At the tender age of 10, Anujath Sindhu Vinaylal, drew a picture that would bring him international recognition and spread a very important message. His painting was called ‘My mother and mothers in the neighbourhood’. It depicted women engaged in all kinds of work – cooking, cleaning, fetching water,milking cows and domestic chores. His painting was inspired by his mother who toiled with domestic chores all day long and still was not seen as a working woman. Through his painting he conveyed how his mother and other homemakers were engaged in tasks all day long and still did not get the value they deserved. Anujath displayed a flair for painting and art from a very young age and has won several accolades including an international award in a competition held by Shankar’s Academy of Art and Book Publishing, Clint Memorial Award for painting, U.N recognition in 2015 and the President’s award for Children’s day. His painting was featured on the cover of Kerala government’s Gender budget 2020-21. According to The New Indian Express, Minister, Thomas Isaac, mentioned his painting while presenting the budget allocation for women empowerment.
This painting of his stands out because of the message it conveys. It manages to grasp the essence of a typical day of a ‘housewife’ in Kerala. It is endearing that a young child understood such a sensitive issue and decided to start a conversation about it. This is a social and gender issue that has been discussed about a lot in the past and yet the work of homemakers all over the world still continues to be undermined. However, Anujath’s painting gives us hope of a better future as we realise that young boys and girls are growing up more sensitive to gender and social issues. Madhavi Warrier, A social work student from Kerala, remarks “The boy understood how much love and sacrifice was required to spend one’s life serving one’s family. It is encouraging to see young boys understanding and engaging with such topics.” This shows how integral it is to educate and make aware the younger generation to bring about change to the status quo.
A greater focus on the discourse of gender has already brought in tangible changes like a gender budget and the Hon. Supreme Court of India recognising the labour of homemakers. In a recent insurance compensation case, the Supreme Court ruled that the fixing of notional incomes of homemakers must be after the consultation of their work, labour and sacrifices. The court quoted a recent report released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showing that on an average, women spent 299 minutes a day on unpaid domestic services for household members versus 97 minutes spent by men. Justice N.V.Ramana recognised the plethora of activities a homemaker performed on a daily basis and the gendered division of labour when it came to housework. 16 of India’s 28 states have adopted Gender budgeting. Such progressive moves by government authorities could go a long way in promoting gender equality. Youngsters like Anujath play a huge role in influencing the government to bring about change. Anujath Sindhu Vinaylal is a change maker!
