MOBILIZING WOMEN FOR CHANGE 75 to hold very conservative views regarding the position of their women, These women generally came from the middle and sometimes rich peasant classes. The very poor and destitute women were rarely involved in the Mahila Samiti work apart from being the beneficaliaries of charity. Survival was the greatest issue at this level, and politicalization was impossible until that was guaranteed. There were other practical difficulties in organizing the poorer peasant women; they had to bear the burden of both domestic duties and work in the fields. The only time for holding baithaks (small group meetings) was in the early afternoon, forgoing rest. Obviously, the better off peasant women had more time for other activities. As the movement progressed more and more peasants were drawn in, including women. Women participated at all levels; they harvested the crops which was often done collectively under the Red Flag and protection of Kisan Sabha volunteer crops. There was also Nari Bahini (women's volunteer force) which would guard the village at night. They would be armed with daa (used for cutting wood) and gay en (pole for husking paddy). Women participated in meetings, demonstrations and in delegations to landlords, but rarely were they members of the elected or nominated committees set up to organize the movement in villages. Participation and Functions Women were often responsible for communication between different units, for gathering information when they went to the market or to visit relatives, to carry messages to the district coordinating bodies and so on. They frequently acted as the warning system when the police or landlord goondas entered the village by sounding conchshclls, bells and drums. This was the signal for mass gathering of people from all nearby villages to face the police and for the leaders to escape or hide. These functions became crucial as repression intensified and the organization went underground. During this phase, women also provided food and safe shelter for Kisan Sabha activists. Many incidents have been told of the ingenuity, dedication and generosity of these women—walking miles to warn a leader of police search, hiding an activist inside purdah at the risk of their own arrest, forgoing food so that activists might eat. In areas like Kakdwip, in 24 Parganas, where the movement entered the phase of armed struggle, women were given guerilla training. As more