Dear womyn,
Again I send you warm (and it is getting hot) greeting from India. Since my last notes I spent many days on trains, seeing new towns and cities, being welcomed into women's homes and enjoying the many different traditional foods from their regions. I feel honored and blessed and well taken care of. Yet it is not always easy to be without a place of my own and sometimes go through phases of feeling quite alone. So strange how one can feel alone amongst millions. Realizing that feeling alone is really just a state of mind. The next day, even though the circumstances have not changed, I can feel very much part of the whole again. I started having hot flashes, menopause triggering changes in my hormonal make up.
When I look at all that I think I am doing real good. Last night I had a good laugh, when my friend in Delhi (arrived here last night) showed me an article on me that appeared in the 'Times of India' in Delhi a couple of weeks ago. It said ... (I quote) "Ridder looks deceptively frail because of her build and wrinkled face"....
When I left Allahabad (from where I wrote you last) I had a memorable experience at the train station. I see an old man (untouchable) sitting at the edge of the tracks (ditch) and watch something intently. I follow his gaze and see the bottom of the rail ditch being a moving furry carpet ... of rabbit size rats. A sight that will be etched into my memory forever!
I spent 2 days and nights on the train to Madras. I love these Indian trains. Comfortable place to sleep, a service you cannot imagine. Good food, tea as much as you desire, cookies, fruit whatever your belly calls for. Just sitting there and watching the villages, the farms, the fields and cities pass by. I did splurge (with twinges of guilt) on an $80 ticket, which is the 2nd class air conditioned sleeper. The non air con sleeper is $20. This ticket comes with having much more safety concerns around luggage and being such a novelty I'd have to communicate with men all the time. They have no sense of privacy. Amongst the educated folks it is no problem to be silent, read and write and the luggage is safe. When I was younger I never thought twice about taking the cheep tickets. How times change! (comes with the wrinkled face!)
From Madras another 4 hour bumpy bus ride to Auroville (international community of 1500 members dedicated to the vision of the 'Mother' and Sri Aurobindo, one third are Indian). It was great to connect with some old friends. I started out staying with a friend who has built her palm hut on stilts very close to the ocean. Sleeping on her porch under the stars, listening to the waves was such a welcome change after the smoggy Asian cities. Renting a moped, driving the country roads in rural India, staying with several different friends, visiting the meditation chamber of the Matrimandir (temple to the 'Mother' , with a 3 foot crystal ball in the centre of a 12 sided white marble chamber) was a treat beyond words for this country gal.
My Canadian friend, S., works with midwives of rural India since 6 years. She was conducting a weekly group of Tamil (south Indian) girls (17 to 23 years old) on body literacy. I took over those 3 hours with them that week, working on 'boundaries'. With every word needing to be translated 3 hours went very fast. I think they enjoyed it as much as I did. The women here look very distinct from the rest of India. A unique different kind of beauty. Very dark skinned, small built, and with fresh string of fragrant flowers in their hair every day! Female infanticide is very high in Tamil Nadu. Their way of life is considered backwards compared to other areas of India.
Certainly the concept of boundary was unheard of for them. Lots of giggles and insecurities around saying no, even as we made a game of it....
I conducted a full workshop for western women here. They were Hungarian, Dutch, Austrian, Swedish, French and Swiss, mostly tourists. Not all were fluent in English, but I could cover it myself with French and German. I certainly appreciated being able to do my own translating. When someone else does it I just never know for sure what they add or leave out. Sometimes I can 'catch' it in Hindi, but not always. 3 of the young women there had been raped within the last year travelling. For one it had just been 3 weeks. Actually that one was an attempted rape by 3 men. She got out kicking and screaming, but understandably so was still very traumatized.
It was a very powerful workshop and interesting to see the different issues of (young) western women. Domestic violence for instance never got mentioned, which is a first and foremost issue for the Indian women of all ages.
Then we received the sad news of a good friend's death (accident) in Auroville. Gioia ... you are missed!
Next I took an overnight bus to Bangalore, in the state of Karnataka, where their language is Kannada (!). This is the 3rd language belt I am in. This workshop was organized by a group named Sangama (meeting place) for sexual minority groups (gay, lesbian, khoti [gay male main category], hijras [castrated males or eunuchs], transgender and transsexuals).
I had agreed to include hijras in the workshop. We had a very diverse group. 12 so called biological women, (of which 1 was a Muslim) and 3 hijras. Age ranged between 19 and 40. Some of the women were not aware of coming to a sexual minority centre. The role plays were fascinating with the variety of issues these women are dealing with.
Hijras (penis and testicles removed, no sex change though) have had a role in the Indian society since a long time. They are considered a blessing when coming to a birth. Reason being that they take the baby away, if it is a hermaphrodite. They are given money when they come to a birth. Coming to a wedding they sing and dance, make laughter and get paid for that. In public it is considered a shame for one to sit next to a man, so the men give them money to go away. They come like that through the trains, dressed in their saris - obvious hijras. The upper class hijras are sexworkers. Those were the ones in the workshop. 2 of which are in their 20's. Very attractive hijras, not overly feminine, very ordinary dress. They are very self confident in who they are and what they do. But they are victims of abuse and violence by so called rowdies and police. Being raped for days in the police station is not uncommon for them or gay men. It is against the law 'after all' to indulge in "acts against nature", as the British termed it as they made Indian laws more than a hundred years ago on homosexuality (women are not mentioned).
The Sangama group was working on an interesting project when I was there. They got a job of fact finding and organizing a press conference on the present issues surrounding the daliths (untouchables). There are 8000 Daliths, mainly women sweeping and cleaning the garbage out of the city of Bangalore. They are paid Cdn $20 a month. Minimum wage is $38. They cannot feed themselves and their families with that. The bonus they get is sexual harassment/abuse and they have some health problems relating to that they cannot urinate through the day (no one will let them use their toilets). Men piss anywhere of course. Bangalore is known for its cheep software production. Now there are visions of turning Bangalore into another clean Singapore. Some big Corporations want to take over the cleaning of the city with waste disposal machines and let go of the Daliths all together, even sweep them out of sight! So the activists are taking on their plight.
As well there are big dams being built and displacing hundreds of thousand land-based tribal people with no adequate compensation. Many activists are working on that. Interesting enough many leading activists (not all!) come from the most privileged cast, the Brahmins. People who are very educated and reject their privilege.
Next another 2 day train ride to Baroda, Gujarat. Again I was welcomed by a woman unknown to me, Mamta. I arrived 2 days early to tackle the challenge of finding boards in a new town for the workshop. Am amazed how much easier it is getting though. The way to go about anything here is soooo different.
The group that organized here is the women's centre called 'Olakh'. They just moved into their new space. A wonderful new 2 story house. They have a great library on women's issues as well as fiction by women in English, Gujarati and Hindi. They have a mobile library they take out to outlying villages and areas that had been struck by the earthquake. Mobile meaning that they take books in bags and take them on the train and buses. One week they take them, then go back 2 weeks later and dialogue with the women on the particular issues. It has been a great success as far as consciousness raising goes and dealing with pressing women's issues.
Also Mamta has been instrumental in starting a 'people's court'. They (mainly elder women) meet weekly in the parks holding court. People come with marital problems, dowry issues, debt problems, family violence issues, etc. Things are dealt with immediately until they make agreements. Not like the inefficient judicial system, which is costly and takes years to resolve, if ever.
My workshop had 19 activists. Some very important issues were addressed for them. 2 strong women out of this workshop committed to do the training. They are very determined to continue the work in their region.
12 hour train later I arrived in Delhi yesterday. Am here to meet with my supporters and plan out the next 2 months. Instructor training is planned for April. It will go in 3 phases. There is no way I could safely complete the program with them in my time left here after April. This means coming back next winter and the need to find funding again for the airfare at least. Another lesson in trust for all of us. We'll take it one step at a time.
For March Calcutta is organizing for a basic workshop, so is Bangalore again, perhaps Kerala and Auroville has asked for me to return. More time on the Indian rail system ... good thing I enjoy it!
I hope all of you are well, staying safe and enjoying life on the planet!
Gitta
taught by
 B.C., Canada, 1 (604) 876-6390 |
Contact Wenlido and Gitta
Women Educating in Self-defense Training (WEST).