Mirila Mardi was one of the many
people among the Santhal community who was a victim of 1996 riots. Tears rolled
down her eyes when she explained the incident. “We had one of the biggest
houses in Bamungaon. Our family was doing well and ours was the only family to
have a wooden 2 story house in the village.” exclaimed Mirila with pride. Her
house was burned down in the riots and all her lands, livestock and resources
were stolen from her family. She was not the only victim in the village. “There
were close to 40 houses that were burned. The situation was crazy and out of
control” she said. The government provided aid to these communities in the form
of relief camps and supplies. “We were taken to the Sidli camp for 1 year and
then to Tunkubari for 6-7 months. We had
nothing to live by, nowhere to start.”
This major setback was not to dent
Mirila’s strength or determination. Her family decided to move back to
Bamungaon, the place that had been their home. Although they had no significant
income, her agenda was simple, work hard, be true to yourself and it will
surely pay off. Her father was a skilled builder and built the house from
scratch in Bamungaon with assistance from Mirila and her sisters. He even made
all the furniture himself. Slowly their house was complete in 2001 and they
managed to acquire some land for agriculture with whatever they could save.
With their efforts in Paddy paying them off, they managed to build two more
houses to house their family of 10 members in 3 generations. They kept
investing in land for agriculture with whatever profits they made. “We
currently have 5 bigha for household agriculture and 12 bigha lowlands for
agriculture. Although paddy is the main crop, we also plant vegetables, maize
and other cash crops here.” Mirila’s success story although just begins here.
She was associated with SeSTA since
2011. SeSTA gave her exposure to SRI agriculture and she immediately adopted it
in her lands. “My neighbors and even my mother ridiculed me on the practice.
But after the clear difference in productivity, they started practicing it
too”. She was able to manage close to Rs 7500 more on a yearly harvest with SRI.
She even acquired a Honda machine with help from SeSTA to assist the irrigation
process. Apart from SRI, she also cultivated vegetables which they consumed and
provided additional income. To add to it, she had a good source of income from
poultry and livestock with 26 chicken, 10 goats and 10 cows.
Immediately recognizing her hard
work and determination early on, SeSTA appointed her as a Community Resource
Person with a Task based salary in Bamungaon. She has been assisting in helping
the villages on and around Bamungaon to form SHGs. Her role in the VO in the
locality has been phenomenal. “I was initially a very shy person. I couldn’t
even speak straight to the male member s of the family. But after working for
SeSTA, I can now handle the Bank related work of SHGs, talk to new women,
explain to them benefits of groups, encourage them to form groups, guide them utilize
the SeSTA trainings and exposure.” She had also been part of exposure trainings
given by SeSTA in Rajasthan and Kolkata. “When I saw poverty and the sad state
of affairs in Rajasthan and Kolkata, I thought if those people can rise from
that state, sure can we.”
The major contribution from her was
during the Maha-Aadiveshan, the annual meet of SHG federation containing 2000
women. “She was not a president, not a secretary in Sanghamitra Mahila Sangh.
She was just a community member. Yet she took such ownership in speaking and
organizing the event. Looking after 2000 women is no easy task for us and
Mirila helped us in seating arrangements, fooding and all necessary
announcements. Her energy and motivation levels were an inspiration for us and
we were amazed at the ownership and dedication she showed towards managing the
event “ praised Arijit Das, executive from Sidli.
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| Mirila weaving with her sister |
On a personal note, each and every
member of her family had defined roles in contribution to the income. Apart
from all these activities, Mirila brings home close to Rs 3500 per month as
income from weaving clothes. She along with her sister Phulmuni are looking to
scale up the weaving process as it has been highly profitable for them. Mirila
has proved time and again to the world that there is no easy road to success.
She works 12 hours on each cloth she makes and tries to fit it in her schedule
from farming whenever possible. Looking back, she has certainly come a long way
from being homeless, without any income, unable to speak up to men, shy and
reserved to a more energetic, ambitious, hard-working and responsible leader.
“Given her exquisite leadership skills, we are sure to recommend her nomination
in the SHG Federation up ahead” Arijit said.
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