Power of a woman personified

Feminist, author and teacher Chhaya Datar tells  Tina Aranha that feminism is not about acting like men

"I became a feminist to complete myself. Working with tribal women, I realised how dynamic and enduring they are. We would organise struggles for forest rights and even when hit, they wouldn't budge," reminiscences Chhaya Datar, 62, an activist, teacher and believer in women's empowerment. 

Married at 19, Chhaya dedicated her time to the family for ten years before her husband moved to Mumbai.

"Only being a housewife frustrated me. I was always intrigued by rural development. I come from a Gandhian family and had early impressions of serving people," she discloses.

A ten-day camp with Baba Amte and subsequent work with tribals spurred her to be a member of the Left-oriented Magowa Group in 1972.

Interaction with feminists from the West exposed her to the women's movement. In 1980, she was awarded the Dutch government scholarship to study women's issues.

"I went to the Netherlands for 16 months to pursue an MA in Women and Development at the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague. Twenty people, 16 from Third World countries, came to this programme. We had a rich exchange of ideas and I learnt about women's movements around the world — their struggles, efforts, success and failures," Chhaya informs.

On her return, she focused on the women's movement in India. "1981 was a culminating year for the women's movement in India.

After the Mathura rape case, I became a founder member of Forum Against Rape (later called Forum Against Oppression of Women). We created awareness about violence against women," says Chhaya, a founding member of Stree Mukti Sanghatana, which organised the Stree Mukti Yatra in 1985.

"It was a 11- day yatra covering 11 towns and seven villages in western Maharashtra, spreading the message of women's liberation through exhibitions, books, street plays, seminars and slide shows," she says.

1n 1988, she joined Tata Institute of Social Sciences and is currently a professor in the Centre for Women's Studies. Apart from teaching, Chhaya did research projects on varied topics, including one on women beedi workers in Nipani.

"I studied 4,000 beedi workers—their dynamics, mobilisation and unionisation. The entire study culminated in my book Waging Struggle, Women Tobacco Workers of Nipani," Chhaya elaborates.

Author of several books in English and Marathi, Chhaya's project on women's employment via Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) gave her an insight into environmental problems.

"My study about EGS for drought affected farmers made me realise that while the rest of the country has 30 per cent land under irrigation, Maharashtra has only 13 per cent. I am now drawn towards the concerns of land and water," she says.

With a PhD in Women's Work in the Context of Environmental Degradation, from SNDT Women's University, Chhaya is now a part of the Women Water Network which advocates access to water for women.

A visiting Fulbright scholar at Chatham College, Pittsburgh, she attacks populist slogans. "Free education for all doesn't make much of a difference in the rural areas. Given a choice, most parents prefer to send a boy to school and the girl becomes a child labourer earning for her brother," she shoots.

"Earlier, feminism was never about acting like men. We didn't demand equality between man and woman because we refused to accept man as the norm. Today, you see women entering male-dominated fields but they are so few in number. It has led to inequality among women themselves."

She believes that with time, the pressures on a woman have changed. "Earlier it was confinement to certain duties. But now there is physical violence, stigma, societal expectations and necessity to work to uplift one's economic status, and sadly, not for self-fulfilment," she argues.

Effectively balancing family and career, Chhaya has no regrets. "Every movement has its ups and downs and I am glad that I never took any hasty decision driven by my passion.

There were always conflicts, but I managed fine," smiles Chhaya, who plans to write a book in Marathi after her retirement next year.