THE ANIMATED MAHILA MANDAL

Dancing at the Yuvti Samuh

The Mahila Mandal

Rusheel Nayak

            The Mahila Mandal and Yuvti Samuh we visited today were located in Sartori.  We also visited 3 self-help groups, and it was encouraging to see the group members earning money from their trade.  The Mahila Mandal we visited today was extremely talkative and they all wanted to come to America with us!  They were all surprised that there are no dirt roads in America and very little dirt enters the house daily.  One elderly woman was particularly feisty and spirited since she wanted to learn American phrases.  When we talked about the use of farming machines in America, the woman responded that the villagers are tougher than Americans because they do the same tasks as the machines we rely on in America.  It was so much fun talking with the woman and listening to her problems.  She even got into a verbal spat with another woman over some difference in opinion!

            After the Mahila Mandal, we went to the Yuvti Samuh.  The girls were very shy and we tried really hard to break the ice.  Eventually, the girls started to smile and talk with us.  We played a small game with them to teach them English, and by the end of the session, they wanted to dance for us.  All the girls danced very well to Bollywood music.  When we got back to the CORD center, all the volunteers started an intense game of Pictionary, which was fantastic! 

Meera Parat

Today, we got a whole tour of the village, all the way from seeing women working for their Self-Help groups to women in the fields. We learned that one woman makes clothes and pillow covers for about 10 rupees but she can sell them for about 50 rupees, and on top of that, the Guru Dhara keeps an additional 20 rupees. This is how the Self-Help groups work and the women get the income. The next group of Yuvti Samuh girls we met were shyer than the day before, but they were still fun to interact with. We taught each other Hindi and English, and they even danced to Bollywood music for us! It’s amazing how much they can pick up on their own.

Sonali Nayak

In the Mahila Mandal meeting, I met a woman who was truly inspirational. She is elderly, but the passion to live and to learn has not left her. She really wanted to learn to speak English, so we taught her some simple sentences. She is also very humorous and witty. I could tell, even though I do not speak Hindi, because every time she spoke, the other women would start to laugh. We told her that we use machines in America to harvest crops. She grinned and replied that her arms are her machines and that they are the best tools. The Adolescent Girls were very shy today. We taught them different emotions, and later they danced for us, Bollywood style!

Gowtham Raja

Today we met a different Mahila Mandal and a group of young girls. The girls seemed happy to meet us, but they were hesitant to discuss various issues. However, we eventually got through to one of the older girls and they began talking to us about different things that made them happy, and one of them was dancing. We watched them dance various dances that they learned in the village and even the younger, shy girls participated!