Leven in het vrouwenhostel

Dit poëtische verhaal is geschreven door Saritha Route, één van de bestuursleden van de University Women’s Association van Bangalore. Zij zet hierin de sfeer neer die heerst in het hostel en geeft een kijk op de achtergrond van de bewoonsters:

Kamala, Mamta, Shilpa, Asha, Roopa, Leela, Sumanlatha, Thara, Keertnana, Vanitha, Renuka, Lalitha hail from different parts of rural Karnataka – from the rain-drenched slopes of the hills near Coorg to the parched and arid tracks of North Karnataka and coastal Karnataka. Listening to the names of the towns they come from, is like reciting the station names from different routes of the Great Indian Railways, – Mysore, Mangalore, Udipi, tumkur, Chikkaballapur, Hospet, Hoskote, Dharward, Bellary and more. A lesson in geography if you will.

Their backgrounds are different too – farmers daughters, first generation educated women, daughters of traders and businessmen. Mingling with women from women from other parts of India, they today live and work in Bangalore.

A reflection of the diverse and intricate weave that defines the fabric of India, these women are the women who are the face of the changing India. The University Women’s Association of Bangalore is proud to be a part of their live. And prouder still to be able to provide them with safe and secure accommodation while they earn their living in Bangalore and pursue their dreams of a better future.

At our Sampangiramnagar hostel, dinner conversation is peppered with conversations of different work-place experiences and anecdotes. Two teachers, a karate expert, raise their voices to be heard above the babble as they would at work. A young advocate working in a small legal office for little over Rs. 2000,-* hesitantly learns to voice her opinions with a young social worker – who takes up the cause of trans-genders through the NGO she works with. She has high aspirations and backs it with action too. She has already set up a small help-group back in her home-town. She also wishes to make the women in her town more green-aware and empowered in their daily lives. She is armed with a degree in Social Work and with an M. Phil degree she works with a Bangalore based NGO for just about Rs. 8000,- Her namesake from the hills in Coorg works as an office assistant for Rs. 4000,- . Her father who is a driver managed to get her a basic high school education after which she did a course in office management.

Listening to the conversations, it’s amazing to see how Bangalore’s booming retail business is steered by the likes of young women in our hostel. These are not the women who spend their earnings at the malls, these are the women who earn their living at the malls. Cashiers, shop assistants and helpers, these women are always at hand to help you in the aisle while you shop for your family. They take home just about Rs. 5.000,- to Rs. 6.000,- a month. An amount that many would consider not enough to cover grocery bills for a family of two.

Even 10 years ago these women would not have had the opportunity to stand on their own feet let alone leave their home-towns and support their families. Thanks to the It boom, the growth of the health-care sector and off-shoring in general.; these women have today jobs in transcription companies, publication houses, they are machine operators in testing labs, ward assistants in hospitals and customer care representatives and front office staff in small and large offices across Bangalore. Some of them just about earn a stipend of Rs. 500,- Others earn salaries ranging from Rs. 2.000,- to one-odd young lady who gets over Rs. 15.000,- per month. They share dormitories or live in rooms they share with others. Irrespective the scene every morning is the same. They scramble to get ready for work, adjusting bath timings to ensure that they have hot water, rushing to grab breakfast, saving some dosa and idlies for the late-kates… running back from the gate to grab the forgotten packed lunch. Some are more sedate and well-planned. Either which-way the start the day, they all know they have a safe place to come back to in the evening a place they call home.

And guess what they do on their weekly off-day?…. hmm like most other women their age, they sleep in a bit longer, eat a humungous breakfast, get the laundry done, indulge in long ‘beauty-baths’, watch TV – catch a favourite show, eat a special lunch and then rest a bit or maybe head out to see the city lights.

* Rs. 2000,- = ongeveer € 25,-

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