Kalawati has seen a sea change in her 42 years of life. There is a huge difference in the Kalawati of today and yesteryears. Her thinking has changed and her outlook has broadened. Her economic condition too has improved drastically.
"Even though I do not have enough land to grow crops to sell in the market, there is at least enough food in the family for all. I also earn by working on other people's farms and by selling milk. Our economic condition has improved a lot. Earlier there was never enough food to eat in the house and we would rarely sleep on a full stomach. But now the whole family gets to eat a balanced meal--lentils, rice, roti and vegetables. We are also able to indulge in some luxuries like using toiletries of soap and shampoo that were but a dream earlier--when we would make do with mud to clean our hands and body. I am also able to afford to have a few decent sarees in my wardrobe."
Today, other women of her village take inspiration from Kalawati. They have seen her grow from nobody -- who did not have enough for two square meals a day -- to somebody of substance by way of money and womanpower. Kalawati always had that desire in her to move ahead in life and do things differently. Today she is recognized as a woman leader. If she could do it, others can too by sheer dint of hard work and the desire to succeed in life.
"I believe in self-help. Women are very laborious and industrious but they perhaps lack in self-confidence and hence are diffident to move ahead and become self-reliant. They feel intimidated by their husbands and refuse to join the work force, even though they internally wish to. I encourage them to work outside their homes to improve their financial and social status".
Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS
(This article is part of a soon-to-be-released Oxfam India publication: "The Leader Lies In You - Success stories of women farmers in UP")
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