One less home of hope, future, love, and the baby daughters — Female Foeticide
I am about a few years late in sharing my thoughts, my study, and my concern on the horrors of Female Foeticide.
My time in High School had been intense, juggling a ton of exams, report writing, and assignments. But there was one news flash that stayed constant; of the mysterious disappearance of the baby daughters.
I come from a peninsular land, that has extremely diverse cultures. I spent my high school in the Land of Punjab. A Northern-State of India, with a culture so vibrant, so enthusiastic, that one would barely doubt this place.
“When you look on the bright side, you’re acknowledging that there is a dark side at which you are choosing not to gaze. If you think that the darkest hour is before the dawn, you accept that you are moving from darkness to light.”.
— Sri Kumar Rao
But what my parents felt and to the things I learned later, we could tell that there were a lot of people in search of the Dawn.
Wondering what the dark side is?
— The brutal practice of Female Foeticide.
It began more than an era ago as female infanticide. To discontinue the survival of the females, as infants they were either poisoned or drowned. The present scenario seems to be equally sore, thanks to the upcoming technology. The evil practice took a new form of eradicating the females in the womb.
What did I do?
I looked for a reason to explore more on the subject. So I started to ask around for Book Suggestions. I read articles, spoke to my family and friends who helped me explore the subject. I dreaded to complete the book by a journalist and an author of ‘Disappearing Daughters — Gita Arvamudan’. A person of vigor whose tremendous contribution to unearthing the social issue of Female Foeticide cannot go unnoticed. I researched and interviewed volunteers from NGOs, Gynaecologists, and neighbors. Based on the intriguing data and stories I gathered, I began writing short stories. I gathered that Design being the best possible solution can reach millions of people. I figured I could use my expertise in Illustration and Animation to work on a short film that would give a glimpse of this soar situation, subtly.
Why Animation?
The message in this context has to reach a larger audience, that also includes children. Animation works best to send out a strong message, even if the topic is dark. The storytelling through Characters, Visuals, Audio, and Forms connects with people. Since it was my first time working on an Animation about a sensitive and emotional topic, I tried to keep it less gory.
I worked on Two Animation Short Films on the Social Issue of Female Foeticide — ‘Neetu Ka Janm’ and ‘Aadya’. The short film shows even though time changes, the practice stays behind. If a mother is determined to say ‘no’ to killing her baby for being a female, a woman’s strength can make a difference and put an end to the slaying.
https://medium.com/p/18a698f92d52/edit
Explorations: I learned apart from this Northern State there are multiple other States that had been worse hit by this outbreak. Every morning, the newspapers were flooded with the news of the discarded female fetuses. These infants were dumped by the canals, temples, garbage dumps, intentionally exposed to all possible dangers. A chill ran down my spine when I saw a photograph of a huge bunch of female fetuses pulled out through old sewage wells and pits. Only one question crossed my mind; of how malevolent and heartless the humans are to cover up such a horror. or above all the to be parents, could be who would reach any extent to eliminate the girl child from their life.
Something had to be done. That’s when I came across a lot of skits taking place at mine and my mother’s school. The brilliant ideas and hard work that had been put together to make people aware was quite tangible. In the process, I came across a lot of thoughtful and poignant scripts. This was enough to give me a start.
