Story of a New India...

16-year-old Neha has an endearing smile that reflects warmth and openness, with a zing that catalyses and fosters an instant human bond. Yet, it is intriguing, and revealing on multiple levels. One senses innate shyness and a self-imposed restless restraint. There is also a yearning for freedom, a desire to break free and aspirations of a better life for her and her family. And happy dreams for an unseen future that form and burst, and form again, like bubbles in the ocean. Barely three miles off the Jaipur-Gurgaon expressway near Jharsa in Haryana (India), amid the shadows of the glitzy shopping malls and high-rise penthouses, lies the tiny hamlet of Shitla colony that Neha calls her home. Her day starts early at five in the morning when, after finishing the household chores- which include cleaning the house and cooking for her siblings- she walks to school. Education is important, she knows, but it does not provide what her family needs immediately at this moment: money. “Financial independence is one thing, sheer sustenance of the family and meeting day-today needs is another,” she says.

The medical expenses of Neha’s ailing mother have been mounting over the last few months, and an earning member can ease the financial pressures of her house. Neha is resolute: she needs to work and earn to provide a steady income to the family, while also studying to realise her aspiration of being a police officer. The question is, how? “Meet me after school and I will show you,” she replies.

At 2 pm, she walks back from school through the dusty, narrow bylanes of Shitla colony, where a group of five other young girls her age are waiting outside a cow shed. They walk together, their small feet moving together in confident strides, and enter a small house that is bubbling with energy. This is the local skill development centre run by Seva Bharati, an NGO that empowers young girls and women of all ages by organising them into self-help groups and providing a platform for them to earn and learn. Seva Bharati imparts vocational skills such as stitching, weaving, and producing handicrafts, among others, while enabling the young girls to continue their education. The NGO seeks to render assistance to socially, economically and educationally backward and weaker persons of the society by undertaking wide-ranging programmes aimed at their upliftment, as well as encouraging the beneficiaries to be change agents and provide selfless service to the society at large.

Today, the girls and women at the Shitla colony centre are making exquisite household items made out of plastic straws. The exuberance and camaraderie in the room is at its peak: hands and fingers are moving with inexplicable dexterity and swiftness, decorative pieces like ribbons and buttons are being exchanged, ideas and problems are being discussed openly, the elders are teaching the young ones, the sound of chatter and laughter in the room are merging into a vibrant symphony. Neha and her friend Ritu are busy shaping the straws into diamonds and squares under the guidance of the other, older ‘experts’ in the group, when another woman enters the room, exuding warmth, love, respect and a strong sense of purpose.

This is Ritu Goyal, the Haryana coordinator of Seva Bharati, affectionally called ‘Didi’ by everyone. She has been at the helm of affairs of Seva Bharati in the city since the past several years and has been instrumental in single-handedly expanding the organisation’s reach in Gurgaon’s interiors and setting up new skill development centres and self-help groups. “How are you all?”, she asks, to which the group replies in one voice, “All well didi. See what we have done.”

Appreciating the recent ‘batch’ of products made by Neha and her friends, Goel says, “We want to help women and girls from financially and socially weak backgrounds by educating and skilling them with vocational training that can help them sustain their households, while empowering them with Indian values. Most of the girls that our chapter is engaged with come from very poor migrant families, and we help them in other things as well, such as making Aadhaar cards and ration cards. Members of each self-help group support one another, and this way they all become like family. This acts like a great support system for them.”

“When we taught stitching to these girls, they began by working on clothes in their families. Slowly, they started taking the work of their neighbours and people around them, and grew into micro-entrepreneurs. In one day, these girls stitch up to two suits and earn INR 200-300 a day. This has enabled them greatly in financially supporting themselves and their families,” Ms Goel adds. Recognising the talent in this set of girls, Seva Bharati also aims to expand their professional training and set up boutiques where these girls can sell their products and get gainful employment.

Indeed, many within the group are realising the importance of the centre as a platform that seeks to help them realise their potential. One of the girls, Suman, reveals how she quickly learnt to stitch clothes and is now already a ‘hit’ among her neighbours. “I also design clothes and can decorate a fabric as per a customer’s liking,” she proudly says. Suman is already thinking of scaling up and expanding into the neighbouring localities of Shitla colony, as “that is how a good business can be set up.”

It’s almost 6 pm now, and Suman is giving finishing touches to her final piece of the day before she heads home. “This centre has given me the most important thing I needed: a place to dream. I believe in myself now, and know I will make it big one day. This is just the first step,” she says, her eyes sparkling with confidence. One day, she wants to be a costume designer in Bollywood. Perhaps, one day, she will.

?Ankita Sharma