What makes Kudumbashree tick

A few weeks ago, I had a memorable experience. I was asked to give a talk to a group of around 70 women who were members of Kudumbashree, a grassroots level initiative for poverty eradication in Kerala. The participants were members of local self-help groups, belonging to various age groups from 20 to 50 plus.

Since I didn't want to give a lecture or small talk, I opted for a training activity. I gave a simple exercise of making paper boats using plain A-4 size sheets. This was designed to demonstrate the importance of Quality, Cost and Time as important parameters to focus on while running any business. After all, these women were running their own small businesses.

What made the experience memorable for me was the spirit of perseverance and determination that I saw in this group of women with average or below average educational attainments. There were three women in the group who came from different parts of Kerala, with their small kids. One kid must have been around 8 years or so in age, while the other two were tiny tots sleeping on their mother's shoulders.

I was quite surprised seeing these women participating in the training activities, as if they were at home doing their household work, with the children in tow. Once in a while the children would wake up and start crying, and the young mothers would pat them back to sleep.

I could see what made Kudumbashree tick, and still keep making a difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of ordinary people. I am sure, the next generation, the children of these ordinary women will bring about a different culture and work ethos in Kerala.