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 Meeting Andal Damodaran, Honorary General Secretary, ICCW (Tamil Nadu) and ex-President of the IFCW (International Forum For Children's Welfare) was an empowering experience.
The beginning of her story is similar to that of many Indian women, but her achievements and single-minded determination to continue to strive against injustice is what sets her apart from the several others who share the beginning of her story.
Married at an early age Andal Damodaran was unable to finish her college education. This dream was realised several years later, when she was awarded a D.Lit degree from the Gandhigram University this year. She is also the recipient of the prestigious Stree Shakti award given by the government of Tamil
Nadu.
She lived in Cuddalore district in the early part of her married life. Though she did not have much opportunity to go out, she used every possible opportunity to grow as an individual. Put in her own words "I made the best of the situation I was in and made it as enjoyable and fulfilling as possible. I read a lot, taught myself to paint and helped in my children's school". She says what is important is that one must make the best use of a situation and find alternatives.
She was greatly influenced by her mother and her husband's interest in social work. Her career in social work started in 1967 when she became a member of the state social welfare board looking after the districts. The family shifted to Chennai in 1973. Then she was requested by Mary Clubwallah Jadav (founder of the Guild of Service) to look after the creche and keep accounts for fund raising. The same year she joined as the assistant secretary to Manjubashini in ICCW and there has been no looking back since then.
Even after having received so many laurels, she still feels that social work is a difficult profession. It is not as financially rewarding as other career alternatives. Thus, one must have an inner empathy and also be service minded.
Asked about her views on the guilt feeling that all working women in this country have to deal with at some point of time or the superhuman limits that she has to stretch herself to she says "The lady has to make up her mind about what she can do and what she can't. The thing to remember is you cannot be everywhere all the time. Once that is clear the question of feeling guilty does not arise". She strongly believes that all women should have some interest outside the family. She feels that children should be motivated to be angry about injustice. That way they will grow up to be contentious adults who would want to do something to make the world a better place.
Even though the focus of her work is children, she believes one cannot isolate the child from the society at large. Hence, ICCW has undertaken a number of community-based programmes. She feels that in order to bring about a change, awareness alone is not enough. It should be backed by some initiative.
Sangita Kanjilal
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