After grappling with a sense of “rootlessness,” the desire to stay in one place and start small became strong. My initial desire to be a part of a holistic change transformed to a focus on things that I could do: small steps in the right direction, amidst the thousand other worthy causes that implored my sense of justice and competed for my attention.

When I first came to the Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, to work with Mazdoor Kisan Sangatan and Lok Shikshan Sansthan, I was struck by the poverty: households with no livelihood; children with bloated bellies and thin bodies– the unmistakable signs of malnutrition. I had to form friendships with women, identify leaders and break the barrier of purdah and the stoic faces it concealed.  We learnt that if we wanted women to play an active role, they must run the campaign. Putting all this into practice took enormous energy; eventually, we had a campaign for minimum wages led mostly by women from four villages.  In May this year, we tasted our first victory of this campaign: after months of struggle, about 70 workers in these villages got their minimum wages for construction work. 

On the whole I am happy.  Although an intense sense of helplessness about all the injustices overpowers me. But there are times when I feel at least a small part of the solution. What keeps me going is a tenuous but persistent hope that one-day exploitation will end because of our small struggles, and people like me will have a role to play in this upheaval.