Redefining beauty: Inspiring calendar features India’s acid attack survivors as its models

By Sana Panjwani

How do you define true beauty?

This question is often met with mainstream, often unattainable answers such as luscious hair, unblemished skin, slender body, big doe eyes etc.

Despite the constant reiteration of the statement that true beauty shines from within, there still exists the prevalent pop culture ideology that refuses that accept any other standard of beauty except the seemingly “perfect” physical images that are digitally manipulated, creatively air-brushed and shockingly thin.

It is this ideology that Rahul Saharan, a New Delhi-based photographer, wants to unravel.

In 2014, he conducted a photoshoot in India with survivors of one of the most horrific forms of crime against women – acid attacks.

Bello (Italian for beautiful), an exclusive table calendar created as part of the ‘Stop Acid Attacks’ campaign by the Chhanv Foundation in India, runs from March 2015 to February 2016 and features each survivor doing the job she hopes to pursue and the dreams she hopes to accomplish. The calendar was released on International Women’s Day on March 8, marking the 3^rd anniversary of the ‘Stop Acid Attacks’ Campaign. The funds raised through its sale will be used to help treat and rehabilitate survivors of the crime in India.

“The aim,” says Saharan, “was to show that they have dreams.”

Saharan, who volunteers with the Stop Acid Attacks charity, is currently working on a documentary about acid attack survivors in India.

“I told them to be natural. I didn’t do any makeup or editing. I told them, you look beautiful and you have to be the way you are,” said Saharan. “They are very confident, so it was not too hard for me.”

Ritu, one of the women featured in the calendar, had acid thrown on her by her aunt because of a property dispute. After that incident even her mother treated her differently. “My mother used to inspire me to make a name for myself,” said Ritu. “Today, she keeps lamenting that I cannot get married because I have a kharaab chehra (ugly face).”

Another woman, Dolly, was attacked at the age of 12 by a 25 year old man who wanted to have sex with her. She refused to leave her house for an entire year after that. She gained her confidence back after she started volunteering at Sheroes Hangout, a café started by the Delhi-based ‘Stop Acid Attacks’ Campaign.

“The idea is to make them financially independent,” said Alok Dixit, founder of the campaign. “Our survivors were covering their faces, they were very shy…they were very uncomfortable. Just because their face was disfigured, their skills were ignored. They were not given jobs. This hangout is a chance to get to know about them. If you give them a chance, they can rock. Don’t value a face, value a person.”

This campaign, like many others, gives victims a much-needed platform of support to stand on their own feet again.

“In a society as insensitive as ours, it doesn’t take much for the acid attack victims to lose their self-confidence,” the calendar’s website states. “The apathy of the attackers give birth to the acid attack. The apathy of relatives, ‘friends’ and neighbors generates burns every day.”

Rather than allow for these horrific incidents to become their identity, the women featured in this calendar represent a powerful message that deserves to be plastered everywhere and remembered every day. These women are truly inspiring, resilient, courageous and beautiful, redefining beauty through their immense bravery and perseverance not only to survive, but thrive against all odds.

Dolly, one of the women featured in the calendar, used her new found courage to write a powerful letter to her attacker.

“You burnt my face, but not my will to live. You can’t throw acid on that,” she wrote. “I will fight this case in court, not only for myself but for other girls, so they do not lose their courage before people like you.”

Sonia Choudhury, another woman featured in Bello, says, “Why should I hide myself away when I’m not the one who did any wrong?”

Not only is the calendar inspiring victims to redefine themselves as strong, independent women but it is also creating awareness about the horrors that some women face over trivial issues and the struggles they must endure afterward.

Also featured in the calendar is 22-year-old Rupa who designs and sells garments through the Sheroes Hangout and hopes to one day become a nationally known designer. Her designs were also featured in the December photoshoot and have even found buyers since its release. She hopes that the calendar, in addition to raising awareness, spurs action and helps create social and legal change.

“It is high time some laws come into action,” she said. “How long will women burn?”

These incredible women are the kind of role models we need – women who defy the social stigma, and win.

The SAA Women’s Day Calendar is available for US$60 (Dh220) from www.funddreamsindia.com