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Editorial The 14 students in the The Bank that is Cross-Cultural Workshop at XIC have done an Life’s Savings: outstanding job to produce this newsletter in such a Mahila Milan short time. In less than Satya Kandala and “Sometimes, people would two weeks, they have sat Shruti Nagbhushan through ten lectures and swear at us, calling n the 1980’s, banks us greedy thieves spent more than 15 hours refused to let the working for fair- in Mankhurd and Byculla pavement dwellers open skinned people,” with pavement dwellers. I an account. Today the women Banoo recounts This is the product of their of Mahila Milan have come a disdainfully. But labour and talent. long way and are financially soon a small I hope they have all self-sufficient. revolution began become more sensitive This took dedication, on the pavements focus and empathy, both of Water Street, to the world of the individually and collectively. Byculla. disadvantaged. Indu and This group of women is “Big sums I couldn’t have asked for a like no other. They are the of money are a better group to work with. erstwhile pavement dwellers problem. But for If they are successful in who fought for their right someone who earns their careers as journalists, to decent housing for almost a hundred rupees the effort will have been 30 years and won the battle. a day, saving five worth every minute! They did not stop there. or ten rupees is Saving for progress -A passbook with entries of deposits and withdrawals Today, they are financially possible. It was cautiously before. If they any male member wants to Julian Crandall Hollick self sufficient and the group hard, but we kept at it and needed thousand, they make a withdrawal from the (Workshop Director) has enough money to give its made it happen. We wanted would take only thousand. savings it requires the woman Street Wise Writers: members loans in times of money of our own to help They were scared of the of the house to be present as need. us out in times of need. Who repayment and were anxious well. “Women are prudent. Nathaniel Da Costa The women recall that else would care?” to get it done with as soon as They withdraw as much as Tanvi Deshpande while they were petitioning True. In a nation where possible. But today, people is necessary or even less. and meeting different poverty stares out of every take up to one lakh or so Men are spendthrifts; they Anusha Iyer government officials for street corner, there aren’t without even thinking twice,” waste all the money saved on Shahid Judge pucca housing, the thought many who would help out in Banoo beams as she points getting drunk. So we make of ‘saving’ entered their the time of need. “By mid- at the column in her savings sure that the women are there Satya Kandala head. “If we don’t save, 1980’s we were 536 families. book that reads one lakh. to balance the mens’ claim Sanika Kanekar what will we eat?” Jaitunbi All of us had but one goal; to The women talk about this and to make sure that their Supriya Kapoor reasons as she pockets the rise above the pavement of big sum of money with a savings are safe,”Jaitunbi stray ten rupee note that she troubles and being financially certain pride in their voice, adds with a knowing smile. Amruta Lakhe gets back as change for her independent is a part of this.” as if to show the world that Lopez, an accountant at Shruti Nagbhushan ‘paan’. But the women recall And soon there came a time they have risen above the Byculla’s SPARC office states how difficult it was in the when the collection would petty sums expected of the that the Byculla centre alone Nishant Parekh beginning to convince people be around thirty thousand pavement. has 22,000 accounts. Anyone Veda Ramaswamy to part with their money and rupees or more each month. Talking about the interest could walk in and start a come save at SPARC/Mahila Then the group started Kasturi Roy on the loan, the women savings account with daily Milan. For people who didn’t giving out loans to the keep it simple. They call the deposits starting as small as Newton Sequeira have much, the idea of saving members of their community 2% charged levied, a two five rupees. Every person Prachi Shailendra was alien. Banoo, who was in who needed to revive their rupees ‘service charge’ on who has an account at the charge of collecting money, business, educate their son every hundred rupees. Their centre has their own book Layout Editor: would return empty handed or marry off their daughter. recovery process is simple of records, which are later Shahid Judge on most occasions. “People used to borrow too. The women visit the computerized. Speaking of house of the loan defaulter. the knowledge these women Masthead Design: If it looks like they really are had about saving, Lopez said, Nathaniel Da Costa in no position to return the “They are the real experts. loan, they give them another They remember every Edited by: loan to get them back on account and deposit without Julian Crandall Hollick their feet and ensure that with even making a note. They are the second loan the family the pioneers who started the Indu Agarwal stays afloat. If the man of movement and lead the way. Special Thanks: the house dies or is suddenly We are just following them.” bedridden with sickness, they He says this as he walks Maria Lobo, SPARC, write off the loan. These towards a large board that Mahila Milan, and NSDF women, who have seen more reads ‘Monthly Turnover’ Product of: than enough of their share of and enters a five digit figure- grief, are quick to empathise 5,90,464, just from the Cross Cultural Workshop, and act. Byculla centre. From just Rs. Xavier Institute of The loan is sanctioned 5 to a whooping five-digit Communications in the name of the woman figure, success seems most Turnover chart of Mahila Milan’s Byculla centre of the household. And if inevitable for Mahila Milan! April 2013 2 Going Global Eleven ordinary women from the streets of Mumbai sparked a revolution in 1986, and shifted from the streets to pucca houses. They

Globetrotters, (L-R) Jaitunbi, Banoo, Mustari and Zahida went a step ahead, and made this a global tell us the story behind Mahila Milan movement. This is their story.

Amruta Lakhe and Shahid Judge twenty years. Studying the street dwellers have moved they invited us to inaugurate living conditions of the poor into their own pucca houses, the land. They all have their our women sit at in other countries helped thanks to inspiration from own houses now.” the SPARC office them realize that they too had the members of the Milan. The women share another Fin Byculla. Banoo, a right to live with dignity. “The houses they have built exciting incident that dressed in a light, simple They mobilised a movement there are so beautiful! Among occurred when they went pink saree has a proud face in other countries, talking to the street dwellers, they had to help the slum dwellers in and a stern disposition. the authorities and getting engineers and architects, so Kenya, in 1999. The locals Next to her sits Jaitunbi who work started. “We carried they designed the houses very thought the Mahila Milan smiles at us continuously, out extensive surveys in these well. It’s funny, isn’t it? They members were builders who often breaking into fits of countries - how many people are the beggars, but they are had come to demolish their laughter. Mustari sits on stayed in one house, how the engineers and architects homes, hence leading to a the other side of Banoo, many kids they had, where too!” says Mustari giving us a protest. “It took them some quiet throughout, offering their husbands worked. rare smile. time to realize that we were her occasional opinion, There were people living in Their next trip was to one of their own, and were but otherwise observing the slums and on the streets, Sri Lanka. Mustari quietly there to help them,” Banoo the student journalists very just like us. We showed their comments that it is indeed explains. “After that we Lakshmi Naidu, a carefully. Lakshmi is also government how a very poor spent a month there, helping founding member of present, looking graceful in we had taken country, much them build thier own homes, “The people we Mahila Milan, collected a new saree, smiling at us matters into poorer than mixing cement and concrete.” the UN Award on behalf through intelligent, kind eyes. our own hands. visited have all India. “Because The women unanimously of the group Comfortable in each other’s The people then of the 2004 agreed on being treated with presence, they begin to tell us began to work visited us too. When Tsunami, all dignity and respect wherever Mahila Milan won the their story. The extraordinary like us,” Banoo their houses they went. With Sheela didi at they visit India, we United Nations Women’s story of eleven ordinary proudly states. were destroyed. their side, they were sent only Right Award in the year 1995- women, who changed the They spent 22 greet each other People were to the top level officers. “We 96. It was a great honour for world. days in Bangkok, living in horrible spoke to the most powerful their work to be recognised by “All countries are poor,” South Korea like old friends - we conditions. people in these places. Sheela such a powerful international says Banoo. “Because of and Bangladesh. sing, we dance, we We went and didi had complete faith in us. body. the work Mahila Milan did Mustari was very spoke to the She made us sit with them Lakshmi fondly remembers for their community, other pleased with c e l e br ate .” authorities and and let us do the talking,” the trip to New York. “These countries were very impressed South Korea. told them that Mustari said, smiling through trips made us realise we are and invited us over. We were She coyly states, “I loved their people were living in her watery eyes, offering a not the only poor people in illiterate women who knew Korea the most. It was so such pitiful conditions. They toothed smile. “The people the world. There are people nothing about travelling to clean! There was not even a were very understanding and we visited have all visited us who are more unfortunate other countries. But we knew speck of dirt on the streets.” immediately asked for land to too. When they visit India, than us. Sometimes we feel how to do our job very well.” Jaitunbi interjects, “Look at be allotted to those people 40 we greet each other like old like we are much better off. These women have frequently Delhi; they say it is the capital miles away from the coast,” friends - we sing, we dance, And we always feel obliged travelled to Bangkok, South of India, but look at the state she recalls. Raising her head we celebrate. They are very to help them, like we help Korea, Bangladesh, Kenya of their railway platforms!” slightly Banoo says, “They impressed with our successful our own people,” she smiles. and even to the United States They remember their last visit were so grateful, that when work, especially our Saving “After all, we’re in this of America over the last to Bangladesh, where now the they started the construction, Scheme.” together.”

Prachi Shailendra She’s one of us. You make a move on her and we’ll kill you! Go away now!” “ The message is as clear today as it was during “We all are Hindustani first!” the Hindu-Muslim riots of 1993. Lakshmi Naidu may have been the only Hindu living on the streets of Nagpada with more than 500 Muslim families, but was never alone. And the residents of Nagpada and Kamathipura pavements have proved time and again that the religions are a binding factor, not a dividing one. “It’s we who create the disharmony in society, not a Hindu God or a Muslim God,” says Sona Pujari. “We do not fight. How does it matter if my neighbour is a Hindu or a Christian or a Muslim? We all are Hindustani first. We have fought together to build our rightful homes. If we had thought of religions among us, we would have never achieved Photo Courtesy: Martine Crandall Hollick this. Our unity is our greatest strength,” adds Mahila Milan celebrating the festival of Id-ul-Fitr at the Byculla office of SPARC in the year 1993 Shehnaz Sheikh. Most of these dwellers are migrants from Bihar to work! As Sagira Ansari explains, “My husband As Sona puts it, remembering the 1993 riots, “At and had a very traditional mind-set when they had threatened to divorce me. But I wanted to be a Kamathipura, our huts were against the church wall settled down on the Mumbai streets in the 1960s. part of Mahila Milan to learn new things, broaden with Mother Mary on the other side. We told her: And when the leaders of the fledging Mahila Milan my vision and think clearly for myself.” And so, she Look, you may be facing the other way, but we are had started working in the 1980s, most of them decided to think for herself instead of accepting behind you, on the other side. So you should look had to overcome this mind-set, which did not blind faith. She has had a happy married life, and so after us as well as the Christians. See, we believe in permit women to get outside their huts, especially had most other women in Mahila Milan. every God.” April 2013 3 Taking the Legacy Forward Nathaniel Da Costa and Sanika Kanekar tarting a movement is easy; but the ability to keep it going is what needs true dedication. The eleven women who started Mahila Milan brought about a drastic Schange in the lifestyles of 536 families who lived on the pavements of Byculla. They started a movement that stayed not just in Byculla but spread the world over. Thirty years have gone by. Goals have been achieved, priorities have changed, and new generations have come up. Do the new kids on the Mahila Milan block share the same enthusiasm and passion that the original eleven had? What are their hopes and dreams? What keeps them going and how will they remember their heroes? We spoke to Shanti Shinde and Sunita Sonavne in Dharavi, second and third generation members of Mahila Milan to find out what they have learnt from the leaders and how they see themselves growing in this organisation. Sunita’s youth shows throughout the interview, with her speaking her mind and occasionally causing laughter and rebukes from the older members present. Shanti is more reserved, taking some time to think before giving her answers. Here are the excerpts from our interview. Why did you join this organization? We lived in the railway slums near Lower Parel. When the I had come here for a job. Along with a few other members, authorities razed our homes, we had nowhere to go. We didn’t I used to conduct surveys in the area. After 4-5 months of know what to do and housing was a problem. Lakshmi akka, conducting surveys, (Jochin) sir said there is work in Mahila Rehmat akka and others came to our locality and tried helping Milan and I can do the same work in the organization. That’s us. The senior Mahila Milan ladies guided us throughout and when I joined Mahila Milan and now it is a very integral part of provided us the support and got us involved. my life. It’s like home. All the members are family. Shanti Shinde What have you learnt in Mahila Milan? Sunita Sonavane I am illiterate so I used to work in other people’s houses to earn a living. But it was We have become confident, not only in our social lives but also in our private insufficient to provide for my family. When I joined this organisation I was empowered. I lives. We are not afraid of anything. We do not underestimate ourselves anymore. now take up toilet contracts and earn a decent sum. How has the older generation inspired you? I admire their dedication to work and wish to imbibe that quality. Their The senior Mahila Milan members taught us everything. They taught us how to achievements make us want to work hard and achieve the same. It is said ‘A form a society, how to save and other important things. They guided us well. student is wiser than the teacher’. We try to take in whatever they teach us. And I think we can carry this forward and teach the next batch as much as we can. Now that your primary objective of getting a house is achieved what do you wish to do next? Our mission is not yet over. We want all the slum dwellers and pavement dwellers Now that we’ve got a house to stay, I wish other pavement dwellers too get a to move to better homes. We also want everyone to be employed. What is the use house of their own. I wish the best for them too. I want their kids to study so that of a house if you aren’t employed? their life changes for the better. When you joined Mahila Milan, the foundations of the organisation were firmly set; do you know and understand what it took to build this? Will the next generation understand the work you did? I agree that our seniors struggled more than us. The kind of struggle they’ve My children know what I have gone through and my struggles. There was a time gone through is unimaginable. We just deal with petty issues now; they’ve done when I couldn’t afford their education and was about to pull them out of school. the real work. Our condition is much better. But we’ve tried our best to match I have given my children full freedom to pursue their dreams wherever they wish up with them. I want this organization to grow more and reach greater heights. to, even if it isn’t with this organisation For videos of the interview, log on to www.mumbaistreetstories.wordpress.com Women take the Lead Supriya Kapoor, Veda Ramaswamy, and Nishant Parekh istory is inundated with examples of women who have stood behind their men Hthrough triumph and defeat. Mileva Marić collaborated with Einstein on his work. Edith Wilson nearly ran the government when President Photo Courtesy: SPARC Woodrow Wilson had a stroke. Napoleon credited his wife Josephine for boosting his confidence needed space to go ahead and organize themselves. self-confidence by learning how to approach people before he went marching and George Bush was There were still some families that were against in authority and how to speak to them. Mahila Milan persuaded by his wife Laura to stop drinking and their women stepping out of the house. The rest of fought with the state government, the police and run for the President. the women came together and explained to these the civic authorities, handled legal cases, set up bank But the 11 women at Mahila Milan turned history families that the presence of all the women will add accounts and initiated an internal savings scheme. upside down when they came together and fought more strength to the group. They even managed to They were on the path of giving police, politicians, against the Indian government for almost 30 years convince the families that they would continue to be bureaucrats and government agencies a reason to to get a concrete roof above their heads; while their good housewives even while working outside their look at them with respect. men took a back seat and acted as their pillars of homes. In 2006, their vigorous efforts succeeded as strength. The struggle began with a lot of encounters with they acquired secured homes. But the battle still So why was it the women and not the men the demolition squads and these women stood at continues as they help urban poor all around India volunteered for this challenging task? the forefront to protect their homes. Had men been and the world. The women on the pavements are the ones who the torch bearers of this struggle, the police and the We often wondered how difficult would it be spend most of their days on the streets, they do the government officials wouldn’t have thought twice for women living on the pavements of Mumbai household chores and take care of their children, before beating them up, arresting them and tearing to bring about a change for the betterment of while the men are away working in different corners down their houses. As women from 536 families their community. We didn’t have an answer before of the city. Their families, especially their husbands, stood together to defend their homes from getting interacting with Mahila Milan. But now, we do. unchained themselves from the orthodox mentality razed, they defeated fear. Is it difficult? Yes. of women staying indoors and gave them the much The women at Mahila Milan increased their Impossible? No! April 2013 4

was equal to the length of a mangalsutra or 5 metres was equal to the length of a saree,” says Banoo. Building Blocks of Change With raised eyebrows and gaping mouths, the Anusha Iyer and Newton Sequeira The next 15 years were spent looking for vacant students are glued to the conversation now. government land - land to build our own home.” She goes on, “It took us 20 years of running from t is the year 2015 and 20 Architecture students The room erupts with hushed voices. Words like pillar to post to acquire the land that was meant at IIT Kharagpur are waiting for a guest lecturer slum, footpath, filth and human rights are passed for us. In 2005, after numerous protests, Gautam Iwhen a diminutive woman walks in. Her plain around the class. Chaterjee, the Chief Manager of MHADA helped features complement the traditional saree that she “You built your own house?” the students ask us get the necessary paper work done.” wears. incredulously. The questions start flying thick and fast. “Put your books aside. Keep just a shoe lace, “Have you studied engineering?” asks another. “Who was the architect?” pencil and a handkerchief. I want you to build a Banoo understood the question. For most of the “How many families got homes?” house using just this.” Thisa gets the class’s attention. world, without formal education one is not taken “Why are you teaching us?” The students struggle, some seriously, especially in “Why did you have to go to South Africa and giggle while the back bench languidly India, where the name Cambodia to teach them construction? Don’t they doodles. Finally, some brave soul of the college is more have experts?” says, “Ma’am it is impossible!” important than the Banoo thinks for a moment before replying. “It “That’s what we thought too,” grade. is the poor who understand the poor the best. We says Banoo Sayyed Ishaq. “In “None of us have knew how to design houses, but more importantly, 1985, the Supreme Court passed a received any kind of we understood what the people needed. That is ruling that allowed the Municipal formal education. But why we were invited by the governments of those Corporation of Greater Mumbai to we went to Kerala for a countries.” demolish houses on the footpaths, training programme and Banoo goes on to inform the class how the houses that we had been living in then Jockin Arputham blueprint of the house was created. “We used for decades,” she continues. (founder and chairman bamboo sticks, sarees and cardboard to create 4 A girl from Punjab asks, “What of NSDF) taught us different sample flats. Each of the 536 families happened then?” the 1-2-3 formula. In living in Byculla chose the model which had a loft. “SPARC and NSDF helped us fact after our training, We decided to construct toilets outside the house organize all the slum dwellers and we have even gone to compound.” pavement dwellers. United, we South Africa, Kenya, “Why did you decide to have the toilets outside? stopped the demolition drive.” Thailand and Cambodia Isn’t it a little awkward?” says another student. “Spark? You mean a spark plug,” to develop housing “We decided to have common toilets to give snickers a student at the back. projects for the poor women a chance to step out of their houses and Banoo smiles sportingly. “SPARC there,” says Banoo. interact with each other. It became a means of stands for Society for the Promotion “1-2-3?” the class socializing.” of Area Resource Centres. But asks in unison. Intrigued by her response, the questions keep yes, like a spark plug, it sparked a “One ghamela of coming. The change in the students, themselves revolution.” Photo Courtesy: Martine Crandall Hollick cement, two ghamelas from different parts of the country, is evident. The “Revolution! What revolution, Ma’am?” a student of sand and three ghamelas of gravel to prepare the students are richer by her knowledge and inspired by asks skeptically. Banoo smiles as she settles into the concrete necessary for the supporting pillars of the her stories. The skepticism has given way to a new- Italian leather chair, a far cry from the one in her one building” clarifies Banoo. found respect. The conversation moves to the IIT room house in Govandi, a Mumbai suburb. “Mmmm… What about area: size and space?” canteen. “We used to live on the pavements of Byculla. asks another student. Mumbai needed spaces and we were in the way. “We devised our own scales. For instance one foot Authors’ Note: This is a fictional story based on facts Us and Them Tanvi Deshpande and narrating for the past 20 years. We tell them about our lives Kasturi Roy before SPARC happened. he kids have arrived. A How most of us came to fresh bunch this year, Mumbai after being married but the reluctance off at an early age, how we T made our peace with the and apprehension I sense is familiar. They look about shanties in Byculla, how we the street leading upto Milan worked mostly as domestic Nagar with interest, and why help, the terror unleashed by not. They have been plucked the monsoons, how we raised out of their air-conditioned our kids in narrow gullies we classrooms to be brought called home until the houses to a place they expect to be were demolished. Eyes widen filthy and unpleasant in every with shock, and I look at sense of the word. And yet, their awestruck faces with what they find is a modest, amusement. residential area with pucca Then comes the part they houses. Our houses. have been waiting for. We As they step inside, with tell them about how we took their laptop bags and fancy matters into our own hands Mahila Milan shares its experiences with Journalism students from XIC cameras, I extend a reassuring and struggled for the right And now they want to take good ones don’t cover our that without their support. smile, showing they won’t to have pucca roofs over photographs, something I stories,” I tell her and a look Can we, the mango people of be treated here the way we our heads. Everybody loves can never get accustomed of embarrassment crosses India, stick to our guns on an might be treated in a well- a happy ending, don’t they? to. I smoothen my saree her face. I want to tell her how empty stomach? “That’s what furnished apartment in some The students’ faces break and look at the camera. The important it is to understand we are here for, right? To fight posh Mumbai locality. They into smiles as they listen picture has come out good the power a journalist wields, your battles for you!” I sigh. cram into the small room to how we were invited to and I smile to thank the how he or she can change a “Will you? Or will you be too and accept glasses of water other countries to share our student. She tells me her life, change for the better or busy trying to save your job? with gratitude. And then, stories and help others build name and I ask where she is the worse. “But then… not all Ultimately, everybody has to they don’t know what to do. on what we did. This time from. It is amazing how all journalists are like that… we fight their own battles!” She Staring at each other’s faces, around, their eyes widen with of us have made Mumbai our have been taught ethics and doesn’t know what to say. they wait for someone to surprise. I can see respect home now. journalistic principles…” she I don’t even expect her to. start. They look at Julian with there. And a hint of pride. I ask her what kind of says. Principles. I don’t know They’re all far too young. But pleading eyes and when he As soon as we are done a journalist she wants to what that means. SPARC I hope they think about it and doesn’t help, we break the ice. talking, they break into become. “A good one!” made it a point never to offer not become just another mic- That is not difficult though, eager questions. We take she replies promptly, while or accept bribes. I wonder if thrusting, camera-wielding since it’s a story we have been turns answering them. putting on her shoes. “The we could have afforded to do lot.