What were the observations of P. Sainath on Women's Day celebrations at Pudukottai in the lesson "Where there is a wheel"?
Answers
Answer:
The essay “Where There Is A Wheel” is taken from the book ‘Everybody loves a good drought’ written by P. Sainath a noted Indian journalist who writes columns regularly on social, rural problems post globalization in leading journals.
This essay is about a social movement through cycling in Pudukkottai district of Tamilnadu where over 100,000 rural women have taken to bicycling. Most of them are neo-literates who use bicycling as a symbol of independence, freedom and mobility. Cycling has given new meaning and social identity to women, agricultural workers, quarry labourers and village health nurses. Even balwadi and anganwadi (baby sitter) workers, gem cutters and school teachers have joined the bandwagon. There are also gram sevikas and mid-day meal workers who have joined the new movement.
The Arivoli Iyakkam that led the community literacy movement successfully has found a new source of inspiration in cycling to make women further independent and confident. Very large number of trained women have volunteered to help new learners. They strongly believe that all women ought to learn cycling. The very idea was the brainchild of the popular former district collector, Sheela Rani Chunkanth. She took it as a personal challenge to promote the cause of bicycling. This was because by training female activists literacy could be reached to women easily. She included mobility as a part of the literacy drive. Surprisingly, every woman wanted to learn. Muthu Bhaskaran, a male Arivoli activist even wrote the famous cycling song which has become their anthem.
Cycling for these women has helped in several ways: they sell their agricultural products; their waiting time is saved; they are now able to cover large areas and they have more leisure. More than economic aspect, cycling has given these women a sense of self-respect. This humble vehicle is a metaphor for freedom which has given neo-cyclists the feel of goodness and freedom.
Answer:
The essay “Where There Is A Wheel” is taken from the book ‘Everybody loves a good drought’ written by P. Sainath a noted Indian journalist who writes columns regularly on social, rural problems post globalization in leading journals.
This essay is about a social movement through cycling in Pudukkottai district of Tamilnadu where over 100,000 rural women have taken to bicycling. Most of them are neo-literates who use bicycling as a symbol of independence, freedom and mobility. Cycling has given new meaning and social identity to women, agricultural workers, quarry labourers and village health nurses. Even balwadi and anganwadi (baby sitter) workers, gem cutters and school teachers have joined the bandwagon. There are also gram sevikas and mid-day meal workers who have joined the new movement.
The Arivoli Iyakkam that led the community literacy movement successfully has found a new source of inspiration in cycling to make women further independent and confident. Very large number of trained women have volunteered to help new learners. They strongly believe that all women ought to learn cycling. The very idea was the brainchild of the popular former district collector, Sheela Rani Chunkanth. She took it as a personal challenge to promote the cause of bicycling. This was because by training female activists literacy could be reached to women easily. She included mobility as a part of the literacy drive. Surprisingly, every woman wanted to learn. Muthu Bhaskaran, a male Arivoli activist even wrote the famous cycling song which has become their anthem.
Cycling for these women has helped in several ways: they sell their agricultural products; their waiting time is saved; they are now able to cover large areas and they have more leisure. More than economic aspect, cycling has given these women a sense of self-respect. This humble vehicle is a metaphor for freedom which has given neo-cyclists the feel of goodness and freedom.