Chennai: It was an evening at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi in 2011 that an unknown woman till then, Chinnapillai, would never forget. It was the time she met the then Prime Minister A B Vajpayee for the first time.
She was in the national capital to receive the Stree Shakthi Award, presented by the Union HRD Ministry in recognition of the yeoman and pioneering work done by women in the country.
With innumerable cameras flashing simultaneously in the packed hall, Chinnapillai blinked in discomfort, clutched her sari closer, while trying to cope up with the glare of the audience and the VIPs.
Tears welled in her eyes when there was thunderous applause the moment her name was called to receive the award.
Hailing from the nondescript Pulliseri village in Madurai district, she was chosen as one of the five recipients of the Stree Shakti Award.
Incidentally, it was for the first time she had travelled so far from home and for the first time saw Vajpayee in person.
Then came the most shocking and unforgettable moment of her life that showed the simplicity of Vajpayee as a down-to-earth person. She bent down to touch his feet. What happened next was the Prime Minister of the largest democracy, moved by her simplicity, touched her feet instead.
It was something Chinnapillai, who has been working in the fields in and around Pulliseri for nearly 40 years, was not used to.
“I will not forget it. I was surprised when a great leader of the country touched my feet,” she said. “I am saddened by the death of the great person,” she said.
On how she felt when a Prime Minister touched her feet and sought her blessings, she said she could not react and was moved by the applause of the audience.
The award was in recognition for organising poor and illiterate agricultural
labourers of Tamilnadu, especially women, to earn them a livelihood.
It all began after her co-workers discovered she was a good negotiator.
In her village, like many farm workers, who normally belonged to the lower castes, would band themselves into little groups before they offered their services to farmers, landlords and job contractors.
Chinnapillai strove hard to convince farmers that better wages meant better quality of labour.
It was not an easy task, but her persevearance paid off in the end. They understood the concept and with that came loyalty and respect – both from the landlords and her co-workers.
Her talent was soon spotted by NGO Dhan Foundation, that was promoting a movement for women labourers called ‘Kalanjiam’ (which means granary and prosperity).
Chinnapillai joined Kalanjiam as an ordinary member in 1989 and worked hard to develop individual groups at the village level. As her work began to be recognised, she gradually became a member of Kalanjiam’s 13-member executive committee.