Simple women of substance

EVEN AS the world was raising a toast to celebrate womanhood, these 'face-in-the-crowd' women were busy celebrating life itself. Simplicity, serenity, tranquility, accomplishment, love, care and knowledge? all in their simplest forms kiss their feet and this is what makes them women of substance. Here's saluting these women of today.

EVEN AS the world was raising a toast to celebrate womanhood, these 'face-in-the-crowd' women were busy celebrating life itself. Simplicity, serenity, tranquility, accomplishment, love, care and knowledge… all in their simplest forms kiss their feet and this is what makes them women of substance. Here's saluting these women of today.

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Nasreen
NASREEN HAS never been to school. Nasreen is a 'chikankari' worker who learnt this art when she was all of eight. It's been 22 years and she has still been hooked to the art.

She says, "I came to SEWA when I was just seven years old. My mother used to work here. Gradually, I started learning the art and for learning it, I earned Rs 200 a month. Steadily, I mastered the art and started visiting adjoining villages to teach and spread 'chikankari'." She has been all over the world, all on her own. She has taken 'chikankari' to London, Spain, Italy and Paris. She used to go there to show the art to the people of these exotic foreign locations.

She continues, "In 1992, I went to London, all alone. From Charbagh railway station to London it was a big journey. In the beginning I was very scared. I didn't know the language. I didn't know anybody there. I just knew that a person with a particular name is going to meet me. But gradually I got accustomed to the place. I stated enjoying myself."

When she was in London she got a reward from the organisers for her good work. She used that money to build a house for her family- her mother, 3 sisters and two brothers. In the years that followed, she took the art to various other places and in all the locations earned laurels for her work. She says, "However, I had the best time in Paris. I loved the place. It was a paradise."

Going back to her previous life she tells, "When my mother, along with all the kids shifted to Lucknow, we didn't have enough to eat. But slowly as life improved and we had enough to lead a comfortable life." Now, Nasreen is happily married at 30. She believes, "Money is not the end of everything. Money should never destroy you. It should just support you. Every woman should work for herself. Working gives her a power and makes her self sufficient."

Dr Kamla Kulshreshtha
SHE IS a scientist with a cause. Her cause is to work for the welfare of the underprivileged through science. Dr Kamla Kulshreshtha is a scientist at NBRI and, along with her team, has been working with the villagers of Mohanlalganj.

Her work involves educating the poor villagers about the benefit of healthy food and healthy eating. She says, "When we approached them first, they were very skeptic about what we were going to do. It was a hard task explaining to them about healthy eating. They always said healthy eating was for the rich and the well-off. But with our conviction we changed their minds."

Dr Kulshreshtha's main aim was to educate the women about the link between healthy eating and the development of a child's brain. She taught them that even the simple foods, if eaten correctly, worked wonders.

The scientist, as everyone knows, follow a step-by-step procedure. Their first step was to make a group of 25-35 women. Then the group was made to clean a small patch of land and put manure in it. Then, the scientists gave away the seeds for various seasonal vegetables, which the women used in the fields.

She says, "Now these women have become efficient with their 'business' and grow excess vegetables to sell them in the adjoining villages. These people just need a little motivation and help with which they can do wonders."

Dr Kulshreshtha and her team plans to take up many such projects in the future. She says, "I feel proud of this success story. It makes me feel as if it is my success story."

Vandana
I can still get up and slap any boy who attempts to misbehave. Vandana, all of fourteen years of age, with seventeen stab wounds on her body, is bravery personified. She was always frail. Even before the gory attack on her on February 1.

Sitting in her house in Neelmatha, a village on the outskirts of Lucknow, Vandana despite weakness, looks brave and strong. She fought three armed men alone when she was attacked. She narrates, "I had gone with my younger brother to fetch some fodder for the cattle in our fields nearby when three boys from a village close by came and started misbehaving with me. I slapped one of them. Then one of the boys took out a knife and stabbed me in my arm. I kept fighting bravely but fell unconscious when one of them hit me with the knife in my chest. They ran away after that."

After the attack, she was taken to Civil Hospital where she stayed for eight days. "Those eight days were full of pain and anguish for me. But I always believed in myself that whatever happens, happens for the good. Three criminals are now behind bars. I just hope that I am given justice and they are punished for their crime."

Her mother Dhandevi says, "We don't want anything now. I am happy that my daughter has survived the stabbing. Now, all I want is justice. I don't want those men to be out in the open. I want them jailed."

Vandana's four sisters and two brothers are still very scared of that place and haven't been able to sleep properly. However, Vandana has gone to that place several times now. She says, "I am not sacred but my parents are. They don't let me go to those fields."

Parul Tewari
LIFE IS but a dream for Parul Tewari. She dared to dream when she was just 12… of becoming a Naval officer. And since then, there has been no looking back for her. At 12 she started rowing a boat at Kudiya Ghat. Now, she is seventeen.

Parul is taking her Class XII Boards this year and alongside, she is earning by rowing her 'Jalpari' boat. She saves all the money she earns for higher education.

She says, "I always wanted to do something big and something different. I was never like my friends when I was younger. They were busy playing and talking but I was always focused and always thought about my future."

Parul is an 'expert' in Karate, swimming and driving. She is a bright student as far as academics are concerned. Narrating an incident, her father says, "One day Parul was walking on the street and a few boys teased her. She got annoyed and felt offended. She, at once, turned around and bashed the boys up."

Parking lot attendant
AT 70, she wants to live a proud life. She does not want to live life on someone else's money. She runs a parking stand outside a Government hospital.

Ratna (name changed) has been doing this for the last 8-9 years to earn a living. She says, "I am the only earning member in my family. I feed seven stomachs with the money that I earn. My husband is no more and my daughter, son-in-law and their four children stay with me."

At an age when, rightly speaking, she is supposed to rest and have a relaxed life, she is working hard day-in and day-out to stay alive. She says, "I don't understand how I am working. Even though I am old but still I have the strength to work. I will work till the day I die." She is also suffering from filaria but it does not deter her faith in herself. And all that she earns in a month is but Rs 2,000!

Twinkle Bajpai

TWINKLE BAJPAI is the newest singing sensation in Lucknow. After reaching almost the last few rounds in the nationwide song contest, SaReGaMaPa Challenge-2005, for quite long, Twinkle is all set to break new records and reach for the stars.

But this star is not flamboyant at all. She is simplicity personified. She says, "I am a fun-loving and a straightforward girl and I was bought up in a simple family. Now that I have climbed one step I feel good about my self and my success. I feel good when people come and ask me for an autograph."

She continues, "Now I have an identity of my own. I have my own individuality."
Twinkle is already being flooded with offers. She says, "I have already sung for two movies, one of which was a solo. And, now, I have two movies lined up.

Along with this, I have the SaReGaMaPa Jodi Special lined up for March second week."

A student of BA final year of Avadh Girls' Degree College, Twinkle says, "My state of mind right now is balanced. I am absolutely stressfree. And this helps me a lot in my riyaz. But I miss home a lot. I miss my mother when I am not well."

She adds, "Right now I want to live life to the fullest and enjoy myself."