September 2005

This year Ganeshotsav in Mumbai was 'zara hatke'. Really. When was the last time that a hitherto 'private' issue like selecting the sex of one's child became the theme of the city's favourite God?

At Population First, we looked to Lord Ganesha to help us promote the image of the girl child. We approached three Sarvajanik Ganesh mandals who readily agreed to make Laadli's presence felt in their pandals for all 11 days of the festival. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) supported the activity.

Community initiatives like these are the most important and effective in reaching out to the masses. In Mumbai, the 11-day Ganesh festival is celebrated in a manner that appeals to every strata of society. In fact, the main objective behind the community celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi initiated by Bal Gangadhar Tilak was to bring people together to get rid of social evils and establish harmony.

The main objective of the Laadli Ganeshotsav was to create awareness about sex selection practices, falling child sex ratio, Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act and positive image-building of the girl child. We used the opportunity to distribute over one lakh pocket calendars with a picture of Ganesha that would serve as a reminder about Laadli to our visitors.

We worked with NSS students of three colleges namely, Elphinstone, Siddharth and K.J. Somaiya to create awareness about the issue of sex selection. We chose to work with college youth so that they too could be sensitised to the issue being future decision makers and parents.

The three mandals that responded to our appeal to promote the Laadli campaign were the Lalbaug Ka Raja, Palanji Ratanji Sarvanjanik Ganeshotsav mandal at Byculla and the Abhyudaya Nagar Sarvanjanik Ganeshotsav mandal at Kala Chowkie. Different activities were organised in each mandal bearing in mind the kind and size of crowds.

At Lalbaug Ka Raja, by far the most popular venue in Mumbai, we were provided a Laadli stall at one of the exits from the pandal. It was an area that was demarcated for recreational purposes and had food and entertainment stalls for devotees who had finished their darshan. We built a stage at our stall and presented two items: a puppet show by Elphinstone college students and a skit on Laadli by Somaiya college students.

The puppet show in particular was an invaluable medium for us. The students first made the puppets themselves at a workshop organised by Population First in collaboration with the NGO, Mobile Crèches. We were able to involve the students and make them understand the issue much better this way.

At Ranibaug (Palanji Ratanji mandal), the organisers agreed to have Laadli as the entire theme and tableau for their pandal. Titled Vansh - The Lineage, the audio-visuals, cut-outs, music and script were all prepared by the community youth. Five girl achievers from the area were felicitated at a special function to promote the image and value of the girl child. All the girls were from lower to middle class backgrounds and have shone in trying circumstances. They are:

* Ms. Suchita Loke, 18, for her entrepreneurial skills, and runs a jhunka bhakar kendra that supports her family.

* Ms. Tarabai Khedekar for bringing up her daughter Ms. Dhanashree Khedekar, 14, who is afflicted with cerebral palsy with tremendous love and care.

* Ms. Savita Ghodekar, 26, for completing graduation and working to become the only earning member of her family.

* Ms. Asmita Jagdale, 22, for studying to become a journalist, is now working, and has many extra-curricular activities to her credit

Twenty five city colleges, 1,600 students, 40 public spots, 80 Laadli Flashes. What better way to mark the SAARC International Day of the Girl Child on September 24, 2005?

Population First organised 25 teams of 60 students each to perform a skit, form a human chain, do a coordinated step or any such activity in public spots to get the attention of passers-by and create awareness about the issue of sex selection and the Laadli campaign.

The spots were carefully chosen - theatres, malls, railway stations, markets and even some residential localities - to ensure that Mumbai city resounded with shouts of 'Celebrate her life' and 'Support Laadli - Mumbai's Girl Child Campaign'! The picture was even more attractive since all the students were present in a Laadli ensemble - T-shirts and caps with our logo of mother and daughter sharing a special moment. We used the opportunity to distribute over 10,000 bookmarks exhorting the audience not to indulge in sex selection.

We worked with the NSS units of the colleges to mobilise the teams and come up with an act of their choice. In some colleges that do not have the NSS department, we worked directly with the students.

So if Sophia College girls opted to prance around the Crossroads mall at Tardeo forming a chain, going from shop to shop and talking about the issue, Xavierites took complete advantage of the monsoon and did their bit for Laadli by doing an umbrella dance! Imagine walking on the streets of Mumbai and suddenly seeing students dancing on the streets, in uniform with umbrellas. It was quite a sight and they managed to kick up quite a stir. Sophia college students were even enterprising enough to get a Laadli radio jingle created by them to be played on the Crossroads PA system.

K.C. College performed their skit four times at various locations and were spectacular, going by the crowds they managed to pull. Colleges like Nirmala Niketan, Institute of Science, Hinduja, NSS, Elphinstone, Siddharth, Kirti, Ruparel, Mithibai, MMK, National, Rizvi, Tolani, Vivek, KES, Royal, Chetana, Raheja, St. Andrew's, Ratnam, Shree Narayan Guru and Guru Nanak participated in the event thus covering the length and breadth of the city in just 10 hours!

The media responded quite well to our invitation to cover the events. None of this would have been possible without the cooperation of two authorities - the Western Railways, to perform the Flash on the station premises and the Mumbai Police that gave us the green signal at real short notice. And what was a Flash without the NSS laadlis and laadlas?