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CREATING A CASTELESS SOCIETY
The lives of three women are transformed by communication training - by learning connection with others through empathy and self-expression they transcend caste barriers.
‘Caste is in the mind and we should try to eradicate it’ says Anita Gaikwaad, an accountant at a Karuna supported medical project in a slum in Pune. ‘I was a very horrible person’ she continues, with a beaming smile. ‘I lived in the slums and the atmosphere there is not good. We use a common tap and you have to fight for a bucket of water, so that's why I became a fighting cock!’
Even where conscious efforts are being made to improve conditions, the habit of strife can remain. Karunadipa manages the Jeevak medical project. She says ‘The atmosphere here was not so good, there were many misunderstandings, a bit chaotic’.
Then 5 years ago, Aniruddha, a teacher of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) ran classes in the area and things began to change. He is supported by Karuna to teach this system of communication, founded in the U.S. by Marshall Rosenberg, based on empathy and self-expression, enabling people to connect through their shared humanity rather than caste identities. It had a remarkable effect. ‘I learnt how we should talk to each other, through the communication exercises,’ says Anita ‘and gradually I started changing my behaviour. Now I realise I have to help others. I am not a horrible person any more!'
NVC changed the way Jeevak functioned too. ‘Aniruddha showed us how to communicate with each other’, says Karunadipa, ‘Now there is more teamwork. It is like a bridge for us, to take things smoothly, whoever we are communicating with.’
Chhaiya Bhalerao, a teacher in a Karuna-sponsored kindergarten in the slum, sees hope for the future. ‘The teachers come from different villages and castes, with different attitudes and opinions, but through NVC we have learned how to relate to each other. Dr Ambedkar's mission was to create a nation without caste. With NVC we are trying to create a casteless society.”
