In a tiny, bright blue room tucked away from a chaotic market street in Kolkata, India, 24-year-old Munmun Das has created the neighborhood’s only safe space for girls to express themselves freely. Munmun is one of nearly 150 youth mentors trained by Thoughtshop Foundation to lead a Youth Resource Cell and guide conversations about taboo topics like human trafficking, sexual violence, early marriage and gender inequality.
Tonight’s session is for Munmun’s Girls Safety Network, an offshoot of the YRC specifically for girls at extreme risk of violence and forced marriage. But the mood isn’t heavy — it’s playful. Thoughtshop has always believed that the road to heal trauma, and help girls stand up for themselves, is through play, discussion and expression. Fifteen girls, ages 13-17, sit in a circle as Munmun opens the meeting with a mantra.
The girls repeat every line: “I am worthy of love. I am capable. I am intelligent. I have value. I have power.” Munmun’s voice is calm and steady, but in a society where girls lack autonomy and agency over their own lives, her words are thunderous.
The girls color in paper mandalas, a quiet exercise in mindfulness, before Munmun leads a short meditation. She then opens a dialogue about marriage pressures the girls are experiencing at home. In response to one anxious participant, Munmun assures her: “Marriage is an individual choice of both people involved. If it feels like an act forced upon you, we’re here to help you fight back.”
The GSN closes with tutoring and homework support, further empowering girls to resist family pressure to drop out of school and marry early.
Back on the street, Munmun smiles. She’s proud of her work tonight — slowly but surely instilling in these girls the tools to fight for their right to control their own lives.
“One life isn’t enough to make the change I want,” she says. “If I could live another seven lives, I’d spend them all like this: empowering other girls to become free, independent, dreamers.”