To call this past week enlightening would be an understatement. Transformative is perhaps a better fit. It sounds cheesy, but I genuinely think I took more away from this week than the women I was working with. To them, I was a passing visitor, curiously peeking over their shoulders throughout the week and observing their everyday routine. To me, the opportunity to immerse myself in and bear witness to such different cultures than my own was nothing short of an honour.
Within moments of arriving at Forest Post’s manufacturing unit on Monday morning, we were greeted open-armed by Manju, quite possibly the most extraordinary woman I’ve ever met. I think I felt a connection to her already, knowing that we studied at the same university, but getting to know her over the last week has been such a privilege. Manju’s achievements alone are incredible and empowering to all the women surrounding her, Laidlaw scholars and local villagers alike. However, it is her humility which I find most inspiring.
Throughout all her successes, Manju has remained humble and shows immense respect for the women she works with. Despite being the founder and backbone of the organisation, she accredits its success to the workers and maintains a very ‘flat’ and equal hierarchy with them which was refreshing to see. She treats them as her own sisters, which is a theme I have noticed throughout the week. From providing food; a place to rest their feet; or even watching over their child, these women are there for each other in a way I barely see back home. Despite not being related by blood, they treat each other as such with unconditional love and support, demanding nothing in return for a favour. It was beautiful to bear witness to and be welcomed into throughout this week.
Every group of women we met throughout this week welcomed us so warmly into their circles that, despite our many differences, spending the day with them felt remarkably natural. Each day was a different routine and yet each day we fell easily into step with the women around us. We spent Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the manufacturing unit so got to know the women there quite well. It was beautiful to see them open up to us and become more casual throughout our time spent together, even sharing their food with us at lunch.
In particular, the stories shared from their time in the forest touched me more than I would’ve thought entering this week. Chandrika, a woman from the nearby village Anapantham, shared her story about an encounter with a wild tiger. She told us that she came across the tiger bathing in a river while gathering supplies in the forest with her husband. Naturally, she was terrified and cried for her husband to help scare off the tiger. However, Chandrika’s husband merely approached the animal and held his hand up saying, ‘Do not hurt us, we are not here to hurt you. We are just passing through’. Miraculously, the tiger paid them little attention and continued bathing peacefully. They were able to pass by unscathed, in awe of the encounter they just had.
‘Wowwwwwwwwww!’ Was the collective response as Chandrika told her story, however we were corrected as the other workers began telling their stories from the forest. Many of them have lost family to violent elephant stampedes, caused by an increase in aggression of the animals. They shared that local tourism in their forests is disrupting the peace they have built and is causing the animals to become aggressive. It was a sobering reality to face; an animal I would be utterly awe-struck to see in front of me is actually feared by those with whom they once lived in harmony with. It was from that moment onwards I realised just how unaware we can be of our impacts on the spaces that we temporarily visit.
Hearing these stories has highlighted to me how fragile our relationship with nature is. It is a beautiful one, but so incredibly fragile and must be nurtured cautiously. Chandrika’s handling of her encounter with the tiger, with gentle caution and respect, should be taken as an example of how everyone should approach life. It is heartbreaking to hear how the balance these women once had with the natural world around them is being destroyed, through no fault of their own. The people in these communities have made such an effort to co-exist with their surroundings through generations and this can be offset when people enter their environment and act irresponsibly. Unlike us, these communities cannot simply leave when the forest becomes unsafe. The forest is their home, and they deserve to be able to live within it in peace.
On Thursday, we had the honour of being the first CraftHER cohort to be taken to a remote forest village and spend a day with the villagers there. Manju later told us that she was a bit nervous to give this a go for the first time but, in my opinion, it could not have been more successful. From the get-go, the women were incredibly welcoming and took us under the wings as we ventured out into the forest together to harvest ingredients for their native hair oil recipe. Having documented a separate hair-oil-making process the day before, some of us (me) got a bit distracted by the nearby rocks and went rock-hunting instead. To my surprise, the eldest women (at 78 years of age) clambered up the slippery face behind me and searched with me. She must’ve spent 30 minutes with me collecting the prettiest rocks and handing them to me. She didn’t keep a single one for herself.
It sounds silly but this warmed my heart more than anything in a long time.
Okay this was really nice and well written but the service in this new accommodation doesn’t work. I’m so upset it deleted my entire blog. I went on to talk about the camaraderie between the women and importance of sisterhood. The older lady stuck by my side and collected rocks with me despite not knowing why I was so fascinated by them (they are 3 billion years old!). This level of unconditional support being extended to me within mere minutes of knowing line another was so heart-touching and powerful.
I wrote more but I’m scared this wont save too so posting this now.
bomboloni