How women in rural India turned courage into capital | Chetna Gala Sinha

Translator: Polona Ramšak Reviewer: Nika Kotnik

I'm here to tell you not just my story

Tu sem, da vam povem ne le svojo zgodbo,

but stories of exceptional women from India whom I've met.

ampak zgodbe izjemnih žensk iz Indije, ki sem jih spoznala.

They continue to inspire me,

Nenehno me navdihujejo,

teach me, guide me in my journey of my life.

me učijo, vodijo na moji življenjski poti.

These are incredible women.

To so izjemne ženske.

They never had an opportunity to go to school,

Nikoli niso imele priložnosti hoditi v šolo,

they had no degrees,

nimajo diplome,

no travel, no exposure.

ne potujejo, se ne izpostavljajo.

Ordinary women who did extraordinary things

Navadne ženske, ki so naredile nenavadne, izjemne stvari

with the greatest of their courage,

z največjim možnim pogumom,

wisdom and humility.

modrostjo in ponižnostjo.

These are my teachers.

Moje učiteljice so.

For the last three decades,

Zadnja tri desetletja

I've been working, staying and living in India

delam in živim v Indiji

and working with women in rural India.

in delam z ženskami v ruralni Indiji.

I was born and brought up in Mumbai.

Rojena in vzgojena sem bila v Mumbaju.

When I was in college,

Ko sem bila na kolidžu,

I met Jayaprakash Narayan,

sem srečala Jayaprakasha Narayana,

famous Gandhian leader

znanega gandijevskega vodjo,

who inspired youth to work in rural India.

ki je vzpodbudil mlade, da delajo v ruralni Indiji.

I went into the villages to work in rural India.

Šla sem delat v vasi v ruralni Indiji.

I was part of land rights movement,

Bila sem del gibanj za uveljavitev pravice do vrnitve zemlje,

farmers' movement

kmečkih gibanj

and women's movement.

in ženskih gibanj.

On the same line,

V istem kontekstu

I ended up in a very small village,

sem se znašla v zelo majhni vasi,

fell in love with a young, handsome, dynamic young farmer-leader

se zaljubila v mladega, čednega, dinamičnega vodjo mladih kmetov,

who was not very educated,

ki ni bil zelo izobražen,

but he could pull the crowd.

a je znal pritegniti ljudi.

And so in the passion of youth,

In tako sem se v mladostni strasti

I married him

z njim poročila

and left Mumbai,

in zapustila Mumbaj

and went to a small village which did not have running water

ter šla v majhno vas, ki ni imela tekoče vode

and no toilet.

in stranišč.

Honestly, my family and friends were horrified.

Po resnici povedano so bili moja družina in prijatelji zgroženi.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

I was staying with my family,

Živela sem s svojo družino,

with my three children in the village,

s svojimi tremi otroki, v vasi

and one day,

in nekega dne,

a few years later one day,

nekega dne nekaj let kasneje,

a woman called Kantabai came to me.

je k meni prišla ženska po imenu Kantabai.

Kantabai said, "I want to open a saving account.

Kantabai je rekla: "Rada bi si odprla varčevalni račun.

I want to save."

Rada bi varčevala."

I asked Kantabai:

Vprašala sem Kantabai:

"You are doing business of blacksmith.

"Ukvarjaš se s kovaštvom.

Do you have enough money to save?

Ali imaš dovolj denarja za varčevanje?

You are staying on the street.

Živiš na cesti.

Can you save?"

Lahko varčuješ?"

Kantabai was insistent.

Kantabai je vztrajala.

She said, "I want to save because I want to buy a plastic sheet

Rekla je: "Rada bi varčevala, ker bi si rada kupila plastično ponjavo,

before the monsoons arrive.

preden pride monsun.

I want to save my family from rain."

Rada bi zavarovala svojo družino pred dežjem."

I went with Kantabai to the bank.

S Kantabai sem šla v banko.

Kantabai wanted to save 10 rupees a day --

Kantabai je želela vsak dan prihraniti 10 rupij -

less than 15 cents.

manj kot 15 centov.

Bank manager refused to open the account of Kantabai.

Direktor banke ni bil pripravljen Kantabai odpreti račun.

He said Kantabai's amount is too small

Dejal je, da je njena vsota premajhna

and it's not worth his time.

in ni vredna njegovega časa.

Kantabai was not asking any loan from the bank.

Kantabai banke ni prosila za posojilo.

She was not asking any subsidy or grant from the government.

Ni prosila za denarno pomoč ali vladno štipendijo.

What she was asking was to have a safe place

Prosila je le za varno mesto

to save her hard-earned money.

za svoj trdo prisluženi denar.

And that was her right.

In to je bila njena pravica.

And I went --

Pa sva odšli.

I said if banks are not opening the account of Kantabai,

Rekla sem si, da če banka noče Kantabai odpreti računa,

why not start the bank

zakaj ne odprem banke,

which will give an opportunity for women like Kantabai to save?

ki bo ženskam, kot je Kantabai, nudila priložnost za varčevanje?

And I applied for the banking license to Reserve Bank of India.

Zaprosila sem za bančno dovoljenje pri banki Reserve Bank of India.

(Applause)

(aplavz)

No, it was not an easy task.

Ne, to ni bila lahka naloga.

Our license was rejected --

Najino dovoljenje je bilo zavrnjeno ...

(Laughter)

(smeh)

on the grounds --

na podlagi ...

Reserve Bank said that we cannot issue a license

Reserve Bank je rekla, da ne more izdati dovoljenja

to the bank whose promoting members who are nonliterate.

banki, ki promovira člane, ki so nepismeni.

I was terrified.

Bila sem zgrožena.

I was crying.

Zajokala sem.

And by coming back home,

In ko sem se vrnila domov,

I was continuously crying.

sem še vedno jokala.

I told Kantabai and other women

Rekla sem Kantabai in drugim ženskam,

that we couldn't get the license because our women are nonliterate.

da ne moremo dobiti dovoljenja, ker so naše ženske nepismene.

Our women said, "Stop crying.

Naše ženske so rekle: "Nehaj jokati.

We will learn to read and write

Naučile se bomo brati in pisati

and apply again, so what?"

in ponovno vložile prošnjo, pa kaj?"

(Applause)

(Aplavz)

We started our literacy classes.

Začele smo s poukom branja in pisanja.

Every day our women would come.

Ženske so vsak dan prihajale.

They were so determined that after working the whole day,

Tako odločene so bile, da so po tem, ko so cel dan delale,

they would come to the class and learn to read and write.

prišle k pouku in se učile brati in pisati.

After five months,

Po petih mesecih

we applied again,

smo ponovno zaprosile,

but this time I didn't go alone.

a tokrat nisem šla sama.

Fifteen women accompanied me to Reserve Bank of India.

Petnajst žensk me je pospremilo v Reserve Bank of India.

Our women told the officer of Reserve Bank,

Naše ženske so uradniku banke povedale:

"You rejected the license because we cannot read and write.

"Zavrnili ste nam dovoljenje, ker ne znamo brati in pisati.

You rejected the license because we are nonliterate."

Zavrnili ste nam dovoljenje, ker smo nepismene.

But they said, "There were no schools when we were growing,

Ko smo odraščale, ni bilo šol,

so we are not responsible for our noneducation."

zato nismo odgovorne za naše pomanjkanje izobrazbe."

And they said, "We cannot read and write,

In rekle so: "Ne znamo brati in pisati,

but we can count."

znamo pa šteti."

(Laughter)

(smeh)

(Applause)

(aplavz)

And they challenged the officer.

In izzvale so uradnika.

"Then tell us to calculate the interest of any principal amount."

"Recite, naj izračunamo obresti za katero koli vsoto."

(Laughter)

(smeh)

"If we are unable to do it,

"Če tega ne zmoremo,

don't give us license.

nam ne podelite dovoljenja.

Tell your officers to do it without a calculator

Recite svojim uradnikom, naj sami to storijo brez računal,

and see who can calculate faster."

in videli boste, kdo bo hitreje izračunal."

(Applause)

(aplavz)

Needless to say,

Ni treba poudariti,

we got the banking license.

da smo dobile bančno dovoljenje.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

(Applause)

(aplavz)

Today, more than 100,000 women are banking with us

Danes je v naši banki več kot 100 000 žensk

and we have more than 20 million dollars of capital.

in imamo več kot 20 milijonov dolarjev kapitala.

This is all women's savings,

Vse to so prihranki žensk,

women capital,

ženski kapital,

no outside investors asking for a business plan.

nobenih zunanjih vlagateljev, ki zahtevajo poslovni načrt.

No.

Ne.

It's our own rural women's savings.

To so prihranki naših kmečkih žensk.

(Applause)

(aplavz)

I also want to say that yes,

Rada bi tudi rekla, da ja,

after we got the license,

potem ko smo dobile licenco,

today Kantabai has her own house

danes ima Kantabai svojo lastno hišo

and is staying with her family

in živi s svojo družino

in her own house for herself and her family.

v svoji lastni hiši, sama s svojo družino.

(Applause)

(Aplavz)

When we started our banking operations,

Ko smo začeli z delovanjem banke,

I could see that our women were not able to come to the bank

sem videla, da naše ženske niso mogle priti v banko,

because they used to lose the working day.

ker bi tako izgubile cel delovni dan.

I thought if women are not coming to the bank,

Pomislila sem, da če ženske ne pridejo v banko,

bank will go to them,

bo pa banka prišla k njim,

and we started doorstep banking.

in začeli smo z banko od vrat do vrat.

Recently, we starting digital banking.

V zadnjem času smo začeli z digitalnim bančništvom.

Digital banking required to remember a PIN number.

Digitalno bančništvo je zahtevalo, da si človek zapomni PIN številko.

Our women said, "We don't want a PIN number.

Naše ženske so rekle: "Nočemo PIN številke.

That's not a good idea."

To ni dobra ideja."

And we tried to explain to them

Poskusili smo jim razložiti,

that maybe you should remember the PIN number;

da bi si mogoče morale zapomniti PIN številko;

we will help you to remember the PIN number.

da jim bomo pomagali zapomniti si PIN številko.

They were firm.

A bile so trdne.

They said, "suggest something else,"

Rekle so: "Predlagajte nekaj drugega,"

and they --

in one ...

(Laughter)

(smeh)

and they said, "What about thumb?"

in rekle so: "Kaj pa palec?"

I thought that's a great idea.

To je dobra ideja, sem si rekla.

We'll link that digital banking with biometric,

Naše digitalno bančništvo bomo povezali z biometričnim

and now women use the digital financial transaction

in zdaj lahko ženske uporabljajo digitalne finančne transakcije

by using the thumb.

z uporabo palca.

And you know what they said?

In veste, kaj so rekle?

They said, "Anybody can steal my PIN number

Rekle so: "Kdor koli lahko ukrade mojo PIN številko

and take away my hard-earned money,

in mi vzame moj trdo prisluženi denar,

but nobody can steal my thumb."

nihče pa ne more ukrasti mojega palca."

(Applause)

(aplavz)

That reinforced the teaching which I have always learned from women:

To je utrdilo nauk, ki sem se ga naučila od žensk:

never provide poor solutions to poor people.

nikoli ne ponudi slabih rešitev revnim ljudem.

They are smart.

Pametni so.

(Applause)

(aplavz)

A few months later,

Nekaj mesecev kasneje

another woman came to the bank --

je v banko prišla še ena ženska,

Kerabai.

Kerabai.

She mortgaged her gold and took the loan.

Zastavila je svoje zlato in vzela posojilo.

I asked Kerabai, "Why are you mortgaging your precious jewelry

Vprašala sem Kerabai: "Zakaj si zastavila svoj dragoceni nakit

and taking a loan?"

in vzela posojilo?"

Kerabai said, "Don't you realize that it's a terrible drought?

Kerabai je rekla: "Ali ne vidiš, kako strašna suša je?

There's no food or fodder for the animals.

Ni hrane in krme za živali.

No water.

Ni vode.

I'm mortgaging gold to buy food and fodder for my animals."

Zastavila sem zlato, da bom kupila hrano in krmo za živino."

And then she asks me, "Can I mortgage gold and get water?"

In potem me je vprašala: "Ali lahko zastavim zlato in dobim vodo?"

I had no answer.

Nisem ji znala odgovoriti.

Kerabai challenged me: "You're working in the village

Kerabai me je izzvala: "Ti delaš v vasi

with women and finance,

z ženskami in financami,

but what if one day there's no water?

a kaj, če nekega dne ne bo vode?

If you leave this village,

Če boš zapustila to vas,

with whom are you going to do banking?"

s kom boš odpirala bančne račune?"

Kerabai had a valid question,

Kerabaiino vprašanje je bilo tehtno,

so in this drought,

zato smo se v tej suši

we decided to start the cattle camp in the area.

odločile postaviti kamp za živino v tem področju.

It's where farmers can bring their animals to one place

To je kraj, kamor lahko kmetje pripeljejo svoje živali

and get fodder and water.

in dobijo krmo in vodo.

It didn't rain.

Dežja ni bilo.

Cattle camp was extended for 18 months.

Kamp za živino je deloval 18 mesecev.

Kerabai used to move around in the cattle camp

Kerabai je hodila po kampu

and sing the songs of encouragement.

in pela vzpodbudne pesmi.

Kerabai became very popular.

Postala je zelo popularna.

It rained and cattle camp was ended,

Potem je deževalo in kamp se je zaprl,

but after cattle camp ended,

a ko se je zaprl,

Kerabai came to our radio --

je Kerabai prišla na naš radio -

we have community radio

naša skupnost ima svoj radio,

which has more than 100,000 listeners.

ki ima več kot 100 000 poslušalcev.

She said, "I want to have a regular show on the radio."

Rekla je: "Na radiu bi rada imela svojo redno oddajo."

Our radio manager said, "Kerabai, you cannot read and write.

Naš direktor radia je dejal: "Kerabai, ne znaš brati in pisati.

How will you write the script?"

Kako boš napisala besedilo?"

You know what she replied?

Veste, kaj je odgovorila?

"I cannot read and write,

"Ne znam ne brati ne pisati,

but I can sing.

znam pa peti.

What's the big deal?"

Kaj je potem problem?"

(Laughter)

(smeh)

And today,

In danes

Kerabai is doing a regular radio program,

ima Kerabai svojo redno radijsko oddajo

and not only that,

in ne le to,

she's become a famous radio jockey

postala je slavna radijska diskdžokejka

and she has been invited by all of the radios,

in povabili so jo na vse radijske postaje,

even from Mumbai.

celo v Mumbaj.

She gets the invitation and she does the show.

Dobi ponudbo in naredi oddajo.

(Applause)

(aplavz)

Kerabai has become a local celebrity.

Kerabai je postala lokalna zvezdnica.

One day I asked Kerabai,

Nekega dne sem jo vprašala:

"How did you end up singing?"

"Kako si začela peti?"

She said, "Shall I tell you the real fact?

Rekla je: "Ti povem resnico?

When I was pregnant with my first child,

Ko sem bila noseča s svojim prvim otrokom,

I was always hungry.

sem bila nenehno lačna.

I did not have enough food to eat.

Nisem pa imela dovolj hrane.

I did not have enough money to buy food,

Nisem imela dovolj denarja, da bi si kupila hrano,

and so to forget my hunger, I started singing."

tako sem začela peti, da bi pozabila na lakoto."

So strong and wise, no?

Kako močno in modro, kajne?

I always think that our women overcome so many obstacles --

Vedno razmišljam, kako naše ženske premagajo toliko ovir,

cultural, social, financial --

kulturnih, socialnih, finančnih,

and they find out their ways.

in vedno najdejo pravo pot.

I would like to share another story:

Še eno zgodbo bi rada delila z vami.

Sunita Kamble.

Sunita Kamble.

She has taken a course in a business school,

Študirala je na poslovni šoli

and she has become a veterinary doctor.

in postala veterinarka.

She's Dalit;

Ona je dalit,

she comes from an untouchable caste,

prihaja iz kaste nedotakljivih,

but she does artificial insemination in goats.

a umetno osemenjuje koze.

It is a very male-dominated profession

To je pretežno moški poklic,

and it is all the more difficult for Sunita

zato je za Sunito še toliko težje,

because Sunita comes from an untouchable caste.

ker prihaja iz kaste nedotakljivih.

But she worked very hard.

A trdo je delala.

She did successful goat deliveries in the region

Uspešno je pomagala pri rojstvih koz v svoji regiji

and she became a famous goat doctor.

in postala slavna kozja zdravnica.

Recently, she got a national award.

Nedavno je dobila nacionalno nagrado.

I went to Sunita's house to celebrate --

V Sunitino hišo sem šla proslavit,

to congratulate her.

ji čestitat.

When I entered the village,

Ko sem stopila v vas,

I saw a big cutout of Sunita.

sem zagledala veliko kartonasto Sunito.

Sunita was smiling on that picture.

Sunita se je na sliki smehljala.

I was really surprised to see an untouchable,

Res sem bila presenečena, ko sem videla nedotakljivo

coming from the village,

iz te vasi,

having a big cutout at the entrance of the village.

ki ima ob vstopu v vas svojo kartonasto sliko.

When I went to her house,

Ko sem šla v njeno hišo,

I was even more amazed

sem bila še bolj začudena,

because upper caste leaders --

ker so vodje višje kaste,

men -- were sitting in the house, in her house,

moški, sedeli v njeni hiši, v njeni hiši,

and having chai and water,

in pili čaj in vodo,

which is very rare in India.

kar je v Indiji zelo redko.

Upper caste leaders do not go to an untouchable's house

Vodje višje kaste ne hodijo v hiše nedotakljivih

and have chai or water.

in tam ne pijejo čaja in vode.

And they were requesting her

In prosili so jo,

to come and address the gathering of the village.

naj pride in nagovori vso zbrano vas.

Sunita broke centuries-old caste conditioning in India.

Sunita je prelomila stoletja staro kastno pogojevanje v Indiji.

(Applause)

(aplavz)

Let me come to what the younger generations do.

Naj povem, kaj počnejo mlajše generacije.

As I'm standing here --

Ko stojim tu,

I'm so proud as I stand here,

tako ponosna sem, ko tu stojim,

from Mhaswad to Vancouver.

od Mhaswada do Vancouvera.

Back home, Sarita Bhise --

Doma pa Sarita Bhise,

she's not even 16 years old.

niti 16 let še ni stara,

She's preparing herself --

se pripravlja,

she's a part of our sports program,

del našega športnega programa je,

Champions' program.

programa šampijonov.

She's preparing herself to represent India in field hockey.

Pripravlja se, da bo zastopala Indijo v hokeju na travi.

And you know where she's going?

In veste, kam gre?

She's going to represent in 2020 Olympics, Tokyo.

Zastopala nas bo v Tokiu na olimpijskih igrah leta 2020.

(Applause)

(aplavz)

Sarita comes from a very poor shepherd community.

Sarita prihaja iz zelo revne pastirske skupnosti.

I am just -- I couldn't be more proud of her.

Tako sem .... ne bi mogla biti bolj ponosna nanjo.

There are millions of women like Sarita, Kerabai, Sunita,

Milijone žensk je, kot so Sarita, Kerabai, Sunita,

who can be around you also.

morda tudi v vaši bližini.

They can be all over the world,

Po vsem svetu so,

but at first glance you may think that they do not have anything to say,

a na prvi pogled morda mislite, da nimajo česa povedati,

they do not have anything to share.

da nimajo česa deliti.

You would be so wrong.

Motili bi se.

I am so lucky that I'm working with these women.

Tako srečo imam, da delam s temi ženskami.

They are sharing their stories with me,

Z mano delijo svoje zgodbe,

they are sharing their wisdom with me,

z mano delijo svojo modrost

and I'm just lucky to be with them.

in res imam srečo, da sem z njimi.

20 years before --

Pred 20 leti -

and I'm so proud --

tako ponosna sem -

we went to Reserve Bank of India

smo šle v Reserve Bank of India

and we set up the first rural women's bank.

in položile temelje prve ruralne ženske banke.

Today they are pushing me to go to National Stock Exchange

Danes me vzpodbujajo, naj grem na nacionalno borzo

to set up the first fund dedicated to micro rural women entrepreneurs.

in začnem prvi sklad, posvečen mikro ruralnim podjetnicam.

They are pushing me to set up

Spodbujajo me, naj osnujem

the first small finance women's bank in the world.

prvo žensko banko na svetu za financiranje v majhnem obsegu.

And as one of them said,

In kot pravi ena od njih:

"My courage is my capital."

"Moj pogum je moj kapital."

And I say here,

Jaz pa pravim,

their courage is my capital.

da je njihov pogum moj kapital.

And if you want,

In če želite,

it can be yours also.

je lahko tudi vaš.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplavz)