The Women of Aastha Parivaar, and The Women of GW

The past 48 hours in India have exposed me to more diversity than I I have seen in my 28 years on this Earth. The people, the culture, the hardship, the hope, the dignity, the fatigue and optimism we have been seen has undoubtedly been experienced different by each of us on this journey. It is clear that our time here has exposed us to many individuals who are struggling. Whether they struggle with health, violence, cleanliness, harassment, stigma or poverty – they all share a common thread.
Yesterday, we split into two groups and held sessions with Aastha Parivaar. My particular group has the distinct pleasure of meeting with a group of 15 or so commercial sex workers who also had become part of the community based organization (CBO) that educates and supports sex workers throughout Mumbai. Going into our session, I will admit that I was nervous and apprehensive; however, once we arrived it was clear that the women were open-minded, compassionate, positive and genuinely interested and excited to learn from us and to teach us what they know.
Our session was spectacular and was a great success. While we waited for the bus we had the opportunity to sit with three of the sex workers and I used this time to really ask some of the tougher questions that were on my mind, but seemed inappropriate to ask in a larger group. Issues such as violence, the opinions of the husbands of sex workers regarding their profession, family life, career opportunities and harassment were touched upon and it was an incredibly special and moving experience. Of all the questions we asked of them, what the women wanted to know most about us during that small group chat was why we weren’t married with babies yet!
We have had two wonderful yoga sessions since arriving in India and two key takeaways, for me, have been to respect one another and to have an open mind to all different experiences. The women of Aastha Parivaar truly embody these concepts and we could all stand to learn from them. Every day they face hardship, discrimination, harassment and a profession that is challenging in a way we can never truly understand. Each day I am in India, I have tried to remain present so that I can act as a sponge to all of the different interactions we are having and the lessons to be learned from them.
Traveling in a group of almost 20 women, from all different backgrounds and perspectives, can be a challenge. I doubt that anyone on this journey will disagree! The inherent diversity of each individual is what makes for a rich learning environment and I am learning everyday not only from the “India experience” but also from each person I am experiencing India with. What I may see as optimistic and hopeful, a friend may see as depressing – this simply provides a wonderful opportunity for conversation and social learning.
Each day I have been impressed, and sometimes overwhelmed, with this trip as a whole. In our on the ground orientation, Dr. Vyas addressed how each individual here would experience India in their own way. Some may be extremely extroverted about it and want to share every detail and some may be more timid, wishing to process internally and keep their individual feeling to themselves. Both are ok and I certainly find myself wavering somewhere in between.
India is unpredictable, and that is part of the charm. The one thing that I can predict is as we continue on this incredible trip we will be able to learn not only from the meetings and projects that are part of our curriculum, but also from each other.