Alka Gadgil, Maharashtra
Fifty-three year old Arpita Mumbarkar is a women’s rights activist and an advocate of liquor prohibition. In the late 90’s, she had started working in Mithmumbri village in Sidhudurga District of Maharashtra. While working in the village, she learned about a Dalit women’s group called ‘Panchsheel Mahila Mandal’ that had become inactive over the years. Arpita, with a strong belief in bringing women together, reactivated the group.
Arpita Mumbarkar
Breaking the chain of misogyny
Earlier the group was into small saving and lending. They would also organize cultural and religious programmes like Haldi Kunku and Sankranti – the events in which only married women whose husband is alive could participate. It was primarily a Brahminical ritual in which widows and deserted women were not allowed to participate. To transform these practices, Arpita started conscientizing the women of the village and made them realise that they should not engage in such misogynistic and caste-based events although they might be popular. Vata-Savitri festival is celebrated across Maharashtra in which married women pray and fast to secure long and healthy life for their husband. According to Hindu mythology Savitri was the greatest Pativrata (husband worshiper) and goddess incarnation who brought back her dead husband to life by calling upon God. A huge section of women find this ritual problematic because it’s based on a superstition that rituals and prayers can save someone’s life. Furthermore, it reinforces the notion that a man is at the centre of a woman’s existence and without him, a woman is forever lost.
New research on the folklore suggests that Savitri was an authority on herbs and she used her knowledge to cure her husband who was suffering from a fatal disease. Arpita tried to sensitize women of the village and they started thinking critically about traditions, faiths, and legends. The group decided to start another kind of ‘Savitri Utsav’ – it was in remembrance of Mahatma Jotiba Phule’s wife Savitribai Phule who was a great social reformer, educationist and poet.
Fighting Alcoholism and Domestic Violence
On one hand, they were keeping fasts for their husband’s long life and on the other, they were suffering because of domestic violence. Due to paucity of workers in the district, the local work force is usually in demand. But men work only if liquor is provided by the employer. Spouses of about 20 women members of 40 were found to be alcoholic. Arpita figured that alcoholism was a pressing issue in women’s lives as it led to domestic violence. When Arpita started working in the village, it was the first issue that she had to deal with. During one of the SHG meetings, on hearing cries of a woman being beaten up by her husband in the neighbourhood, Arpita intervened along with the group. Noticing women’s group marching towards the house, the husband fled. But he never raised his voice after this incident. In another instance, a woman held the hand of her husband who was about to hit her. After her retaliation he stopped his aggression. For the women it was a moment reckoning. They became aware of the strength of the collective. They started helping each other and intervened when someone from the village was harassed and reported it.
Challenging the Caste System
A parallel fight that Arpita had taken up was against the blatant caste discrimination in the region. There was a time when the locals shunned Dalits and wouldn’t give them work. Today, situation has improved a little as now all communities have started offering work to Dalits. But they have not yet wholly accepted them; they still won’t allow Dalits in their kitchen or their shrines.
Arpita shares one such incident where the group faced discrimination at a public event. The Women and Child Welfare Department often organizes various activities at the district and block level. One such activity was a food fair and recipe competition among the SHGs of the Devgad block. Each SHG had a stall of its own in the fair. The groups prepared local specialties along with fast food items. Each SHG was asked to put up its name and logo on a banner. The food fair received a huge foot fall. The local media covered the event, but they didn’t report that the footfall at the Panchasheel Mahila Mandal of the Buddha wadi was dismal. While the planning of the fair was going on, Arpita had requested the organizers to not make it mandatory to put up the name-boards of the SHG. But they didn’t consider her suggestion. The name of the Dalit SHG was ‘Panchasheel’ – (five principles of peaceful coexistence, propagated by Buddha). Buddhism’s edicts, icons and names are associated with neo-Buddhists or Dalits. Hence the visitors didn’t care to visit the ‘Panchasheel’ stall because it was run by Dalit women. It’s becoming difficult to annihilate caste; in fact, it’s alive and kicking and it takes different shapes.
Arpita had to spend a lot of time on the issue of caste discrimination as she tried to implement integrational programmes. She worked with the Gram Panchayat and the idea of organizing a festival of forest vegetables (Raan bhaajya) materialized. Majority of people had never heard about Raan Bhaajya, and some of the varieties of forest vegetables had just disappeared due to loss of soil and biodiversity. It became difficult to get them from the market and they were found only in hinterlands. People thronged to the venue, for them it was a novelty. Arpita had asked the Panchayat to do a good amount of publicity which finally paid off. The two days of fair was very tiring for the SHG as the stream of people just wouldn’t stop. In a matter of two days each member of the SHG got Rs 3000. A dish of Kalava (a variety of fish) and Kothimbir (coriander) Vadi, were some of the items which became a rage with visitors. Due to the success of the event the Dalit group got a shot in the arm. Otherwise, they used to feel worthless in front of upper caste women. “They make such lovely and stylish dishes…. we don’t have those skills,” they used to say. But when they started to recount their own traditional dishes, they gained confidence.
After experiencing success women were ready for bigger challenges. Mumbaikars who hail from Devgad make it a point to attend the Kunkeshwar Temple’s annual festival. The Panchasheel SHG decided on an ambitious plan of managing the parking lot. The minders on duty were strictly told to not leave the parking area even for a minute. Their food was served on the site. Each woman managed the parking for 8 hours, they even did night duty for three days as the festival events went on beyond midnight on all days. They were able to earn about INR 1.5 lakhs in a span of three days. There was a fixed charge for parking, but some car owners were so pleased with the arrangements that they offered handsome tips to the women managers.
Due to Arpita’s intervention a number of Savarna women have also joined the SHG. It was a big leap of faith. In addition to Buddhist events, they also started organizing programmes on special days like – Shivaji and Shahu Maharaja’s birth anniversaries. These programmes led to social convergence. Savarnas who had shied away from celebrating Phule-Ambedkar birth anniversaries started participating. Due to Arpita’s relentless work, Savarna women have become an integral now part of the Panchasheel Mahila Bachat Gat which was founded by Dalit women and for several years it continued to be a Dalit Bachat Gat. Arpita’s mediation is slowly making its mark and her determinant and confident journey is progressing in a realistic and secure way.
Alka Gadgil is a development worker from Maharashtra. Share your feedback on features@charkha.org
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