Meena teaches and entertains

60 children from 13 schools were invited to Abhivyakti 2008 to take part on a special Meena animation film appreciation workshop sponsored by Kalyanpur Cements, one of Bihar’s leading cement brands.

Abhivyakti is the bi-annual documentary and short film festival held at Ravi Bharati, Patna.

“I don’t think that only boys bully girls, the bigger girls in my school also bully smaller ones,” said Aditya Kymar of Don Bosco Academy.
“It is a very bad thing, teasing and making fun of girls. Big boys and naughty ones do it along the roads. If a girl has to pass that way, she will feel frightened. A girl who is harassed should complain to the teacher or her parents,” said Aparijata, a 14 year old girl from St. John’s Academy.

But what happens if the girl being teased belongs to a very weak section of society, and the boys who block her way to school belong to very powerful village families?
The students got together to enact their own version of the Meena film “Whose afraid of bullies”. In their story, the parents were powerless, and the teacher afraid to take action, but the children persuaded them to take the matter to the Panchayat.

The Meena animated series of films that raises several issues is an excellent value education tool, and this has been demonstrated by me several times at various AASRA Charitable trust media workshops for kids. The Meena workshops at the video festival at Ravi Bharati were a bi-annual feature, and we were always thankful to Mr Augustine Veliath, the Child Rights Officer at Patna (now in Delhi) for his unflinching support till 2004.

This year, Kalyanpur Cements, who are known to support local community building initiatives, readily helped us out with the required funds, thanks to Mr Faisal Alam, the Vice President sales and marketing. Mr alam visited the workshop and praised the kids for their presentation and acting skills.

The film “Ladki hi hoga” based on the desire for a male child, had the participants marking out things girls were not allowed to do at home and in the neighbourhood. The list was long indeed. Then the boys listed things that they were not allowed to do, even if they wished to: some said they were not allowed to enter the kitchen, others said that they were scolded if they touched a broom or washed clothes. “Girls can wear jeans, but we are never allowed to wear girls’ clothes,” piped up twelve year old Prem from Nav Deepti school. Aman Sinha from Don Bosco said that his mother insisted that he help with the housework, so he had the freedom to wash, cook, and clean.
The children worked out ways to end stereotyping in their neighbourhood and among friends. “In the modern world, it makes good sense to learn cooking, or else when we go away from home, we’ll face trouble,’ said the boys.

The film “Ek Ladki ki kahani” brought home discrimination because of lack of knowledge and fear, and enabled the participants to talk about HIV AIDS and broader issues of discrimination. The film on dowry, had the children discussing the futility of laws that cannot be imposed because they do not have general acceptance. It also brought about the misconception that city dwellers have that villagers are fools and out-of-date. The Meena film showed that an aware village headman and enlightened citizens could resist the machinations of crooked city dwellers.
The show was compered by Miller school student Alok Kumar. [in photo handing over the memento to Mr Faisal Alam]

The children had loads of fun. There were games, snacks and a wholesome lunch that was part of the proceedings.

Author: Frank Krishner