CANNES 2009

GULABI GULABI

Far from the teeming metros of India, away from the malls and the IT companies, is a region where the figures and percentages of India’s economy are as meaningless as the technology that drives that growth. Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh is one of the poorest parts of the country – five districts that are riddled with poverty, corruption, drought, illiteracy and violence against women.

It is here that the Gulabi Gang, a group of over 20,000 women from about 400 villages is fighting for justice and equality, for protecting themselves against social malpractice, corrupt administrators, and domestic violence. And Sampat Pal, 45, who was married at 11, became a mother at 15, is leading this movement with passion and fervor.