Somya Parikh's Portraits of Empowered Women for the Mann Deshi Foundation

Photographer Somya Parikh of Indore, India, recently documented the work of the Mann Deshi Foundation, an Indian organization in Satara (about 250 km southeast of Mumbai) dedicated to empowering female entrepreneurs and their communities. By 2022, The Mann Deshi Foundation aims to provide one million women entrepreneurs with access to knowledge and capital, enabling them to have personal and professional agency in their lives. The foundation is the sister organization of Mann Deshi Sahakari Bank, the first Indian bank run by and for rural women.

Sharau Shinde, in her 100-year-old house in Bhuinj village. Most of the older women in her village don't know how to read and write and open a bank account. The Mann Deshi Foundation addresses all these issues, which can hinder women from being economically powerful and independent.

Mann Deshi Bank employee Kirti Pawar at work with her 4-month-old son. The bank gives job preference to local women, who are encouraged to bring their children to work.

Sanjana Salunke, from Nagthane in Satara, stands in her sugarcane field. A few years ago she was working as a day laborer to help make ends meet after her husband’s car business lost a lot of money. When she heard that Mann Deshi offered women loans and training to set up businesses, she was determined to finally realize her dream to set up a sugarcane juice center. She took a loan from Mann Deshi Bank to buy sugarcane and a machine to crush it and began her business. She also enrolled in Business School courses to learn about enterprise management, marketing, quality control and customer service. In 2015, she was awarded the Mann Deshi Udyojika (Ideal Businesswoman) Award. A little later, she joined Mann Deshi’s Chamber of Commerce.

Banu Bangar is the only female coach, out of three coaches, in the Mann Deshi Champions Sports Program. The program aims to empower rural girls and give them the opportunity to broaden their skills physically and socially through sports. Banu comes from her village with her scooter along with two of her students every day at 5:00 AM to coach women in the long jump and hurdles. She also works in the bank after coaching in the Champions Sports program.

Anita Kumbhar,a potter from Mhaswad taluka, poses with a statue she created. She got a loan of Rs 20,000 from Mann Deshi. 
“I wanted a loan to expand my business by increasing production and for that, 
I needed money. When I learned that Mann Deshi Bank gives loans to women, I took a chance and within a year’s time I repaid the loan from the profits I earned by selling homemade pots,” she said.

Vidya Kirve, a former student of the Mann Deshi business school, poses at her home. Vidya had an idea to set up her own tailoring and bag-making business, so she decided to enroll in business school and learn how to expand and manage her business. Now she is an owner of a bag making shop and also has taught other local women how to make bags.

Sadhna Ganesh Sankpal came from village Sarkhal to learn bag making from Vidya Kirve so she can support her family. Back in village Chandak, Sadhna Ganesh Sankpal attended a Mann Deshi program about financial inclusion.

Kirabai Sargar, 60,from Mhaswad, Satara,  gets ready for her weekly show on the Mann Deshi local radio station. It was only when she was 50 that, one day, while walking with her son near her house, she saw a notice about a radio show being organized by the Mann Deshi Foundation. She went and told them she was interested in singing. She started with Abhangas (devotional songs) and songs on social issues.Now, she has become popular as “RJ Kerabai” or “Radio Jockey Kerabai”.

How were you connected with the Mann Deshi Foundation?I’m associated with the agency Pi Consulting, through which a new opportunity on gender issues came up. It seemed like a great project and hence I took it. The project location was in Satara, which was quite near to my base location at the time, Pune. Also, it was a great experience to explore a new city that has an essence of its own.

How long did you photograph and what were your days like?It was a three days assignment which was scheduled from 6 AM to 7 PM every day. I covered the stories from Mann Deshi Foundation beneficiaries for which we had to travel to various villages that were from 30 minutes to 1 hour away from the base. The villages were located in deep interiors sometimes and the roads were not very friendly but yet it was worth it.

How much collaboration was there between you and the Foundation on deciding who or what to photograph? Or did you have complete freedom to carry out your own vision?At first, the agency recommended some predefined stories to cover. But based on my personal research I requested some major changes in the schedule and stories that both the foundation and agency agreed upon. For example, the initial brief was to cover three stories in three days in one city, Satara. Once we were in Satara, I got to know that the major work of the Foundation is in Mhaswad, which is 110km away. We were not going there because the road was under construction and it took six hours by car to get there. But I convinced the Foundation that I could cover all of the stories in Satara in two days and on the evening of the second day I could go to Mhaswad to cover the better stories there. So that’s what we did.

How did the Foundation use your photographs and how much input did you have over their usage?Unfortunately, neither the foundation nor the agency has managed to utilize the visual assets properly yet due to their respective terms and policies. The photographs were only published by the agency on Instagram, which does not seem to make a major impact yet.

What was your favorite part of this shoot?I really enjoyed exploring the interior villages of Satara, surrounded by the mesmerizing Western Ghats (a mountain range) and the residents, who seemed satisfied and happy with their lives, which is not usually seen with residents of Indian cities.

What is the most important lesson you learned on this shoot?If your vision is good like the vision of Mann Deshi and people are benefiting from your good and you are patient, through time your good eventually becomes everybody’s mission.

Somya Parikh completed his Bachelor’s Degree from the School of Computer Science & IT and completed his Master’s in Photography Design from the National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar. As a student, he was part of an International Art Collaborations (INTAC) exchange exhibition in 2015/2016 in Berlin and Toronto. His works have been published in magazines and newspapers such as The Times of India. He has developed a keen interest in visual design and works with an emphasis on editorial design, photobooks and commercial work, alongside photography.