The Rising Women of Kumaon

The process of making the household entirely self sufficient is a hard one and the women, till recently, sacrificed education, opportunities and most importantly, financial independence to make it happen.

Lately though, things have started to shift. "The slow but steady connection to the rest of the world via roads, internet et cetera, has made us more aware of the life outside. Due to low yields, people's interest in farming has been declining and the need for better healthcare, education and a wider range of opportunities has prompted many villagers to migrate to more developed towns and cities. Today, men who would earlier go alone, take their wives and children with them, in order to get their child a better education outside”, says Radha, a teacher.

Up until recently, in Kumaoni villages, women were not encouraged to get educated. Willingly or unwillingly, they had to stop going to school after the eight grade and were often married before they turned eighteen. That was not a problem before, since they didn’t know better, but with the growing connection to the outside world, people are realizing that women can work and earn just as much as the men and more people are encouraging their daughters study. More importantly, the girls themselves are realizing the importance of becoming financially independent.

Their women are expert yarn spinners, weavers and natural dyers but most of them have stopped using these skills for livelihood generation, sticking to farming and cattle rearing for meeting their basic needs. Even today though, every household has a pit loom and they have kept alive the tradition of creating furnishing sets as wedding gifts for their daughters.

The Bhotiyas have their farms in the mountains of Munsiyari, where they would migrate to every summer, for a few months, and collect native mountain herbs and spices to sell later.

As her mother’s health started failing, Lalita realized that she needed to start earning too. With no father or brother to earn for them, Lalita had to find a way herself. So, by the time she completed her studies in the village school, she had started working with Avani as a part time weaver and soon had become a supervisor at one the weaving centers.

Not willing to stay at home, she joined in as a solar technician trainee at Avani. While working a couple of years, making and repairing solar lights in the villages, she home-schooled and gave exams for ninth, tenth and eleventh grades, before eventually becoming a kindergarten teacher at Avani’s school. Now almost ready to graduate year twelve, she is looking forward to study further.

Slowly but steadily, more and more people are encouraging their girls to study and become financially independent. The cycle of change is slow but sure.

Traditionally a community of hemp sack or 'bora' weavers, Bora people are adept at spinning and weaving, though because of the illegalization of hemp, their work stopped long ago.

While Bora women are familiar with their traditional back-strap loom, the new looms set up by Avani were unfamiliar. Still, Anandi got herself trained and now makes enough money to sustain herself and her son. Since the work is close by, it allows her to continue taking care of her farms and support her parents.

“The girl I had come with had brothers who got very angry that she was working and stopped her from coming back. But we were too poor to think about all that. So even though relatives of ours complained, my parents knew how much help I was when working than when not”.

“After a while, there were about seven to eight girls who had become trained solar technicians but discontinued work once they got married. I was the only one who was lucky enough to have a husband and a mother-in law who never asked me to stop working” says Meena.

Today she has a six year old daughter, who looks up to her mother with pride and Meena has big dreams for her too.

She stands out because not only did she continue working but her work is what is traditionally considered a man’s job. But even today, Meena says, there are people in her family who cannot stand the fact that a woman is earning money for the house and until such a mentality stays, progress will be slow.

Things are thankfully much different than it was a decade ago. The new generation is bringing with it the first winds of change by making sure that just like their sons, their daughters get educated and independent.