Mira
is a young Christian
tribal woman from
Jharkhand who lived
and worked in our
home for the last
year and a half.
Gentle and
waif-like, Mira
worked with huge
intelligence and a
perpetual smile;
lived in a private
quarter on our roof;
had her own toilet
and bathroom; was
paid well and had
everything taken
care of, so that her
salary became her
savings; ate three
full meals a day,
sharing our food;
enjoyed watching
cable TV; and had
her Sunday off to
attend church and
spend the day with
her friends in
Delhi.
For a year and a
half, Mira lived in
a world that was far
removed from where
she was born and
brought up.
Then came a call
from her family. Her
brother was very
unwell. Mira didn’t
know how unwell,
except that the
local ojha (tribal
shaman) wasn’t being
able to cure him.
Fearing the worst,
Mira asked us to
relieve her, so that
she could take a
train as early as
possible to be with
him and the family.
We very reluctantly
did; and gave her
two months’ salary
as a bonus for her
to tide over initial
costs. Mira left
last week.
This is where Mira
went to. She lives
in a village located
in the tehsil of
Kamdara, which is a
part of the district
of Gumla in
Jharkhand. To reach
her village, she had
to take a train to
Ranchi; then wait
for almost 24 hours
at the Ranchi
station to take a
connecting passenger
train to Jharsaguda;
get off at the
station of Basia;
and then walk four
hours to her
village.
Comprising 1.4
million people, over
68 per cent of whom
belong to scheduled
tribes, Gumla,
according to the
2001 Census, is the
17th poorest
district in India.
In 2001, only 9 per
cent of the
households in the
district had pucca
houses, versus 52
per cent for India
as a whole. Just 5
per cent of the
households had
electricity
connections,
compared to 56 per
cent for India. Over
84 per cent of the
households had no
toilet in their
home, vis-à-vis an
Indian average of 64
per cent. Gumla is
in India’s heart of
darkness. It is also
overrun by Maoists.
The tehsil of
Kamdara is much
worse. In 2001, less
than 5 per cent of
its 54,000
households lived in
pucca houses; only 4
per cent had
electricity
connections; 97 per
cent of the
households had no
toilets; 98 per cent
had no bathing
facilities within
their homes; just 14
per cent had a bank
or post office
account; and less
than half a per cent
owned a phone or
mobile. Kamdara was
in the bottom 4 per
cent of all tehsils
in rural India.
Mira’s kutcha house
has no electricity.
There is no proper
road linking her
village to Basia. If
her brother needs
allopathic medical
care — which he
certainly will —
Mira will have to
take him in a cart
for over three hours
to some quack in
Basia who pretends
to be a doctor. Most
likely, he will be
injected God knows
what (‘sui’ is a
sign of high
medicine) and
prescribed tablets
or purias of
spurious drugs.
Given that there are
just 3 registered
medical doctors per
10,000 people in
Bihar and Jharkhand,
and probably less
than 2 per 10,000 in
Gumla, the brother’s
survival is in grave
doubt.
After she goes
through the ordeal
with her brother,
Mira’s father, a
hopeless alcoholic,
will then force her
to get married to
some subsistence
farmer of the
village — most
likely a person far
less intelligent and
capable than she.
And, unless she
picks up courage to
escape back to
Delhi, she will sink
in a quagmire of
malnutrition, ill
health and poverty.
So, as we laud 60
years of
independence and
celebrate the
stupendous
entrepreneurship of
today’s India, spare
a thought for Mira.
She who was once
lucky to escape
abject poverty in
one of the poorest
and forgotten parts
of India and make a
decent life for
herself in Delhi,
has been pulled back
to her home. To
slave, sweat and
suffer.
Think of this other
India. If we can’t
get the fruits of
development to
Kamdara, believe me
a thousand Kamdaras
may rise to get us.
Published: Business
World, August 2007
