Chance Encounters: Sree Gururaja

 

James Reddell in his The Celestine Prophecy writes about meaningful coincidences and that anyone who crosses our path has a message. Many have experienced chance encounters that have stayed as treasured memories. This story is about my serendipitous connection with Ethel Grant, who passed away in Agra, India in April 1988.

While working in UNICEF New Delhi, sometime in 1986, David Haxton asked me if I would accompany a visiting group of around 20 US Committee members on their field trip in India.  I agreed immediately. While it was a privilege, it was a daunting challenge. The field trip was partly programme related with tourism and covered, I think five or six locations besides Delhi. In preparation, I met with Section Chiefs for briefings and was reassured by Bill Cousins that I knew enough and more about Indian culture, the social and economic situation which is what the visitors would want to know about.

SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association) centre for “ chikan” women workers was one of the UNICEF supported projects in Lucknow. Chikan is a traditional fine hand embroidery craft which was usually home-based, done by women to supplement family incomes and exploited by middle men. SEWA organized the women, provided physical facilities, marketing and product improvement support. At the time, the premises were totally inadequate with little child care facilities. The US Committee members, were most interested in learning about the craft, the wages earned by the women and bought several pieces as gifts.

Fast forward to April 1988 when Ethel Grant and JPG visited New Delhi following their field trip to Bhutan. As Ethel was free she was in the Office and I had the privilege to take her on a tour, introducing her to colleagues on every floor. The next day, we received the shocking news that she had had a heart attack and passed away in Agra. I recollect how some of us went to the Office, though it was a holiday, to pay our condolences.

Some months later, the US Committee contacted UNICEF New Delhi . It had raised about US$ 150,000 through contributions in Ethel Grant ’s memory which they proposed as a donation to a project in India. As luck would have it, Sebha Hussain, a founder member of SEWA, had shared the blue prints of a building for SEWA with Eimi Watanabe and myself seeking UNICEF support from the Women’s Development Programme. Without delay, we forwarded the proposal to the US Committee reminding them that some of their members had visited the SEWA Centre. Soon we received their approval with an additional US$ 50,000.

UNICEF was awarded the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development in 1989 and JPG was in India to receive it. Though the building was not fully complete, JPG opened the new SEWA centre while on a State visit to Lucknow, with the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and others in attendance. To date, the SEWA centre continues as a vibrant centre for women with vocational training facilities, including computer science going beyond chikan work.  At the entrance hangs a portrait of Ethel Grant with a plaque commemorating her social service and the US Committee’s contribution.