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The Devipujak Community –Worshipping the Goddess 205

Nature of Society

Another admirable community is the Devipujak
community, which is primarily a business community. You can
find women from this community selling dry fruits or
handicrafts anywhere in Chandni Chowk or at Connaught Place
in Delhi. They have English-speaking customers too, and though
they do not know English, they have the ability to sell their
wares to the English-speaking buyers and even saying ‘thank
you’ to them.

This is their potential. Business runs in their blood.
Whenever these people get a chance to progress they have
always grabbed the opportunity. It is as if they have a divine
grace to fight against odds. Small religious disputes in Shahpur
are part of their day-to-day lives, but I have never found them
complaining. They are strong enough to tolerate all these
problems. They never ask for anything from others.

But I want to demand something from them. This
community has never begged from anyone but today the Chief
Minister of Gujarat wants to beg for something from them. I
will demand only if these people assure me that they will give
me what I ask for. My demand is that, no matter how tough it
is, no matter how difficult it is, please do educate the girls of
your community. I should not find any girl in this society
uneducated. We often request people to educate the girls in their
community, but the reason for not doing so it that they don’t
want their women to take up jobs. They want their women to
work in farms and look after cattle or sell vegetables. “Why
should we educate them?”, they ask. But the fact is that
education is not only for taking up a job. Times have changed.
If we want a strong foundation for the entire Devipujak
community, we need educated daughters.

The Status of Women

The position a woman holds in the Devipujak community
is remarkable. This community never takes their disputes to
court even today. They form a group of judges who stand in a
circle drinking their cups of tea, holding their sticks in their