There has been some disturbance in Bakhel this week resulting from our decision to trial two women from outside the village as learning initiators at Hunar Ghar. A certain number of people in Bakhel are unhappy that we are giving jobs to people from outside the village. Work opportunities are limited in the village so as a result there is a certain amount of territoriality over those that do exist.

One of the new women comes from Anjani, a neighbouring village, the other from Mandwa, a neighbouring village on the other side. Neither lives more than 2 km from Hunar Ghar. Some time ago some people from Bakhel found work in Anjani and were told by the local power holders, in no uncertain terms, that they were not welcome to work there. This, and the inherent territoriality that exists anyway, has brought resentment upon the two outside women and some unacceptable, quite pitifully desperate, behaviour from some people in Bakhel; two women, including the wife of one of our teachers, blocked the path from the main road to Hunar Ghar with cacti to stop Deepak passing until, as they were hoping to precipitate, he waylaid to their demands to get rid of the women and install them as teachers instead. This isn’t the kind of behaviour I’d ever have expected from our teacher’s wife and I am shocked at it.

Twice Deepak has tried to discuss the issue but no degree of discussion is coming from the aggrieved parties, they just want to see their demands met and to hell with everyone else. An almost mob mentality has developed; it appears whispers are going around that someone has suggested a can of kerosene and a book of matches might be the solution. Some people have also being telling Deepak to get out unless he submits. I find this the most upsetting, Deepak has done so much hard work for Hunar Ghar and this is how some people end up treating him.

This isn’t the first time we have looked for female teachers. Ash was very keen to get the fourth of our original four teachers as a woman, but no-one in Bakhel was forthcoming. I’ve also tried on two previous occasions with no luck. The chances were there and people chose, for whatever reason, to not take them. The arguement of the offenders is further flawed; Deepak, Ash, Preeti, Raj Kumar, RBKS and I are all outsiders. If they are adament they don’t want outsiders it is possible to arrange for that but they would be fools indeed to expect Hunar Ghar to function beyond that rice and chalk which are in the store rooms. Before getting that far though I am not keen to hire someone who thinks metaphorically kicking and screaming and literally putting cacti across the roads is the appropriate behaviour in a dispute, she perhaps wouldn’t be a terribly good role-model for the children.

Fortunately it is not all bad. The peeved aren’t the majority and some of the more influential older members of the community are aren’t signing up to BKIP. The children have been great for Deepak. He’s taken all of this on the chin himself, as I’ve been away, and he isn’t happy about it. But a few of the kids came up to him and said they didn’t like this kind of behaviour and that they didn’t want him to go.

All this is disappointing in other ways too. We’ve tried on many occasions to get the community involved in Hunar Ghar but we haven’t yet found a reason for them to want to be a part of it unless they are paid. We’ve sought constructive, positive contribution and been met with stoney faces. But in a flash a negative, degenerative flame can roar from the peaceful fields and pressure upon Hunar Ghar. In that same vein we’d like to think that the community see more in Hunar Ghar that just an income source. I do know that that isn’t the case, but it nonetheless smites a little.

We certainly aren’t going to do anything now but hire those two women. The whole storm will probably turn out to have just been in a tea-cup after a couple of weeks anyway. My main concern is alienating Hunar Ghar from the community by ‘not listening’ to them, so making it harder to gain real contribution/dialogue later on. Unfortunately the anger-mongerers are giving us nothing to listen and respond to, only crass ultimatums. I’m sure if I was better at this whole school management thing I could turn it around into a really positive interaction, but I can’t get this one figured out.