Poetry, over the years, has emerged to be a powerful tool to make our voices heard. Earlier it was just in the written form, but in the contemporary context, it is more in the spoken word format. Various platforms have come forward to give a little push to the poets who love to express their opinions and share experiences. We often find writers sharing a dialogue on various social issues, commenting on the societal conditioning.
On the occasion of Women’s Day, Unerase Poetry, did a campaign called #PatriarchyKaPackUp. A widely celebrated poet Aranya Johar wrote a powerful piece called the The Language of Equality demanding greater access to girls’ education across India.
Known as a feminist, raising her voice against patriarchy and extending a support to the females in the society, she has gained world wide recognition and over 3 million views on her piece titled 'A Brown Girls Guide to Gender'.
Civil society organisations will publish the first in a series of factsheets highlighting the gaps in girls’ education across India, and thereby support the challenge. Participating organisations include Right to Education Forum, Azad India Foundation, Centre for Budget and Policy Studies, Kalyan Evem Vikash Sansthan, Navbharat Samaj Kalyan Samiti, and Purva Bharati Educational Trust.
Talking of the campaign, #PatriarchyKaPackUp challenges Indian youth to use spoken word to create a dialogue that tackles gender norms which are currently keeping millions of girls in India out of school. "I was privileged enough to have access to an education but I could very easily have been like any of the millions of girls across our country who are denied access to an education. I encourage others to join the #PatriarchyKaPackUp challenge and use the power of spoken word to demand change. It’s time for decision makers invest in our futures because we are the future of India," said Aranya Johar.
“Girls' education is crucial for the development of the nation. However, today millions of girls are unable to continue secondary education due to either a lack of neighbourhood schools, or the safety and security concerns on the way to and from school. We hope that the government will take steps to extend Right to Education Act for children up to Class 12 and make adequate resources allocations to make education accessible for all,” explained Ambarish Rai, founder of Right to Education Forum.
Adding to this Dr. Jyotsna Jha, Director of the Centre for Budget and Policy Studies, said, “With nearly 40 per cent of adolescent girls not being in any educational institution, we cannot even dream of soon becoming a developed and evolved nation where we can pride ourselves with values of equality and freedom that we have enshrined in our constitution. It is inspiring to see girls themselves come forward and demand fulfilment of their rights of universal access to a full cycle of accessible and free schooling on an urgent basis."
With a hope that this will bring about a change in the society and with more girls getting the education they deserve, the campaign is a progressive step using poetry as a strong tool to drive conversations around the subject. After all, it is only after we start talking that we can bring about a potential development.
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