DDUGKY, Dhatri Foundation, Stars and Superstars....

DDUGKY, Dhatri Foundation, Stars and Superstars....

Soft spoken and gentle Ms.Hyma of the Dhatri Foundation, an award winning PIA under DDUGKY at MSRLM came to my office one afternoon and said that she wanted to organise an alumni meet for about 150 girls who had been trained at her DDUGKY centre in Nagpur and placed in Hyderabad. She wanted me to be there for the event to felicitate the girls. Hyma's undying spirit and passion is exemplary. She runs 'only girls' batches and not only mobilises them personally but also pays personal attention to them by calling them and visiting them in their establishments. I had always been curious to see how she managed to spin off this success and readily agreed.
The event was organised at Hotel Swagath Grand in Habsiguda at Hyderabad which incidentally employs 105 girls trained under DDUGKY at Dhatri Foundation in their various establishments.
As I entered the hall I saw over 100 girls smartly dressed, full of life and enthusiasm, chatting chirpily, savouring the moments of their success.
Yes, all these girls were from villages near Nagpur and Wardha, from poor families. They all came to know about DDUGKY in the mobilisation camps of Dhatri. All of them had to take a tough decision for staying away from home to get trained. And after training they had to take a tougher decision for moving to Hyderabad for work far away from their families, in a new place.
But the trade off was worth it , all of them were successful in their jobs, earning over seven thousand rupees.
Sanjana trained in hospitality and working in Swagat Presidency last 10 months feels at home in Hyderabad because her employers treat her like their daughter. She manages her own expenses from the tips she receives and sends her salary to her parents.
Sweety switched over to Airtel from Megas and earn over Rs. 14000.
Everyone was amused with SoorjKali working with Levi's Jean's. A girl who had health issues and was afraid as she had never stayed without her parents didnt hesitate to market Levi's Jean's to the gathering. She has a bank balance of Rs.80,000 and dreams of making her sister a graduate.
Pooja is a daredevil who literally ran away from home to do the course. She is from the first batch working at Metro Cash , earns over Rs 8700 salary. She has 2 of her friends working with her and feels elated at the confidence reposed in them as they handle cash worth Rs. 2 Crores at times. In fact she singularly handled cash of Rs.50 lakh once.
Namrata working in Naari Mann was so shy of her bad voice that she would avoid speaking but is full of confidence now as she expresses gratitude to her employer who encouraged her to speak and put life into her and her friend Priyanka who also rarely spoke. Today both of them could stand in front of this audience and both earn about Rs.8000 each and send almost Rs.6000 home.
Whether Aarti working in Dwarka Restaurant or Archana and Ujwala at PVR Cinemas, Priyanka at K.S.Bakers, Damini of Megas or Priya in DMart each shared a story of success.
Nilofer Sheikh's confession of getting freedom despite being a girl from the Muslim community and her plea to all from the community to give a fair opportunity to girls from their community wrenched each person's heart. She is proud to have gifted a mobile to her brother. Her parents had come all the way from Nagpur to share her joy.
Sooraj Kali's father, a farmer living a hand to mouth existence was grateful to DDUGKY for giving this opportunity to his daughter who now sends him money for managing their house. He sees a marked change in her attitude as she has got over her stage fright and has become very confident.
Among the employers, Ms. Nessie form Megas says she is really happy to get trained  and good quality staff who put in a lot of effort. She now does not have to struggle for manpower and contacts Dhatri whenever in need of good personnel.
Mr.Tyson of Asian cinemas has taken 7 girls and15 boys feels that DDUGKY is a great initiative.
Mr. Balram of the Swagat group has taken 105 students feels that the opportunity is unimaginable. He admires the attitude and dedication of the girls along with their interest to learn. Their transformation from
Nagpur to Hyderabad is remarkable.
Mr. Anwar of Dwarka felt that they are stars and Dhatri was the super star
Mr. Satya of K. S. Bakers pvt Ltd took cudgels against his organisation which had never employed girls for 19 years and convinced them to take 7 girls. He now has more than 40 girls.
One rarely comes across any project in which all stakeholders are happy. That's was the most amazing part of the evening.
It is significant to note that all these girls came from remote villages near Nagpur to Hyderabad. They had never left the safe haven of their homes. They neither knew the language nor the industry. None of them were accustomed to the hyderabadi food and did not like it. Yet each one had a desire to listen and learn. They had the capacity to assimilate and adapt. For them it was not just any job but an opportunity to realise their tremendous potential. Today their language has changed and they have become polished, suave and stylish with the right attitude.
Each student was full of praise and gratitude for Hyma, Prabhakar, Naveen, Pranjal and the Dhatri team. The passion and compassion of Hyma and the day to day management of the team, their continuous touch and interaction with all the girls placed in Hyderabad gave them the confidence of being in a protective family.
Dhatri, like the mother earth had laid the foundation for these budding flowers to blossom. Me and my team too had many reasons to smile.....