Near the Taj Mahal, another beautiful place: Sheroes, a food joint run by acid victims

by Amir Qureshi

Sheroes Hangout is an initiative by Stop Acid Attacks campaign that was founded by Chhaya Foundation in New Delhi in 2013. It began as a rehabilitation programme for the Acid Attack victims in Agra, close to the Taj Mahal. But the cafe has now evolved into a campaign to generate awareness about the Acid victims and help them live normal lives, in the midst of a society that harbours one prejudice too many about beauty, especially when it comes to women.

The Sheroes here, are women who have fought to survive after receiving a debilitating blow to their appearance and self-esteem by some members of the society. These women are on the way to becoming true fighters, who have the courage to live, work and walk in the midst of the society and force the society to reevaluate its norms about beauty and appearance.

At the cafe, women empowerment does not originate from public funding and charity, but it has evolved into providing an honorable way of living to the victims through readers’ cafe, activism workshops, a community radio hub, and an exhibit space, where works crafted by Sheores is on display.

The Sheroes cafe demonstrates a new wave in feminism that focuses on debilitating social issues affecting women in South-Asian countries. The cafe  offers numerous attractions, including:

Readers’ Cafe: You do need to munch on when chilling out with friends. And revolutions, too, are not brought out with an empty stomach. So, a tiny cafe serves delicious bites round the hour, along with awesome beverages. The hangout also houses an ever-growing (through contributions) library, so pick your read, before you take the table.

Activism workshop: The Hangout also holds activism workshops that are aimed at training girls to use computers and other gadgets and helping them utilize social media as a real tool of empowerment and outreach. Campaigning for victims of acid attacks has helped them realize that most of them come from a background where education is still limited to learning the basics of reading and writing. Using a computer or a mobile phone to connect and create still remains out of reach for many young girls being brought up in miserable circumstances throughout the country. Programmes based on basic legal awareness, judicial and political procedures, cinema, art & culture and gender issues keep the workshops engaging and lively.

Handicrafts & Exhibition Space: While the handicraft work of the Sheroes is always on display at the Hangout for sale, the exhibition space provides a venue to many others in the country to come exhibit/perform their skills. The idea is to organize gatherings like poetry and book readings, jewelry and other design exhibits to engage Sheroes in a constructive activity, while also generating funds to run this space.

Talking to Firstpost, Avinash from Chhaya Foundation said that the idea behind this Rehab Centre originated in Delhi, but the first Hangout was opened in Agra on 10th December 2014, to give the campaign a boost, utilizing the name and fame of the City of Love for the benefit of Acid Attack victims.

He said that the Foundation also plans to open more Hangouts in Kanpur, Ludhiana and Indore, with the basic motto behind the Hangout being the rehabilitation and empowerment of at least five survivors from that city apart from the neighboring areas. Citing an example, Avinash said that in the first Sheroes Hangout opened in Agra, Geeta, Neetu and Dolly are from Agra, while Rupa is from Faridabad and Ritu is from Rohtak. Parth manages the hangout while Rupa, a fashion designer, manages it in his absence.

Avinash said that the Acid Attack victims receive adequate remuneration for the time they spend at the Hangout working, which ranges from Rs 8,000- Rs 15000. The Sheroes also held a fashion show at the local auditorium in Agra to highlight the fact that faces do not mean everything in the world and through rehabilitation, acid attack victims could also lead normal lives.

Speaking to Firstpost, Rupa said that the cafe functioned on a ‘Pay-what-you-want’ basis and there was no fixed tariff for the services rendered to the visitors, 70 percent of whom were foreign tourists who were both sympathetic and generous, so the Hangout was able to carry its own weight.

When Firstpost spoke to a female foreign tourist who was present at the Hangout, she appeared to be overwhelmed with emotions and said that this was a very healthy approach towards an obviously tragic incident in the lives of these victims and she would herself like to promote this creative approach towards rehabilitating such victims in other third-world countries.