Rendezvous with Kallar

Sometime back, we started a ladies centre in the village. The very first activity taken up was training interested ladies in knitting. This was taken up first, because fortunately we found a teacher - Ms Krishna - to train these ladies. She is from Dangar village, which is around 9 kms away from Kallar. She comes to the centre five days a week - Mon to Fri - and spends five hours daily to take care of 2 batches. After we finalized her as the teacher, we quickly arranged for two knitting machines from Ludhiana through one of Ms Krishna's relatives. Ms Gita, Pradhan of Mahila Mandal of Kotlu Bindariya, offered one of the rooms in her commercial building to run the training classes, that too, free of cost. Since everything fell in place, we decided to start the class as soon as machines come in. Incidentally, when the machines arrived in the centre, none of us were here, so the villagers themselves took care of arranging everything so that the training can start. It did start, albeit on a turbulent note.

We decided to levy a fee of Rs 50/- per month per person towards the training. The idea of this fee was that it would bring only those who are seriously considering utilizing the skill towards creating an additional revenue stream. Also, this would have created a small pool of money, which could have been utilized, later on, by ladies, to buy machines to start their own business. This was our attempt towards micro-financing.

It so happened that when the machines arrived, all sixteen ladies, who got enrolled into the first set, happen to be from Kotlu Bindariya, Lurhani, Baroat and few other villages. Incidentally, somehow, there was no one from Kallar, Mandail, Kotlu Brahmana and Doon villages in the first set. I don't know the exact reasons of it because I have been given different stories, and it is hard for me to figure out what is the truth.

Also, due to the fact that only two machines are there, only 4 people can be taught, each day, which means that a lady gets her turn only after 4 days. So, ladies did some math and came to the conclusion that they are paying Rs. 50/- for being trained for 2.5 hrs for 4-5 days in a month. On top of all this, Ms Gita's decision to take a cut of Rs. 15/- out of Rs. 50/- towards rent charges for her room, added the much needed fuel to the fire.

So, here is the inferno - the centre is running in Kotlu Bindariya village in a room owned by the Mahila Mandal Pradhan of Kotlu Bindariya, who is charging Rs. 15/- towards rent of the room, which she ostensibly has given to the Trust for free. Also, out of the five villages, where we are supposed to work, only Kotlu Bindariya village ladies are getting trained. Additionally, ladies were getting only 4-5 days in a month to learn. Put together, it turned out to be a big problem, which I had to tackle as soon as I landed here.

After speaking to lot of people, I realized few things specific to the problem -

(a) Information about opening of the training centre didn't reach all the five villages.

(b) Ladies didn't know why exactly are they being charged Rs. 50/- per month.

(c) Process of selecting trainees for a batch was not transparent to people.

(d) Ladies suspected that Ms Gita is indulging in some unfair practise by taking a cut of Rs. 15/- and having only her village ladies as trainees.

(e) The (d) above happened because never before have these ladies worked together as equal stakeholders in anything. This was the very first time they were supposed to do it.

(f) There was some reluctance in people to work together also, primarily because they were scared of a change - working together.

(g) No one knew that we are supposed to work only with five villages - Kallar, Mandail, Kotlu Bindariya, Doon and Kotlu Brahmana.

It was amazing to find out how keenly everyone was looking for snakes. While, truely, there were none. Whatever happened was either due to lack of information or due to circumstances. But, yes, as an outsider if you see, you may think there is something fishy out here. The surprising part was that even some of the big-wigs were not willing to sort the problem out because they had conveniently assumed that people are doing this for personal gains. While it is true but only to a very small extent. Allegations were hurled, past experiences (obviously unpleasant ones) were quoted, attitudes were discussed but there was no sign that anyone wants to solve the problem. While exploring this problem, I realised what lack of trust could do to a community. I realized how fragile one's reputation can be just because people, by default, look for snakes, instead of realizing the fact that, just like them, others can make mistakes too.

This reminded me of one of my observations - in India, when two strangers meet, they start their interaction with maximum distrust. In contrast, in USA, when two strangers meet, they start their interaction with maximum trust. I am sure it has something to with our culture, history etc etc, but till date I don't know exactly what it is. In case, you have observed the same and thought about its reason(s), please do share with me.