From Empathy to Activism
At first look, Kalpana appears to be an extremely shy, simple Indian girl engrossed in her own cocoon of life full of dreams. She is educated, well mannered and possesses an extremely empathetic persona so typical of an Indian woman. Well, this is not all… On the professional front, she works as a counselor for the Bhumika Women's Collective, an NGO based in Andhra Pradesh working on various women issues that have been marring the societal fabric in this state for long.
What started off as a mere womens' helpline in 2006 by the then Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ms. Soumya Misra, has today taken shape of an independent organization as a government appointed coordinating agency working on various women related issues. This centre works with various departments like Police, District and State Administrations offering remedies like counseling, volunteer and legal support and advocacy. With an army of 200 volunteers across 16 districts in Andhra Pradesh, Bhumika helpline plays a crucial role as the only hope and harbinger of peace for women who are suffering from various forms of exploitation. Over the years, words about their good work have traversed over geographical boundaries and have resulted in Bhumika getting distress calls from as far as Mumbai and even Dubai.
A typical day in Kalpana’s life starts at 8 am and goes on goes upto 11 pm with around 10 to 12 distress calls coming in for help. “These calls vary from simple cases involving petty arguments between a husband and wife to psychopathic cases having suicidal tendencies which require extreme care while handling. All calls are given the similar kind of attention without making any judgmental decisions about the gravity of the situation”, said Kalpana.
Explaining the process the way centre operates, she explained, “Once a call is received, the aggrieved is given the entire space to vent out all her feeling and frustrations over the situation, the person is suffering from. Once heard, the counselors then guide the aggrieved to available options based on her need like counseling, protection, short stay homes and legal help if required. In all the cases, the identity of the aggrieved is kept strictly confidential”.
“Bhumika ensures that the aggrieved chooses the option without any duress or external influence mitigating her likely expectations in future. Once opted, Bhumika then jumps into the bandwagon to proceed ahead in the direction chosen by the aggrieved. Many women joined Bhumika as volunteers after getting help from them”, she added.
Bhumika has tied up with various Vocational Training Centres in the 16 districts of Andhra Pradesh to help such aggrieved women get trained on vocational jobs like stitching, candle making, etc. in order to become self sufficient in life. The centre has been publishing Bhumika Magazine for last 15 years and covering issues like gender, equality, science, politics and other social issues for creating awareness among its women readers.
“Working for society often comes at a cost of sacrificing your personal lives and priorities. The nature of task being such that sometimes I am called in the wee hours of night, I don’t mind stepping out of the house even at 2 a.m. to reach the home of the accused. Sometimes, even the police also threaten us in cases involving the high profile and influential families but these are the challenges that have transformed me into a bold and confident woman”, added Kalpana.
From empathy to activism, it’s a long journey travelled by the likes of many women who are whole heartedly immersed in it.
Story and photo by: Sanjeev Sethi