M A I N   N E W S

India joins world in ‘One Billion Rising’
Tribune News Service

‘Odhni ka parcham’ in Lucknow Lucknow: A several-km-long chain of “odhnis” brought a burst of colour to the city on Thursday as thousands of students, activists and common people observed “Odhni ka parcham: Mahila hinsa ke khilaf’” as part of the global One Billion Rising campaign. Students holding banners along with odhnis marched from Begum Hazrat Mahal Park to Hazratganj crossing. As a token of their participation in the global “One Billion Rising” call to stop violence against women, several groups in Uttar Pradesh had asked people to donate “odhnis” to help form a chain. More than 12,000 such “odhnis” were collected, out of which 125 were donated by women inmates lodged in Lucknow district jail. Participants held street plays and cultural events during the campaign. More than 36 civil society groups and a cross section of citizens were on the streets in Lucknow. — TNS

New Delhi, February 14
Roars of “Strike! Dance! Rise!” on Conga beats rocked the Parliament Street today as thousands of men and women enthusiasts participated in the “One Billion Rising” campaign with rest of the country and 200 other nations to raise their voice in support of women rights.

In stark contradiction to regular protests, dancing, laughing, celebrating participants formed a high spirited crowd. Flash mobs, “nukkad nataks” and music performances were part of the Delhi chapter’s celebration of the global campaign, rechristened “Dilli Rising”. It was a group of seven girls from the city who planned flash mob performances in a month’s time, mobilising support on Facebook and Twitter.

Throughout the day, flash mobs across the capital surprised people at various locations. Participants then met at Parliament Street towards the evening for a last, collective performance where hundreds joined in mob dancing to songs titled “Jaago Dilli Jaago,” composed especially for the event.

A special flash mob performance by the differently-abled in wheelchairs kicked off the mega celebrations at Parliament Street. Next, the crowd broke into several dancing groups as singer Vidya Shah took the stage and sang her composition for the occasion and ended her stint with evergreen track “Dama Dam Mast Qualandar”.

Nukkad nataks by Arvind Gaur’s theatre group Asmita and a special choreography piece by Kamla Nehru College Girls followed. As the evening progressed, the numbers at the gathering swelled as both Indian and foreign, young and the elderly joined in. A convoy of women taxi drivers - from a women-only cab service called “Sakha,” or friend also reached there.

The celebrations planned on the Valentines Day were envisaged by the campaign’s founder, playwright Eve Ensler - best known for her play “The Vagina Monologues”. The campaign launched last year, reached the national capital on November 2012 when city-based NGOs inaugurated the campaign at Jamia Milia Islamia.