Anahat For Change Foundation

Thanks to Hulladek Recycling for giving our founders a platform to break period stigma!

Anahat For Change Foundation has been in existence since 2015. And it’s been 6 years of growth, opportunities to make lasting difference sitting cheek to jowl with an equal number of challenges and tremendous learnings. 6 years ago, namrata dutta karamchandani & Purvi Tanwani began Anahat with the dream to do something so women didn’t have to 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺’𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘬𝘪𝘯. And that soon snowballed into something much bigger with more projects that helped many more women become independent and 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴. 6 years on, armed with big wins, persistent questions, and a whole lot of hope, with a team that simultaneously grew from 2 to 20, we descended on quaint & remote 𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘢 in 𝘉𝘪𝘩𝘢𝘳 for a gender training retreat. Wholly inspired by The Gender Lab's first 5-day residential program in August 2024, the '𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲 2024-25', that brought together participants from across the country which examined how toxic masculinity is birthed, normalised and perpetuated in society. The retreat began with personal reflections, and observations on everyday living and turned into lengthy introspections through activities, anecdotes and short writing exercises on the interplay of the power dynamics of everyday living between men and women. Exploring also how one’s family upbringing, gender stereotypes through school & college, popular culture, books and everyday language perpetuates and upholds 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. Making us constantly negotiate & compromise inside the home & outside it. Facilitated gently & compassionately by Deblina Chatterjee & namrata dutta karamchandani, these 3 days became a safe space for us to examine how our gender & caste locations benefited us through sharing lived realities & wistful questions. The final day blended together the personal and the professional, by committing to 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 core values & further breaking down implementation projects with renewed feminist goals. | When & how these 20 team members –many of whom were meeting each other for the first time ever– became friends like family, whispering late into the night (much to the anger of our two facilitators), opening themselves up with abandon and deep fondness, is a complete wonder. What began with handshakes turned to soulful hugs & promises to stay in touch till next time. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘩’𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨? Audio: 𝐁𝐇𝐑𝐀𝐌 (𝘈𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦) poem written by Sujit on toxic masculinity & patriarchy, born out of our discussions at the retreat. Anchal Baraik Soumit Das Kritika Dey Dipika Roy Sanchari Sarkar Nilam Kujur

Last week namrata and Deblina from the core team attended The Gender Lab’s 5-day workshop on masculinity and its social and cultural manifestations in society. The workshop asked probing questions like: how is masculinity shaped from childhood? When and how does it become toxic? What are the gender norms that society imposes on young boys and men, unknowingly? How can we build a more empathetic society where boys and men don't feel that to 'be a man' is not to show emotion and empathy? How can we build a more supportive and inclusive society where men share women’s work? Namrata and Deblina brought these learnings back to HQ in Calcutta and conducted the first workshop in a series, that aims to sensitise the core team on themes of gender and the insidious ways it creeps into society from childhood (Were the boys you know encouraged to play with dolls when they were young? Were the girls you know encouraged to wear colours other than pink and orange?). This restricted and gender-conforming understanding of the world then bleeds into the rest of their lives and determines how they treat their female, non-binary and queer colleagues and family members. In the first team session, we watched a short film called ‘Juice’ directed by Neeraj Ghaywan featuring Manju (played by Shefali Shah) along with her husband Brijesh (Manish Chaudhari). Premised on the couple Manju and Brijesh hosting a small evening gathering at their house, the film attempts to illustrate patriarchy manifesting through gender roles and gender inequality in a South Asian household: Manju and her friends labour away in a breezeless kitchen on a hot summer’s evening and prepare food for the party while their children play video games, and the husbands discuss the world’s affairs liberally sprinkled with sexist jokes and misogyny. This cinematic vignette very poignantly explores internalised patriarchy and misogyny (“You’ve been married a while now, when will you have a baby?”), sexist jokes (“Do you have a problem with the email or female?” while discussing a new female boss at work), the insidious social conditioning that children are brought up with (“Stop playing and go bring food for your brothers from the kitchen” as instructed to the only girl in a group) and caste and class (how the domestic worker was made to feel like she doesn’t belong). The team’s responses were thoughtful and introspective and questioned the subtle ways in which women are socially conditioned into being submissive and feeling subordinate. This exercise opened a larger discussion into how gender is a social construct developed over time and is used to subordinate women and maintain patriarchal power in society. This exercise was important as a first step in showing how values and norms influence our everyday lives and reinforce stereotypes and structures that produce inequalities. Watch this space for what the team did in the next session of this gender sensitisation series!

We have some exciting updates! Two new people have joined Anahat on the communications team. Let's welcome, Soumit and Kritika! Soumit joins as our Social Media Associate and will assist in showcasing our work and connecting with Anahat's online audience. Kritika joins as our Communications Lead and will help tell Anahat's story across its various platforms (she says she will also shout from the rooftops when needed) and develop our communications strategy. Follow our page to see what these two (and we) are up to! #EmployeeSpotlight #TeamAnahat

"Let’s make this Diwali shine even brighter for everyone! 🌟 Opt for sustainable menstruation products and celebrate with care. Together, we can illuminate lives and safeguard our planet! 🪔💚" Shop our products on- www.anahatunnati.com Check out our livelyhood programs on- www.anahatngo.org #SustainableDiwali #EcoFriendly #SustainableLiving #GreenFestivities #WasteFreeDiwali #Diwali2024 #MenstruationMatters #CelebrateWithPurpose #ConsciousConsumer #AnahatNGO #UnnatiByAnahat #ReusablePads #ReusableBabyDiapers #MenstrualCups #Pantyliners #CottonPads #100PercentHandmade #MadeWithLove #100PercentCotton

We are delighted to be chosen for the training. We can proudly say that now half of our team member are TARSHI trained. #sexualhealth #reproductivehealth #cse

We are proud of you ! We want Anahat For Change Foundation to be the second home for our team members where everyone is valued and respected.

Visiting Koderma as part of FIFA-GIZ initiative with the subject "Sports for Women Empowerment" was an incredibly lovely experience. The place is in the Koderma district's Bendi village. Seeing the girls grow so strongly is fascinating. Thank you Anahat for allowing me to see the transformation firsthand. #anahatforchangefoundation Anahat For Change Foundation .

Here's to our wholesome 6th year celebration in all the locations where we work! Hopeful we take this a notch up next year and, in the years, to come. Onwards & Upwards! #Anahat #6thyearanniversary #WestBengal #Alipurduar #Jharkhand

Anahata, the fourth of the seven main chakras, is located at the heart. The word is Sanskrit meaning "unstruck," "unhurt" or "unbeaten." Associated with air, the anahata chakra governs love, compassion and acceptance. This is what we truly stand for. Today marks 6th year of this impactful organization. We are extremely proud of our founders, our team members, our mentors, supporters and volunteers. We want to dedicate this day to the unwavering passion and commitment with which our team works in the most remote parts of India. What truly makes us special is the warmth and understanding our team shows towards every member of this society. Happy 6 years of impact, resilience and commitment! #6thanniversary #foundationday #impact #resilience #committment #growth #NGO