CHENNAI: She refused to be a silent sufferer. One fine day, she decided to step out of her misery and take charge of her life. M Shiamala Baby was 24 when she got married. A life of abuse followed. Today, at 60, she is the founder and Executive Director of Forum For Women’s Rights and Development (FORWORD), an NGO that works to empower women through education. As FORWORD completes 20 years, the Kanyakumari native shares her inspirational journey, “When I got married, I believed that for a woman, her husband is her life and destiny. I never knew that women had their own rights, dignity or identity.” Despite having a post graduate degree in English, she lived with the abuse for 10 years. The change came suddenly, she relates, “I was reading an article about Vivekanada in which there was this anecdote about him being chased by a monkey. An elderly monk told him to stop running and look into its eyes without fear. This stopped the monkey in its tracks.” This story prompted her decision to at least take tuitions and survive. During her time at the TN Theological Seminary in Madurai, she was drawn to the issues of women. Between 1987 and 1992, she continued her work on women’s issues and in 1992, founded FORWORD. She quotes Socrates’, “The ‘Know thyself’ refrain makes women realise that one cannot take anything away from her.Through her concept ‘Life Education’ she has touched the lives of over 3,000 women on a very personal level. She said, “After giving the women confidence, we give them the options of learning other skills that will empower them, not only psychologically, but also economically.” The counselling doesn’t stop with the troubled women, but extends to their husbands, mothers- in-law, children and neighbors, as well. FORWORD also runs evening schools for children in the communities it works in - the Kattankulathur block, near the Vandaloor zoo, where the kids are exposed to nature and the issues of fellow human beings, so that they grow up to be socially conscious individuals.
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