Women Entrepreneurs

My minds in its spiritual mode, awaiting darshan at the Mangapuram Temple at Tirupati when I realize someone’s tugging at my dress. A child barely 6 yrs is holding my dress lightly trying to draw my attention. She has disturbed the mantra that I was chanting in my prayer to the divine power & I look impatiently at her. She has a small camphor packet that she wants to sell to me. Her marketing skills are impeccable. Talks about the quality of the camphor she’s selling etc. She catches my attention, as she’s not the regular urchin who begs & tries to sell things by highlighting their squalor existence. She talks non-stop & I marvel at her entrepreneurial skills. Her name’s Kamala & after haggling a bit, we arrive at a comfortable price & I pay her.

The women quarry workers in Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh had been exploited for ages. There was a huge disparity between the wages given to the men from that of women. The district collector of State suggests to the women quarry workers to take contracts of these quarry’s themselves & do away with the Moneylenders, contractors & the middlemen. Women power spearheading the movement takes magnitude proportions & there is literacy & prosperity amongst the locals in this state.

I’m outside the Gaity / Galaxy multiplex at Bandra, Mumbai hoping frantically to get hold of 2 tickets when someone nudges me & whispers the name of the movie I have in mind. As I turn, an unexpected sight awaits me. A Handicapped women in crutches selling cinema tickets in black with the dexterity of a professional.

Wow…. I’m proud of all these women from the lowest levels of our economy rising above the rest to make a statement.

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