I will admit that our program’s stop to Sheroes Café came as a bit of a surprise to me, but due to scheduling issues, our professors decided to make the visit a day earlier than listed.  During this first day in Agra, we spent much of our time at the Taj Mahal and a marble crafting facility for our cultural visits, and when the evening was setting in, I just assumed that our bus was driving back to the hotel.  However, it pulled over unexpectedly on the side rode of a busy street, and after we all jumped off, our group set to walking.  About a minute later, we turned the corner and faced a small building settled in from the street, and though it was dimly lit from any street lights, the orange-faced building appeared quaint and homely.

Before entering, our professors explained that this was one of our social activism visits.  Sheroes Café (named after the combined words for a woman hero) was a model set up to raise money for women who have become victims of acid attacks, and many of the women worked and met there.  Stepping inside, the interior was even more inviting, but I think that feature had more to do with the wall of books towards the side of the room.  We took our seats after pulling a few tables together, and we were handed menus by the only women in the café at that time.  Since our group was going to eat dinner in a few short hours, most of us opted for a tea or coffee and a plate of masala fries at the end of the table to split.  Our hostess kindly took back our menus and then turned on a fifteen-minute informative video about the background and mission of Sheroes Café.

Though the video was primarily in Hindi, we were able to watch and learn after the English subtitles were turned on for us.  The video began with an introduction to some of the women as they spoke of their childhood or their everyday lives before speaking of the incidences that changed their lives forever.  It was during these interviews that I learned more about the history and trends surrounding acid attacks.  For instance, though I had heard of attacks like this before, I assumed that they were primarily done by rejected admirers.  However, many of the stories mentioned family members as attackers including a stepmother and a cousin with a group of his friends, and the reasons varied from scorned love to attempted murder for being unwanted in the family.

I noticed and admired that though some of the women in the video had a difficult time talking about the acid attacks, there was never an attitude of seeking pity.  In fact, the second half of the video spoke of the uplifting components of Sheroes itself that many of the victims enjoyed.  The café model was set up in order to provide a home and family of support for these victims, and in doing so, it also strived to help with their self-image and self-confidence.  Several Sheroes cafés throughout North-Central India raised money that maintained overhead, aided with victims’ medical bills, and funded outreach efforts.  Furthermore, Sheroes provided an outlet both for performing work and for helping integrate the women back into society.

Personally, among the most important missions of the women of Sheroes were the efforts to raise awareness of the prevalence of this issue in India by leading marches and seeking justice in the courts.  Unfortunately, acid attacks are growing in relative popularity in the country, notably among more rural communities, and I was shocked to learn that it was only recently that laws were able to adequately enforce the kind of justice necessary for these kinds of horrific deeds.  The women in the video mentioned that the addition of these laws was counted as a victory, but their main victories resulted from their ability to find peace with their individual situations, to find comfort among the organization, and for many of them, to find love and a family.

Though the social activism visit to Sheroes café in Agra took me a little by surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed the stop, and I feel as though I had a true first-hand learning experience about an issue important to modern Indian culture.  In addition, I loved that all of our food and drinks were charged as whatever we felt that we wanted to donate.  After the warm tea and the warm atmosphere, I have high hopes for the future of women and the future of India in terms of victim recovery, societal awareness, and women empowerment.