The Green Tara Project

This is an adjunct to my ‘Impromptu’ post.

Two of the three girls that I taught also sang an impromptu song.  I didn’t understand a word of it, but one of the girls looked off into the distance as she sang, and the other one’s eyes stayed fixed on the ground.  Their voices were not strong – there was no joy in their words, and no smiles.  The song finished, they sat down.  The Apne Aap project coordinator who was there leaned over and explained that the song the girls sang was about why are boys treated so much better than girls, why do they get schooling and food when girls do not.  And then it hit me why these young ladies sang the way they sang:  in front of their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts, cousins, teachers, and strangers, they made a declaration – that there is no reason why girls are any different than boys.  Out of all the things they could have sung about, the message of equality is what they wished to convey.

This is a message that definitely needs to be voiced.  Women appear to be marginalized here for the most part.  In my few short days here, men are the predominant force on the street – they are the drivers of all vehicles; I haven’t seen one female driver.  I have not seen a female professional anywhere: at the Baghdogra airport or in the hotel where I am at, all men.  They are servers, ticket-takers, cleaners, cooks, shopkeeps – all men.  Where are the women in this economy?  I’ve seen many of them doing backbreaking work in the fields.

But back to the girls, aged 12.  Their courage to voice their opinion like that makes me speechless.  These ladies are my heroes, the ones who, hopefully and with some support, will eventually make a difference in their lives and possibly the lives of others long after I’ve returned to the US.  Maybe I just witnessed the performance of a female version of Gandhi.  I hope so.