Hemlata Nerurkar “I have been a social worker throughout my life”
by Ishita Ramanujan
Question: What inspired and motivated you to conduct self defense classes for young girls, and why did you name it “I, Me, Myself” ?
Hemlata: ‘I, ME, Myself’ is a dream I’ve visualized since age 10 when I was forced to discontinue my martial art classes due to financial reasons and most importantly being a girl child. I don’t need to explain what a Girl/Woman goes through in Indian society where rape cases, molestation, acid attacks, eve-teasing are on high rise. I call it ‘I, ME, Myself’ because it means Alone Yet Strong - physically, mentally, emotionally - which every girl has to learn in this world of inequality.
Seeing so many crimes against women and young girls every day gives me motivation to stop the helplessness. As a student of martial arts I believe self-defense is the only solution for protection.
Tell us about the young girl who will conduct these classes.
Akshita Karkera, age 20, is a young, dynamic, passionate martial art student and trainer. Coming from a weaker socio-economic background she has gone through pain and struggle to achieve her passion. From the age of 8 she’s learned Kung-fu and represented the country at National level and won many medals. Her dream is to train underprivileged girls and women. Being young, she will connect to their problems, and relate to them.
What are the main communities the self-defense class will serve?
Financially weaker communities, underprivileged communities. Women and girls from those communities are vulnerable and get victimized easily. These communities are deprived of education. Providing them with self –defense will help protect them from physical abuse and also boost their confidence, remove their fear of being hurt, help them take control of themselves and other women in their community and stop violence against women.
What will you offer in these classes ?
Basics of self-defense, how to react in an unfriendly situation. 1) targeting prominent, easily accessible vital points in the human body. 2) striking and defensive techniques. 3) fighting stances. 4) scenarios based attack defense techniques. 5) how to tackle multiple attackers. 6) hold and lock body techniques. 7) use of the things a women or a girl carries everyday to defend herself: hand bag, pen, dupatta, books, nails, etc.
How long have you been a social worker? Tell us about your experiences.
I have been a social worker throughout my life, from the age of 10 when I used to always leave some water in my bottle so that I could water the plants while returning home, there were times I used to give away my tiffin to classmate who had forgotten her box. At the age of 15, I used to take tuitions to pursue my studies and from whatever earnings I used to get a small percentage was shared with a family who had lost their bread earner. During college days, I was a National Cadet Corp and worked for physically challenged, old age, orphanages. I worked with a mentally challenged NGO and trained the kids on jewelry making and also help them create employment. Working for a martial institute as a volunteer and helping them in promoting the art and importance, looking after the administration free of cost. The list is long but these are few to be mentioned.
Tell us about your nonprofit organization.
I am the founder of an NGO called ‘R Society R Responsibility’ - we do creative, interactive awareness programs like Safe Touch, Gender Equality for children, waste management, distribution of essentials to people in need.
Many teenagers want to contribute to their community but are unsure how. What are simple ways to help others ?
Many youths are in schools and colleges. The institutes should encourage and involve the teenagers in various activities at least once a month. The simplest way to contribute is “Do Not Waste Food”, “Save Water”, “Grow trees/home gardening.”
What are your sustainable development goals for the Self Defense Classes?
Train as many girls as possible; make self-defense an easily available class. Identify trainers that lead as inspiration, to train their communities & women/girls in need.
Why is self defense an important life skill for any woman ?
Self Defense is a natural instinct that is shadowed and buried in women. To stop crimes against women, this instinct has to be polished. Just like food and water, safety is a must for everyone.