Page 237 - Communication Processes Volume 3 Communication Culture and Confrontation

212 Hema Rairkar

the meeting take the discussion further, starting from the reactions
expressed. A few concrete examples of that third step follow.
Saru Kadu can neither read nor write, but knows thousands of songs.
In four villages located deep in the mountain area she used a file in
which songs were classified, asking someone else to read the songs once
people had assembled. The subject was: Why society discriminates
between a boy and a girl. In the ensuing exchange, she tried to convince
the audience that ultimately there is not so much of a difference. To
support her view that a son does not necessarily mean more happiness
in the old age, she says: ‘Have we not composed the following song’:

In husband’s kingdom, I can draw from the reserves at will
In the kingdom of the son, I have got to sit in the corner.

In another village, as soon as the lady animator started to read a
class of songs from the file, the assembled women remembered say-
ings instead of songs. The subject was behavioural norms controlling
women’s movements. The sayings were stating these norms in brief.
The following points were discussed: Who has prepared these norms?
How are they passed on to the population? Whom do such norms bene-
fit? If these norms were changed, what reactions would they create in
society? The songs acted as a sparkle that kindled wide debates.
Women animators use files on which the songs are recorded with
the names of the women from whom they have been collected and their
villages names. The file may become a prestige symbol, particularly
when the news is conveyed that the files of classified songs are being
used in different parts of Maharashtra: ‘Our names and capability to
create songs are shown to other people. This is an honour as our name
and village are mentioned in remote places all over the state.’
In the beginning, there was some suspicion about the organizational
work in general and women’s participation in particular. A usual ques-
tion was: ‘You, women, what can you achieve? You do not understand
the complexities of the problems. Your domain is only the house-
hold.’ The same opponents realize that, thanks to the grindmill songs,
those women are known and respected, and, moreover, have acquired
some personal prestige in a wider area. Women animators are credited
with that achievement.
In a village named Nandgao, in a Mahar (untouchable) quarter,
a file of songs was read during a women’s meeting by Kusum Sonavne.