“Small acts, when multiplied by hundreds of thousands of individuals, can rework the world.”
These phrases of the late Nelson Mandela ring true within the story of Sheshandeep Kaur Sidhu, a younger lady who, with a easy nameplate, dared to problem centuries of custom in her rural village.
Positioned within the coronary heart of Bathinda, Punjab, Manak Khana homes a group that had lengthy been resistant to vary. The village exudes a rural attraction, with girls typically confined to home duties and males concerned in public work. It’s a spot the place girls have been typically confined to home roles, their contributions ignored and unrecognised.
However little did Manak Khana know that in 2019, a 22-year-old lady would step ahead to redefine the village’s future. Changing into the primary lady in her village to carry the place of Sarpanch, Sheshandeep would quickly take up initiatives that might redefine gender roles in Manak Khana.
‘A possibility to make a distinction’
Born and raised in a household that strongly valued training and exhausting work, Sheshandeep all the time had massive aspirations. She pursued her training in Delhi, aiming to clear the UPSC examination. Nevertheless, after a setback in her first try in 2018, she returned to her village, Manak Khana, to regroup and put together for the following problem. Destiny, although, had a distinct plan.
Unexpectedly, Sheshandeep was approached to tackle the numerous function of Sarpanch. In a village the place girls have been historically marginalised from positions of energy, this was a groundbreaking alternative.
“I had no concept what being a sarpanch entailed at first. I used to be fairly confused and unsure about the place to start, however I knew this was a possibility to make a distinction,” Sheshandeep, now 28, tells The Higher India.
Having witnessed the empowerment of girls in Delhi, the place they led fulfilling lives, earned livelihoods, and carved their very own identities, Sheshandeep aspired to convey this transformation to her village.
“I needed to create an area the place girls couldn’t solely really feel empowered but in addition lead with dignity. I wished to encourage them to pursue their aspirations, to assist them discover their voices,” she says.
Sheshandeep’s first few months as Sarpanch have been a steep studying curve. With no prior expertise in governance, she turned to the seasoned members of her village’s panchayat for steering. Panchayat Secretary Paramjit Singh Bhullar emerged as a useful mentor, instructing her the intricacies of her function and provoking her along with his dedication and integrity.
“He taught me the whole lot about my duties and duties as a Sarpanch. His dedication and honesty impressed me on daily basis,” she acknowledges.
Nevertheless, the villagers have been initially sceptical. The concept of a younger lady main their village was unfamiliar, and doubts about her capacity to impact change shortly arose. When she proposed her first initiative — the development of a library — many have been in disagreement. They argued for extra tangible enhancements, like higher roads, dismissing the library as pointless. “Some even joked, ‘She’s gone mad, what might a library probably do for our village’,” Sheshandeep remembers.
The library, a daring initiative, was greater than only a constructing; it was an emblem of hope and progress for your entire village. Geared up with CCTV cameras for safety and stocked with books in Hindi, Punjabi, and English, the library catered to all age teams.
“Libraries play an important function in training,” Sheshandeep affirms. “When the villagers noticed the library, they realised I used to be considering past mere roads and infrastructure. I wished to broaden their horizons and equip them with the instruments for self-improvement.”
Quickly after, Sheshandeep launched one other transformative initiative: a park designed particularly for girls and kids. In a village the place home chores typically left little time for private respite, the park turned a sanctuary for rest and recreation. Girls have been in a position to step out of their properties, join with others, and revel in high quality time away from the calls for of home life.
“Earlier than this park, there was no place for girls to calm down. They have been confined to their properties, continually caught up within the cycle of house responsibilities. Now, they’ve a spot the place they will breathe and discuss freely,” Sheshandeep smiles.
Energy in a nameplate
Historically, doorplates in Manak Khana have been reserved for male family heads. However Sheshandeep initiated a challenge to introduce nameplates bearing girls’s names on village properties — a easy concept with profound implications.
“Girls have lengthy been denied recognition for his or her contributions,” she explains. “They handle households, increase kids, and contribute to their households’ livelihoods, but their efforts typically go unnoticed. By putting girls’s names on doorplates, I wished to provide them the popularity and dignity they deserve.”
With the assist of Paramjit Singh Bhullar and some different girls within the Panchayat, Sheshandeep executed her plan. “I used to be assured that I had the assist of my crew, and with the obtainable funds, we might convey my plan to life. The concept of including nameplates for girls was inside our price range. So, we swiftly moved ahead, utilizing the sources already allotted to the village.”
With round 110 households within the village, Sheshandeep’s initiative noticed the nameplates of girls proudly displayed on each door within the village. The outcomes have been quick and impactful. “I bear in mind one younger lady who got here to me, with tears in her eyes, thanking me for this initiative. She mentioned she had by no means been allowed to depart her house or make choices for herself. However now, when she noticed her identify on the doorplate, she felt proud and recognised,” Sheshandeep remembers.
The ripples of change have been felt throughout the village. “In my household, nobody objected to the nameplate. I’m proud that my identify is recognised alongside the boys’s. It reveals that we’re equal,” says Rani Kaur, a 42-year-old lady from Manak Khana.
“After I see my identify on the doorplate, I really feel proud. It’s not only a identify, it’s a recognition of who I’m. It provides me a way of id,” says Jaspreet Kaur, a youthful resident of the village.
“It’s unimaginable to see the change within the mindset of the youthful technology. They see girls main, they usually aspire to be like them,” Paramjit Singh Bhullar, who performed an important function in bringing to life the initiative, says. “It was a small step, but it surely made an enormous distinction. For generations, our society had solely recognised males. Sheshandeep’s imaginative and prescient was contemporary, and it gave girls the popularity that they had all the time deserved.”
A brand new section, a shared imaginative and prescient
Even after her time period as Sarpanch resulted in March 2024, Sheshandeep continued to work in the direction of the betterment of girls in her village. She is now main a challenge with ‘Learn India’, an initiative that teaches abilities like stitching and laptop literacy to marginalised girls within the space.
“I need to be certain that girls who want to work can achieve this, they usually can earn independently. It’s essential to me that ladies have the talents they want to reach the workforce,” she says.
“I imagine women and men are equal, and I’ve come to imagine it much more due to my daughter. The nameplates are an emblem of the respect girls deserve. It conjures up them to imagine in themselves and obtain their targets,” says Rupinder Kaur, Sheshandeep’s proud mom.
Wanting forward, Sheshandeep plans to proceed empowering girls and provoking future generations. “That is just the start. I need to see girls in my village and past pursuing careers, attaining their goals, and being recognised for his or her work,” she says with dedication.
Because the ripples of change proceed to unfold, the nameplates in Manak Khana stand as an emblem, inspiring future generations to interrupt obstacles and try for equality.
Edited by Arunava Banerjee; All pictures courtesy Sheshandeep Kaur
