At breakfast, we’re all eating aaloo puri at a dhaba on the way to Kandhamal, when Ravi attempts
to speak to the waiter guy in Oriya.
“Na na.. Ami finish kar chhanti..”
Bengali – English – Hindi – Oriya.
Genius.
It’s a long way to Kandhamal and we pass through a major
part of rural/tribal Orissa, all through the shades-of-green hills, passing
these kuchha – pucca huts spattered
across the countryside. Nice thick vegetation here. But it is like the middle of nowhere. Rakesh remarks, “If you kidnap someone and
bring them here and keep them, no one will be able to find. Who will even think
to look here? And where all will they look? Impossible.”
“Why are you giving everybody ideas?” I said.
We reach Kandhamal at Divyajyoti Pastoral Center at
Kanjamendi Village, where the building was brutally burned and nun was raped
during the riots that happened in October 2008. Yesterday, before leaving, we
were all briefed that this would be a solemn affair, and we should not say or
do anything that would trigger any memories of the incident and provoke a
reaction. But when we reach here, there is jubilation in the air, the people
are so happy to see us! They were so
enthusiastic and all smiles! There was a whole procession to receive us about
200 metres before the gate and there’s drums and singing and dancing and
clapping.. The positive spirit of community and togetherness is so evident.. It
was beautiful..
We enter the building and see the scorch marks
everywhere. The floors, the ceilings, the walls, the corners.. Some parts were
cracked or broken with a few layers of mortar missing. A whole lot had been
restored, but the people had consciously left the scars on the walls as a
reminder of what they had been through. What I found incredible was that they
kept this visual in front of them everyday and chose to rise above it, stronger,
allowing it to be part of their past, but not letting it rule them. The
contrasting optimism and upbeat attitude was exceptionally inspiring. It makes
you look at your own life in perspective, and realize how sometimes small
things can bring us down, and what true strength and resilience actually is.
Powerful stuff..
Ravi’s been learning a couple of lines in the language of
each place we’ve been. He learnt from Rakesh how to say in Oriya, “Hello. I am
very happy to be here and greeting you all. A very warm namaskar.”
I think he mixed
up a vowel somewhere, in one word,
and he ended up saying, “Hello. I am a fool for being here and greeting you all.”
Ha ha!
The people at Kandhamal had prepared such an excellent
program for us, rich with traditional songs and dances. And the interaction was
so much fun! Rakesh led in Oriya and helped translate when any questions were
asked. And Sister fuelled the women empowerment section and the reaction was
soooo funny!
“You should not let your husband hit you! If the guy
slaps you, you give him 2 back, dont stand for it! Why should he treat you any
less than himself? Are you?? Haan?
And this whole system of dowry is also wrong! Girls will you give dowry?”
All the girls in the audience yell “No!”
“You should not. It is wrong to take money when you are
taking a girl to be your life partner. Why do you need to? You are getting a
girl to spend your life with, is she not valuable enough that you must take
money also? You boys! Why you take so much money? You should be giving money! You take money and gold
and car AND the girl also.. What re?”
One of the gents said, “The thing is, one man earns only
so much. They keep asking for money for lipstick and clothes and all, how much
can one man pay? So it’s like an investment for the future.”
“Then when she asks for lipstick and all, you tell her
she looks beautiful as she is. She doesn’t need any of that.”
“Arre then Sister, they will go after another man only!”
The crowd erupts into laughter and even Sister cant help
but to join them.
But the message of how this practice is wrong rang
through clearly. At least the girls refused to stand for it. It was great to
see how such a serious issue could also be learnt through humor.
Later in the discussion, the topics shift to a deeper
focus. The audience starts asking things like – we want to study, higher
education and this will help us have a better future. But we dont have the
money for this.. What should we do?
Rakesh said that a lot of what was holding them back was
not so much money, but mindset. He told a story about how on the way here he
saw this fully grown elephant chained in this truck. It wasn’t moving, trying
to break the chain at all. And it wasn’t like the chain was really strong or
anything. He could have easily given one fierce tug and that would be it. But
probably, when the elephant was in its childhood, he must have been chained and
despite trying so hard, coudnt break it. So it gradually stopped trying and
eventually grew up with this mentality that it could not break through. Here
the situation feels the same. You’ve been told for so long that you are tribals
and backward classes, so you cannot do anything or become anything important.
But it’s not true. You need to break these chains in your minds. You can do
anything you put your mind to. You have all the talent and ability as any other
person. Just don’t hold yourself back.
Another person asked something about how they can make a
change in society being from the tribes or classes they were from. Before
Rakesh could respond, Ravi got up and took the mic. He said that any change
that has to be made begins with you. If you want to fix something, you must
change yourself from within first. Don’t think that you cant. Make yourself strong from inside and go forward to make the
change in society and the world around you. He said a whole bunch of other
things, but the entire vein was on getting it out of their heads that they can’t
accomplish anything. But what struck me was that it was all from the heart. He
felt it very strongly and projected that to the audience. Looking around, I
could see it on their faces.
That look is one of the most fulfilling experiences on
our journey. The expression of realization. And that it’s not even 1/10th
as difficult as they thought. That it starts with a thought. How simple, yet so profound.
Sigh.
No comments:
Post a Comment