On Tuesday, we had the special opportunity of traveling to
Ahmednagar to attend what we originally were told was a “meeting” with the
Tribal Minister of Health for the State of Maharastra. However, we were greeted
by hoards of women in sarees under a large grounded tent. We were quickly
ushered into the government building, up the stairs and into a conference room
where we met Supriya Sule, a congresswoman for the Nationalist Congress Party.
She is a big supporter of women’s rights and empowerment, and we shortly
learned that the event was actually a rally of over 5,000 women waiting to hear
her and other members of the political party speak. After meeting and speaking
with Supriya shortly, we headed to the tent to observe the ceremony.
Unfortunately, all of it was in Marathi so it was difficult to follow along.
Different women put on skits and shared their stories with poems and speeches
and the women in the audience were very passionate and vocal with their
approval of the program. Topics discussed included the importance of education,
female foeticide, and the recent sexual violence throughout India.
About two hours later, we exited the tent to head back to
CRHP when we were swarmed by many news crews who wanted to interview us. We
were very confused because we didn’t quite understand why they would be
treating us like celebrities. Many Indian people were trying to talk to us as
we walked through the crowd, and many took pictures with their camera phones. We
later learned that our presence was greatly appreciated because in a way, we
represent the rights that these women are fighting for and while it seemed
strange at the time, we were guests of honor for that reason. The Minister of
Tribal Health’s personal assistant found us and took special care to bring us
back to the conference room where more Indian staff and visitors gathered to
take pictures with us and to wrap our heads in hot pink turbans to represent
their appreciation for our attendance at the event. Thinking the day was over,
we began to head back to the car but instead were thrown a curveball when we
were all led on stage in front of thousands of Indian women to sit behind
Supriya as she gave her long awaited speech. All in all, it was a great
experience and one that none of us will forget.
On the way home, we stopped for a long awaited lunch at an
Indian hotel where we were served traditional foods that were spicier than what
we are used to at CRHP but extremely delicious! After a long bus ride home, we caught the very end
of a lesson on holistic/natural remedies by Shobha and went to bed exhausted.
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