Going the extra mile for girl child

PUNE: Over 2,000 runners from different spectrums were seen sprinting for a cause that sought to condemn the practice of female foeticide and draw attention to India’s plummeting sex ratio. The message spread much beyond the finish line.
With ‘Save the Girl Child and Her Future’ as its theme, the charity run of the 26th Pune International Marathon, metamorphosed into an affair that underlined the dominant role Indian girl athletes have played in exalting the nation to a sports super power.
The run was flagged off from the Alka theatre junction at 9:15 am on Sunday, with a street play on the theme serving as a thoughtful prologue. Put together and conceived by the women’s wing of the Congress party’s city unit, the play, titled ‘Stri Bhruna Hatya Thambva’ (‘Stop female foeticide’), was a 12-minute eye-opener that denounced sex determination tests and sex-specific abortions.
City president of the Congress women’s wing Shalaka Patil, who played the character of a mother-to-be forced by her in-laws to determine the sex of her child, said: “The character is a righteous mother who is against the practice of female foeticide. She attempts to talk her in-laws out of forcing her to go for the test. Sonography is specifically designed to gauge the health of the child, but the method is being misused. Maharashtra has an overall sex ratio of 883 females per 1,000 males, while the nationally figure is 914:1,000. If this goes on, by 2020 as many as 2.5 crore males would be left without women to marry. This raises serious concerns about the safety of women in the country.”
Jayshree Parakh, vice-president of the organisation who enacted the role of a doctor in the play, said: “The play drove home the message that the greatest leaders and performers in the country have been women, right from Indira Gandhi, Savitribai Phule, and Ahilya Devi Holkar, just to name a few. Thus, the qualms that people have when it comes to girls should be done away with.”
The play met with a roaring applause, while coloured balloons filled the air and dhol-tashe beats soared with spectators eagerly waiting for the charity race.
Myriad groups supporting the cause were carrying placards with photos of eminent female personalities, right from astronaut Kalpana Chawla to singer Gangubai Hangal to Indira Gandhi to actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, among others. ‘You want a sister, mother and a wife, but why don’t you want a daughter,’ said one of the placards. Another stressed, ‘Life without a girl is like a life without oxygen’, and yet another said, ‘Each girl child counts’. The race finished at Nehru Stadium.
Rammohan Nair, an orthodontist who participated in the race, said: “The Lakdi Pul seemed like a tourist spot, and the atmosphere was festive. I have a single daughter, who is the apple of my eye. It is paradoxical that the girl child takes a back seat in a country that reveres so many goddesses.”
Anir Ban Ghosh, an HR professional, who participated in the race, along with 40 employees from his company, said: “Participating in this race is part of our corporate social responsibility activity, and we are proud of helping spread a good message.”
Santosh Unecha, in charge of the charity run, said: “People from 22 different organisations, companies, educational institutions and NGOs such as PUMBA, Cognizant, Symbiosis and Tata BlueScope Steel, among others, participated in the event.”
Around 80 Marathi film actors, technicians, producers, directors and critics from Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal as well as members of the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA) were seen at the marathon, supporting the cause and cheering the crowd as well as participants. “Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal’s president Prasad Surve, vice-president Subhash Bhurke, and renowned names from the realm of Marathi films such as director Milind Lele, filmmakers Vijay Kondke, Jagdish Unecha, and actors Adinath Kothare and Amruta Khanwilkar pledged support to the cause,” said Vikas patil, director of IMPPA.