Monthly Archives: March 2010

Asifa’s World

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“Who reads the books that you write?” asked Asifa, age 15.

“We write our books for you, Asifa”

Asifa Sheikh

This is a story of how Asifa sees her universe – when she watches TV, reads books and listens to the radio. This is a story of when and where Asifa just may see our stories.

Asifa's universe as she sees it

Asifa lives in a village on the edge of Jaipur, Rajasthan with her parents. She is the eldest of four sisters and a brother and her Aunt lives with her family too. Asifa’s family used to live in a mud hut but have recently built a ‘permanent’ house because they sold their land to a real estate developer. It’s not sure what her family will do next, for a living – for now, they have a new house.

Asifa's new house

Asifa wakes up everyday at 7 am in the morning and she has to sweep the house, feed the buffaloes and collect water from the tube well close to her house. She likes to listen to the radio or have the TV on in the background while she completes her chores.

Asifa goes about her chores

Chores completed, Asifa goes to school.

Asifa says the favorite part of her day is when she goes to school. At school, she and her friends spend one hour teaching the younger children after which it’s time for Asifa to continue with her classes. She says, “I like going to school. I know that when I am there I can stop worrying about everything else and concentrate on my studies…”

Asifa in her classroom

Asifa talks about how there used to be much more rain in her village, there is a photograph in her album of her father and his brother in a green field. Now, there is less rain. And since her family has sold their land, she’s not sure how they will survive. Her father works as a machine operator in the city, but Asifa is not sure this will be sufficient. Plus, there are four sisters and only one brother, so there must be four dowries given. For now, Asifa is determined to go to school, but she wants to find a way to help her father.

Asifa's father and his brother. There is no water to irrigate this land now.

Next year, Asifa will read Be! Books at school with her friends.  She will read stories about young people, like herself, who, once they have finished school, have set up enterprises that solve the problems of waste, sanitation, water and energy for their villages and communities, and generate income and jobs at the same time.

Once Asifa gets back from school, in the afternoon, she likes to watch TV as she does her homework. She says, “Until my father comes home, the remote control is in my hands. After that, he decides. He has blocked all the English channels – because they show all kinds of things.” Be! Movies will be aired on Hindi channels. They will be aired in the afternoon to reach our target audience of young girls and boys all over India.

Asifa watching TV in the afternoon

As the day draws to a close, Asifa likes to spend some time on her own. She takes her radio and goes up to the terrace of her house and the last thing she hears as she falls asleep under the stars could be an episode of Be! Radio.

Children’s Insight + Art = Be! Story

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How does a thought become a story? This is a sneak peek into what children have told us during our research and how their insights are helping us create stories.

Aarti, age 14, said, “Until very recently, we did not have electricity in our village. Now the poles and lines have been set up but electricity is supplied only for an hour everyday. Usually, there is no electricity at night. So, after dark, my father doesn’t allow me to go outside. Without electricity, I cannot study at night.”

Neetu, age 15 says, “Electricity and water supply are the biggest problems that we face. There are parts of my village that get regular electricity. It is a big problem for us because most people in our part of the village are poor and illiterate. No facilities reach us because we are not able to raise our voices and even if we do, no one listens to us.”

In the absence of electricity, these girls and their families depend on kerosene lamps for light. They also use kerosene as fuel for cooking. Kerosene has its own set of problems. Ganga age 16 says, “The kerosene oil that the government supplies for us often does not reach us because the dealer sells it elsewhere and makes a profit. So even though we are supposed to get a certain amount, we actually get much less. If we oppose him he tells us either to take what he is giving or go away.”

Based on what children have said about the absence of light and the need for alternative fuel, we are now creating 50 Be! books and 10 movies – the first, is a story about a young woman called Tara, who builds a solar light business to bring light to her community.

Tara’s ‘Bolt of lightening’ Business

Tara, age 18, lives in a crowded slum without electricity. She lives with her younger sister Rani and her father who is a carpenter. To support her family and in order to send her sister to school, Tara makes packed lunches and delivers them to people’s homes and offices. She never makes a mistake about whose lunch it is. One day, Tara’s father, defeated by world around him, does not go to work. Tara sees Rani trying to study by kerosene light, and finds herself standing in line the next day for hours, just to get enough kerosene so Rani has light to be able to study. The loss of her father’s income and her desire to see Rani stay in school drives Tara to find a new solution: she needs a business she can run from home, that makes money and provides light.

Rajkumar - Tara's Father

Tara delivering the lunches

With the help of Tar Babu, a local electrician, she discovers, step by step, what she needs to know to solve the problem of electricity. She rents out solar lamps to street vendors, providing them with a dependable and clean source of energy and creates an enterprise that supports her family while solving the big problem of light for everyone in her community.

Tara’s story in the form of a graphic novel is a work-in-progress. Meet the characters, and do check back in soon, so see more of the graphic novel emerge.

Rani studying by the light of a kerosene lamp

Taar Babu with a solar lamp