From the teenager who sings about the glories of bamboo in Kerala to the tailor who pushes the clothing industry to ensure women get enough loos.
From the Jharkhand girl who loved hockey and becomes a coach to the destitute mother who becomes a successful farmer.
These are the women we feature in Village Square’s Her Life series.
Have we mentioned the last woman artist of the Kurumba tribe?
Or the Kashmiri engineer who was abused by her husband, fell into depression, turned to pottery and is now glamorizing the ancient art form?
Village Square’s Her Life series tells the stories of ordinary women doing extraordinary things – overcoming huge odds, pushing through barriers and breaking boundaries – in her own words, with no bias.
In fact, we challenge anyone to look at the women we feature and tell us who you see, what you see – without bias.
Admittedly, it’s not always easy.
After all what is prejudice but human shorthand for assessing someone, summing them up?
I am the first to admit my perspicacity sometimes gets the better of me.
When I see a “village woman” in her bright sari, dupatta pulled tight around her weathered face, hands wringing laundry outside her small, dusty home… I don’t always see the leader she really is. The breadwinner. The changemaker quietly pushing for progress – not just for her household but for the community.
Never mind that she might be the mother of the daughter in jeans, studying at university.
Maybe we are all guilty of these kinds of preconceived notions and prejudices.
The trick is to recognize it, right? Own it. Perhaps not always with crippling guilt and self-flagellation but with grace and humility. Otherwise our prejudice risks turning pernicious, then cancerous.
That is why we embrace campaigns like International Women’s Day. Yes, these special days run the risk of overrunning our calendars and becoming insignificant in their abundance. But some stand out and are worth shouting out as reminders of issues that remain important.
This year’s theme, courtesy of the United Nations, “gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow,” in other words creating a future without bias, is a timely reminder to keep our prejudices in check – or rather – at bay.
And one of the best ways to do this is exposure to stories that break the mould and challenge our preconceived notions.
That is why we are passionate about what we do at Village Square – we are constantly trying to change the narrative of rural India and the women who are at its fulcrum.
As I stated in our first Her Life story, a village woman is not just at the hearth of her home. More often than not, she is at the sharp end of a cause, driving forward progress and equality in her own quiet (and occasionally lively and loud!) way.
That is why we showcase the stories of India’s unsung heroes in Her Life.
Read them for yourself. Share them. Suggest some more!
Help us move beyond seeing India’s villages as a place only of drudgery and gloom. Help us showcase the vibrancy of village life and the women who work tirelessly to make it better.
Help us change the narrative – with no bias.
Lyndee Prickitt is the Director of Village Square.
