The Women's World

SEWA

I always looked at this building, while travelling to the old city of Ahmedabad via Ellisbridge. Situated on the eastern bank of river Sabarmati, It was an old humble structure, with a logo depicting a woman carrying a tasla on her head. I never thought, that one day I would be a regular visitor there, and a new world will unfold. A world I peeked in through the book, “We are poor, but So many?” written by the visionary Elaben Bhatt, who was behind the birth of this wonderful organisation called SEWA. Elaben saw a vision, which was to provide women engaged in self employment, dignity of work and respect in society, and this vision has shaped Self Employment Women’s Association (SEWA). SEWA is managed by all women members, with a finesse. It is getting strengthened each day, with confidence of its members.

“Amari SEWA bahu saari chhe” (Our SEWA is very good). I have now listened to this sentence innumerable times since last two weeks of my research work, talking to women members of SEWA. Women earning a living by selling vegetables, fruits, daily household goods and other various items of daily life. Women, who have made street as their workplace, and constant struggle for space their fate. Women, who stitch garments from their shack dwellings for few rupees a dozen, which we buy for thousands of Rupees in a super-store. Women, who chose to participate in a huge informal sector for running their families. Women, whose contribution to urban economy goes unnoticed due to rigid formalized calculations of GDP. Women, who have come together to create an association of more than 5 lakh members (Gujarat, 2008) to fight for their rights in a dense urban space hijacked by elite groups and their exclusive visions of a city.

Each day, I get immensely impressed by the women leaders of SEWA who have put their heart and soul to create such a big organisation, connecting more and more women with the benefits of being together. These are real leaders who have fought with Police, Municipal Corporation and other hostile agencies on a regular basis for space and decent human behavior. One day I ask a leader for Home-based workers, if her husband ever got threatened by the work she does. She tells me, “ I lived in my parent’s house for more than a year after marriage, but did not leave my work, I was in love with it, It gave me independence and respect in society”. Today, SEWA has over 30,000 home based workers members. Similar feeling is of many women, who feel that SEWA has given them a confidence to talk to agencies and fight for their rights. When a lady says "Abhi hum kisi se bhi baat kar sakte hain, pehla aisa nahee thaa." (Now we can talk to anyone, it was not the case before), I sense utter confidence in her talks, and a sense of pride for her own work. 

While, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation is busy framing a skewed vision for a city, taxing public spaces, barricading rivers, removing settlers & age old vendor markets and building model roads just for cars and two wheeler ignoring pedestrians to compete with Shanghai, this woman vendor who has been displaced from Bhadra fort due to Bhadra Fort Heritage Revitalization Project asks me. Kise chahiye banjar quila? Hum hain to raunak hai, aur yahee to shaher ko chahiye (Who needs a barren fort? The vibrance is because of us, and this is what the city needs.). I wondered if heritage actually has any meaning without the culture. These women teach me everyday, how to cooperate, coordinate, fight, struggle and still be happy and energized. Their questions give me sleepless nights. What about the poor women whose earnings have remained one fourth of what it used to be, owing to displacement from riverbank where her work existed? She was displaced just because the city thought that land should be used for a 5-Star World Class hotel, and a fancy riverfront. She was displaced because so called urban planners were not able to accommodate just 6-7 per cent of land for her and her settlement in their world class plans. I keep thinking, and her struggle to make ends meet continues.

I read in the newspaper few days back that thousands of vendors are going to be removed from 7 Model Roads in the city. Model for whom? for what? Is it a model for snatching livelihood from thousands of people, and a natural market from buyers or is it is a model of mindless decision making, by blindfolded bureaucrats whose brains are mortgaged to few influential people including consultants who see & show money in everything? I suddenly remember, the hindi translation for the word model, and its twisted usage “Namoona hai ekdum!!”. Now this is something, which cannot be translated.