At thirteen, Murti is much like the usual teenager. She refuses most things that her parents insist are good for her. But in this case, she is right. She had refused marriage, unlike her elder sister, who was married to a much older man.
As an active member of the ‘Kishori Vahini’, (adolescent girls’ group in 37 villages of Jharkhand) she certainly did not want the same fate for herself. While her parents were following the usual route of arranging a groom for her, Murti was busy weaving dreams of a future as a teacher.
Murti’s father, saw this as the only recourse. Unable to feed her, afraid of a hefty dowry mired in loans, and on daily wages of Rs.70, collecting forest produce like Tendu leaves and working on farms owned by the village Mahajan (moneylender). The faster, the better, he thought.
Murti’s reaction to her father’s plan was a resolute ‘no’. Inspired by the Teacher Didi, she wanted to become a teacher. Didi had done so much, even arranging for a separate toilet for girls. She also guided and counseled the girls on health and hygiene matters. It was because of her that ‘Kishori Vahini’ had become active in encouraging children to come to school. So Teacher Didi was the natural ally for Murti when she found it difficult to convince her parents not to get her married off.
“I could sense Murti’s firm resolve and decided that I should at least try to convince her parents. At first, he was unwilling to listen. He blamed me for spoiling the village girls. I explained how the chances of a safe delivery would reduce and that the child would be malnourished right from birth”. Her father finally relented. “It was a big battle that she had won and all due to her resolve,” says Kamala, Murti’s Teacher Didi.
Kishori Vahinis and supportive villagers like Kamala are helping to rewrite the future for the girl child. Small steps, that will go a long way towards a better tomorrow. Murti's is not an isolated story, there are many others across thousands of villages and slums in India. And all of them are not as fortunate as Murti.
