Zhoka

“Zhoka”, translating to a swing in Marathi - a language predominantly spoken in the Indian state of Maharashtra, is an ongoing photographic series documenting the feminist roots of a one-of-a-kind all women founded and owned housing society in the small town of Solapur, India. Growing up I spent many summers here, visiting my grandparents for vacations. Captured on a recent trip, the pictures are an attempt to grow closer to the defiance this community embodies. A stark contrast to the predominantly patriarchal models of ownership, Indira Mahila Jeevan Vikas (Indira Women Life Empowerment) housing society was developed in 1968 as a residential colony of nearly 180 independent houses owned and run by women, that can only be inherited by the female members of the family. This was a monumental step towards women liberation at a time when women in India were not even given the right to equally inherit property as their male siblings. It is only as recently as 2005, that this discriminatory clause was constitutionally modified in consonance with the right to equality.