Manushi's birth coincided with a new phase of activity and debate around women's issues after a lull of about three decades following national independence. It also coincided with an important new phase in the political life of the country following the Emergency. One of the key issues on the political agenda became civil liberties, democratic rights and freedom of the press. The general clampdown on civil liberties, and the severe censorship imposed on the press during the Emergency, seemed to have sensitised most sections of the press to be more vigilant not only to protect their own freedom, but also to be relatively more aware of the struggles of other groups for their basic human rights, especially in the face of brutal repression.
Such news covers only a very small proportion of total newspaper space even today. However, the shaking off by the press of some of its slavish, pro-government, pro status-quo stance marks the beginning of a significant change.
Manushi was among the earliest of the political magazines to appear soon after the Emergency, and the only one to choose women's issues as its primary focus. This period also saw the birth of many other magazines, a number of them representing the alternative media, sponsored by both big and small political groups. However, from the very beginning, we resolved that Manushi would not get aligned with a political party, nor would we adopt any one sectarian line on women's issues. We make an effort to keep the magazine an open forum for a wide variety of political opinion.
Why Manushi?
The initiative to bring out Manushi came from some of us who had been involved in a Delhi University based women's group in 1977-78. The inspiration for the effort came from hearing stray reports about sporadic women's struggles in different parts of the country such as the struggle of landless poor women in rural Maharashtra and the Chipko Movement in the hill regions of Uttar Pradesh in the early 1970s. Until the Emergency, the media, taking their cue from government's attitudes, tended either to completely ignore rural struggles or to treat them as 'law and order' problems, and they were especially careful to downplay instances of rural women having organised to challenge the power of the rural elite. We, therefore, felt the need to create women's own forms of communication to collect and disseminate this information systematically, to begin to understand and identify the issues around which women in different parts of the country were beginning to struggle, and to try and find out how we could help strengthen and support such struggles.
Another task we hoped to undertake through Manushi, and one which has become increasingly important for us over the years, was to stimulate and assist in information gathering about women's situation in different parts of the country — women's living and working conditions among different castes, classes, communities, regional and occupational groups. We see this as a vital precondition for the development of theory and practice by the emerging movements. We also felt that because of the lack of adequate information, most of us urban, educated women tend to assume that the problems and achievements of Indian women are synonymous with our own.
The limited gains made by this small section of women and the visibility of some of us in certain selected professions tends to obscure the increasing deterioration in the living conditions of poor women, particularly in rural areas. Therefore, Manushi made a special effort to focus on the lives of rural poor women.
Reliance on Readers
From the beginning, we took certain strict decisions regarding finances:
- We would not accept grants or funding from any institution, Indian or foreign, governmental or nongovernmental.
- Manushi would raise its own funds through limited donations from individuals and would not depend on any one particular donor.
- We would not accept any advertisements which depicted women in oppressive or stereotyped roles. This decision ruled out most available advertisements.
In refusing to rely on external grants we ensured, from the beginning, that in order to survive we would have to create a widespread independent base for Manushi. We saw collecting subscriptions and persuading people to give individual donations as an important political task because in the process we were simultaneously linking many of them to Manushi's future and to the wider movement of which it is a part. Because we saw Manushi as an open forum for the emerging women's struggles in India, we felt that if it succeeded in reflecting the needs and aspirations of the emerging movements, every reader and friend of Manushi would share the responsibility of keeping it alive. This seemed the best way not only of ensuring our readers' sense of active participation in Manushi's development, but also of ensuring its autonomy and its commitment to the movement rather than to any set of donors and institutions. Such readers' involvement would be an everyday confirmation that Manushi existed in response to a felt need. This policy has been maintained.
In the early stages, we did not pay rent for an office nor was anyone paid for working at Manushi. Some of us supported ourselves by regular outside jobs; some money earned outside by two of us was regularly needed to cushion Manushi when its own account was exhausted. Occasionally, we had to borrow small amounts of money from Manushi's supporters to make up deficits. Usually, however, we just held up each issue of the magazine until enough money came in through new subscriptions. The situation has slowly improved and now we usually have enough money for one or at most two issues in advance.
We now have an office in a lower middle class colony in New Delhi. This office functions not only as a workplace but also as a meeting place for women, a place which has provided help to numerous women in distress, a place where women can seek free legal advice and so on. We are very fortunate to be renting from a loving and supportive couple.
Support Network
All writing, artwork and photography in Manushi are unpaid. Some of our readers and supporters have developed into reporters and writers for Manushi; few who write for Manushi have prior experience, even fewer are established writers. Most reports sent from remote areas are by activists who have themselves participated in or helped to organise the protest actions that they are reporting on. Some find it hard to write but some have sent significant reports which we have published.
Our editorial policy is to encourage the kind of writing which focuses on the concrete realities of women's lives and deals with specific groups of women or specific events and issues, rather than general, sweeping statements about 'Indian women' or 'the women's movement in India'.
Throughout these years, we have maintained active contact with many Manushi readers and supporters. Distribution is largely looked after by its readers — individuals, groups, men and women activists working in a range of social and political organisations. So far, less than 10 per cent of the total number of copies printed are sold through commercial distribution channels. Individual women order bulk copies and sell or distribute them locally. Sometimes, this has led to the emergence of a new women's group because, while persuading others to buy Manushi, women have been able to start discussions on women's issues in their own residential area or workplace. One important section of the readership is made up of political activists of many shades and hues as well as workers for social change. Many of them use Manushi as a basis for discussion amongst the women with whom they work, in slums and rural areas. Articles are translated, read aloud, discussed, even simplified for literacy classes. This is one way in which the ideas expressed in Manushi are disseminated beyond the literate minority.
Some of our readers come from distant places to work with us and have become close friends. The affection and care we have received in this way has been an important source of emotional sustenance and inspiration. Without this constant flow of a very personal kind of love, support and affection from so many people, we might not have been able to survive these very difficult initial years.
We are often invited to meet Manushi friends who organise support meetings for Manushi. We have travelled to many parts of the country where emerging groups have organised conferences and camps to introduce Manushi to more people, or to start discussion on women's issues in the area.
Reaching Out
Manushi is brought out bimonthly in English and Hindi. In a country with so many languages, even a two-language edition makes its reach very restricted. English is used in India mostly by a very small section of urban, educated people but also, unfortunately, it is today the only language with an all-India reach.
Although Hindi is the language spoken by more Indians than any other, it is understood primarily in the north Indian plains. If, therefore, Manushi appeared in Hindi only, it would become restricted to a regional magazine.
At any given point, the group of individuals working regularly on Manushi have had limited skills and resources at their command. The fluctuating nature of voluntary work means that even these skills, too, are not always available to us. However, what could have been a liability has become something of a strength because we have developed a habit of drawing on the ideas, skills, experience, and ability of committed friends who happen to be available. Whether it is discussing the quality of a poem or the colour of a cover, or drawing up plans for future issues, or financing, or regular editorial work, Manushi supporters are usually drawn into the discussion and decision making.
Also, many times, when we have found ourselves unequal to a particular task and no help was immediately forthcoming, we have gone and actively sought out someone who has the requisite experience, ability and willingness to help. What started as a desperate measure gradually became a style of functioning in that we welcome and actively seek the help of anyone who is able and willing to contribute in any way at all. A substantial part of this help has come from people who are outside the purview of women's groups and other political organisations. Many of the women today actively and consistently helping with Manushi work have had no previous political experience. When a woman offers to work full time for Manushi, our primary concern is not whether we agree with her politics or not. Our criterion is whether she is willing to put in regular work and is honest and open to differences of opinion. Thus the energy of a wide range of people with differing ideologies has, over the years, contributed to Manushi's survival and growth.
