31 May 2011
By Radheshyam Jadhav
Satara, India
Sunita Dalvi (left) and other women from Nandgane who have beaten their addiction to ‘mishri’
Jawali has already become the first taluka in the state to completely ban alcohol. Thirteen licensed liquor shops have been closed down officially in six villages. Now, with the women of Nandgane stopping the use of any kind of tobacco, particularly the use of mishri, the taluka is well on its way to becoming tobaccofree as well.
"It all began about two years ago, when we women demanded that the liquor shop in the village be shut down as the men, especially young boys, were drinking heavily," said Sunita Dalvi, sarpanch of the village. "The men were upset and issued us a challenge. They promised to stop drinking if we stopped using mishri. We agreed and believe me, even with a tiny population of 114 women, it was not an easy feat. Mishri had become part and parcel of our rustic life. But eventually, we managed to give it up and are proud of doing so," she added.
Mishri is a roasted uniformly black tobacco used to clean teeth several times a day. It is generally carried in a metal container, and applied to the teeth and gums with the index finger.
The Education and Research Network study supported by the Government of India and the United Nations Development Programme had conducted a survey of 100,000 individuals in rural areas of the state and found 22% were mishri users; the prevalence being 39% among women and 0.8% among men.
"As mishri is part of routine life it took two full years for us to get over our dependence," said Sunita. "Every woman used to purchase half a kg to 1 kg of tobacco weekly and apply the mishri intermittently. When we first met to discuss giving it up, the women reacted predictably. Many of them said that they could not live without it since they had been using it since they were in school. Many women would keep mishri in their mouths for hours," she said,pointing at the black teeth and gums of some of the women in the village.
While there was a general opposition on the plan to ban mishri, support came from some of the younger women. "Initially, after stopping the use of mishri some of us had abdominal pain, bowel movement problems, headache etc. But the thought that we would be a role model for our men who spend hard–earned money on drinking kept us going," said villager Sulabai Dalvi.
Anti–liquor campaign activist Vilas Baba Jawal from neighbouring Jawalwadi spread the word about the dangers of using mishri. "For months we held meetings with the women and disseminated information though pictures and cards, but it hardly made an impact," said Jawal.
What could have been the turning point was when one of the women who complained of abdominal pain was admitted to hospital. "A clog of mishri was recovered from her stomach and this was an eyeopener for the women." said Jawal. "Many of them also complained of patches in their mouths and finally came to realise that giving up tobacco would also be good for their health," he added.
The women gathered at a village temple and vowed not to apply mishri. "Today no women in our village uses mishri," said Droupadi Umbarkar. "We now clean our teeth with tooth powder and save the money which we used to spend on tobacco to pay our water bills."
The women, however, are not happy with the government and the politicians. "No political leader supported us in our campaign against liquor and mishri," they say. "This was probably because no party or politician saw any political mileage to be gained," said Jawal.
"We are trying to convince more and more women to shun mishri and save money," said Sunita. "I am happy that women in other villages like Ritkawale, Jawalwadi and Medha have also started a campaign to stop the use of mishri. We have overcome the addiction and fulfilled our promise but our men still continue to bring liquor from outside and drink.The government should crack down on liquor dens."
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