Description of the podcast:

In the second episode of this series, we sit down with Meera Devi, Managing Editor at Khabar Lahariya, India’s only rural media network, run entirely by women. They cover 13 districts, reaching over five million people in their quest to capture the grassroots and their realities while bringing women from marginalized communities into the media network as reporters, stringers, and writers. 

Meera shares her incredible journey with us, shedding light on the challenges she faces and the triumphs she celebrates with her team at Khabar Lahariya. But more than that, it’s the spillover effects of her empowered life that captured our hearts and souls. We discussed journalism, challenges faced by women in the industry, and the solutions to problems that we face collectively as a society, among many other things.

Transcript

Meera Devi: So, you’re a journalist. Are you married? Do you have children? Why don’t you wear sindoor? Why isn’t there a bindi?” And they would say bad things about our families, “We don’t know anyone who leaves their women like that.” Okay, let’s do this. How much are you getting right now? You get a thousand rupees. I’ll give you two thousand. Do some pickle and papad work or work in our kitchen. It’s very nice, and you’ll stay safe, and your work will also continue.

Ankita: In rural India, the stories of women and marginalized communities are often viewed through a special lens, especially when it comes to development and improvement. But what happens when the storytellers themselves are the ones about whom the stories are told? Does society perceive them from the same perspective they see themselves, or is there a difference between the two?

So far, in our conversation series – Impact Dialogues, we have spoken with changemakers who are striving to bring development to society. Today, we are joined by Meera Devi, the Managing Editor of Khabar Lahariya, who, while representing the grassroots, is making efforts to bring development and improvement to society through her work.

Khabar Lahariya is India’s first and only women-led digital rural media network that not only sheds light on women-centric issues but also empowers them, and much credit for its digital transformation goes to Meera Devi. With a team of over fifty members across seven states in India, Meera Devi creates hyperlocal content that reaches more than 1.5 crore people every month through various digital networks, helping hundreds of female reporters to become independent and empowered. So, let’s begin today’s conversation. Welcome, Meera Devi ji.

Meera Devi: Thank you.

Ankita: As much as we’ve read and understood about Khabar Lahariya, we’ve learned that its primary objective is women’s empowerment, and I believe terms like feminist, grassroots, and independent describe it aptly. I’d like to understand from you what encapsulates its spirit.

Meera Devi: Many women who have never attended school, never received a formal education, we initiated bringing such women into Khabar Lahariya because Khabar Lahariya’s goal is to bring women forward in every field where they have historically been held back—be it in the realm of education, opportunities, politics (which is quite distant), and especially in the field of media. The primary objective of Khabar Lahariya has been to bring these women into society, strengthen their education, empower them economically, and integrate them into the mainstream as contributors of information. Consequently, many women in this sector have been brought in, and they have been strengthened in every possible way.

Ankita: It is said that change is only possible when every person, every gender, every sector supports it. I would like to know, during your reporting experiences, how the people you have interacted with perceive issues related to women, and is there any difference in the way men and women view, understand, and react to women-related issues?

Meera Devi: Yes, there is a significant difference. I think working in the field of women and for those who work to bring women forward, whether they are women or men, they feel that they are doing a very big job. They feel that spreading awareness among women, telling them to study, taking them out for jobs, and making them aware of their rights, and recently, ‘Mahila Hinsa Unmulan Pakhwada’ ended. Now, a lot of discussions are happening about it, and when people go to work among women, they work in a way that shows they are working for the benefit of women. They should go to the grassroots to help those girls who are still inside their homes, unable to study because there is no school in their village beyond the fifth grade. After the fifth grade, they cannot study because the city is too far away. Moreover, their parents do not have enough money to send girls for education. If there is a boy in the house, they will send him to the city for education, but if it’s a girl, after the fifth grade, she is married off and sent to her in-laws because she has to work at home, bear children, and manage the fields. So, why doesn’t this mindset change? When will you work for it? You work only in certain places somewhat connected to the mainstream, but you should work among the grassroots people and change their thoughts. You can say that there are many government schemes that provide assistance, ensuring that there is no cost for education in government schools. However, for going to the city, funds are needed. Raise awareness about this as well or do something. Because the reality is that much more work is needed behind it.

Ankita: In your area, where girls are still struggling to study and move forward, we would like to know a bit more about you and how you started your journey. You joined as a news editor at Khabar Lahariya, and today, you hold the position of Managing Editor. Your journey is very inspiring for all of us, but how did it begin?

Meera Devi: My father’s relatives began to say you have so many daughters; start getting them married because everyone has to settle down at some point, and how long will they keep studying? So, he started talking like this. Wedding proposals started coming in. I remember from the fifth grade when I was studying, but I don’t remember before that. So, I talked to my mother. I told my mother that I wanted to study, and there is a common belief that girls should only study until the fifth grade so that they can read and write and create a budget for their kitchen and home. If some letters come, she can read them, and if she needs to read something, she can. Many people still have this mindset, and it hasn’t changed at the grassroots level. When I talked to my mother about wanting to study further, she conveyed this to my father. So, my father said, “Okay, you study, and we’ll handle the wedding proposals a bit differently. My mother also said that we would tell them that our daughter wants to study even after the wedding, and she will get married to the family that accepts this condition. 

Ankita: Finally, you found a ray of hope somewhere.

Meera Devi: So, I said okay. My friends were getting married. So, they felt that I should get married too? I didn’t say anything because that was the thinking. When I was in the seventh grade, I got married. I must have been around twelve or thirteen years old. When I completed high school, I became the first girl in my school’s history to pass in the first class. It was a significant achievement for my teacher, my school, and my family, and a big milestone for me to advance my education. So, I told my teacher that I want to continue my education. I also spoke to my parents and in-laws. They said, ‘Okay, study.’ But the people from my maternal home said they wouldn’t support me financially much because they had other daughters. So, the in-laws had to contribute a bit more. However, going to the in-laws’ place started becoming frequent. When I was in the twelfth grade, I had a daughter. Now, I have a child and I’m still pursuing my education. Then, I did my intermediate. When I had to continue my studies further after intermediate, I thought I would study so much that no one in my family, and probably no girl in the vicinity, would have studied this much. When it was time for graduation, no one was ready to pay for my admission. Somehow, I pleaded, and I managed to get admission for graduation. But I could never go to college because I had a child. I would only go when exams were happening; otherwise, I studied at home.

So, when I was in my second year of graduation, I found out about a job at ‘Khabar Lahariya.’ I felt that I would earn for my education with my own hard work. I was eager to do any kind of work. Even if it is working as a laborer, but I’ll earn money for my studies. Then, I applied to ‘Khabar Lahariya,’ and my luck worked. I got selected and became a stringer. That was when it was decided that I could support my own education. I completed my graduation and then did post-graduation with my own earnings. I distanced myself a bit from both my maternal and in-law’s families because I knew that if I stayed in the midst of them and pursued my education and job, it might not work out. So, my husband, my children, and I started living a little away. I became an editor—first a journalist, then a senior journalist, and then an editor. And now, after going digital, I am the managing editor.

Ankita: As you’ve mentioned, you were initially a stringer, and most of a stringer’s time is spent in the field. Building self-confidence to go into the field is crucial because anything can happen during fieldwork. Conditions there are highly unpredictable. Would you like to share a story where, despite such unpredictable situations, you managed to bring stories to people?

Meera Devi: There was a village named Gopra in the Nareni block of Banda district. My colleague and I went there for reporting. We were going to the village to listen to the problems of the farmers, as there was no canal for irrigation so no water for the fields. When we reached, we saw two people carrying a very sick person from a distance. We decided to inquire about it, so we went there. they told us that the person was seriously ill and was returning after getting treatment from the TB special hospital in Nayagaon, Chhatarpur district. We went on to hear their entire story, and soon, many other people gathered. A crowd had gathered, and they said it’s not something new. We also have such people in our homes; they also experience coughing. Then, the third person said, then the fourth person said, and we spoke to many more. We found out that there are families with the same symptoms as that person, and three to four people in each of their homes have died. People were not aware.

We informed them about the DOTS program, which is an effective program for TB, and when we worked on it and brought benefits to the people, we realized how successful it was. We spoke to Asha and the CSC (Community Health Center) there. Naraini Community Health Center was located there. We discussed it there, and after that, we came to the district and then inquired about this with the CMO. At that time, we were in print; we distributed that print, and in it, we wrote about the death of so many people from a family due to tuberculosis. When the newspaper and the front headline were on the first page, people were shocked. It went to the administration and officials, and they were shocked too, and an immediate order was issued, “Look, who is this Khabar Lahariya, and why are they writing stuff like this? How many people have lost their lives?”

The Health Department, meaning in a way, created a stir throughout the district. Everything became chaotic, so they investigated. Whatever was done, we followed up on it. When we went for the follow-up, we followed the same process again: talking to people, talking to the department, talking to officials. When we talked to the people, discussions took place to determine the extent to which this matter reached. Did you get better or not? Then we spoke to the head. Then when we talked to Asha, we didn’t feel comfortable with the attitude of the head and the hope. They practically accused us in a very wrong way, saying, “You’ve defamed our village. You’re saying that there are TB patients here. Who all, and where are they? You’re not a doctor; you don’t know anything. Many such things were said. Then, when we went to the CHC, the same thing happened to us. They asked where the patients were and whether we’d done any checkups. If there’s an examination, you know that there are TB patients, and this has happened. When we went to the district, the same thing happened: our visiting card was taken, and our ID card was collected. They said, “The CMO will investigate this. Who is Khabar Lahariya? Today, among the big newspapers here, they have never written like this, and who are you? Have you met our doctor’s team? Did you confirm this with them?” There was a lot of chaos. We were also threatened and scared at that time. Since we were telling the truth, we didn’t say anything. We said, “Okay, take the visiting card, take the ID card, do the investigation, do whatever you need to do.” But inside, we were a bit scared.

We were reviewing that, indeed, we are not doctors, but we wrote that there are TB patients here. We went to the DM at that time. Then we told him about the situation. And he treated us with respect. So, he said, “Okay, no problem. I will conduct an investigation, and whatever the result will be, we will see.” Then he conducted an investigation. They set up a camp there, and in every home, patients were found. They conducted checks by setting up camps again. Then their treatment continued for a long time. The people we met, we followed up with them. Under the DOTS program, people recovered. After recovering, they went back to work because there was a lot of migration there. People go to the city, work, and many people recovered. Later, the officials came to us, apologized, and said that they had made a big mistake, but they want us to inform them promptly if there are such villages so that they can work well there. So, this is how it went, and there are many stories every day. So if you talk about challenges, first, we are women, and then we are reporters. We work in places where women’s jobs are not considered legitimate, especially in reporting. We work in areas that are known for criminal activities. There are powerful and highly political people there. If you speak against these issues, they don’t like it, and they come at you in every possible way. In the field of journalism for women, it becomes the biggest challenge for men. So, it’s very challenging.

Ankita: You were saying that people don’t take you seriously. They think, “What can a woman possibly be doing?” Could you share a story where you went to talk to people, tried to find out what was happening, and people did not cooperate with you?

Meera Devi: See, this is about the era of print. Since 2015, we have been using technology, and since then, things have been a bit different for us. Let me tell you more about the beginning when Khabar Lahariya started, and when we used to go to villages for reporting and talking to people. People didn’t consider us reporters because they had never seen women as reporters. They used to say that there are women from some groups involved in child trafficking or running a child trafficking group. They come carrying bags. There is no one accompanying them. Whether they have a family or children, people used to say things like these, and why should we tell you any news? There are big reporters here; they are never seen in the village. Who are you, such a journalist that you have to come to the village for reporting? We don’t consider you reporters. 

We used to believe that those who have problems will definitely talk, and those who don’t want to, those who don’t have problems, won’t talk. That’s how we operated. It’s not that everyone had the same behavior. Some people spoke very well, shared their stories, but some people, perhaps because we were women, spoke in a certain way. And then, when we used to go to the administrative level, the officials didn’t even listen. Why talk to women? Because men are always ahead in every field. So, they didn’t have trust. 

So, if ever they agreed to meet, they would come, sit, and say, “Oh, you’re a journalist. Are you married? Do you have children? Why don’t you wear sindoor? Why isn’t there a bindi?” And they would say bad things about our families, “We don’t know anyone who leaves their women like that.” Okay, let’s do this. How much are you getting right now? You get a thousand rupees. I’ll give you two thousand. Do some pickle and papad work or work in our kitchen. It’s very nice, and you’ll stay safe, and your work will also continue. Or if too much, then they would say, “Not now. Come tomorrow. No, not tomorrow, the day after tomorrow. Or no, not then, come in the night.” Do you understand what that means? I mean, you understand, right? I also understand, but we ignore them, that in this field, we need to go again, talk to them again, visit that place, talk to that person again. Okay, we’ll go back.

If they invited us ten times, we would go ten times. But yes, we would say what we wanted to, and if they still didn’t engage in a conversation, we would write down exactly what they said, publish it in the newspaper, and then hand them that newspaper, saying, “Here, read it. You said it yourself.” So, they would be shocked, thinking, “What is this? There is indeed something that we need to be cautious about.” So, things happened in such a way that gradually their behavior changed, and now the situation has come to such a point that the officials fear facing questions from Khabar Lahariya. They feel that, “Oh, we should never face Khabar Lahariya, and we should not answer their questions.” That’s the situation.

Ankita: Those who once didn’t consider us as reporters are now afraid of all of you.

Meera Devi: We haven’t scared anyone. It’s their own doing that they are afraid. We simply said, ‘Don’t be scared, just answer our questions.’ It’s too simple. 

Ankita: You have struggled hard to create your identity.

Meera Devi: If I speak here sitting or if I speak on larger platforms, or even when I speak abroad, the narrative is the same – that I have worked in the field for so many years. So, I have this experience. I used to be very scared of talking to people. My lips trembled, and I was very afraid. I didn’t know if something wrong would come out, but today, that fear has slowly faded away. I can speak now. Here, we have many women who have never seen a school. They have studied at home and are now doing strong reporting in the villages. If you go to our area, if there is any trustworthy journalism, it’s only Khabar Lahariya. They feel that no one else can report like Khabar Lahariya. In 2019, when the entire country was under lockdown, we had no idea that so many people knew us.

People found us, both online and offline, because we had shared a contact number, stating that anyone in need of help could contact us. Many people reached out to us, saying they were stranded, had no food at home, no medicine, and couldn’t go anywhere. That’s when we realized that so many people know us, and they were asking for our help. When the entire country was under lockdown, and people were being told to maintain distance because of the coronavirus, we were out there reporting. When it was said that people should stay indoors, jobs were lost, and there were no more job opportunities, we were out there doing more reporting. Our work increased tenfold during that time. While the mainstream media showed job losses for many. People walking on the roads, on the streets. A mother was walking with her child because there was no milk. She was carrying her children in a trolley. Such scenes were shown, but the media didn’t show the situation in the centers that were set up there or what the situation was in the villages. Whether they went back home or stayed there, the situation of those who couldn’t afford to eat, didn’t have medicine. What pregnant women and girls’ private needs?

Ankita: As you mentioned that you have been associated with Khabar Lahariya for 17 years, and we discussed challenges as well. What is it that inspires you, your team, and Khabar Lahariya to move forward?

Meera Devi: See, when we work on the problems faced by people, many times, they get what they want. Anything beyond that doesn’t matter much to us. We consider it our success if an ambulance reaches a woman in time during delivery, or if a village lacks development, hand pumps, or if a woman’s voice is not being heard. In politics, she wants to express her views, but they are not being heard. Even though she may not reach the government or administration, bringing out the suppressed voices, connecting with democracy, and mainstreaming, if this is happening, what could be greater than this? We work for this reason. Whenever I go to universities, and they ask me what should be done, I say don’t do city reporting; many people are already doing that. Go to the grassroots if you actually want to do true journalism, as the main work is to take the government’s attention to the places where they don’t usually look, where there is a real need for work and reporting. Work where the voices that need to be heard are. Many people are here.

It’s about 2006 when I was reporting in Banda. Girls were never seen, especially in the field of reporting. But today, I see girls reporting everywhere. They carry a mic, and no matter how their work is, girls are still out there reporting and pursuing education. If I talk about my own situation, back at home where my father had said that there’s no need for education after the fifth grade, now, three out of us are married, and three are still studying. Among the three studying, the fourth and fifth sisters are pursuing B.T.C. and preparing for a teaching job. They are 25-26 years old. The youngest sister is preparing for a Ph.D. and also studying for entrance exams. Regarding my own daughters, both are in college—one wants to become a singer, and the other aspires to be a makeup artist. So, change has come. 

Today, no one says to them that you have to study; or don’t study, you have to get married. No one says that you won’t study after this. No one asks where you spent the money we gave you. Give an account of it. Today, the people in my in-laws’ and parents’ homes involve me in every decision, discussing how we are going to do it. Things that were never given attention, women are now asked about. So, there are many things now that make me feel proud of myself. My father always tells people that his daughter travels by plane. So, I tell my father that it’s not like I always travel, but there are occasions when I travel, so don’t always say that I travel by plane.

Ankita: What could be better than when our fathers are proud of us? There is no greater achievement for anyone.

Meera Devi: When I go to my village, whether it’s my maternal home or my in-laws’, people feel very proud. They speak highly of me. My father-in-law is very proud of me. I, along with all the family members, often hear people from far away saying, “Oh, I wish my daughters had also gone.” My friends’ parents say, “My daughter is stuck in their in-law’s place. If she had gone too, how wonderful it would have been.”

Ankita: You are an inspiration for everyone, Meera Ji, and from your words, it is evident how Khabar Lahariya is promoting women’s empowerment. It also clarifies why we refer to the media as the fourth pillar of democracy. So, thank you, Meera Ji!

Meera Devi: Thank you, thank you.

Ankita: Your stories, passion, and journey have not only inspired us but also our audience. 

Thank you.

Meera Devi: Thank you.

Ankita: Today, talking to Meera Devi, we learned about aspects of society that perhaps were not highlighted before. In a landscape where women are still seeking opportunities to prove themselves, women like Meera Devi are an inspiration, demonstrating that with determination, nothing is impossible. We aspire to connect with changemakers like Meera Devi in the future so that we can bring more inspiring stories before you and strengthen initiatives aimed at empowering society.

Stay tuned for our next episode.