Who is Ananya Paul Dodmani?

While I juggle multiple roles, I’ve never introspected about who I am probably because I’ve found pieces of myself in each tribal person I meet every day. But if you were to ask me for my professional identity, I am a tribal right activist and a Sustainable Menstrual Warrior.

A criminal psychologist by professional standards, probably life had a different plan for me. I grew up in a small tribal town in Assam. The tribal way of life always intrigued me & I wanted to do something to make their life easier & better.

Life kept on circling around the tribal people even when I married & shifted my base to South India. And, despite my father’s kidnapping in a tribal habitat in North-east India, I didn’t blame them. I knew nothing would change there if I didn’t take things in my hands & start working with the tribal people to improve their livelihood structures & living.

So here I am, working for over a decade – single-handedly building educational infrastructures, community halls in the tribal habitats.

Who is Ananya not?

I always had believed that only education can change the way we think & perceive life. Poor educational infrastructure and lack of stability in income structure made life difficult for the tribals. Probably, that is a primary reason for them to get involved in unconstitutional activities.

Only when we understand that no human is a born criminal, can we be more rational in our approach towards them. I’ve been advocating this for some time now. Unfortunately, because most of us are quite unaware of this parallel universe that latently exists, the human approach somehow goes missing.

What does Ananya do?

I have been fighting for tribal empowerment for over 18 years now. Life taught me not to restrict myself in a 9 to 5 job, and hence the only thing which reminds me of being alive is to work in the most inaccessible & restricted tribal zones across India.

I have been working very closely with tribals across India, getting them access to proper education & teaching them basic life skills. My work takes me to the remotest of tribal habitats in an attempt to work for their betterment and includes initiatives like building toilet blocks and changing rooms for girls like the one I helped set up in the remotest Karbi Village in spite of it being plagued by militancy issues.

I have during the course of my work reached over 8000 tribal women across India with the Sustainable Menstrual Program & taught them to prepare biodegradable pads free of cost so that it would provide some kind of regular and reliable income for these distressed tribal women.

I have also been working closely with the Santhal tribal women on improving their lifestyle better by helping promote their products across India

How far has Ananya come?

From being shot at or being dismissed on account of being a woman working in a male-dominated sector to being awarded the Karamveer Chakra 2019!

Additionally, I was also honoured with the Kalki Gaurav Samman recently. Recently, I was also awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from several humanitarian organisations like Global Human Rights Protection Council and SUFI HUmanity Foundation for promoting safety against Covid-19 and social services during the lockdown.

I may well call myself a Sustainable Menstrual Warrior for working with tribals and spreading awareness but the truth is even I face tremendous hardships. From lack of basic sanitary facilities to regressive mindsets, I have to face it all.

Most of the habitats I work in are plagued by militancy issues, illiteracy & poverty, so any work towards development needs counseling for a longer time and progress is slow.

However, I believe that if you have a strong will, you can certainly shine.

The awards I have received have entrusted me with more responsibilities than ever before and I look forward to meeting everyone’s expectations. The truth is I’m not someone who likes to talk too much on what I achieved because that’s what probably will make me laze around in my comfort zone. And comfortable places never attracted me at all.

Where does Ananya wish to be a few years from now?

Ah! Definitely in a restricted tribal zone teaching kids, building bamboo huts, cooking for my 208 kids whom I adopted over the years & living a tribal life.

I would like to continue creating ripples in the tribal community & help them get a life they deserve.

Whom does Ananya look up to?

I’ve always looked at life experiences to be the best teacher. Every moment in life teaches something new. I am a quick learner and even quicker at unlearning something to learn something new again!

What advice does Ananya have for our readers?

Determination gets you a long way.

People who lack the clarity, courage, or determination to follow their own dreams will often find ways to discourage you.

When you change for something visibly better, the people around you will be inspired to change also, but, of course, only after doing their best to make you stop.

So, live your truth and don’t ever stop.

Where can we find Ananya?

Well, most of the time my work takes me to places where there is neither Wi-Fi nor mobile network. So probably the best place to find me is in an unknown almost inaccessible tribal habitat quite close to the Indo-Myanmar border.

You could also reach me at Facebook (Ananya P) or Instagram (ananyad1983).