Each one has some pain within, but it is all overshadowed by the world they call Ananda Kendra.

Today, however has been a sad day. Asokda had a silence befallen on him and his demeanour was agonising. On discussions, it became apparent that the Ministry had decided in a sweeping circular to stop funding the program as the social sector funding is facing a crunch. Funded till August with no acknowledgement for the future, the program was dwindling. With a single circular, the mainstay of support had been withdrawn without any consideration for the fact there was no ostentatious living. We have been here and are party to the same. We all try living a Spartan life; the girls wear old clothes but clean. They all eat simple meals, but their laughter fills the room. They all monkey around, but are hard-working and look towards a bright future.

They all want a story. For them to live here, it would require a monthly expenditure of about 500 rupees without them falling sick. Most of them are a little anaemic, but the rate of falling sick is low. They feed themselves fruits which grow in the lawns and do all the workings which would help empower them. Little joys make their lives more than it would be in their own homes.

There are no restrictions but they have a sense of freedom, security and responsibility. They make this their home.

With the cut in funding and other programs of the organisation also being stretched, these girls have been asked with a heavy heart to leave. A week is all they have. Many have cried and a gloom has set on many for the uncertainties they face in the world outside Ananda Kendra.

Pushing the state in its requirement is a long drawn affair, but to begin to make it sustaining it needs us, the community at large. We too owe a responsibility, we all do. Asokda and the children of Ananda Kendra need us. I wouldn’t know if it is right to ask of money for that doesn’t solve it. What it requires is social support, what it requires is you. Spread this word. Word of this among your friends from Social Work, other schools and other centres. I know you would all be busy. Internship is a busy phase and our careers are at our doorstep. But do give this a thought. Anyone, anyone with a spirit to help is welcome, anyone who could help advise us and help these girls to best attain what they wish to. I am not knowledgeable enough on how to go about it, but my conscience made me write this to you all and the tears of the little girls who helped make this place home for a little while.

Spread it and help us.

Help make the choice…..the rightful choice!

Rohit Samuel Shah is a 2nd year M.A. student from the school of Health Administration TISS, Mumbai.