I first met Elaben in 1962 – 63 years ago! We were both in our late twenties. She was working for the Textile Labor Association and knew my soon-to-be husband, Sreedhar. SEWA had not been born yet.

Elaben’s grandfather marched for salt and her father was lawyer and later a judge. Elaben lived Gandhian principles every day and often quoted Gandhiji: “Being seized by an idea is life’s blessing.” Her idea, of course, was SEWA.

I had heard about Elaben’s work for years, but met her again in the 1980s, when I joined a new foundation supporting India’s most exploited and impoverished – especially women. At that time, SEWA stood out as the only organization uniting women as workers, promoting working-class leadership, combining struggle with development and cooperatives with trade unions. They already had 10,000 members and even started India’s first women’s bank.

I told her I wanted to learn how she and SEWA had accomplished all this. So, true to form, Elaben drove me all over Gujarat for several days. I remember sitting in the blazing hot sun with her and hundreds of poor women who said they wanted more and better work and pay. Elaben listened patiently and explained how SEWA worked with and for them to organize, change their conditions and solve their own problems. I learned more in those days then I had in four years of college. From then on, we were not just co-workers, but family. When I visited SEWA, she had me begin each morning with the All-Religions Prayer. Whenever SEWA opened a new office or launched a new program, Elaben would try to wait for me to arrive in Ahmedabad so I could join the Ganesh Puja and the celebrations.

I stayed at Toy House. We’d sit on her famous swing and talk and talk. Elaben emphasized we should not only protest but also offer alternatives. She believed our lives are shaped by the questions we ask – questions that show us the way and give us courage to blaze new trails. She often asked, “What impact will my action have on me – and will it unite and strengthen the community?” When I asked too many questions, she’d laugh and say in Gujarati that I was eating her brain!

Elaben made me Khandvi, my favorite, and always stocked Ahmedabad ice cream, which she insisted was the best in the world. She and her family sang songs, played games, and welcomed every friend I brought from the US. She included me in her daughter – Amiben’s wedding at her home “Toy House” and invited me along when she received honorary degrees from American  Universities.

I was especially happy when she encouraged SEWA sisters, including Raniben, to stay with me when they worked at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. And for many years Elaben stayed at my home in Washington.

She explained Gandhiji’s vision of a village society in which our six basic needs: food, shelter, clothing, primary education, health services and banking should be met from resources found within 100 Miles around us.

Therefore, Elaben used only Indian, locally made, handmade clothes and goods. She would never dream of asking me to bring anything from the US – that is, until Rameshwar, her beloved grandson, arrived. Rameshwar changed his passions every year: Japanese language books, special seeds for the garden, unique cooking pots not available in India. So Elaben would ask me to bring some – but only if they were used! I would buy different pots and clean them carefully to make them look used before giving them to Rameshwar.

As SEWA grew, Elaben received more and more invitations to visit the United States. On one such visit she met with the Centre on Budget and Policy Priorities, an organization that critiqued the United States national government’s budget, especially its failure to fund women workers adequately. Immediately, Elaben decided that Renanaben should spends six weeks at the Centre and typical of her vision, she proposed that we create a new programme to bring dozens of Indian sanghatan (union) leaders to United States advocacy organisations to learn their ideas and
strategies. And she decided I should help make this happen. We did it. Renanaben and Mistry Saheb and 8 others began this adventure and the programme continued for 10 years.

On other visits Elaben met the International Ladies Garment Worker’s Union, the International Labour Organisation and many other National and International organisations to advocate for homebased workers and for many more global economic issues.

While Elaben was staying with me in Washington, Hillary Clinton – then the new First Lady – heard about Elaben and invited her to the White House. Elaben, in turn, invited Hillary to visit SEWA – and Hillary was determined to do so.

Elaben asked me to return to Ahmedabad and help SEWA plan every detail of Hillary’s visit. Every night, she gathered SEWA leaders to organize everything – down to the SEWA-made crafts they would give her. I asked my usual practical questions – including what to do if Hillary needed a Western toilet – and the next day a toilet appeared! I still have a photo of Elaben and the toilet on my
refrigerator. That visit began a lasting friendship between Hillary, Elaben, and SEWA.

Elaben used to say: “It takes three years to make a project, ten years to build an organization, and twenty years to build a movement. The SEWA movement has now spread not only across many states in India but also to other countries including to South Africa. After over 50 years, we celebrate Elaben and all that she and her SEWA sisters have achieved – changing millions of
lives.

I have not been with you for a few years and sadly Elaben is no longer here. However, Elaben still lives through all of you. Despite challenges, you continue to carry forward her legacy, her work, her ideas, and all she has built and dreamed.

You have reached women with the fewest resources and the least power. You have increased their organized strength, bargaining power, economic independence, and security. You have trained new members and built their self-reliance, confidence, leadership, technical, management and other skills. You have created hundreds of cooperatives, unions, credit societies, health, social security and child care cooperatives, legal aid services, SEWA Academy, Jeevanshala, The Gujarat Housing Trust and the Branches of Banyan Tree keep growing.

Most importantly you have built your collective strength – enabling women to advocate themselves, challenge the most powerful and demand their rights and share of development. You have taken on difficult, controversial issues. You have held governments to be accountable and changed laws and resource allocations and have compelled employers to increase wages and improve working conditions.

As you know Elaben was not only SEWA’s beating heart, but she also believed that we are all one. She lived Gandhiji’s words “You must be the change you wish to see in the world” and “If only the women of Asia come together, they will dazzle the world”. And indeed, Elaben dazzled the world.

She was visionary, courageous, inspiring, passionate, innovative, determined, and endlessly generous and caring – a woman of rare spirit who changed lives everywhere she went.

Peace be with you.