About a year back I had gone for a happiness session in an NGO run school. About 80 kids of the age group 5 to 15 were participating. As the session progressed and kids were coming up with really creative and tricky questions , we were having a good laugh. Suddenly a boy of around 8 years said something which rendered me completely speechless. His sister was sitting next to him and the sister was at least 4 years elder to him.
He said Jyada mat hans tu ladki hai ( Don’t laugh so much you are a girl!!)
The sister said Main kyun nahi hansugi? Mujhe hansi aa rahi hai! (why i shouldn’t laugh, I am feeling like it )
Boy says : ek repta dunga saari hansi nikal jaayegi! In ladkiyon ko to ghar se bahar hi nahi nikalne dena chahiye! ( i will give you sach a slap that you will forget to laugh! Girls should not be allowed outside the house! )
The sister went quiet and looked so scared.
I asked the boy how he can talk like that.
He reply was a real shocker coming from an 8 year old.
He said Ladkiyon se to sab aise hi baatein karte hain, mera baap to meri maa ko aur behno ko kheech ke rakhta hai nahi to ye sar pe chadh jaati hain, do repte do to theek ho jaati hain. ( Everybody talks like this to girls, my father keeps my Mom and my sisters on a tight leash else they get spoilt , give then 2 slaps and they are OK)
I said but she is elder to you….
He said to kya hua ladki to hain. (So what she is a girl!!)
I asked him I am also a girl so you don’t want me to teach.
He said aap to madam ho akalmand ho ye to bekaar hain sirf khana khane ke liye. ( You are Maam and wise but these girls are useless , just mouths to feed)
This 8 year old was so agitated and violent in his tone and words that i shuddered.
That very day I knew I wanted to modify gender attitudes in young boys. I immediately floated this idea in my team and we agreed that we needed to do it. I assigned 4 interns to work on the concept and it is them who came up with wonderful name and concept. I thank my interns Meghna Mittal, Sandhya Gupta, Nitika Singh led by Ananya Prakash for their hard work, creativity and commitment to this cause.
And here I am with #AaoBetaSanwarein . Glimpses of the launch and the moments of Counter Role Playing activity. Video follows
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