Founders - Anisha

In Her Own Words: From Valli Rajan, Founder of Anisha, which Serves People in the Slums of Bangalore

I was born in 1970, the youngest child in a poor farmer's family. Poverty drove my parents, my sister, two brothers, and myself to Bangalore in late 1940' in search of work from a village called Kattupaiyur in the South Arcot region of Tamil Nadu State in the south of India. During my school days, my parents could not afford to buy the school uniforms that are required in Indian schools. I used to wear a torn uniform and, out of embarrassment, cover it with a sweater every day, even during the extreme heat of Tamil Nadu's summer. The Higher Secondary School was four kilometers away from my house, so I had to walk eight kilometers a day to and from school because we could not afford to take the bus - only three rupees a month in those days. After school my brothers, sister and I went out to the fields and collected firewood for cooking, as we could not afford to have electricity connected to our house. All of us used to sit and study under the light of a kerosene lamp made of old bottles. After completing the 10th Standard, I had to take a one year break, as I could not afford to pay the college fees and tuition. During this period, I learned typing and shorthand, and also did volunteer work tutoring slum children in my neighborhood. After one year, I again continued my studies, but when I was in the 12th Standard (1989) my father passed away. Once again, I experienced deep confusion as to whether to continue my education or to search for a job. Finally, both my brother and my sister supported me so that I might continue my education. After graduating in 1994, I went to work for an organization that was doing social development. I had been inspired by my sister, who shared with me her experiences working for a similar enterprise that was working toward empowering women.

THE BIRTH OF ANISHA
In 1997, I went to a law school situated in K.R.Market in the heart of Bangalore. Classes lasted from 7.15 a.m. to 9.15 a.m. Everyday while walking to college, I noticed young children rag picking. I began wondering where these children came from, so one day I asked them. One child suddenly answered "Vandimode" and quickly disappeared. I asked my mother what Vandimode was, and where it was. She told me it was a place where pushcarts were parked. A few days later, I noticed those children in the same place, and again I asked from where they all came. I got the same answer: Vandimode. Finally, after asking them once more about where they lived, I requested the children to take me to their place. They agreed and took me to their slum dwelling. The first person I met there was named Mary, who lived on a roof above some shops in a crowded market area. She asked me to climb the wooden ladder that led up to her dwelling. Though I was very afraid, I somehow managed to climb to the top of the terrace. I was shocked to see this rooftop -where approximately fifteen families had been living for more than fifty years! There were no facilities, apart from temporary thatched shelter.

Mary introduced me to her mother and two sisters. All four families were living under one roof. Then she took me to a small passage where I found several small thatched huts situated behind the shops without any basic facilities -- no water, electricity, drainage or pavement. Then she introduced me to her brother Shekhar. After introducing myself and looking around Vandimode more thoroughly, I told him and others there that I would like to work with his community to help their children. My offer was accepted. Even now, the memory of that first visit to Vandimode is in front of my eyes. This became the foundation for the humanitarian work, which has inspired me since.

After seeing the situation at Vandimode, I felt a strong urge to work for these young children. I started going there every day to talk with the community about the problems of the area. Gradually I took up some of the issues and started working. I approached the appropriate government department to initiate some important programs for this area; most of the time, however, the department refused to give me a proper answer. While discussing this with my friends, one of them suggested that until we had an identity as an organization, or at least the name of an organization through which we were working, we could not succeed in getting any government programs started for Vandimode. After thinking about this, and consulting the children, we finally formed 'Anisha', which means 'from darkness to light'. The name was actually selected by the children. This is how Anisha came into existence.

One of our achievements was to organise the loaders -- unskilled laborers in a central city ward. Since the central city has very high land rates, loaders experience a high level of insecurity over their wages. We created awareness of the need for forming an association to fight for land issues and supported them in forming a sangha, or a community organization. One of our first tasks was to identify land for building a classroom for the children. However, we met with stiff resistance. We organized the settlement dwellers to negotiate with different party politicians and local elites for acquiring land for the school. Resolution of such issues necessitated liaising with different government institutions and with the politicians. This in part kindled my interest in city politics and governance issues. Eventually, after patient and persistent action, we did acquire the land and build a small classroom for the children of Vandimode.

My interest in these groups was shaped partly by my personal experience, as well as the situation of other people around me. Having been born into a poor family, I experienced difficulty in funding my own education. I grew up in a low income neighborhood, where many children found it difficult to get access to education. Domestic violence was another rampant problem in the neighborhood. I was concerned with the situation of these children and the women from these poor families.

After completing my law degree, I entered a mainstream legal practice. During this time, I was also involved in providing basic legal education and awareness training to some of the women's organisations in the city. My growing interest in women and children's issues led me to leave my job, and join a women's organization, where I conducted a number of training programs and workshops for poor women in squatter settlements. I had the opportunity to reflect on my field experience when I was selected to work for two research projects in Bangalore city. One was a project of the London School of Economics, UK on the issue of the relationships between landlords and the poor. I was in charge of collecting data in twenty municipal wards in east Bangalore. The second project was on "Urban Governance and Poverty", a joint project of the University of Birmingham, London School of Economics, and Cardiff University. Here, I focused on issues related to local economic and political processes. I was also involved in tracing the rural/urban links and the pattern of investments of the migrants across the different states, in their endeavor to move out of situations of poverty.

My interest in local political processes spurred me to compete in the municipal elections in November 2001. I contested as an independent woman candidate. As an independent, I was able to offer a stiff challenge to the established political parties on the day of polling. Through my determined intervention, I was able to prevent around 800 bogus (proxy) votes from being cast. Although I did not win the seat, I was at least able to make people aware of the need for utilizing their ballots effectively. I also had a chance to work for an organization that worked on organic farming. During my time there, I learned organizational administration, accounting, management of women's self-help groups and auditing. I also participated in the training of farmers in organic and biodynamic agriculture. During four years time I traveled to remote villages to conduct nighttime meetings. I also had a valuable opportunity to travel to different parts of the state and to explore my interest and ability to be of assistance to women in the agricultural sector.