My Journey into Kishanganj

Realizing that there is no single approach to engaging with women in order to organize them into SHGs, the Kishanganj team found success when it was willing to let go of its biases and identified the pressing needs of the women in the Muslim-dominated hamlet, supporting them in the areas of health and nutrition before considering savings and credit

I n mid-July 2013, one of my senior colleagues in Hazaribagh asked me whether I would like to work in Bihar. My instinctive reaction was a blunt reply, “No, I am not interested.”

Later in the evening, back at my place, I began to brood over why he had asked me whether I wanted to move to Bihar. Was it because the organization had already decided to place me in Bihar? What if I was going to be asked to leave Hazaribagh where I had spent seven years of my life? What if I didn’t like the new place and found it difficult to adjust to the new milieu? The ‘what ifs’ continued until I retired for the night.

The next morning, I felt quite agitated, now questioning why I was so troubled by the idea of leaving. I could not understand my apprehensions. There seemed to be a fear associated with moving away from my comfort zone. Not ready to face my fears, I told myself that it was because Jharkhand was the place where I wanted to spend the rest of my life, that there was no place as poor as Jharkhand and I could definitely make a difference here.

A month passed. While I was occupied with work, the thought of the possibility of having to leave Jharkhand continued to haunt me. One day, I came across a quote from Lao-Tzu which said, “When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” Something shifted in me. I made up my mind to let go and not worry about something that had not yet happened. After another month, I finally got the call from our Head Office asking whether I would want to move to Bihar or Chhattisgarh.