Motherhood redefined

Today, on hearing the unfortunate news about the sad demise of Padmashree Dr. Binny Yanga, time once again froze for me. The death finally won the eight years of battle. She was courageous and strong to hold it on the door for such a long time while continuing her work towards humanity all this time.  I do not have words to tell about her great work and to express my feelings towards her.  She is certainly watching all her children and everybody from where ever she is now.  

For now, I am just sharing an old article about her which I wrote last year.  Maybe after a few days I will try writing more memories of her.     

Motherhood redefined

(Initially published in Mothers of NorthEast - Vidyullata 2014)

5-1-2014

Padmashree Binny Yanga - Motherhood redefined.

We were driving back and fro looking for Padmashree Binny Yanga’s school. Finally, she walked down to the main road to pick us up. A smiling woman wearing a cap hugged us lovingly and welcomed us warmly. We entered her beautiful school premises with her. Her children gathered around her, danced and played. Until that moment, all of us were unaware about the things we were to hear and see.

It was already around 3 pm but as soon as we entered, Binny didi asked us if we had our lunch. It was a motherly instinct of her, which immediately understood that we not even had our breakfast yet. She quickly asked one of her daughters to arrange food for us, and we started to talk to her about her work.

Binny didi’s family background is very strong. Her grandmother, father and mother were social workers. So Binny didi had the genes of social work deep inside her. She completed her graduation from Banasthali Vidyapith. She was the in the first woman batch to get training as a police officer and join Police department. During her service, she got to see the problems of destitute women and victims of trafficking. She also realized the problems due to lack of education to children. So she decided to work on that area, leaving her job of police officer.

She has started her school about 34 years ago. It was just a small hut initially but through the years, her efforts and handwork realized into a big school premises we were looking at. However her work does not stop there. There were no orphanages, no woman hostels in Arunachal Pradesh at that time. Children without parents or women who are victims of abuse had no place to live. Didi started to work on this. She started OZU welfare organization to help these segment of society. Now she has many children living with her in her home and in her hostel. The children who gathered around her when we entered the school were all staying with her. These children call her mommy! She showed us photos of her children since first batch. She is great in maintaining documentation and photos. She has her own museum to keep all these memories and photos since her childhood. Many of her children are grown up now and working in various fields on high positions. If there are some families willing to adopt the child, Her organization arranges adoptions as well. Binny Yanga says it becomes a really sad day for her and her staff working with her when a child leaves for her new home. Around 14/ 15 such children were sent for adoption from the OZU welfare organization.

She works on the areas of infant adoption & her work for child marriage victims is mountainous. In the areas around, girl children are sold at very early age, sometimes even before they are born. Then these toddlers or girls are trafficked to different parts of the world. Parents of these children who are from very poor family receive money and so these cases never reach to media. There are many girls who commits suicide due to torture and nobody ever knows about it. Very few girls are lucky enough to meet somebody like Binny Yanga. Didi works to rescue such children and girls. She has rescued around 200 such girls. She realized that there is no place for these girls to after they are being rescued. Many of parents simply rejected to accept them back. So didi had a big challenge to educate these girls and empower them. Binny Yanga allowed these girls to stay with her in her hostel. She helped them get good education. She also provides them vocational training for weaving and stitching. Now two of those girls are working as sub-inspectors. Others are still learning. Some girls are very good at cooking or weaving. So didi provide them outlets to sell their products. Any profit earned by these shops and the outlet is transferred to that girls account. Out of these girls, 69 girls are already married and living a happy life.

We met many girls and women at her house. Each girl has a story of her own. Somebody was sold at a very early age, Someone was rejected by parents, Someone was stolen and trafficked. Someone had walked for days surviving only on ice to get the shelter with didi. Someone had been tortured in such a way that she won’t dare to run away. All of them were denied the basic human right. Only good thing is that each of this tragic story ended happily in the laps of Binny didi. When we read novels about victimized women, all those problems seem to be distant, seem to be somebody else’s problems. Even if the novel or story touches our heart, somewhere in our mind, we try to convince our self that it is a novel, real life is different. That day however, we had proofs in front of us, telling us their own stories, showing how humans can’t behave like humans. It was a hard time for me to listen to all these.

Binny didi had to face lots of problems while working. Rescuing girls was her major work and people around her opposed on this. The other challenge of helping and providing support to rescued girls. Again many people did not help her in building hostel, but all they did was to oppose her good work. Many people did not understand her work, and tried to spread bad rumors about her, because she was providing shelter to many victimized women. But didi did not bother about all these. She kept on working in her special motherly way.

Didi is associated with several social organizations in Arunachal Pradesh. Her work is recognized nationwide and she has been awarded Padmashree by Government of India in the year 2012.

Now the worst thing to know is, Binny didi is fighting cancer since last seven years. She is under treatment with TATA cancer hospital and taking chemotherapies. But that does not show on her face. She is ever smiling and ever loving. All those girls and children love her a lot, take care of her. She does not complain and cry about her health problems but in fact, she is planning well ahead for all her girls. So that they will be taken care of even after her. Doctors had given her just few months after detection of cancer, but it is a miracle that after seven years she is still doing her work.

This was second time in my life that I just wanted to stop taking photographs and sit quietly to regain composure after listening about her work and the stories of the girls around us, and at the end the knowledge of her disease. First time it was when I saw Atomic bombing site and photographs from Hiroshima. My brain had stopped functioning for some time there. Same thing happened today. Whatever I was hearing, what ever I was looking at was enough to freeze a person who always sees the safer, middle-class life in the cities. I wanted to ask God, why would he be so cruel with a mother who takes care of so many children? Why would he create such people in the world who cannot treat other person like a human being? And wanted to ask how didi can continue to work and believe in God even after what she got in return for her work. But then I did not want to melt down there; that would be an insult to this great lady and to those strong girls and children. God gave me few minutes of loneliness in the darkness of our car, while traveling to Binny didi’s hostel and shop. I held my breath, clenched my fist, and worked hard to hold back my tears. After all I was on the mission to capture this great lady’s work through my lens. I have no option to stop and shade tears. Probably that is the only way a person like me, a dust in the cosmic air can salute the work like thousand Suns shining together.

Padmashree Binny Yanga ( Maya)

Near Police Station, Naharlagun,

Arunachal Pradesh, 791110

तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय।