A 4000 ladies’ special

Six years ago, Auroville Village Action (AVAG) organized its first Women’s Solidarity Festival. Thousands of women from AVAG’s Women’s Self-Help Groups came together in an event that was described as unique, path-breaking and intensely motivating for all participants. Calls were made to do it again.

Yet, funds were not available and AVAG kept postponing. Till this year, when the Women’s Self Help Groups decided that the event should happen and that they too would contribute financially. And so, on July 19th, the second Women’s Solidarity Festival was held at the grounds of Auroville’s Village Action in Irumbai village. More than 4,000 women from the region participated, some from villages as far away as 25 kilometres.

Hours before the event began the women started flooding the compound, huge smiles on their faces, carrying placards with the name of their Women’s Self-Help Group, each group dressed in identical sarees. Slowly they passed the display stalls at the entrance and walked to the colourful shamianas, where, surrounded by thousands of other women, they sat down, elbow to elbow, eagerly waiting for the event to begin.

They patiently listened to the speeches of the AVAG co-directors Anbu and Moris and to the words of thanks and admiration of AVAG trustees and Auroville’s Working Committee. The Inspector of the Auroville Police Station also expressed his pride at the achievements of the AVAG women, before starting a talk about road safety sporting a big red helmet, drawing laughter and applause.

After the speeches, there were theatre performances, dances and songs. Dalit women performed beside caste women. Traditional songs, accompanied by large drums, inspired many to move to the beat, displaying an ocean of colours. The elder women in particular were very entertaining. They danced as if they had no care in the world, truly enjoying the moment and its space where they felt safe. A group of Auroville women also sang some songs, and though the quality was indisputable, the long golden hair of one Westerner was also widely admired. In the late afternoon, Shankar and Vinodhini gave a very lively introduction to Auroville.

“This should be done once a year.” said a leader of a Self Help Group Federation. Gnansundari, a member of the Udhayam Malligai WSHG summed it up. “It was a ladies’ “special” where all of us, regardless of age and differences, had a lot of fun. The messages from the guests were encouraging. Next year, I will definitely participate in one of the stage performances. I will encourage my group members to do so too.”

For the AVAG management, the event was more than a day of fun and entertainment. It showed the success of AVAG’s longstanding work to remove the social constraints experienced by the thousands of women that it supports. It was an opportunity to showcase the numerous achievements and the development of the Women’s Self Help Groups. It was a celebration of women’s creativity and talent and an opportunity to show the dramatic improvement of women’s self-confidence as witnessed by their insistence that the Festival would happen, the increased number of women that stepped forward to perform and the vastly improved quality of their performances.

It’s more than likely that AVAG will now make the Women’s Solidarity Festival a yearly event. “Perhaps,” said one of the trustees, “we can organize one inside Auroville, so that Aurovilians too have the chance to experience the magic that happens when more than 4,000 women celebrate together.”