Tuesday was the first of my classes in Mumbai, and I made the trek from Kandivali West in the north to Bandra Kurla in the south by tuk-tuk.\u00a0 My driving experiences in India leave me with the feeling that margins of safety are non-existent, and this ride is no exception.\u00a0 It is filled with bumper to bumper jostling and mad dashes in front of oncoming traffic while exhaust fumes seem to coat every cell in my body.<\/p>\n
An hour later, I arrive at Save the Children \u2013 India which offers the program Save Our Sisters.\u00a0 There is a nice sized playground area, the space is open, and people and children mingle in the corridors and stairways.\u00a0 Many programs are housed here, including those for special needs (deaf and down syndrome) children who are wearing green school uniforms to make them readily identifiable to an outsider such as myself.\u00a0 After an introduction in an air conditioned(!) office, my program contact, Jyoti Nale, leads me to the fifth floor to meet the ladies.<\/p>\n
Save Our Sisters young women are older than the ladies I have taught previously in Bihar, their ages ranging from 17 \u2013 22.\u00a0 They have ended up in Mumbai from all the corners of India from which they were trafficked \u2013 Bangladesh, Rajasthan, Hyderabad, even Bihar.\u00a0 When I enter the room to meet them, I am barely given a second glance as they are huddled over a jewelry making project.\u00a0 I wait as they carefully conclude their work.\u00a0 They pull white t-shirts over their shalwazs, and then turn to me.<\/p>\n
The first thing I do is to shake each and every one of their hands, and say, \u2018Hi.\u2019\u00a0 They are not really sure what to do with this, and the dark brown eyes that look at me show curiosity, doubt, even dismissiveness.\u00a0 But that soon changes as I raise my arms up overhead and wiggle my fingers.\u00a0 Eighteen young ladies wordlessly follow.\u00a0 Without saying a word, I curl my fingers into my palm, and wrap my thumb across the front of the fist, and 36 fists are high in the air.\u00a0 Our classes have begun.<\/p>\n
By the end of our hour together, the girls have learned the basics of a proper fighting stance, how to walk confidently, how to make a fist, how to make a hammer fist, how to hit with a hammer fist, what are the strong parts of a woman and what are the weak parts of a man. \u00a0\u00a0As I stuff my pads back into my pack and white t-shirts are being removed, the air in the room has changed, a spark of excitement cast its energy across everyone.\u00a0 It has been a wonderful first class, and I look forward to the next.<\/p>\n
For more information on Save Our Sisters, visit their website:<\/p>\n