Transformation that came about by Holding Hands

Often, the assumption is that when someone needs help, the one who receives it only progresses and changes. I share my experiences to the contrary here as a ‘woman-activist’ how I have grown enormously, while helping others.

Little did I realize when my friend Sunanda invited me in 1983 to hold hands to form an organization for the welfare of women-in-distress that, it will be a turning point in my own life? Initially I thought ‘I’ was going to touch lives but in fact the whole experience revolutionized my own life. It has been an opportunity in disguise for my own transformation.

I am grateful to the Almighty for not only sending Sunanda in my life but giving me the expertise and making me competent enough to hold her hand in building the organization ‘Stree Chetana’ which, to date, has been offering a spectrum of services to women of all cadres irrespective of caste, creed and color. I have grown & developed enormously in every area & blossomed to be actually an empowered woman in the real sense & in a holistic manner. Each of the person with whom I interacted or encountered touched me & each of the experience impacted me profoundly.

I learnt how to be selfless, devoted and hard-working,. The committee members, with their own strengths, taught me several things. Even those who came with hidden motives taught me that ultimately it is your genuineness to help that surface. The ‘clients’ - the women who came for help & guidance- empowered me in varied ways. The endurance & patience with which they put up with all the atrocities committed on them, the courage with which they faced the challenges & problems yet emerging from it all & fulfilling their responsibilities, were unbelievable.

I started being grateful for all that I have got. My grumblings & complaining about what was missing vanished. I sought forgiveness for all my unreasonable demands. I became more positive, optimistic, constructive, cheerful, & contented. My confidence grew manifold; my counseling skills got chiseled, sharpened & polished. I imbibed incredible human qualities & virtues like empathy, compassion & my horizon expanded & included the humanity. I was transformed from asking ‘what can I get from this situation or person’ to ‘what can I give’.

Could I have asked for a more profitable breakthrough deal?