Women empowerment

Meena and Deepa - Charting their own future

It was heartwarming to see Meena and Deepa, close friends completing each other's sentences and thoughts as they recalled their decade old journeys with BGS. They were feeling quite proud of their current situation, where they no longer rely on BGS to market their products, and are now contributing towards the family's finances. We walked a small hill from the narrow market by the Laxman Jhula area to reach Kirmola village where all houses were tiny and super close to each other that it was hard to tell them apart.

Just like hundreds of other women, they both got training in braiding Bhimal and Jute fiber several years ago from BGS. However, through their sheer hard work and enterprising skills, they are now independent business women collaborating with 3 other ladies from their family and neighborhood. All five of them have a routine where they meet in the morning at someone's 'Aangan' or 'Chhat' after completing their household chores and make Bhimal Chappals that they sell online and to the nearby tourist shops. They love socializing and dividing tasks so they could scale up to fulfill a big order. Their 3 day “assembly line” looks like this:

• Day 1 - Make braided rope
• Day 2 - Stitch ropes to make sole of the slipper
• Day 3 - Make top part of the Slipper

Now they are not afraid to rent a truck and procure Bhimal fiber directly from Uttrakhand villagers as demand for their Bhimal Chappals has increased. This is hard work but it saves them on the cost of the raw material which they used to purchase from BGS.

Seeing them happy and successful without was truly inspiring. This is exactly what the Bhartiya Gramotthan Sanstha's founder's dream was: enable rural women to chart their own future.