Shalini Datta’s initiative leaves a wonderful AfterTaste

Shalini Datta’s AfterTaste was born out of her desire to make a difference. Driving her was one question- “What the educated in India could do to make a difference and not just be critical of what is not right with the country.”

Her answer to this question was one that she arrived at over the years – a journey that culminated in AfterTaste, which generates livelihood opportunities for women from low-income urban population by training them in arts and crafts.

I was that part of that percentage of population which had access to a certain lifestyle, by virtue of being well educated; on the other hand there were countless children whom I would see each day begging at traffic signals or working at the tea and food stalls outside office, dropped out of schools, just to make a living. The children would never ever have access to such opportunities. These glaring examples of inequity, which I saw everyday became gradually unacceptable.

First steps

After completing her engineering Shalini had started her career with a software company. Six years into her job, she started to question it. It was this that led her on to a different career path. She started with social activities and for two years volunteered at after school learning centres for children. This pushed her to work hard to create greater impact. “The cushion of having a well paid job was gradually becoming an impediment and so I decided to quit.”

Her desire to work at the grass roots found her in a classroom of 80, grade 2 students in the low-income community of Malwani, in Malad West, Mumbai, as part of Teach for India.

Living each day with a purpose and realising that change is possible strengthened my sense of possibility. When a truant child started coming to school regularly, when a little girl shaken by the violence in the community came to school because she felt safe and when each child tried, learnt, loved and shared, I knew we were on the path,

she says, a sense of deep satisfaction clear in her voice.

Charity begins at home

Shalini’s desire to make a change is the outcome of deep-rooted values of empathy and service and being happy with simple things in life and it has its roots in her childhood.

Born in the small town of Agartala, capital of Tripura, Shalini spent her formative years in Agartala and in Dhanbad, a small town in Jharkhand. Small towns kept her close to nature and she experienced joy in simple things. “I grew up in a household where giving happiness to others was important. Evenings would mean taking a walk, identifying trees and plants and finding their names. There would be long hours of power cuts or load shedding, and we would just sit in our lawn, look at the night sky splattered with stars and my father would show us constellations.”

Shalini’s father headed the orthopaedics department in a government hospital and often patients came from outside to get treated. “I remember my parents opening up their heart and home.” While her father treated them, her mother would open the house to the patient’s family since they did not have money to stay elsewhere. “The compassion, service and empathy I witnessed in my home, I feel, infused me with values which played a pivotal role in the choices I made.”

Education- harbinger of change

Shalini’s experience as a teacher made her realise that since the mother was the primary care-giver, a child’s well-being therefore, was directly related to the well-being of the mother.

During her engagements with mothers of the children which were mostly discussions about the child and her/his education, she realised that most women believed that, “Education can lead to better opportunities and they wanted their children to be well educated and hoped for a better life for them. These women struggled for basic necessities in the community, fought relentless battles, and endured immense pain. They were brave, hopeful but felt unequipped to bring about any change. I started AfterTaste with two such women.”

Shalini is not a trained artist or an expert but she was driven with the desire to make a change. Her inclination towards arts and crafts and love for creativity came in handy too. With two women and two products she thought of new product ideas. “I feel being an engineer, helped me develop a certain approach to a problem. It enabled me to look at a product and figure out the design and my two years of teaching in a low income classroom made it possible for me to break it down into simple steps which could easily be taught to the women.”

One of the ladies is Fatima, a mother of 4 kids, who lost her parents during her childhood and was raised by her aunt. Due to a financial crunch she could not complete her schooling after class five. “She has now earned support from her husband who was earlier reluctant to let her work,” shares Shalini.

Kamrunnisa, born and brought up in a village in Uttar Pradesh is an eager learner and strong believer in the power of knowledge, but never got any opportunity to go to school. “She moved to Mumbai after her wedding and lived a life confined within the community and limited by its challenges. But she was brave, and courageous to question the status quo. A mother of three daughters and a son she believes her daughters have as much right to quality education as her son. She fought against the opposition from her family members and ensured her elder daughter did not drop out after completing her primary education.”

Challenges

One of the primary challenges has been to create a space where women come together and work collectively with mutual trust.

“However this is our biggest strength, creating a space, which allows them to be, share their stories with each other and support each other.”

The two women who first joined placed their trust and experienced the joy of creativity and exposure at exhibitions, where they were lauded as artists. The financial independence too made them happy and proud. Slowly more and more women joined and stayed.

They create niche paper products, adorned with hand drawn art. Shalini shares that running operations in a self-sustaining manner and sales for handicrafts in a market crowded with so many offerings continues to be a challenge.

Staying motivated

To be honest, there are moments of self-doubt. But each time I have been confronted with such thoughts, I have derived strength and courage from the manner I see their lives changing and that makes it worthwhile. Their journey from being a daughter, a wife, a mother to now financial independence is one of my key motivators. But I have been fortunate to receive unconditional support from my family, and close friends, and my mentors. These people have pushed me, reinstated my sense of possibility and believed in me.

The most precious moment

“Our women trained 80 women in 2 villages in rural Gujarat over the last one year. The most precious moment happened, during our discussion after returning from the village. One of the ladies remarked that for someone like her who had never been to a school, she has never imagined doing anything like this. But today she feels immense pride, and derives a lot of strength and courage from the fact, that she is skilled enough to empower more women and encourage them to break new frontiers. She will push her children to study and pursue education to the highest level.”

Passion is the tipping point

Shalini has allowed AfterTaste to take priority and “It has been all consuming,” she says. She has received great support from her husband who values and respects her work.

She says, “When your passion becomes your profession, the line between personal life and professional is blurred. There is no balance actually, sometimes you tip this way and sometime you tip the other way.”