"No mind"

Usha during English class.

Field notes; Wednesday 21 July.

(Disclaimer: since I know very little Hindi, I cannot vouch for the accuracy of many of my statements. I was mostly reading body language and asking the women and girls to explain things to me whenever possible. In addition, I was viewing these situations through very Western eyes. Shama, the sewing teacher, is a traditional Indian teacher: strict when necessary but also generous towards diligent students. I don't agree with her teaching methods but I recognise that this is how most of India operates.)

Shama arrived at 3:35pm; the students were already waiting for her. Chandrakanta was happy today; she wrote on the board that she likes Anju-didi. “She’s the best!” Shama translated for me.

Usha was working on her kurta at the sewing machine while Chenna (a former student who now teaches at a nearby village and visits the centre occasionally) was teaching some women and girls to sew a kurta outside. Two girls, Nithu and Rajini, had been consistently idle for the past few days and I wanted to find out why.

I took Anju-ji aside and asked her why Nithu and Rajini were not doing anything. She made to announce this question to someone but I stopped her and made her ask Santosh instead. They both responded, “because they have no mind.”

What? I asked them to clarify just to make sure. “No interest? Scared of teacher?” I asked.

“No, no mind,” they replied. It seemed that they were saying that the girls had no capacity to learn.

I told them that’s not possible; everyone has a mind that they can use. It seems, however, that these women and girls believe that some people are born with intelligence at certain things while others are not, and those who are not skilled at something are quickly discouraged from pursuing that skill.

For example, when I asked another girl, Usha, why she wasn’t repeating 8th standard since she failed it. She responded that she had no mind. I wasn’t sure what she said initially and asked Anju-ji and Shama to translate. "She says she has no mind," they told me.

I was shocked to hear that Usha would say that about herself. How can you believe that you have no capacity to do something? Usha in particular is an incredibly dedicated student who I believe will do well in school; Shama had singled her out as the most diligent student in class.

“Do you want to go to school?” I asked Usha.

“Yes,” she replied.

That willingness to learn, in my opinion, should be the only prerequisite for attending school. It is true that some people have more natural ability for a particular task than others, but that doesn't mean one should give up trying. What's even more discouraging is that these women don’t seem believe that each one of them has the capacity to do something they put their mind to. How can they encourage and support each other in that case then?

A friend pointed out that the women's liberation movement in the West began because women themselves began realising that they were just as capable as men. It's going to take a while before that happens here in Jodhpur. People still accept the prevailing belief that women are bound traditionally to the household. While many middle-class girls are well-educated, lower caste/class girls are treated as temporary members of the household, trained to be wives in their husband's households.

MSS focuses on empowering women and girls economically, but I'm pushing for Vijay to adopt more encouraging, empowering teaching methods so that this belief of having "no mind" can be dismantled.