Hope Springs

Bhanumathy Vasudevan

Bhanumathy Vasudevan is 62 year old social scientist from Tamil Nadu, India. Her work in the world evolved through many roles over last three decades- from being a primary school teacher, Business Manager, research fellow, Human Resource Development (HRD) and Organisation Development (OD) consultant, Diversity and Gender consultant to organisations for over 25 years. Integrating life enhancing perspectives and working on conscious and unconscious suppression of brilliance to free oneself through mind- body- spirit work forms the central core of her leadership and empowerment work. Her feminist ideologies and passion for women’s work guides her in her work and personal life.

She has a Bachelor’s education in Sociology, postgraduate diploma in Personnel Management and professional accreditation in Applied Behavioural Science from Indian Society for Applied Behavioural Sciences (ISABS).

Bhanumathy was one of the founder members of OD consultancy group called - Group for Institution Development (GRID) based in Bangalore, India -an organisation that pioneered OD in South India. Her passion for Gender and women’s empowerment has roots in research experiences with women from villages of India, interventions with bureaucracy, police, women workers in un-organised industries etc. Some of her researches include study of transvestite communities (hijras) in south India, diverse issues of rural and urban women (for ILO, FAO projects), community participation in local governance, etc.

From 1990 onwards she worked in the area of gender and Natural Resource Management (NRM) all over India. Consequently, she co-authored a book along with Dr.Uma Ramaswamy and others conceptualising her decade long work in Gender in Natural Resource Management –‘Reconstructing Gender Towards Collaboration’ which has been published and translated into six Indian languages by Swiss Development Cooperation’s (SDC), Bangalore.

Along with Alexandra Merrill, she co-founded in 1991 ‘Chamundi’- a bi-national, women’s organisation working with women from multi cultural backgrounds in India and U.S. Chamundi was devoted to collaborative learning journeys for women. She has been co-leading ‘Womens Way’- a leadership retreat for women along with her U.S. colleagues. since 2001 to 2006. She now co-leads advanced program for women leaders – ‘Leading Locally and Working Globally’ in U.S.

Since 2002 after her sabbaticals, she had re-defined her work in the world. The rich experiences of women’s work, her work with organisations that focus on Dalit and human rights and organisations in North-eastern India working with indigenous people’s development have opened new consciousness. Consequently the work ethics needed realignment. Based on the new perspectives gained the organisation ‘Chamundi’ was transformed January, 05 as ‘Mayyam’ – a Tamil (language) word for centre, gathering place, a location for collaboration, the centre of a storm, essence of a matter, etc. While ‘Chamundi’ remained an exclusive space for women, ‘Mayyam’ is a space for both women and men. By this action, she also acknowledges the strongly embedded inhuman exploitative and violent caste behaviours that have been going on for many centuries in the name of Hindu religion.

Mayyam mobilises professional team of experts with diverse skills, for each of its assignment with organisations. These teams collaboratively do all the ground work and follows the principle of valuing personal practice of what they facilitate in client systems and continuously updates its knowledge, skills and expertise through participation in learning events, personal development work and living earth friendly life.
In Mayyam, she led along with her colleague Philomena Vincent and resource consultant Alexandra Merrill from U.S a five-year (2002 –2006 May) Collaborative Leadership Action Research programme for women from multicultural backgrounds of class, caste, language, region, ethnicity, and religion. It included 5 modules of 35 days of residential experiential learning, reading and writing assignments, action research projects, bridge events and regional review events, etc. The attempt was to build collaboratively an Indian context based model for women’s leadership. The graduates are now working on a book based on their experiences and insights to be published on 2010. She supports the graduates of the five year leadership course in facilitating women’s leadership retreats across India.

Bhanumathy is currently a student of body- mind work to explore the linkages between body, mind and spirit to integrate them at an elemental level in her work with women and men. She is also a student of alternative healing practices, instrumental music-Veena and Ornithology. She believes and practices earth friendly living. She has published her first book of channelled teaching to women– Psychic Moon- A Primer)At present the second book ‘Psychic Moon’ – for women leaders, about the context and work of this generation of women is under publication.

Bhanumathy Vasudevan, Mayyam, 53& 54 / cluster 6 Titan Township, Hosur 635110, Tamil Nadu, India

Phone: 91 04344 325524/ 09443329812 email: mayyam@vsnl.net

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