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Fellows in Action

Regional Forum

Memories of Kolkata

Alice Beban

I’ll never forget my 5 a.m. walks around the market place, sipping spiced chai (tea) from clay mugs at street stalls, and browsing among the fish, vegetable, and flower stands jumbled together along the narrow streets.

The food . . . Ooh, the food! Mountains of lightly spiced dahl (typically lentil seeds) curry, naan (leavened bread), spongy desserts— Tasty treats that never stopped.

The people . . . From the first friendly face (that of the tireless Duke Ghosh) that greeted the participating fellows at the airport, to the graceful, powerful presence of Dr. Joyashree Roy (professor and SYLFF project director at Jadavpur University), and all the other students and faculty members at Jadavpur University who helped us along the way—all were incredible hosts. Thanks to their guidance I felt truly at home.

And I cannot forget the representatives from Japan. Our farewell party, held on a floating restaurant on the Hooghly River, was a particularly emotional time, because we learned that Ellen Mashiko would soon be retiring from her position at the Tokyo Foundation. Although I had contact with her for only a few days, she is such a caring person that she seemed like a grandmother figure to me. However, we couldn’t remain sad for very long; she began dancing on the boat’s deck and turned our last evening into an Indian-style disco party!

The Presentations

Dr. Egla Martinez-Salazar, a former SYLFF Prize winner who presented the keynote speech at the forum, began her address by calling on us to consider the extent to which the concept of human rights has been colonialized in the face of gross inequalities and blatant violations of rights across the world, particularly those of indigenous people. Her speech was a challenging start to the forum, asking all of us to go below the surface of a concept that is often unchallenged as a universal good and to strive not only to be critical but to search for solutions as to how this concept can remain relevant in the current global context.

Many of the delegates were obviously concerned with these issues, and a number of posters focused on the rights of indigenous people and/or cultural preservation. Other posters investigated novel solutions to rights violations through new forms of governance and partnerships with communities and local authorities. I was truly inspired and humbled by some of the projects represented at the forum, some of which are being implemented on a trial basis in communities, including some within Kolkata.

Training Workshops

The training workshops facilitated by members of the SYLFF Fellows Council (SFC) provided great chances to discuss ideas for networking with other fellows. One particularly memorable exercise involved us writing comments on four pieces of poster paper that each began with a different phrase: “The problem with women is . . .”; “The problem with men is . . .’; “Women should . . .” ; “Men should . . .” The ensuing discussion was at times hilarious and at times worrying. I was amazed and ashamed to see the extent to which I and other fellows reverted back to similar gender stereotypes in our comments. On one level I felt that the similarity of our responses showed that our common human experiences can cross cultures. On another level, the similar stereotypes our answers portrayed showed us how limiting and dangerous stereotypes can be when facilitating positive change, and they challenged us to look deeper than these stereotypes when considering our own lives and those of the people around the world whom we hope will benefit as a result of our studies.

Social Action

The second afternoon of the conference was set aside for “social action.” One group visited a center for street children and mothers, a second group spent time with leprosy patients at a local hospital, and the group that I was in went to the Antaragram Center, a facility for people suffering from mental illness. For me, the few hours we spent at Antaragram constituted a very meaningful part of the forum.

Antaragram is on the outskirts of Kolkata, set amidst sprawling grounds filled with fruit trees, a large garden, and enclosures for pet rabbits and birds. We were shown the occupational therapy rooms, where residents learn various crafts, including how to make cards from handmade paper, how to knit jerseys out of soft wool, and how to bind writing folders. These products are sold at an annual fair held at the center.

To fully appreciate what an incredible place Antaragram is, it helps to know a little about the context of mental health care in India. One report states that in India, a country of more than one billion people, there are only 36 state-run mental hospitals and only 500 qualified psychiatrists working at them.¹ Many of these hospitals are said to be poorly staffed and governed by antiquated procedures. As a result,

“The mood and climate that faces the mentally ill is that of the eternally doomed. The winds that blow through the mental health ward are not those of concern, love and compassion but of regimentation, confinement and callous indifference.”¹

Private centers like Antaragram are a haven for people of all ages, socio-economic backgrounds, and conditions. The director told us that the center focuses on rehabilitating people as much as possible, so that they are able to go back to their families. However, we also met people who have no family; some of these people were found on the street by NGO personnel and have no other place to call home.

After looking around the therapy rooms and wards, we joined the residents and staff on benches in the sun and began to chat and to enjoy performances. The Jadavpur University students and staff sang and played some Indian songs. Many of the residents had prepared songs and dances, too. The highlight for me was a young boy who performed a disco dance, complete with perfectly executed spins. I offered a haka (a dance of the indigenous Maori people) from my home country Aotearoa/New Zealand, and other delegates performed songs from Fiji, China, and Iran, a dance from Japan, and many other artistic endeavors. The afternoon culminated in an Iranian folk dance, hurriedly taught by one of the Iranian delegates, joined in not only by SYLFF fellows but by some of the residents as well.

The bus ride back to the city from Antaragram turned into an epic four-hour journey. Religiously motivated riots had broken out around the city that morning, and the bus driver was forced to take long detours down what appeared to be alleyways better traversed by bicycles. On the bus I listened to the delegates around me singing in various languages, and I reflected on our experiences at Antaragram. On one level the social action section of the forum could be seen as tokenism; after all, how much can we achieve in one afternoon? Although I definitely felt that I had gained much from the experience, what did the residents gain?

Of course we need to ask ourselves questions like that, and for each person the answers likely will be different. For me, however, the social action afternoon was much more than a token visit by a tourist. I came away from that afternoon inspired by the conversations I had with the residents. I learned that music is a powerful means of communication, cutting through differences of language, age, mental condition, and culture. In one oral presentation at the forum the delegate talked about the “soft power” of art. I think we all witnessed it that day at Antaragram. I learned about the strength of the people who are residents there. I talked with one woman who, because of her knowledge of the center’s programs and her fluent English, I assumed was a member of the center’s staff. But at the end of the afternoon that same woman stood up and spoke about her experiences as a resident of the center. Her strength, dignity, and bravery were an embarrassing rebuttal of my prejudice at assuming that someone who was that articulate could not be a resident.

Overall, I was inspired by our visit to Antaragram, and although that place seems like another world now that I am back in New Zealand, that feeling of inspiration has stayed with me. I plan to start a social action project with other SYLFF fellows, and I hope to keep in contact with SYLFF fellows from other parts of the world who have been inspired to start or join projects. I believe that if we are able to put the diverse skills, interests, and enthusiasm shown at the SYLFF forum into long-term partnerships with inspirational organizations like Antaragram, the positive impact this will have for ourselves and our communities will be more than one can imagine.

To all the dear delegates who made the forum a wonderful experience for me I send a heartfelt “Thank you.” I must admit that before I boarded the plane for India, I was nervous about the amount of sharing and networking that would be possible for people who come from different backgrounds and diverse disciplines: Would we be able to find any commonalities? However, I believe that the forum was an example of how these potential barriers to communication can become strengths. I hope that we can support each other in our future endeavors by keeping in touch and maintaining the energy we shared together in Kolkata.

References

1. Kapur, Mita. “Dysfunctional Mental Hospitals — Where the Cure Is to Kill,” Tehelka, December 2007. http://www.tehelka.com/story_main24.asp?filename=Ne123006Where_the.asp

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