Last night I watched the movie Slumdog Millionaire again. It reminded me of Lakshmi. I met her when I was researching In the Presence of the Poor: Changing the Face of India, the story of prominent Indian scientist B.E. Vijayam.
For years Lakshmi–ironically named for the “goddess of wealth”–listened helplessly as her little ones wailed themselves to sleep each night. One handful of rice just wasn’t enough to calm their empty stomachs. But thanks to Dr. Vijayam’s firm belief that technology is the helping hand needed by India’s poorest of the poor, her children no longer go to bed hungry. Lakshmi now runs a thriving dairy business.
The social divisions within India are mind-boggling: A privileged high caste versus oppressed Dalits. The upwardly mobile select versus starvation-poor masses. Educated versus illiterate. The caste to which Lakshmi belongs, the Dalits, is what was formerly known as the untouchables. To be a Dalit means to live in discrimination and poverty. It means to be told every day in countless ways that you are worthless. Dalits are the country’s slumdogs.
But Dr. Vijayam doesn’t believe in India’s social barriers. A long-time university professor who happens to be a devout Christian, he insists that everyone should have a chance. He even managed to convince high-caste, educated scientists to donate their knowledge to help the poverty-stricken, people with whom they would not normally have any contact—people such as Lakshmi. These scientists have accomplished much in the areas of water management and irrigation, limited land use farming, animal husbandry, and industries specifically designed to benefit landless women.
Dr. Vijayam also knows the power of microfinance—banking for the poor. He combines the traditional skills and entrepreneurial instincts of the very poor (especially women), enhances those abilities with new technologies (breeding a cow that produces far more milk, for instance), then makes small loans available to them (usually less than $200 US). As a business becomes self-supporting and the loan is paid off, generally in six months to a year, the money is recycled for others to borrow.
When hope of possibility replaces the desperation of poverty, it makes a way for education… and unity… and opposition to thousands of years of repression. Dr. Vijayam’s work is actively helping to change the face of India.
In the sun-drenched heat of summer, when the west winds blow, Lakshmi cuts wild grass from the roadside to feed her dairy cows. Now her children drink milk with their rice and vegetables before heading off to school.
Is Lakshmi a millionaire? Not by a long shot. But don’t call her a slumdog! She is a businesswoman working hard to make a new life for her children.
“When I was child, I did not know one person who ever went to school. My daughter was a laborer from age nine. But no more. Now even my girls go to school.”
~Lakshmi~
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p.s. I dropped your name on Gina's post, Barb. ;)
thank you so much Lisa, that helps a lot. I know he tried to blame me for so much stuff, but like I told all of his family and mine none of that added up to a divorce. I do realize it's his needs, it just hurts so bad to think how many years he's
I always enjoy reading your posts. What I got from this post is how important it is t be able to feed yourself and your family and get an education, especially for girls. I heard an interesting lecture by Rashid http://www.trulylivingwell.com/press.html who spoke of being able to feed yourself as a form of social justice. Education has always been about social justice.
I so agree!
As I stated in another post here, my Grandmother’s polish immigrant father pulled her out of eighth grade to work at the factories while her brother got a HS and College education. My grandmother acquired silicosis from the factory she worked in and it affected her lungs until the day that it finally killed her. Her son and daughter (my mother) received HS Educations, but again, my uncle received a Law degree, while my mother stayed within the social norms of the late 1950′s and married and had a family. My sister and I have degrees, my sister has a doctorate. Both my daughters have degrees, one Daughter is a Doctor (DVM).
The difference between the impact my Grandmother was able to make upon women’s roles in society was greatly different than the impact my daughters have been able to make. American women have been digging our way out of a very deep, collapsed hole for over a hundred years. The more educated, active women that are present within a society affects the quality of life for all women in any society. This does not happen overnight. But it does change the whole paradigm of the culture. Because educated women have had the opportunity to rise above their cultural limitations. And they have been empowered by an education. Like my Grandmother – this may take several generations. And it will not come easy. No one gives a women empowerment – and many will be threatened when a women acquires it.
What I liked so much about your post is how Dr. Vijayam gave support and encouragement to these women to be an agent of change within their own culture, and not give pity and disdain for them being victims, which only feeds a sense of self righteousness and blinds one to the ongoing growth process that is continually needed to be made in one’s own life. We should all follow his example.
Amen to that, Deborah!