The women of Boodikote know that information can actually translate into money Technology can actually transform lives and give hope

AGAINST the backdrop of women struggling to be heard on various issues throughout India, the voices of women from village Boodikote in Karnataka ring out loud and clear. Not merely at home and in their village, but and on their own local radio called Namma Dhwani ('our voice' in Kannada).

"Namma Dhwani has brought out creativity and sharing of art skills in the community. We share and talk. We are better informed," says Uma, a social worker. "Some husbands used to lie about the vegetable rates in the local market yard. But now we get to know what price our produce was sold for even before the husbands get home, as Namma Dhwani announces them everyday."

By narrowcasting—airing within a small area—a wide range of programmes (in Kannada) on education, agriculture, health and the law, this unique community radio project reaches out to the rural community, especially women, in 22 villages in Karnataka's Kolar district. The villagers share stories, interview people, present talks and discussions; they also sing, laugh and enact plays. While one of the studio managers is a woman, the network's management committee consists of 10 women and one man.

Namma Dhwani is not a women-only radio network. There are substantial numbers of children and men involved in the production of radio programmes. It's the 200-odd women who have led this UNESCO-sponsored project to success.

VOICES, an NGO from Bangalore, started the initial studies for the project in 1999. Boodikote was chosen as the site for the community audio production centre because the village was identified as an "information drought zone". Since legislation is yet to support the use of transmitters for community radio, VOICES started recording programmes and playing them on speakers at women's Self-Help Group (SHG) meetings. Significantly, the Namma Dhwani project has grown out of a programme to facilitate and empower women's SHGs in the area. The Bangalore-based NGO, MYRADA initiated the SHGs in 1992. While women members of these SHGs have grouped together, saved and taken joint decisions on disbursing loans, they have also moved far beyond the functions of micro-credit organisations. Over the years, SHG members have increased their confidence and skills. They manage their finances, juggle housework, childcare, farming activities, village development work and income-generating ventures. "At first, we wondered why we needed Namma Dhwani but now when we hear our voices, listen to the informative programmes and to the review of SHG meetings on the radio, we know it was one of the best things that happened to us," says Triveni.

Says Yasmeen Master of MYRADA, "We chose to work with women because women take learning home, while men don't." While there are 80 SHGs in the area, Namma Dhwani is managed by a committee of representatives from 14 SHGs. Women from all the 80 SHGs come regularly and record programmes.

For the community radio project, women were trained in programme planning and recording by professional radio journalists and producers from All India Radio (AIR). In 2000, Namma Dhwani acquired its own studio; and Mangala Gowri, a trainee, became one of the studio managers. Four years into the responsibility, Gowri—in her 20s and a mother of two—is a respected member of the community. She has trained many women as well as children below 10 years to record programmes for the radio. "My mother-in-law is very supportive. She listens so much to Namma Dhwani that we sometimes don't get our breakfast on time!" she says.

Currently, Namma Dhwani's programmes are received through cable in the village; they play on a TV channel without any visuals. Modified radio sets, provided at a nominal cost, are also used to listen to the programmes. "The aim of this project was to see if giving Information Communication Technology (ICTs) to the poor could help alleviate poverty," says Seema B. Nair, Project Coordinator of Namma Dhwani. "We thought of involving the women from the SHGs. These women already knew the value of information and that information could actually translate into money."

Bharati earns well from the shop she set up using a loan from her SHG. She wants to educate her children and has started saving for their future. "My husband asks me to keep him informed about any new informative programmes that we are told about in the Sangha (the SHG)," she says. Mangamma was waiting for her daughter to fail so she could stop sending her to school. "But she didn't fail; now she's completed Class 12 and gives tuitions at home. Only after I joined the sangha and listened to Namma Dhwani did I understand what education could do for a person. We worked as coolies (porters) for people in the sun and rain and earned erratically. But now my daughter can teach in the house every day and earn a monthly amount."

There's a distinct smell of cow dung in the air while walking through Boodikote. The cows are lean but cared for. The mud lanes are swept clean and the floors are patterned with rice flour. The women welcome visitors with warm smiles and talk readily about their experiences with the SHGs and Namma Dhwani. They all feel they've found a new world "outside the four walls of the kitchen".

When Subbamma's husband deserted her, she toiled on his husband's fields and educated her children. Her truant husband returned after several years and tried telling her how she should lead her life. She says: "I told him to shut up". Subbamma told her story on Namma Dhwani. Repeats have been requested for many times since, says Nair.

FEMININITY at its most recognisable manifests itself in the form of lipstick. It has left an undeniable mark on the face of the modern woman (quite literally so) and does not fail to leave telltale marks on personal and not so personal articles. It is the harbinger of more than just beautiful faces; it heralds the look of the season. It has become as important as clothes in the varying fashion scene. If last year it was the nude look, it could be scarlet this year and frosted - the next. Having a few basic colours is just not enough. For the fashion conscious, the colour palette has to change with the trends.

Applying lipstick is no longer restricted to social visits. An increasing number of women find their faces ‘unnatural’ without it. It is an everyday ritual like taking a bath or brushing your teeth. One just has to spend a few extra moments pondering over the lipstick of the day. A few strokes can make or mar any look. But this seemingly simple and harmless cylindrical tube does much more than that. The history of lipstick is as remarkable as its place in the world of cosmetics. Make-up did not always enjoy the reputation that it does nowadays. During the Middle Ages, women who wore any make-up were looked down upon. They were either thought of as prostitutes and women of bad character or ones with evil powers – witches. Hence, no sane woman wanted to invoke the wrath of the society and risk being burnt for a witch.

Lipstick has led to the issue of some freak laws in countries around the world. The most recent is the ban on its application by the Malaysian government on the basis that it encourages illegitimate sexual activity. German and American Governments unsuccessfully tried to curb its use. Even Hitler had to bow to the wishes of women who stopped working when he forbade them from using lipstick. But the cherry on the cake was the British law in the late eighteenth century that ruled that women could not wear lipstick before marriage and any marriage with a woman who uses make-up before marriage could be annulled. The basis for such a ruling was that women successfully hid their real selves behind layers of make-up. Though France did not have any rules against lipsticks; women steered clear of them as those sporting lipsticks were thought of as fakes and trying to look younger than they were.

In the face of such severe opposition, it took a situation as oppressive as World War II to take the criticism away. It was then that make-up came back in vogue. Women coloured their lips and it was soon very fashionable to do so. But way before the Middle Ages, Lipsticks have been reported being used by the Egyptians. Cleopatra is said to have used a lipstick made from the paste of a particular beetle and ant’s eggs. Other Egyptian women dyed their lips with henna.

It was not until recently that safety became a priority in cosmetics. Lipsticks that women had been using for over centuries were potentially fatal. They were made using chemicals that were dangerous even in small amounts. Over a period of time they not only lost their looks to disfiguring ailments but also poisoned themselves from inside out. As awareness increased, people realised the need for lipsticks that could be produced on a mass scale and were not hazardous to health. Ingredients that were beneficial or harmless readily replaced toxic ingredients. If an ingredient is used that could have some adverse effects, its quantity is reduced to such amounts that would pose no threat. Wax became the main ingredient of all lipsticks, coupled with fats, oils, colouring agents and flavours. Nowadays, sunscreens are also included in lipsticks due to the growing consciousness about protection from the sun. Hypoallergenic lipsticks are available for people whose skin is very sensitive to external agents.