Hiyanjalee Rangra
13 years old Namita is from a small village of Bongaigaon district. Little Namita was an introvert earlier. She was scared of people. One day, when Namita was in class 4, a newly recruited teacher in her school asked her to give self introduction and she recalls what a relief it was for her. Saniya, her co-mate, remained quiet when she was asked “ what do you want to be when you grow up?” On being asked many times, she answered sluggishly, “ I don’t know”.
This is an abstract of the conversation I had with the girls of Bhakarivita M.E School ( a government school located in Bongaigaon district of Assam) on my recent visit to it. The matter to be highlighted is that the situation of these girls are not the same anymore. They are now a stronger personality.
Since our childhood, we have been told about the need for girl empowerment. But till date, nothing much has been achieved in the overall aspect. Striving for sustainable development, the government and many NGOs are organizing differentgirl empowerment schemes and workshops.
These workshops aims to eradicate the various misconceptions and social evils- like child marriage, health taboos, etc.
One such workshop is the self defense workshop. I was delighted when I came to know that Bhakarivita M.E school is facilitating free karate classes twice a week to its girl students.
Bhabani Prasad Ray, Headmaster of the M.E school said – “ The Central government of India passed the order toprovide this self defense classes to the girls of class VI to class VIII in every government schools, twice a week for 3 months every year.”
“ Karate teachers from Rani Laxmibai Atma Raksha Prasikshan is teaching self defense techniques to our girls. The students are mostly from below poverty line class and they can’t afford such classes outside by their own. Therefore this workshop has come up as a great opportunity for the underprivileged girls.” – added Barnali Ray Choudhury, Assistant Teacher of the M.E school.
Karate is a martial art using punching, kicking, knee strikes, elbow strikes and open- hand techniques. Such art can help girls save their lives in cases of any danger. Martial arts also helps one to build mental strength, as it requires focus and discipline. Building a strong mental health can also help the children to do better performance in studies and also to learn other extra – curricular activities- like singing, drawing, dancing, sports and many more.
“Learning this self defense techniques has reduced my fear of people. I can too speak confidently now” – said Namita, the same girl who couldn’t even introduce herself when she was asked to give years before.
Another girl further added- “ We learnt that we don’t have a weak body, it is not necessary for us to dependent on others for our safety and security.”
These girls couldn’t even talk comfortably earlier, but from such workshops, they are now confident enough to even face the camera and speak their mind.
Winding it up, it would be essential to mention that “ no one is equal until everyone is equal in a Nation”. Girls equity and empowerment is one of the 17 sustainable goals set up by the United Nations General Assembly, also integral to all dimensions of inclusive and sustainable development for a nation. And such Self Defense workshops is doing just that. Therefore, I on behalf of every young girls would like to urge every educational institutions (including private schools) to facilitate such workshops to its students and make it a compulsory part of their academic syllabus. It will definitely come up as a welfare gesture for the nation.
