Eight kilometers away from the town of Kargil, a silent battle is on in the village of Akchamal. The battle, headed by a 36-year-old housewife Fiza Banoo, is being fought by the women of the area to participate in the process of empowerment.
Fiza set up a group six years ago with just a hundred rupees in her hand and a handful of women by her side to provide employment to women in the in the backward regions of Kargil District by involving them in the stitching of traditional garments.
What Fiza could achieve in this short time, working in one of the most isolated regions of the country, is truly commendable. She decided to stay active when the rest of Kargil is virtually dormant. During winters, when all other livelihood tasks are at a standstill due to extreme cold and erratic connectivity, this NGO set up by Fiza , provides a platform to housewives and young girls by training them and refining their skills at basking , knitting and carpet weaving by using the easily accessible local yarn called 'Bal'.
The women make 'Bal' undergo a process of decontaminat----ion. After shaving it off from the sheep's skin, it is buried under a special kind of sanitizing soil called 'bal tsa' for about two days, to remove the sticky impurity called 'tsi'. It is then whisked with a stick called 'Drapp Shing' to smoothen the yarn lumps. A traditional tool called 'Bal Shatt' is used to comb the yarn which produces a much lustrous and ductile brand. And finally, threads are spun out of them with a local wooden spinner called 'Phang'.
The work is distributed among 75 workers, in the age group of 24 to 50 years. The older women spin-- threads out of the 'Bal' and the younger ones knit and weave. "50 kgs wool costs us 2000 rupees, from which about 42 sweaters are knitted. Each sweater is then sold for 1200 rupees. A pair of carpets is sold for 4000 rupees", states Fiza, whose craft production relies on the orders received. Each trainee is sanctioned a stipend of 300 rupees to spin a kilogram of 'bal' and 250 rupees to knit the same quantity. All profits are shared among the team. Products like seat covers, gloves, mufflers and socks are also produced and with the left over wool, quilts and pillows are made.
Also Read
"Many workers came to me because of financial need, to either get their daughters married or for myriad compulsions of daily life", Fiza asserts with a tone of generosity in her voice. And since Pahari womenfolk are familiar with multi-tasking, they find time to indulge their artistic facets, spinning, knitting and weaving in their homes alongside their household chores.
With the help of her family, Fiza traveled to Jammu for the promotion of her NGO and organize awareness camps.
Recognizing Fiza's attempts to bring the womenfolk together to not only work towards an independent life but to work as a team, the Block Head supported her organization both morally and financially. She received a sum of 20,000 rupees for putting up Awareness Camps on issues regarding hygiene, girl child education and anti-smoking in Suru, Akchamal and Poen, small villages nestled in the lap of nature in the outskirts of Kargil district.
"A girl has a kingdom of desires and personal prerequisites. She cannot always ask her father to fulfill them, and strives for financial independence", says Fiza, whose source of inspiration, she confesses with great joy and amusement, has been women characters in television soaps!
She believes in the notion of hard work. "Bekaar nahin bethna hai" (we must not sit idle), and encourages everyone she meets to work by every possible means, because work gives her enormous contentment and a sense of being alive.
It is this aspiring aspect of her character that enables her today to run ten centers as the Block Chairman of the self Help Groups in Kargil District. She even received suggestions about running for the position of a Panch in her village, which she declined. She is reluctant to engage in murky politics which may result in illegitimate accusations normally faced by a woman candidate. This fear factor remains un-surmounted.
Her dream wasn't painless to accomplish, but with her undying struggle to induce the villagers, she managed to collect as many as 75 workers and a bank of machinery for the NGO. With no large scale trade unit of traditional garments in the district, her unit became the first of its kind and has boosted the economy of the poor rural artisans by providing them employment opportunities. The trade programme proved to be very relevant to the local topography, reviving the richness of traditional attire and customs.
The buoyancy in her voice and a firm belief that her righteous step toward the emancipation of women shall not wither and waste away, Fiza continues with her resolve to continue working for the women of Kargil.
