For an average book lover, Aymanam is the immortal attitude of the beloved story of Esther and Rahel. One who has accustomed God of little things to God can hardly forget the place that is just as much a character as the characters themselves. When planning an excursion to Aymanam in a conversation in the late afternoon, however, we had a different story in mind. Over forty women in and around Jayanthi, the fifth station in Aymanam Panchayat, are now often visitors to the women’s fitness center, which was opened by the Panchayat. Through training, practicing yoga, dancing Zumba and, above all, a moment to hang out together, a group of women are now rewriting their lives in happier and healthier fonts. This is the story of a group of women and their journey to find their strength inside and outside.
From fiction to fitness: a new chapter
“There were no opposing voices when the idea was discussed. This idea was passed unanimously,” said Panchayat President Viji Rajesh. The excitement about the success of the idea was noticeable in our conversations with the Panchayat authorities. The fitness center was presented as part of the integrated Program for child development services (Icds) and began with a modest financing of five LAKHS that were assigned from which Women’s component plan (WCP).
Photo loan: Shraddha K Sugathan
“Usually the financing of WCP goes to projects such as poultry breeding or cucumber production. However, these projects do not bring women into public space. We wanted to do it differently,” said Panchayat Sunil Kumar NC. The urge to think unconventionally among the Panchayat authorities, combined with the capable management of the municipal council Biju K Manthattil and the healthy participation of the women’s women, makes the unique recipe of this success story.
Breaking borders: one exercise after another
The fitness center is a few hundred meters from the Panchayat. The fitness center in the same building is now working as the Angan. The gym started to work in June last year, and the members of the gym were Beleeded about the changes of their life that had taken place for a few months. The obvious result is the improvement of the physical aspect.
Together with the progress of mental and physical health, the fitness center has become a room in which they experience life differently than their usual roles and routines. The patriarchal norms and stories in relation to security and protection in this defect that connect women to their households.
Members who could hardly sit on the floor when they took part in the gym for the first time now explore various floor exercises. Second, members of the gym talked to us about the noticeable improvement in mental health. The members of the center include housewives and working women, and for everyone alike, this is a space to share their suffering and find solutions. Every two months with members of the Fitness Club takes place every two months, and consulting courses on mental health are also regularly organized.
Together with the progress of mental and physical health, the fitness center has become a room in which they experience life differently than their usual roles and routines. There is a significant lack of such rooms around us. The patriarchal norms and stories in relation to security and protection in this defect that connect women to their households. Access to public spaces for leisure and relaxation is rarely regarded as a “acceptable” practice for women according to social norms. This initiative helped them break such bonds of exclusion.
Source: Web/Deccan Herald
“We lived in the same place for so long, but we hardly had the chance to interact or hang together. We came closer than we came to the fitness center,” said a member of the fitness center.
Contacts with the members of the gym, which lead to significantly different life, has knowingly and unknowingly expanded the horizon of their thinking. For example, a member of the fitness center spoke to us about the gradual transformation in the clothing patterns, which she noticed among the members of the gym.
“I remember how many of ours in particular the older membership at the beginning of changing fairly hesitated to change in fitness clothes such as T-shirts and track pants, although it made so much easier. Since we lived nearby, there was always fear of disturbing social norms and unwanted attention.
“I remember how many of ours in particular the older membership at the beginning, to change in fitness clothes such as T-shirts and track pants, although it made it so much easier. Since we lived nearby, there was always the fear of disturbing social norms and unwanted attention. Comfortable fitness studio clothes not because someone forced us.
The members also reported on the exposure to unknown prospects that were obtained by interaction with people of different age groups. They received information about opportunities and unconventional life decisions and inspired them to choose from the paths prescribed by society.
Institutional support and community ownership
While we are investigating the success of this initiative, institutional support cannot be mentioned. By determining a political gap and collecting resources in order to realize the project through mere political will, the Panchayat has created a financially accessible space for women. The fitness center works with a nominal fee of two hundred rupees for the trainer and the maintenance and makes valuable contributions to the affordable health culture of Kerala. The authorities deserve recognition that the project is not carried out as a typical election initiative that normally succumbs to the devastation of time.
Photo loan: Shraddha K Sugathan
The farsightedness of the officials is to be seen in their idea of forming a steering committee by including people from Kudumbashree and the community instead of making it a top-down initiative. Women from Aymanam I accepted the initiative and claimed the room by participating from all my heart. By organizing community activities such as festival celebrations and short trips beyond the usual training routine, you slowly make the institutional space your own.
Interestingly, neither the institution nor the people are complacent for their success. The participants and the institution are consciously and superior to the need for improvement to make it better. They are already planning to extend it to other stations.
Greens in Kerala’s progress
The relevance of such an initiative is obvious when we read it against the background of the development of Kerala. Kerala’s impressive track record in the health sector is very well known. Kerala has made the quality of medical care, which is preserved at all levels from primary health centers and medical universities.
The Kerala Society was so much the story of Kerala a story of progress and development, and was a reluctant reformist in relation to gender standards and borders. Most of the time, women had to ask for their rights before they were granted.
Advanced hospitals with excellent facilities and professional care at affordable costs were a license plate of the “Kerala development model”. The state has consistently maintained high ranks of health indicators, including indicators that particularly affect women, such as: Mothers. However, changes in lifestyle and food habits have brought new concerns to the health sector.
Photo loan: Shraddha K Sugathan
According to the screening of lifestyle disease in the state, where the ASHA workers were checked, almost 45% of the people in Kerala were found Susceptible to lifestyle diseases. A new report by the Department of Economics and Statistics also showed that women in Kerala report higher illness rates than men after the 30 -year -old age. This could be due to a deflection distortation, but it must be noted that studies that have been carried out in Kerala generally have higher levels of morbidity, planned caste and planned tribes compared to other planned tribes compared to others. According to the NFHS report (2019-21), the prevalence of obesity in women (38.1%) is higher than in men (36.4%) in the state. The report also shows that diabetes (24.8%) and high blood pressure (30.9%) are common in Kerala women (over 15 years). In this context, the state -funded fitness center becomes an effective solution for the new concerns and a solid contribution to Kerala’s health culture.
The Kerala Society was so much the story of Kerala a story of progress and development, and was a reluctant reformist in relation to gender standards and borders. Most of the time, women had to ask for their rights before they were granted. From the sewer uprising to the Sabarimala protest, Kerala has seen several movements of women to receive their lawful share of resources. While the state has achieved the commendable performance for social and economic indicators, the “progressive state” rhetoric also prevented us from whether everything is okay, especially with regard to women’s issues. Discrimination due to gender, especially in the private sector, is subject to and undocumented in the state. According to the 2024 use survey, women in Kerala spend seven hours and 12 minutes for unpaid care work every day, while men only contribute two hours and 41 minutes.
Initiatives such as the fitness center help women re -draw the rigid limits of gender standards. During our field work for our doctoral thesis, we found that several other Panchayats have also set up fitness centers in their capacity. This is a welcome change in political imagination. Such rooms offer opportunities for conviviality and self -exploration that are otherwise hardly available for women in our society. It is to be hoped that such stories about growth and self -discovery will be told again and again until the prioritization of itself becomes more owe for women.
Shreya K Sugathan is a research scientist at the University of Hyderabad.