By – Bhavna Menon
The first time I met Pooja was at her beautiful Mahashakti Seva Kendra center with her army of women, hard at work to finish an order, but proud and smiling even then. Making a difference to the Earth, and to the lives of women one step at a time, we need more people like Pooja to see a large-scale impact. For now, here’s to her for being the change the world needs, celebrating our Green Warrior of the Month – Pooja Iyengar
- Pooja, could you please tell our readers a little bit about your journey which has been nothing short of inspirational, and what it took for you to be here?
My name is Pooja Iyengar and I was born in Bhopal, an Indian city infamous for the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in 1984, one of the worst chemical disasters of our times. I am a trained video editor and a documentary filmmaker. I was always interested in documentaries based on the environment. Mahashakti Seva Kendra (MSK) was started by my mother with the guidance of Mother Teresa, to provide livelihood to the survivors of the Gas Tragedy. Since then, we have been working with women and adolescent girls in the gas-affected community near the railway station.
I joined the organization 5 years back because I felt a sense of responsibility towards the ladies at the center, and felt the need to make a difference in someone’s life. Established in 1992, with the strength of 2000 community members, mostly women we decided on the slogan “No more Chemicals” thereby leading us to the path of eco-friendliness. To this effect, we work in the rural and semi-urban communities in Madhya Pradesh, and our work is centered around livelihoods, while also connecting it to environmental awareness.
- Being a women’s special issue, could you elaborate on how Mahashakti Seva Kendra (MSK) works to achieve its vision of empowering women to become the agents of change in community development, environmental protection, and population programmes in Madhya Pradesh
MSK was founded by Ms Indira Iyengar who worked with the Missionaries of Charity to respond to the needs of victims during the Bhopal gas tragedy.
She brought together the voices of the women of the affected communities to express their demand for a vocational training center to be set up for those who had survived the gas tragedy. The founding aim was to help build leadership and train women, in various trades, to help them access their rights, gain agency, and become independent by establishing sustained livelihoods.
Indira Iyengar, along with 500 women, battled through a long struggle to claim space and were finally allotted 3 work sheds near the Union Carbide factory. I continue to carry forward the legacy of my mother, and together with a tailoring unit which provides livelihood to nearly 100 women, I have also started a free computer centre for the adolescent girls in the community so that they break free from the gender biases prevalent in their community and learn to voice their opinion in their homes. Till now we have trained nearly 250 girls who are now earning their livelihood in different capacities in the city.
MSK is not just a tailoring unit, our USP is that we upcycle fabric scrap. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, we were around 50 ladies working at the centre, innovating and learning how to curb plastic waste and create upcycled products. When the lockdown happened, many more ladies from the community turned towards us for help. To this end, MSK was the only nonprofit making cotton masks, cotton gloves, cotton caps, and reusable cotton sanitary napkins in Bhopal. Orders kept coming in and the ladies became the prime bread earners of their families during that time. To keep the work of fabric scraps going, we kept innovating, and are now producing bags, garments, and home linen all out of fabric waste and exporting it to other countries as well.
At MSK, the ladies at the stitching unit also attend workshops on various issues like gender, climate change, legal and financial aid. This helps strengthen their role in the community and they are looked upon as changemakers.
- MSK has been working with artisans and art forms that are on the decline like Gond art, Khadi, and even block printing, could you tell us a bit more about this? Also what else is done to revive traditional cultures through the products or programs?
MSK believes that the production chain should be fair and ethical. We buy fabric directly from the weavers. We have Kala Swaraj as our fabric partners who is working with the weavers at Sausar, Madhya Pradesh. We are also helping Gond artists who were pushed into a financial crisis during the pandemic to earn a living. They create beautiful Gond motifs for our garments. We also have a block printing unit in Jobat, it’s a government scheme, under which we have trained tribal ladies of the Alirajpur district (which is the lowest in the poverty index) in block printing with vegetable dyes. This print is known as the Bagh print of Madhya Pradesh.
- Apart from reviving traditional art, I feel a very strong affinity at MSK towards recycling, reuse of waste, and using practices for long-term protection of the environment, could you please elaborate on this?
MSK originated because we suffered the worst chemical disaster in history. So, working towards a clean environment has always been a priority for MSK and we worked towards clubbing livelihood with the cause of the environment. Our work with upcycling started under the Swachch (clean) Bharat (India) campaign, where we collaborated with the Bhopal Municipal Corporation, collected old clothes from all the resident Welfare Associations (RWA), and stitched nearly 20,000 cotton bags from those discarded clothes and distributed to all the vegetable markets and shops and discouraged people from using plastic bags. Seeing our efforts, we were made the ‘SWACHCH (clean) BRAND AMBASSADORS’ by the Bhopal Municipal Corporation. We have continued to innovate and experiment with old fabric and have come out with our own product line. We make reusable sanitary napkins, cotton and canvas bags, and even dog beds with discarded fabric. MSK has become a household name in the city, and people look forward to our products. Through our work and specialized product lines, we have been able to change the mindsets of people and encourage them to move towards a plastic-free, eco-friendly lifestyle, while also encouraging them to adopt slow fashion, and appreciate products made from old fabric.
- You have recently been involved in working to make Bhopal plastic-free which is one of the most pressing issues, the world needs to address at this point, could you tell us a bit more about this, and what are the non-plastic solutions the country and world at large can adopt?
MSK work has, over the years, been driven by mainly two ideas – the importance of being environment-conscious and empowering communities to become self-sufficient.
To reduce the plastic menace in the city, we collaborated with the municipal corporation of Bhopal and made 20000 cloth bags out of discarded clothes collected from different welfare associations and distributed in the mandis, local shops, and markets to promote the use of cloth bags. The campaign was called #CYOB (carry your own bag). We further experimented by collecting single-use plastics, wrappers and weaving it on a loom and then making them into utility bags and pouches. We even made a sturdy multi-pocket canvas bag specifically for vegetable shopping so that people don’t come back with multiple single-use multi-poly bags. This concept has been quite a hit among the ladies in the city. MSK makes a wide range of products to reduce the use of single-use plastic. We have come up with a very handy cutlery case which easily fits in your bag when you are eating out, so you don’t use plastic cutlery and instead carry your cutlery from home, we have bottle bags so that people can carry their water bottles instead of buying packaged water. We even make cotton-usable sanitary napkins to reduce the burden of sanitary waste in landfills. We have recently started a range of soft toys made from fabric waste, so that the culture of buying plastic toys is reduced in the city. The TAJ lakefront hotel in Bhopal has been very supportive by giving us orders for our fabric waste soft toys.
- Apart from driving MSK, you are also involved with Green Hub, an organization which is strengthening youth from tribal communities by training them in filmmaking. Could you tell us a bit more about this fantastic association?
Green Hub Central India, is a residential fellowship for the tribal rural youth of central India. It is a collaborative venture between MSK and Dusty Foot Foundation. The aim of the fellowship is to engage, empower, and digitally equip rural and tribal youth in the conservation of biodiversity, traditional knowledge, natural resources, and sustainable practices in seven states across central India through innovative skills, and capacity-building models, using digital media. The aim is to open avenues for wider exposure, agency, expression, and integration with local entrepreneurship, climate action, and livelihood options. The other objective is to trigger ideas and action for a more socially equitable, economically secure, and ecologically sustainable future in the concerned regions.
- With you being so multi-faceted Pooja, I believe you want to do the same for the communities you work with. To this end, what are the different ways in which MSK is working to empower women to make them independent in a fast-changing, and often challenging society?
MSK in collaboration with the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University started a free-of-cost Information and Communication Technology center for adolescent girls. It’s basically a safe space where young girls enjoy the freedom to talk freely, raise their voices, and express their opinions. In the 3 months course, apart from being adept at basic computer and soft skill training, the girls emerge as confident young women ready to take on the challenges when they go out into the job market. MSK sees each of its beneficiaries as a change-maker in their society. Apart from stitching, frequent workshops on gender, financial literacy, and legal rights are also held at the Center so that the women are empowered and they understand their rights and privileges
- What has been the most challenging and rewarding experience while working with such diverse communities? What has been your best learning so far?
We work with women from structurally excluded communities with huge gender disparity. Convincing men from the community about our work and helping them understand that the women of their house also have some aspirations and they should be given the freedom to work towards it has been the most challenging aspect. That being said, a visible change has been seen over a period of time, Women are much more confident in voicing their opinions and working towards what they believe in. Another aspect that has helped make a difference is the increase in the economic status of women workers which has resulted in greater respect for them in their homes. This positive change towards gender equality, gaining agency and voicing their opinions in their household and community has been the most rewarding experience.
- How can one support an organization like MSK or Green Hub, to make organisations of empowerment a long-term reality?
I am a firm believer of collaborations. Positive and substantive changes can only happen if civil society organisations collaborate and work together on social issues and learn from each other. For example, if there is an organization with its expertise in wildlife conservation, and there is an organization working with communities in the same region, they could work with one another to ensure long-term measures and changes. I also feel corporates can help civil societies in a huge way. Via CSR activities, or even corporate events, they can include showcasing of the work done by organisations like MSK which might result in further orders and boost our work. Individuals can help us as interns or volunteers in all our projects. Depending on their skill sets, they are free to approach us. We are always on the lookout for interns who are good at product photography, designing, accounting, bookkeeping etc.
- What is your message to our readers who want to work with communities and products, while also being conscious about the environment?
Although working with community members is a challenging task, the need is to keep going no matter what. Building trust and a rapport with the community is most essential, while also understanding skill sets and co-relating it to the market demands. The journey of working with communities while also meeting the needs of mainstream society hasn’t been an easy one, but when the two do come together in a cohesive manner, and I see women getting economically empowered and taking charge of their lives, it gives me the most amount of satisfaction, and renewed faith in our work.
Author: Jaun Shahi
Journalist, Sub-Editor, Travellers’ World Jaun is a soft-spoken and gentle soul who thrives as a Journalist with his exceptional observation skills and an eye for intricate details. He is a true multitasker who efficiently handles various tasks and always brings a professional approach to everything he does. His genuine team spirit makes him an integral part of the TW family, as he consistently collaborates and supports his colleagues.
