Insights in the Village

Today, we accompanied Dinesh Solanki, one of the Navsarjan Trust workers who focuses on land issue rights on a trip to his village, about 115 km away from DSK, as well as to a smaller village where he has worked tirelessly to help some of the residents receive land that was rightfully theirs, but had been seized or encroached upon by higher-caste members, and with such land, improve their status in life, and that of their families as well. Dinesh was a wonderful host, explaining in great detail how he came to be involved with Navsarjan, how he has worked on issues ranging from manual scavenging to women’s rights to rallying for Dalit legal rights, and how his entire perception of how to fight for change in the status of Dalit rights and views on the need for education and empowerment of women has completely changed since he met Martin.

Camila and I were welcomed into Dinesh’s home in Sayla, a town of approximately 17,000 residents, but whom are divided into different neighborhoods based on caste status. Dinesh has worked hard to ensure that his area has been equipped with running water and electricity, and when he is not present, his wife, Neetu, makes sure to call and complain when the lights go out or the water’s not running, and make sure that it is fixed.

Meeting the women in Dinesh’s life, particularly his wife, daughter and neighbor, was very inspiring- I will being using some of their thoughts and experiences in my paper, but I wanted to focus on Dinesh’s wife for the purposes of this post in order to give some insights into her life and role in both her family and the community.. Although a little reticent as first, Dinesh’s wife, Neetu, soon opened up to us, and was argumentative, opinionated, and even teased me a bit about my inability to eat her (delicious but) amazingly spicy food. She runs the bhimshala in this village, and has been doing so for a number a years, a program established by the Navsarjan Trust and directed towards Dalit primary school children, in which they come to the house and take part in cultural activities, discussions about the discrimination they’ve faced, and are given books to read on a variety of issues, including four written by Martin teaching them such necessities as how to treat women with equality and to be proud of their caste status. Additionally, both Dinesh and she work together to cook meals, eat together, and clean the dishes together as well. She has also stood her ground when people have tried to discriminate against her- for example, she told us a story about how a higher-caste woman came to get water from a tap near their house, and before she took water, she tried to wash it so it wouldn’t be “unclean.” Neetu stepped out of the house and told her she could not do so, and if that is how she felt, she could go get water from somewhere else. The woman now comes to get water, with no thought of washing the tap. I admired Neetu’s determination and self-confidence in demanding equality both in terms of caste and gender.

However, during one of our interviews, I turned from Neetu to listen to Dinesh speaking. During the same moment in time, a man walked into a room, a friend of the family but not a relative. When I turned back towards Neetu as I was translating Dinesh’s statement into English for Camila, I was startled to see her with her entire face covered. It was almost as if she’d disappeared from the room. Seeing that occur shows me that even in this incredibly progressive household, there are still cultural stereotypes regarding women and their positions in society, that come from outside the family and continue to prevail in terms of her actions. It simply showcases that although progress has been made, there are still battles that must continue to be fought.

This morning, we had the opportunity to speak to Martin about our incredible experiences while at DSK and ask him several questions about the goals of the Navsarjan Trust in the future. He perhaps best encapsulated all of our thoughts, observations, and visions for the future by acknowledging that much had been accomplished and circumstances had definitely improved for so many people but “there is still more to be done.” That idea, that sentiment, has been echoed by Dinesh, by the women we met, the men who had been granted land, and provides hope and assurance that the movement will continue to grow, gaining momentum and victories along the way, until discrimination based on both caste and gender is truly eradicated- an admittedly lofty goal, but after being here for several days, meeting the leaders of this movement and seeing the effects of their hard work and dedication to their causes, I am inspired to think that someday, it can happen.