Armed with camera, Ahmedabad woman storms male bastion and wins laurels

For most of those who use the camera, the device is little more than a means to capture images. For 67-year old Neelamben Dave though, the apparatus led her to a lifetime of emancipation.

Co-ordinator of Video Sewa, a photography and videography initiative led by the Self Employed Women's Association (Sewa), Dave has spent more than 30 years of her life behind the camera. Today, she helms a group of women like her who've marched their way to self-employment, not to mention professional excellence, thanks to the movement.

In 1984, Dave was one of 20 poor, semi-literate or illiterate women, who sat through a three-week video production workshop by Martha Stewart, a pioneer who took video to the people. None of these 20 women, including vegetable vendors and head loaders, had ever seen a video camera before. Not formally 'schooled', it was unlikely that a motley bunch of women like them would set up a venture all of their own, let alone one dealing with technology and latest equipment.

26 years hence, Video Sewa, which was born as an outcome of the workshop, boasts seven full-time staff who work in all areas of production - script writing, filming, editing, sound recording and audio dubbing. Members range from handcart pullers and bidi workers to housewives. And together, these women have made a whopping 200 documentaries till date, and over four hundred documentation tapes.

"I joined Sewa as a photographer in 1981, when working with the camera was a man's job. Naturally then, there were several roadblocks," says Dave, who was initiated into the profession by her husband, a part-time photographer then. "I was harassed mentally, and at times, physically as well. Male photographers would pass snide remarks at me, implying 'What will a woman do with the camera?' They would block my way when I got up to click a picture. At times, they would together prevent me from getting to the right angle for the shot."

That attitude, Dave says, hasn't changed much. "We're still jostled with at public functions. But by now, I have learnt not to let these things deter me," she says.

At Video Sewa, women themselves are the producers, camera and sound persons, editors and shareholders. Video Sewa conducts over four hundred video replays per year. It produces in-house films but also welcomes orders from interested institutions and individuals alike. And while each of these assignments might be a small step in itself, put together, Video Sewa's work is a giant leap for womankind.