Mokhada women brew a potent revolution

Mokhada women brew a potent revolution
N Ganesh

March 7: Breaking the sticky threads of an age-old, unquestioning silence, the women of a small hamlet in Thane have rammed full tilt into the rampant alcoholism that has plagued their husbands and sons for generations. Armed with a firm belief in the power of collective action, they took full and fair advantage of a five-year-old government resolution to push for total prohibition in Kaduchi Wadi, Mokhada Taluka, last month. The result: nary a bottle of liquor sold in the village nor the stumbling violence of a drunk for a whole 30 days, say the villagers.

``Though the village has been struggling to create complete prohibition forthe last four years, their efforts have been stillborn. However, this new ban promises to have a lasting impact as the women have become deeply involved for the first time,'' says Bhagirathi Kadu, who is one of the first to admit her husband's alcoholism.

Kaduchi Wadi, a month ago, was any liquor vendor's haven. Every house boasted an alcoholic while the 24 bootleggers, operating round the clock, had no dearth of customers. People from neighbouring villages wewre unwilling to visit as the paths were strewn with drunkards, street fights were common and wife-battering had scarred many of the women. In contrast, the apparent change is blessed, feel the vilagers.

How did these mostly illiterate women brew such a potent revolution? The answer lies in the culmination of a process that began a year ago. These house-bound women were given their first taste of collective power when the Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal and Bank of India introduced a rural savings scheme there. Explains Praveen Bansode, representative of Navdrishti, the NGO monitoring the scheme, ``The moot point of saving was dissolved in the men's penchant for drink. Their daily earnings were squandered on liquor while the lack of money often lead many of them to barter their belongings for the comfort of a bottle.''

Development, Bansode opines, would have had no chance at all if the menace of liquor continued. ``It isn't possible to arrive here one fine day and incite the women to raise their voices against liquor. They have to be educated about their rights. Some were taken to other parts of the state where similar movements are unfolding. They realised that if others could do it, so can they,'' he adds.

Though opinion against alcoholism was mobilised, the turning point in the movement came when a drunk villager made abusive remarks against some of the women who had gathered for the monthly saving scheme meeting. ``The insult fired a spontaneous response among us. We took a morcha to the sarpanch's house and demanded that the prohibition be immediately announced,'' relates a triumphant Bhagirathi Kadu. The stench of liquor faded out with dying notes of the town crier's drum.

Nor did it stop with the annoucement. On Tuesday, a group of women raided a bootlegger and confiscated the liquor there. Though the bootlegger turned out to be a close relative of the sarpanch they did not hesitate to hand him over to the police. In fact, Rama Kadu (50), the longest serving sarpanch of the village admits that prohibition has indeed painted a freah face to the village. ``I intend to impose fines on people who try to lure or incite others to drink,'' he states.

The women's inspired efforts were helped along by people like Devram Kadu (22) who gave up his earnings of Rs 150 per diem when he closed down his illicit liquor shop. ``I realised that ultimately women are victims of the men's alcoholism. Liquor was destroying their homes,'' he explains. Like him, there are others too who have resorted to farming and labour for their incomes. ``Yes, I get less money, but life is more respectable,'' saysDevram.

Bhagwan Kadu (30) sums up the benefits of the prohibition, ``My 16-year-old marriage was teetering as whatever I earned went into liquor. Now things are back on an even keel. I have not touched liquor and my pocket is full,'' he beams.