Bees In My Life

By: Jyothi Naidu

In the quest for beautifying myself, just four days prior to meeting my “might” be husband for the first time, I went for my first facial.

With a great facial and spring in my legs, I guess I didn’t observe my surrounding while walking towards my house. Ouch!!! I got stung by two bees, on my face !!! The pain was terrible and horrible, but totally mortifying was next day in front of the mirror. I did not have any nose, my cheeks were gigantic melons, my eyes were almost shut, my lips looked like I took 98 bot ox shots in one go.

After seeing the movie “The Secret Lifes of Bees” and interviewing Amulya Malladi on her book “The sound of Language” I got swept into my own fond memories with the Bees, but seriously, the story that I wanted to bring out in the open is about a young girl, Anita Khushwaha, first women bee keeper from Bochaha, Bihar. She was chosen as UNICEF’s Girl Star, 2007. She was helped and established with UNICEF’s help, however now, with turn of events, she is back to square one. Unicef’s girl star project made her determination and plight out in the open, however its on us to take it from there.

Beekeeping is thought to be dangerous work, suitable for men and boys only. Nevertheless, says Anita, “I decided early on that if I was going to do anything, this was it. I’m not afraid of bees. They’re like human beings. If you love them, they will return your love.” UNICEF Correspondent Rachel Warden reported about Anita Khushwaha.

Born to a very poor family, Anita learned early in life that education would help her survive. Though her family wanted her to stay at home and tend their goats, she convinced them that going to school was right for her.
“My parents were not supportive, but they listened to me eventually,” she says.
She was determined to make a living despite the odds stacked against her. By tutoring other students, Anita made a small amount of money to pay for school fees. And when her parents thought it was time for her to marry, she was once again determined to continue her education and support herself.
“My parents love me a lot but they were forcing me to marry,” recalls Anita. “When they tried that, I stopped eating food and they changed their decision to get me married off.”

Anita had seen beekeepers working with their boxes, and she wanted to know more. “I came to know that the queen bee is at the center of beekeeping,” she says, noting that at first she was able to buy only two. She has 125 queen bees and 125 boxes providing enough honey and income to allow her to continue her college education.
Anita was studying for her BA(English) from MDDM College, Muzafarpur. This was in 2007. She was 17 years old
The turn of events that followed as Imran Khan of Thaindia reported, in March 2008 are astonishing.
Floods destroyed all her boxes. “I stopped going to college because I have no money to purchase books, pay the fees and bus fares. College is 15 km from my village,” she said.

Anita is upset that she had to discontinue studies for months due to lack of money and the need to earn a livelihood.
Anita is disappointed with the way bank and state government officials treated her when she approached them for a loan or a grant to help restart her beekeeping activities. “I needed Rs.50,000 to re-start beekeeping as the apiaries were completely destroyed by floods,
I don’t have a kisan credit card, nor is my name on the BPL (below poverty line) list. So, bank officials refused to provide me loan for beekeeping,” she said. Anita asked for help from some NGOs working for women’s empowerment, but they have not responded either”

Ironically, last year, she received the “Best Bee-Farming” award from Rajendra Agriculture University(RAU) Samstipur, NCERT included a new chapter for Class IV book in environmental studies-titled ”Anita and the honey bees”. It describes her as role model due to her efforts to educate herself and augment family income.

Sadly her story is inspiring students, but she herself can’t afford to go back to college.
Muzaffarpur district magistrate Vinay Kumar told her that she would get financial help by July, when the new season of beekeeping begins,” I assured her that she would get a loan but not now,” Kumar said.
Anita is unhappy with the Unicef, too. “I was selected by the Unicef and declared their star girl. The Unicef forgot me after taking advantage of my name for vested interest,” she alleged.
Now Anita, 19 years old, who was hailed as a symbol of women empowerment so recently, is fighting alone. She is continuing her struggle by embarking on a path of self-reliance by tutoring.
Can we help her to finish her studies? Can we try to re kindle her spirits and give her a new hope? Can anybody desiring to follow up on her present status and take initiative to make a difference for Anita?