WLTC Photo Series
Sanju Shaw
Sanju Shaw is a student from Guwahati and joined the WLTC survey as a community researcher. She says, “I stay in a rented house with my parents in Golakdham, Nabagraha. My father had to leave his work because of his old age and my mother, who works as a domestic help in different households, is the sole earner in the family. These days we’re surviving under extreme hardship. During the lockdown, we’ve mostly been reliant on the ration that WLTC has given us. Sometimes mother manages to buy some food. I am a second year undergraduate student. My mother has to work very hard to pay for my studies. I don't have any dreams as such due to lack of money.”
Nikita Kumari is from Nabagraha, Guwahati. She lives in a rented house with her younger sister and father. Nikita’s mother passed away during the lockdown. Her father is a daily wage labourer, but since the lockdown was announced in March, he has mostly been out of work, except for occasional engagements. Recently, they received a relief pack of eight kilograms of rice, one kilogram of dal and 500 grams of potato from a local organisation. They’ve been managing with this relief ration and have had no help from the government.
Basanti Boro is 60-years-old. Her husband passed away a few years ago. She lives in a rented house in Guwahati with a family of four. The day we met her, she had picked up some leafy vegetables from the road side to cook for dinner. She hasn’t received any ration from the government. Life has been particularly difficult in these times and she has been surviving on the ration provided by a local organisation.
This photo is from Ambika Rajbongshi’s kitchen. A resident of Nabagraha area of Guwahati, Ambika has received 15 kilograms of rice from the government during the lockdown. She has also received relief from few other individuals. She manages two modest meals a day from the ration she has collected, which consists of rice, dal and soybean.
Photo series co-ordinated by Banamallika Choudhury of Women’s Leadership Training Centre (WLTC) and Sampurna Das a doctoral student at the Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi.
WLTC is a feminist organisation based in Assam, working towards gender and social equality. It focuses on enhancing women’s capacities and creating space and opportunity for women (cis and trans) to take decision-making and leadership positions within families, communities, in governance and politics.