(Daily News Scan - DNS English) #SheInspiresUs : Super 7 Women
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed over the control of his social media accounts to seven women achievers from diverse fields. They were chosen from numerous entries received as a part of #SheInspiresUs campaign on 3 March. India has excellent women achievers who have contributed by their works for the betterment of the society. The seven women achievers shared their journeys to mark International Women’s Day and inspire others to do the same.
In this DNS, we will talk about these 7 women achievers and their contribution towards the society.
Every woman is an achiever. But few of them have done some extraordinary things for the people around them the society. They and their achievements need to be celebrated as well as their stories must be shared.
The first woman achiever is Sneha Mohandoss. She is the founder of Food Bank India. She works with volunteers from India and outside to eradicate hunger. She has taken up initiatives like mass cooking, cooking marathon, breast feeding awareness drive etc. Eradicating hunger is one of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN. A large part of the world is deprived of food and food security. This step of creating a Food Bank is one of the useful and helpful ways to provide people with food security.
The second woman achiever is Malvika Iyer. She lost both her hands and damaged her legs as well in a bomb blast at the age of 13. She is a social activist and a motivational speaker. The inspiring thing about this woman achiever is her never giving up attitude. She believes that education is essential for change. She had said through the social media account of the PM that people with disabilities should be the role models of the society instead of showing them a weak dependent people.
The third woman achiever is Arifa, an entrepreneur. She has worked in retrieving the traditional felted craft Namda of Kashmir. She believes that it is very important for women to focus on becoming self-reliant and other women. She has been inspired by this initiative of the Prime Minister and believes that it has boosted her morale. She wishes to work harder for the betterment of the craft as well as the artisans all over Kashmir.
NAMDA ART – It is a traditional art form of matting. Namda is a local term for traditional felted wool floor covering. It is usually made out of coarse variety of wool. This word Namda is derived from the root word Namata from Sanskrit which means woolen stuff. It is practiced as a craft in countries like Iran, Afghanistan and India. Kashmir and Rajasthan are two major places in India where this art form of matting is practiced. The raw materials used for making Namda include wool, soap, acid, and plain water. In most of the matts made through this art form floral patterns can be observed as the theme.
Coming back to the fourth woman achiever, she is a water warrior Kalpana Ramesh. She is concerned for water scarcity and works towards saving people from this issue. A volunteer with Society for Advancement of Human Endeavour, she has been helping residences, apartment complexes and offices harness rainwater in Hyderabad. She said that if each one of us can collectively act then we can create a water secure future for our children. She urged the people to contribute by using water responsibly, harvesting rainwater, saving lakes, recycling used water and creating awareness.
The fifth in the series of woman achiever is Vijaya Pawar a member of the Banjara community from rural Maharashtra. Her vision is to save the art of Banjara handicrafts. She not only learnt the craft herself but also taught and empowered the village women through her NGO.
Banjara Handicrafts – Banjaras are the nomadic tribes who have their origins from Rajasthan, India. Their art form is vivid including performance art as dance and music. Along with this they are good at folk art like rangoli, textile embroidery, tattooing and painting. Lepo embroidery one the most beautiful art work comprises of stitching pieces of mirror, decorative beads and coins onto the clothes.
The sixth inspiring woman achiever is from Kanpur. Kalavati Devi dedicated her life to make her village open defecation free. She achieved this by building around more than 4,000 toilets so far.
Swach Bharat Abhiyan was launched in the year 2014 to clean up the streets, roads and other places. It also included the objective of eliminating open defecation through the construction of household-owned and community-owned toilet.
The seventh inspiring woman achiever in this list is Veena Devi from Munger, Bihar. She is an organic farmer. She shared a unique farming technique of growing mushroom under her bed and made a business out of it. She also encouraged other women in her village to grow mushrooms in similar way.
These women through the social media account of the PM not only shared their inspiring stories but also interacted with the people. This campaign would also be helpful for these women to associate with others who need help or need some inspiration and motivation. This initiative by the PM will definitely be fruitful for these achievers.
