Even after 10 years of living in the States, the shift back to India didn’t seem unnatural. I had wanted to make the move for a long time now. Volunteering with AID-Austin¹ since 2002 led to a certain understanding of social issues in India. My reverse immigration was simply a means to deepen this understanding, starting at the grassroots level. Volunteering for six months seemed like a good place to start.

Some people store photo albums in their cupboards replete with memories of days gone by. Tara Ahluwalia doesn’t fit into this strata of society. Instead of Kodak moments, her cupboards hold stories of women she’s worked with, victims of dowry demand, natha pratha², rape, witch-hunting³, homicide, domestic violence, female foeticide, and other heinous crimes. Chandi Bai and Manu are among the hundreds who thank her for their rebirth, a chance to start life again far from their hellish pasts. For 25 years, Taraji has been working in Bhilwara, Rajasthan, so that each voice muted by a life of suffering is silenced no more.

I first met Taraji in 2008 at an AID-India conference in Bangalore. We spoke for hours. Rather, I listened as she told me of her work against violence on women. The meeting left me heartbroken, yet deeply inspired. A year later, I find myself in Bhilwara with one of the spunkiest, most courageous women I know.

Taraji found a mission for Nikhil and myself in the form of a village called Shreeji ka Kheda. Caked cow-dung walls make up most of the houses, while a few better-off families possess cemented accommodations. Purdah-ed women draped in vibrant colors cook meals over a brush-fueled choolha⁴. Imagine a place with only one handpump, no hospital, and no anganwadi⁵. Imagine a community of 300 in which 80% of the women are widows. Various theories have attempted to explain this strange phenomenon; Some claim that the men working in the rock mines fell victim to tuberculosis. Others blame the unnatural widowhood on the alcoholism prevalent among the Kharol⁶ caste men of the village. This is Shreeji ka Kheda, our home for the next few months.

What can we hope to accomplish in a few months? Provide better access to water, perhaps. Or ensure that every girl child goes to school. The only way to sustainably develop a community is to empower its citizens, to imbibe in them a sense of ownership toward their surroundings. We are not living in Shreeji ka Kheda to “fix” things. That is, we are there to work with the people, not for the people. Through this sentiment of togetherness, we hope to change Shreejia ka Kheda for the better.

1. Association for India’s Development (AID)-Austin chapter is a UT registered non-profit organization. The organization raises funds in the US to support NGOs in India. http://austin.aidindia.org

2. Natha-pratha is a practice in which the husband marries his wife off to another man, in return for money.

3. Witch-hunting or dayan-pratha, is common in rural Rajasthan. Women without much family support (e.g. widows) are typically targeted if they possess property. The accuser labels the woman as a witch, leading to ostracization from the community (e.g. the woman is physically assaulted, paraded around the village naked, and demeaned in other ways)

4. Choolha: a stove that uses burning wood as a source of heat.

5. Anganwadi is a government sponsored child-care and mother-care center in India. It caters to children in the 0-6 age group. The word means “courtyard shelter” in Hindi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anganwadi

6. Kharol is a sub-caste which specializes in brewing homemade liquor. This contributes to alcoholism.

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