Unborn girl begs for life at Ganesh mandal, civic administration sits up and takes notice…MANOJ MORE
You should show some courage…
I will stand on my feet…
I also dream of taking saat pheras…
The mehendi will dazzle on my hands…
The Sangarsh mandal has taken up female foeticide as its theme while decorating its pandal. Across the pandal are messages urging parents not to kill the unborn child if it happens to be a girl. Families are warned that sex determination tests are an offence entailing three to five years jail term and a fine.
The decorations have cast a spell on the crowd in the twin industrial town of Pimpri-Chinchwad. And the most impressed seems to be the medical department of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), which has decided to put up a miniature version of the decoration in eight civic-run hospitals and 13 dispensaries.
The Sangharsh mandal has done a wonderful job. Such an effort to spread awareness about female foeticide is the need of the hour, says PCMC medical director Rajshekhar Iyer. He said the medical department has told the mandal volunteers to hand over small colour prints of the decoration so that they can be put up in every hospital and dispensary run by the civic body.
Civic activists say if the medical department keeps its word, it would probably be the first time in Pune that a Ganesh decoration has found such acceptability and put to greater use for public awareness. Normally, decorations are forgettable. Very few mandals show imagination or creativity in putting up decorations. A handful of mandals do make an effort to pass on messages highlighting public issues, but they lack impact, says activist Shridhar Chalkha, who, too, has words of praise for the decoration of Sangharsh mandal.
We are trying to make a point that the increasing urge among parents for a male child will ultimate cause an imbalance in society. This is dangerous for peace in a civilised society, says 26-year-old Shakib Khan.
This decoration has not been put up just for the sake of it. The crowd comes to have a quick look but then stands rooted to the ground… reading the messages and listening to the narration on the loudspeakers, says a proud Khan, founder of the mandal.
Delighted at the PCMC honour for the decoration, Khan hopes that from next year many mandals will follow suit and help increase awareness on public issues.
The Sangharsh mandal comprises about 40 youngsters, all but four of them undergraduates, aged between of 22 to 27. Several of them are industrial workers earning Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 per month. There was unanimity among us about putting up decorations on female foeticide. All of us feel strongly about the issue, says Khan.