Shakti School – Of Arts for Girls

Shakti
School of Arts

- for girls -

We are the Shakti girls,
welcome to our world.

Introduction

The Sanskrit word Shakti means energy, or feminine power. When the divine inspiration to make a school for girls came to me in September, 2020, I immediately knew that Shakti would be the name I’d use. Knowing the difficulties that girls often face in India, it was clear to me that the most powerful tool I could offer for their upliftment is an art-inspired education, where they are shown by example how to discover their hidden talents and develop their creativity as a path to inner healing, using art, dance, music and yoga.

It’s also essential that they learn English, so that’s our strongest academic focus. Fluency in English will open doors of opportunity into higher education and well-paid jobs, and help these girls to escape from the cycle of poverty.

I want to help the Shakti girls find their own inner strength, by affirming their worth as individuals and inspiring them to courageously speak up for themselves. It is my dream to support the girls all the way to higher education, so they can make their own living and be a support to themselves and their families.

Tara Ma, founder of Shakti school

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Women in India.
The tragic situation of
underprivileged women in India.

Violence against women in India is on the rise.

According to government statistics, in 2021 there were 86 rapes per day on average in India, and 59 offenses against women per HOUR – and that’s only the ones that were reported. The real number is probably triple that. In the last few years there has been a rise in murders of teenage girls at the hands of their boyfriends. Acid attacks are also on the rise. Girls like the ones who attend Shakti School of Arts are often harassed by men on the street on a daily basis, and it’s very hard for them to feel safe – because the sad truth is, they’re not safe. They could be kidnapped, raped or murdered at any time. The widespread viewing of online pornography by young men in recent years has increased the threat to women many times over, and the Indian police often turn a blind eye when it comes to crimes against women.

Child marriage

According to the UN, an estimated 1.5 million underage girls are made to marry each year in India. One of the women we are helping in Rishikesh was married at age 12, had her first baby the next year, and by age 14 had two children! Her husband was abusive, and she was finally able to divorce him (a rare feat in India), and is now trying to raise her children on her own. Fortunately we have been able to help her by giving her a job cleaning and cooking in our school and also help her for the education of her two children, not only in our after school program, but also paying for the school supplies of her kids every year. How different her life could have been if she’d been able to complete high school and college and find a career, and then make her own decision to marry!

Dowry and female infanticide

The age-old practice of dowry in India, whereby the bride’s family is expected to give a large financial gift to the groom, has created a situation where girls are considered a financial burden on their parents, whereas boys are considered an asset. Largely for this reason, discrimination against women in India begins even before birth, as many parents choose to abort female fetuses, or even kill newborn female babies. Although there are now laws in place to prevent determination of the gender of the fetus before birth, many parents in India find a way to circumvent those laws, and if the fetus is female, terminate the pregnancy one way or another.

Low literacy rate

The traditional cultural ideal in India is that after they are married, women are expected to live with their in-laws and dedicate themselves to raising children rather than having careers. For this reason, it is often considered a waste of money to educate girls. One result is that female literacy in India stands at only 65.5%, compared to 82.1% among men.

‘Dowry deaths’

There is a horrible phenomenon in India known as ‘dowry deaths’. If the groom’s family feels the bride has not given enough of a dowry, sometimes they will try to extort more money from the bride’s family. If a larger dowry is not forthcoming, or if for any reason the groom (or his mother) is not pleased with the newly acquired wife, the groom’s family may just pour kerosene on the wife and burn her to death, and then claim it was a ‘kitchen accident.’ The police and Indian legal system will often do nothing, and the groom is then free to find another wife who he hopes will bring in a larger dowry. In 2020 alone there were 6,966 dowry deaths reported in India, and one would have to assume that majority of cases go unreported and that the actual number is much higher.

Alcoholism among men

During the last 20 years, alcoholism among men in India has been on the rise. In the poor areas where the girls who attend our school live, it appears to us that the vast majority of the men are alcoholics. An alcoholic man will be an abusive husband and father, and may forcefully take any money his wife has made through her daily work and use it to buy alcohol. Men who come home drunk may even sexually abuse their own female children.

This makes it all the more urgent that girls in India receive a full education, so that they may make their own choices in life and escape from the cycle of poverty and abuse.

Contact

+91 95674 73592