Anita

In the state of Maharashrta in the country India there is a town called Aurangabad. In the town of Aurangabad there’s a community called Mukundwadi and within Mukundwadi lives a woman called Anita.

Anita is different. She doesn’t conform to an outsider’s expectations of an Indian. Yet she is Indian. She doesn’t conform to the norms of her community, yet she is respected by it. And most importantly she does not live within the four walls identified with womanhood, yet she is still a woman.

Anita comes from a poor cobbler family that belongs to what is sometimes callously referred to as the untouchable cast. She started her education at five like any other child, but at the age of 14 she hit a roadblock. She had her first epileptic fit. She fell down and hurt herself badly on the way to school.

Epilepsy has an incredible social stigma in India, especially amongst the uneducated, and perhaps for her safety or for some other reason that we can not relate to, she was kept home from school. For two years she languished, un-stimulated, growing physically but not mentally. Waiting, like most other women her age to be married off to a husband that would take her off her parents’ hands for whatever meager dowry they could afford. But she knew her education was important; it remained in the back of her mind.

She approached a local social worker and started some drawing and tailoring classes. I spoke to the social worker and he said that the first time she came to see him she could barely bring herself to look up from the floor into his eyes or even to bare her face. After showing some promise she was asked to teach a class to younger girls. She refused. How could an uneducated epileptic untouchable girl ever teach anything? But her parents encouraged her and with the social workers support she taught. And she taught well.

Girls’ education is not a priority for most parents in the community. In fact a girl leaving their four walls after school hours is an uncommon event, but she knew its importance, and with her insistence, with her zeal, the students came. The taught tailoring and drawing to city girls and rural girls; and along with their new skills she taught them confidence. With boys on every street corner, most girls and their parents are fearful. What will they do? What will they say?

Anita now works a short bus ride and walk away from home. She sometimes walks with other women, sometimes alone. Every day she sees boys hanging around and on one occasion they started harassing her and her friends. She stayed quiet to see where it would lead. The boys kept teasing. The girls said nothing. She stepped up.

“Are you talking to me?” They boy was caught off guard. “Are you talking to me?” She hadn’t seen Taxi Driver. I asked. The boy stepped off. “Next time, make sure you know who you’re talking to” She told me she was prepared to slap him in the face if he talked back.
The transformation was complete. Anita has knocked down all four walls and has become free. She is seen and respected by all and is an example to all aspiring independent woman. That she exists is impressive, but that she exists despite being an unschooled epileptic untouchable is astonishing.