I remember my mother
coming home all smiles and full of uncanny enthusiasm after one of the program
she attended. On asking what made her so energetic, she replied that they
played games and musical chair, though she didn’t really win the game but she
was hyped to be able to play it. It was her smile that made me wonder how
playing games make people let go of all the worries, stress and frustrations
and just be happy at the moment. At that moment my mother wasn’t thinking of
any of the responsibilities she had, or what she was supposed to be doing she
was just in playful mode. This very conversation led to the conceptualization
of our first public event on International Women’s Day 2020.
The objective of the
event was to engage on the play behavior of women; giving them space to move
their body and play games. As girls grow, their physical activities are
restricted to the household chores, they don’t play games or engage in any
activities that can keep them fit or help move their body in a way that could
bring happiness or joy (I don’t intend to imply that all girls and women are
unhappy because they don’t play games but yeah that is one of the factors). So,
to provide a space where women could play games, interact and engage in healthy
competition by letting themselves loose, the scope of the event has to be
beyond the element of workshop! Whenever we wish to implement innovative or out
of box ideas; we always look towards My Perch because we share same intention
and zeal to bring social change and also the common belief of collaboration.
Our conceptualization and their creative force combined together to bring this
idea come alive. The journey from the birth of the idea to the day of the event
was full of ups and downs; lot of meetings; Google sheets, ideations, amazing
inputs from the kids of My Perch which led us to design pamphlets, brochures,
banners, creating hand-made participant specific batches, gift selection,
trying out different games, negotiation for venue and so on! Every step of
creation was like a learning process not only because it was new to us but also
because lot of people were working together to make it happen.
Amidst all these
preparations, our Volunteer Sarla Yadav took charge of mobilization in Dwarka.
She has been face of our gender work in Dwarka since 2017; her energy and
enthusiasm to interact with women is unmatchable. Everyone seemed to work in
total sync with each other, doing their part and also supporting rest in a
well-integrated form that left me amazed. A night before the event, we sat down
to make playlist for the IWD event – it’s not easy to find out feminist,
non-sexist Hindi songs which could be thought provoking and foot taping at the
same time. However we did find many cool songs that included lot of songs sung
by Sona Mahapatra, recent films that would add more beat and glitter to the
event. I believe good music adds emotions, helps in connecting and reflecting
but is also a very powerful tool for social change.
8th
March – it is considered as a very important day in the history of women
struggle and fight against injustice and discrimination. 108 years back, in
1909 15,000 women came out to
protest against long work hours, low pay, and the lack of voting rights in New
York City. Originally called
National Woman’s Day, the monumental annual celebration spread across the world
(officially celebrated in 1911), but it was Russia who unknowingly set 8th
March trend. Although International Women’s
Day became an official holiday in Russia in 1913, women still experienced difficulties
caused by WWI. While men were off at war, women dealt with food shortages and a
government who wouldn’t listen to them. On March 8, 1917 thousands of Russian
women took to the streets demanding change. The unified cry for help paved the
way for Russian women to be granted voting rights soon after.
From that time, International Women’s Day is dedicated to honoring the achievements of women
throughout history and all across the globe, and is typically a day for women
from all different backgrounds and cultures to band together to fight for
gender parity and women’s rights.
We were all set and
prepared for our participants to join in the celebrations! The day began with
the brief introduction of Sahas and My Perch and the kind of work that they do
which was followed by sharing the intention of this event. Above all it was
equally important to talk about the relevance and importance of this day- women
looked surprised when they heard about the struggle and fight against injustice
based on their gender. We flagged the event with our first very traditional
lemon race – this race involves basic principle of balancing; you balance the
lemon in the spoon which is held at your mouth and then you run! This race was
so popular that not just women but our team mates too jumped in.
Second race was sack
race; this involves taking control of one’s own body and using bodily force to
move ahead when the legs are restricted in the confined space of sack. It was
one of the most challenging yet very interesting game. This was followed by
musical chair; one of the most loved game that turned into highly competitive
one. The energy was high, there was huge adrenaline rush and enthusiasm;
soaking in this feel our team mates from My Perch performed street play that
brought out the cruel gender realities existent in our society, taking the
ownership of causing it and challenging it. To see young kids talk about gender
discrimination that we all experience but never say anything about it was
overwhelming.
This was followed by
fun ice-breaking energizer called chicken dance which was facilitated by My
Perch. Then we invited the women participants to either attend art workshop
which involved painting kulhaad or playing 1 min games. I was amazed to see the
eagerness to participate in both. It was a beautiful experience to see women
indulging in creative endeavors by painting, drawing without an ounce of worry
– it made me wonder why they devoid themselves from simple pleasures of life,
how do we women forget that our lives are not just about fulfilling others
needs and responsibility; we need to live too.
On the other hand, one
minute games were a real hit, almost everyone participated and won something.
The women who were hesitant in the beginning, or shy or was just pushing their
kids to play were now in their full form, playing all the games being
ferociously competitive and laughing! It was a sight that I will always
remember.
Me: Why don’t you go
ahead and participate in lemon race? It’s not difficult
First woman: No it’s
okay, I will just watch.
Me: It won’t be fun if
you are just watching. Give it one try!
First woman: But I have
two small kids, who will look after them
Me: They are already
playing. Don’t worry
The woman handed me her
purse and phone, she went ahead and too part in lemon race. From there, she was
unstoppable – she participated in all games, even winning some.
One of the conversation
between two women was heartening and it stumped me.
First: Why don’t you go
ahead and play
Second: Nah, what will
even happen? Anyhow I can’t win
First: Arrey! Who cares
about winning or losing? Just let’s go and play, at least we would participate
and have fun. I don’t even remember having fun! It will be interesting come
let’s go.
I even saw a young girl
motivating her mother to participate, that resulted in her mother going ahead
and taking part in the race and even winning it.
One of the most
beautiful memory of this event, would be seeing my mother paint kulhaad, she is
one amazing woman who runs throughout the day, does all chores without getting
tired but hardly spares a moment for herself. To see her, sitting calmly
painting with twinkle in her eyes – that sight is embedded in my heart forever.
The event came to its
closure with prize distribution, enormous clapping and hooting! And this was
where we saw women talking and bonding with each other showing their prizes
with a huge smile on the face!
After a month of hard
work, the entire Sahas and My Perch team went for lunch at nearby restaurant. 28 team members sitting together enjoying a
meal was such a pleasant moment and an extension of our celebrations for
IWD2020.
The day culminated with
My Perch team coming to Sahas office and then playing holi with us! This day
for us was not just about celebration of International Women’s Day, but
celebration of collaboration, spirit of working together with a common
intention of changing the current narratives to bring social change that
demands equality irrespective of gender, sexual identities, caste, class and
religion.
