In the humid April heat, I arrived at PRADAN’s campus in Kesla, located between Bhopal and Betul. The area is home to tribal communities such as the Gond, Korku, and Baiga, and has a long history of collective struggles and self-reliance. I was there on an organisational exposure visit, supported by AIF’s Professional Development Grant, as part of my Fellowship with Indian Grameen Services. I was tasked with developing two of the five training modules: Gender and Social Inclusion and Traditional Indigenous Knowledge Preservation. These demanded a deep field immersion, and Kesla offered just that, a space where transformation is not just an idea but a lived reality.
(Photo Courtesy of Author)
When I arrived, PRADAN’s executive in Kesla, Animesh Singh, ensured the visit was well-structured and purposeful. I travelled to Jaam and Daudhi, two villages where over 20 Community Resource Persons (CRPs), all local women, welcomed me into their world. These women, who live within the same communities they serve, have conducted gender trainings across their clusters for years. Their energy was infectious, and their clarity on the issues more precise than any textbook.
“Aanan-Faanan Ka Khel” and the Power of Recognition
One of the activities from their gender training module, which stayed with me, was “आनन-फानन का खेल”. In this, women are asked:
“आँख बंद करके सोचो एक किसान कैसा होता है?”
“Close your eyes and imagine what a farmer looks like.”
Almost instinctively, the image that forms is of a man. The women who toil in the fields, manage sowing, watering, and harvesting, do not see themselves as ‘farmers’. They are thought of as helpers, never the lead. This activity disrupts that thinking. It makes the invisible visible.
Their gender module is a dynamic document, one that evolves with each training. After receiving training from PRADAN’s staff, these CRPs adapt the module based on surveys they conduct in their villages. Each session they conduct within SHG meetings is laced with contextual issues, songs, poems, and shared stories, making the learning their own.
A Song for the Revolution
In their songbook, I found verses penned by Kamla Bhasin, songs that turn into war cries of solidarity. One that echoed through the community hall was:
“तोड़ तोड़के बंधनों को”
“Break every chain that holds you back”
The women sing together in a circle, their shoulders touching, voices steady and firm. The song reflects their shared strength and solidarity.
What These Trainings Have Achieved
Over the years, the gender trainings have catalysed change:
- Menstrual health awareness has made it possible for girls to attend school without interruption and has helped reduce the stigma around periods being seen as unclean, challenging long-held beliefs that women should not touch anything, enter kitchens, or participate in daily life during menstruation.
- Caste-based discrimination has significantly declined in SHG meetings and daily life.
- Household labour, food access, and infrastructure disparities between men and women have begun to reduce.
- Political representation has bloomed: Mrs. Rajni Kajle is the nirvirodh (elected unopposed) Sarpanch of Taku, Mrs. Radha is an ex-president of Narmada Mahila Sangh and a Janpad member, and Mrs. Sunita, currently leads the Sangh as the President.
Aarushi with Sarpanch, Taku Village, Mrs. Rajni Kajle (Photo Courtesy of Author)
When I gently asked whether gender training should also include men, they paused, thought about it, and agreed wholeheartedly. What followed was a long conversation where we all acknowledged that excluding men could be seen as a limitation of the current approach.
Legacy of Leadership: Narmada Mahila Sangh
At the cluster-level federation meeting of Rewa Sankul Mahila Aajeevika Bahuprayojan Sahkaari Sanstha Maryadit Kendra, which includes 400+ self-help groups (SHGs) and 4,427 women, I witnessed leadership shaped through decades. The names etched in this journey, Radha didi and Sunita didi, are synonymous with authority and justice. In Daudhi, from what I understood, any wrongdoing against girls is now met with fear, not of punishment, but of accountability, of the intervention of the Sangh. This doesn’t mean that crime and violence against women have become negligible, but the situation is far better than it was three decades ago.
The federation functions as more than an administrative body. It is a justice forum, a gender forum, a village grievance redressal system, and a hub of community planning from Gram Sabha issues to access to government entitlements through Lok Adhikar Kendras.
These women have trained in areas of high risk like Chhattisgarh, during the peak of Naxalism. They recalled, again and again:
“हमें ये तो पता चल चुका है कि हम कुछ भी कर सकते हैं।”
“We now know that we can do anything.”
A Call for Infrastructure, A Testament to Aspiration
Today, their demand is simple: a building. The Rewa Bhawan, where training is held, is too small for 4500+ members. They’ve forwarded their request to the concerned authority. It is not just a building but a symbol of their claimed space.
As they told me, with unwavering commitment,
“हम अंत तक संघ से जुड़े रहेंगे।”
“We will remain with the Sangh till the very end.”
It speaks of the struggles they have fought, of the small, personal histories they have rewritten, of becoming heroes in the truest sense. They are redefining feminism in India’s heartland, ensuring that every girl child sees herself not just as a survivor, but as a changemaker.
Reflections from Kesla
Capacity building cannot be sustainable unless it is rooted in community leadership. Training of Trainers (ToT) models work only when community women are the carriers of the change. The urban gaze often romanticises rural India. But I’m reminded of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s words, “Village was a cesspool of degradation, corruption, and worse.”
And yet, in Kesla, I witnessed the opposite: degradation replaced by empowerment, corruption replaced by accountability, “worse” replaced by “better.”
To the women of PRADAN’s Kesla team, the CRPs of Jaam and Daudhi, the 4,427 women of Rewa Sankul, you have changed my life.
Acknowledgements
A heartfelt thank you to Animesh Singh for planning my visit with such thoughtfulness and ensuring everything went smoothly during my time at the Kesla campus. Deep gratitude to Mrs. Sarita, master trainer and Coordinator at PRADAN, who not only accompanied me to the field but also connected me with all the CRPs, organised the CLF meeting, and made sure I had the space to ask questions and engage deeply with the women of Rewa Sankul.
Thanks to Mr. Sumendera at PRADAN for supporting the visit’s logistics, the kind cooks at the PRADAN canteen for preparing the most comforting meals, and the dedicated PRADAN staff who made this field experience meaningful.
This visit was made possible through the Professional Development Grant given to me by the American India Foundation. I am thankful for this opportunity and lastly, to my mentors at Indian Grameen Services, who coordinated this visit and connected me to PRADAN.
(Note: Consent was obtained for taking pictures and including names in this blog.)
