Determined duo focus on the bright side of life

Mumbai: After shaking off the shackles of a violent marriage and narrow-minded in-laws, two young women learned to be professional photographers and are currently showcasing their work at the ongoing Kala Ghoda Arts Festival.

Reshma Rafiq Pawaskar and Heena Khan, both 30, are exhibiting a collection of their work at the nine-day event.

Both women prefer simple, ordinary people as their subjects.

"Sixteen of us, all women, were trained by Awaaz-e-Niswaan, an NGO [non-government organisation] providing education and career training to women, prompting us to take an untravelled path: a career in photography," Reshma told Gulf News.

"We had never ever used a camera and always thought it was the men who became photographers. When our lives started falling apart and we wanted to get out of our oppressive environment, it was this NGO which lent us a helping hand," she recalls.

Domestic torment

Heena, who was often beaten by her husband and in-laws, and not allowed to step outside her home, says that society tends to be discriminatory towards women and does not provide them much support in terms of self-expression.

With not much of an education to boast of, Reshma, who barely completed her 8th grade and Heena, having cleared 10th grade, approached Awaaz-e-Niswaan, which literally means ‘voice of women' after finding themselves divorced and on their own.

Newfound confidence

Two years of training and an advanced course they took recently gave them and others of their kind the confidence to get on in life although reliable incomes have only just started trickling in with assignments — taking photos at marriages, birthdays and small functions — gradually coming their way.

"This is also an opportunity to show men that we can be as good as them in any field," says a proud Reshma who is now learning to use a computer.

The doughty duo have even gone ahead and designed a 2012 calendar with themselves as the subjects. As visitors throng their stall, "we are asked to exhibit our photos in other cities, including New York", says a thrilled Reshma.

It hurts them that women like them are never recognised for their abilities and skills. "Yet, the response towards our work, wherever we have travelled — in the villages of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra — with this NGO has been great," Heena says hoping that their work will help more women become aware of their rights.

Awaaz-e-Niswan, a group comprising students, academics and activists, has been working since 1985 to empower women and help them to seek redress for the injustices perpetrated against them.