Video van

The Video Van arrives in Mumbai !!

Amid huge expectations and loads of anticipation,the video van arrived in Mumbai yesterday after weeks of anxiety and stress!

Urvashi and I did 99 rounds of the Police Station in 3 days..from Traffic Police to the Commissioner of Mumbai… Charlie’s Angels left no stone unturned! ( Ojasvi included too )

Weeks of sweat and dehydration finally bore fruit when we saw the the video van yesterday! It was fabulous! Ojasvi couldn’t hide her smiles!

The Press conference gave everyone the jitters since there was major events rocking Mumbai last evening..But like Sonali calmed my nerves.”there is very little you can do when some things are beyond your control”..Sonali’s philosophy really works for me… after all we all can’t panic together!

Mallika took the mike and things were “Santana smooth” post..The ads drew a great applause and so did the Swarathma video!

I couldn’t believe I was there in Puttur plugging wires when the video was shot!

After the customary photo-ops and pleasantries the conference got into super serious mode with the members of the media posing some serious questions about the PWDVA…Shakeel and I were getting restless and the question and answer session over shot the time limit we had anticipated…

Sheriff of Mumbai and Veteran Theatre personality Mahabanoo Kotwal graced our inauguration and the ladies had a great time chatting and bonding.

The MAVA volunteers also seemed very kicked about the whole process and seemed excited to hit the road!

Mumbai is sure going to be buzzing with “Bell Bajao”..watch this space!

Here’s a map of the Mumbai video van route
View Bell Bajao – Mumbai Route Map in a larger map

Below are some pics from the press conference

Video Van in Mumbai

Breakthrough Team along with representatives from partner NGOs

Mallika Dutt and Indu Sahani

Noted theater personality, Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal

Javed Akhtar

You have already seen the Bell Bajao Cause Ambassador Boman Irani’s call to action.

The second in our series of celebrity champion voices is the veteran lyricist and script, dialog and story writer from Bollywood, Mr. Javed Akhtar.

When asked about domestic violence, he starts out by hitting hard at the very terminology of this issue. Domestic violence according to him is not a strong enough term that barely represents the horror of this issue. He says we should rather just use the word, ‘wife beating’

Another very important point he makes is that a true identity of a man is revealed in front of those who are weaker than him. If a man is violent to his wife because she is dependent on him financially or socially that means the true identity of that man is violent. It is possible that in front of the world he puts a nice face. But we must know that any man who raises his hands against a woman cannot be a good human being, it is just impossible.

He therefore calls out to the society to boycott and shun all such men who are abusive to their spouses. It is never a personal matter he says and we must collectively give out the message that abusive people are not acceptable in the society. As a call to action he specifically says that, if you know anybody who is abusive just break all relationship with him.

We are thankful to Mr Javed Akhtar for lending his voice to this pertinent issue and for being a Bell Bajao Cause Champion.

You too can be a champion voices and get a cool HTML badge for your website. Visit here for more.

A rock act set in a sleepy town…”what in the world are you talking about?”…Not for Bell Bajao and Swarathma though..We rocked Puttur and how !!

The band arrived in Puttur with our Karnataka manager (talk of hospitality!) at 7am on 13th..and headed for a bungalow Breakthrough had organised..The tempo with endless equipment arrived soon after and so does our Videographer Natesh whose team is very kicked to begin shooting..(did i mention we are making a music video?)

I was running around to organise mattresses and carrying buckets of water as there was no power to work the gensets ! and the boys wanted to bathe.

Swarathma arrives at Puttur

Amidst the chaos,managed to grab a coffee..aha! the exotic southie variety..and we left for our first performance scheduled for 10:30am at Mahalingeshwaram temple..coincidently, Mohan and self had gone to the Police station to get permission to play loud music in the temple complex!

Setting up the stage

Still setting up the stage, its quite a task

The set-up takes ages..meanwhile our street play group gather a crowd and curious Puttur-ites are wondering what the ruckus is all about..the Tirikitta guys are fabulous!

The band finally finishes a sound check and buy do they roll ! The sun’s beating down mercilessly and its hot as ever..but the crowds love us and can’t get enough of the Kannad rock! The locals are little thanda though..but the Breakthrough team makes up for that with loud applause and screams…

Love “Pyar ke rang”….and “Topiwale”…the sound is electric and earthy at the same time..gives me the goosies!

Wrap up around 1:30pm..overshot the alloted time..team is famished and drenched with sweat..

Locals ask us to come back in the evening to the same location as the crowds will be double..Vani is in a fix..nevertheless we go to the temple authorities to seek permission!

Move back to the bungalow to lunch,wash and rest..rest however is far from what I do..sent some of my morning shots to my colleague in Delhi to post on our active online community..let everyone have some fun!

Venue change puts original plans into a tizzy as I re-work the Red FM guys who are doing a live feed from the concert area..and i try and convince press people about the change in venue.. students from nearby colleges pour in to meet the band..i have to get them to the next act!! Arrrghhh !

Amidst the confusion I look at the watch and its 4:30pm !! We play at 5:00pm and the venue is 10 mins away..panic galore and to top that we can’t yell or talk as Natesh is doing his sound bytes with the Band..

Manage to get the street play team,band guys and Vani packed into vehicles and off to the venue..seems like a never ending road trip..Am exhausted due to the heat,but its worth while!

The evening is cooler thank god! and the band finishes their shots for the video..street play rolls and the crowd is double that of the morning..the band wears funky hippy clothes..just adds to their zing!

The crowds are more responsive than the morning..people clap and love the music..Boman watches over us silently! Vasu gets the crowd to shout “Bell MADDI” !

The evening draws to a close and the fans cant’ get enough of the band..the boys are inundated for autographs and photographs..

Video Van team with the Band

We dismantle the cords..and wrap up the equipment..some of it i don’t touch lest i get a rap!

More confusion about who is headed where..i need to catch a ride to Mangalore..Natesh is sweet to help me out…but where do we sit coz Vasu from Swarathma has loaded the vehicle with guitars and drum sets!!

Vani insists we head back to the bungalow for dinner as the food will go waste…more delay to reach Mangalore..gosh..!

Gobble up my dinner..band wants beer !

Squeeze into Natesh’s sumo…and its a bumpy ride to Mangalore at 10:30pm !

Check into Nalappad and crash..exhausted,but Swarathma rings on in my mind !!!

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Photo Courtesy – Swarathama

More photos on Swarathma Flickr page.

Swarathma Facebook Fan page

Campaign Ambassador Boman Irani

“Bell Bajao started off as a campaign against domestic violence. It has now become a movement, a movement that works. When it comes to your turn, do not hesitate, go and Ring the Bell” – Boman Irani

So here we are with Bell Bajao phase II. If you are anywhere near South Karnataka during the month of April, your life is going to be loaded with fun, entertainment and information on the cause of domestic violence.

The campaign highlights

• A moving quote from Campaign Ambassador, Boman Irani;
• 3 brand new and even more powerful Public Service Announcements;
• A brand new initiative called the ‘Bell Bajao Champion Voices’
• A rocking ‘Video Van’
• and more…

Mark your dates – 6th April to 26th April

The second phase launch will take place in Mangalore on 6th April where the Mangalore Video Van will be flagged off. For the next 20 days the van will be travelling to various parts of South Karnataka.

Video Van Creative

The video van is an interactive van full of theatrical performance, education materials, audio visuals, fun games, prizes, giveaways and much more.

The star attraction of the van will be Bangalore-based folk-rock band, Swarathma performing live with the van on one of the days.

Bangalore-based folk-rock band, Swarathma

Swarathma is the winner of the Jack Daniels Indian Rock Awards for Best Band, Song and Album of the Year 2009. With 2 albums on EMI/Counterculture and 3 international tours they are one of India’s most exciting new bands. A live-wire stage act and sensitive, engaging music makes them something you don’t want to miss.

For Bell Bajao, Swarathma will be taking to streets, performing alongside the Video Van, spreading awareness on the issue. And all this they are doing on a purely non-profit basis having waived off their professional fees completely.

Now you know we had a good reason to say, “the Video Van is rocking.” You don’t want to miss the great fun down the streets of South Karnataka, so be there. Those of you who cannot be with the van, follow this blog and our Twitter updates.

The van movement will be live tweeted and Swarathma performances clips will be available live on Youtube.

So put on your seat belts for the next 20 days, there cannot be a better way to learn about an issue that affects every 1 out of 3 women in this world.

Ps. Make sure to come back to this space on 6^th April 2010 for the premier of the campaign video by Boman Irani and the 3 new TV Ads.

Breakthrough Rights Advocate, Sarita from UP, India

Sarita took the Breakthrough training in Nov’09. Before the training she had never heard of domestic violence or gender issue. She knew that women get beaten up but didn’t know how to articulate that as a rights violation and didn’t know what to do about it. After the training she felt empowered.

One of the direct impacts of the training was when she heard of violence happening in a house in her neighbourhood, she went to that house, rang the bell and asked for some tea leaves. Sarita says that since then there has been no violence in that house.

Sarita now is an active Breakthrough Rights Advocate who is busy disseminating the information she obtained from the Breakthrough training to more youth groups. When asked how can domestic violence be ended Sarita said we should give these trainings to more women so that they can become self dependent and speak up against violence in their homes and community.

Story created by Rights Reporter Ashish

If you know anybody who rang the bell send us their story in a 2 min video format or as in text format of 200 words to bell_bajao@breakthrough.tv

4.35 pm

I would like to infer here that the day long event turned out to be a great forum to learn/share and know about the rights of Women. It  is high time for women tormentors to give due respect to women folk and also change their attitude towards women. I sincerely hope that the world will not be same when that thinking comes to all.

Bye for now.

Gururaj Kodambahalli

4.10 pm – Talk from Ms. Merlin, Legal professional and Director of Deeds NGO,  – She recollected the proceedings of the whole day and asked the crowd to make introspection on whether a woman is the biggest enemy of a woman. She pointed out some of the daily issues any house wife or a working woman face everyday, be it in office or at home. Merlin went on record saying that as Anganawadi workers, they have the right decision making and judgment skills to provide counseling to the needy women. She wondered whether there is any good step mother is there in this earth or not taking one of the skits into account and suggested to show woman as not the enemy of other woman. She also spoke about the three orders/injunctions  which prohibits husbands to physically abuse the wife, throwing her out of the house and selling the house without her consent.  Speaking about upbringing of the children, she recommended to all the women present in the event to make their daughters to raise their voice wherever they experience or see injustice and not be just mute witness or undergo harassment. It was an inspiring speech for all and the crowd acknowledged by joining their hands together.

Yakshagana Performance

3.55 pm – Play by Eight Circle -� The play starts with a school kid Chenni coming to home only to find her mother eloped with her paramour. Hearing this news, Jenny’s father also dies.� Chenni becomes an orphan all of a sudden. Her Uncle takes her home. Her Uncle’s wife and children does not like this but eventually allows her to stay but like a servant.� She is ill-treated to the core and made to eat left-overs. Her Uncle starts seeing her with an ulterior motive.� One day suddenly Uncle’s wife dies and this makes him more drawn towards Chenni. One day when nobody is in home, Chenni’s Uncle goes beyond the limit and takes undue advantage.� Uncle’s son, who was secretly loving Jenny comes to know of� her father’s and Chenini’s relationship becomes very desperate and starts ill-treating Chenni more and more.� One day Chenni’s Uncle decides to marry her and ties the nuptial knot forcibly which is witnessed by his son. He gets so dejected and becomes a drunkard. Chenni could not take this and tries to commit suicide only to be stopped by Uncle’s daughter at the right time. She then approaches Anganawadi Teachers/counselors to find a solution on this. They assure her and ask to bring Uncle, his son and Chenni to the Center.� They counsel all of them and make them strike the right chord.

3.45 pm – Dance by Ninth Circle – Scintillating dance performance by all of different age . The steps are uniform, the dress very striking and the song, very meaningful in the context of today’s event. It seems to me that all the events today are very meticulously planned and sends a strong message to the society about the Women Power.

Tulu skit - all performances were done by Anganwadi women trained by Breakthrough

3.30 pm -� Tulu Skit from Fourth Circle -� This depicts the struggles of a housewife, Savita who wanted to be self reliant but always ridiculed� by husband and mother in law.� She comes out of her husband’s house and start business on her own and prosper through her hard work. She also gives jobs and guides other ladies, destitute women towards self reliance. She propspers so much that she drives her own car, takes orders through her cell and becomes extremly busy and famous.�� Seeking constant guidance from Break Through she zooms past everybody and becomes rich.

Seeing her richness, her husband and mother in law comes to her acting very good and showing that they are repenting. But Savita is aware of their greedy character and doubtful credentials, she refuse to live with them and sends them out of her house after a fitting reply.

3.20 pm – Now the new skit is more of social maladies like female infanticide, dowry, child marriage, prostitution, alcohol, AIDS.� The skit was done in a highly articulated� way and earned huge applause.

3.15pm – Wonderful ‘Yakshagana’ performance ends.� True to the Women Centric event today, the performance was more of a women oriented and as the organizers themselves said ‘This is an attempt to give more scope to Women and their thoughts and work.’

Credit should be given to the children who acted like thorough professionals.

1.50pm – ‘Yakshagana’ performance starts with an all-women cast (a first!) and not about mythology but about ‘domestic violence’ (another first!)

1.37 pm – Lunch Break which will be followed by an ‘Yakshagana’ performance.

1.20 pm – Now a play on ‘Spandana’ by the Anganawadi First Circle� – A typical day for an anganawadi worker who also has lot of family commitments.� She goes back to her house a bit late after a greuelling day of survey work and is questioned as though she had committed a crime and is beaten black and blue.

A girl who could not get a job despite her good qualifications is seen� walking on the road near a Bar. She encounters a lady whose background appears to be dubious.� She shows sympathy and brings the girl to the owner of the bar and restaurant and sells her without her knowledge. The Bar owner coerces her to do dance� and get involved in immoral trafficking.� The girl pleads with the owner to leave her but to no avail.

At the same time, a police official appears and inquires with the owner about the license and the girl in tatters.� After not getting any convincing reply from the owner,� she arrests him and advises the girl not to trust anybody blindly. The play ends on a happy note with the girl getting out of the bar and reunite with the parents.

12.45 pm – Ms. Shanta of ‘Vimochana’ addressed the crowd and emphasized the need of Anganawadi workers to work towards Domestic Violence. She recollected how ‘Vimochana’ was started. She also spoke in length about Female Infanticide happening all over India.� She called for the starting of ‘Mahila Nyaayalaya’ meaning ‘Female Court ” where all the cases dealing with women can be tried.� She also mentioned that as per the survey conducted on ‘Dowry Death Cases’, very few cases accounted for conviction and majority of the cases were derailed during the course.� Ms. Shanta dealt with the differences between ‘Varopachara’ and ‘Varadakshine’. She was very vocal on the derailment of dowry deaths that happens with the collusion of the authorities.� She also stressed on the change that should take place in our police administration.� She expressed deep apprehensions about the conviction rate related to dowry deaths and went on to question the loop holes� in the entire system. Talked about the various workshops conducted in different cities until now to bring in more awareness about the Court.

12.30 pm – Circle 7 will be presenting a skit ‘Varadakshine’ meaning ‘Dowry’

The skit is about how the parents of a girl married to a rich family gets into the whirlpool of debts. It also deals with 1961 Dowry act. The mother in law gives a time of one month to settle the dowry. Even after one month, when she does not receive the dowry as promised, the Mother in Law sends the daughter in law back to her house insulting her and abusing her physically. It ends on a happy note after counseling about the Dowry Act.

12.15 pm – Circle 3 presented a Tulu skit ‘Kannirina Thelike’ meaning ‘Laughter in the midst of tears’

The play is about a blind girl who is tormented to no end by her step mother. The step mother’s son also ill treats the blind girl though the father tries to advise both of them not to trouble her. To put an end to her sufferings, he plans to marry her but was not sure whether anybody accepts her. Fortunately, one guy with a good heart accepts the proposal because of the girl’s good character. The skit ends in a happy note.

11.55 am - Now the Circle 9 of Dakshina Kannada Anganawadi is performing Tulu skit on the theme ‘Ponnu, Samsarada Kannu’ which effectively means ‘A Lady is the eye of a Family.’ The skit is based on a real life incident where the wife faced perinneal harassment from the husband who never respected his wife and belittles his own daughter when she happily shows her marks sheet. He again admonishes his wife and leaves to drink alcohol. Once he is back, the wife chides him but he beats and kicks her and sends her out of home. She approaches the elders, teachers and counsellors and requests them to advise her husband suitably. They effectively counsels him and he repents a lot and becomes a changed man.

11.45 am - A video clip of Shobha Mugdal’s ‘Man ki Manjire’ focusing on the women’s rights, their entry into new horizons, the dreams, the awakening , their belief in themselves.

Drawing parallels between Shamshad and another harrasment case, she called up on the crowd to take courage in every aspect and face the issues as it comes and have a never say die attitude.

11.30 am - Ms. Kanmani, working as Trainer in CART told a heart rending story of Shamshad who commited suicide on Dec 3, 2009 unable to bear the torture is a victim of both extreme domestic violence along with police dereliction of duty. In a video which was taken on her when she was alive, she(Shamshad) narrated the trials and tribulations she underwent in the form of domestic violence. She told how her husband tried to burn her by pouring kerosene on her on more than one occasion.

Ms. Vani Periodi called upon the crowd to muster courage to fight against these evils and also find a solution rather than going for suicide. She listed out a new charter in the form of the below bulleted points to enable such situations do not arise.

* there should be a full time officer to look into these sensitive issues
* Police, Advocates should be sensitized
* A separate law should come into effect
* Time should be the essence of this law and suitable action should be taken within a short time

Taking these issues into account, there will be a signature campaign to support the charter to enable it to expediate

Ms. Kanmani expressed thanks for the Break Through for their constant support .

11.25 am – Mr. Venugopal in his Vote of thanks expressed his heart felt thanks to Ms. Shobha Rani, Ms. Neelam and all others who graced the occasion as Chief Guests.

11.15 am - Ms. Shobha Rani, in her presidential address recalled the efforts that were put in to hold the event. She felt sad for those who could not attend the event due to the transport strike. She spoke about the trainings that are available for the Anganawadi workers. She stressed on the awareness related to domestic violence, how to find a concrete solution for the various harrassment. All the legal aid that needs to be given to the the women suffering all types of harrassment are being provided with the help of a advocate who will be present always for the needy. She cited a scenario where the husband is a high earner and subjugate his wife for various types of insults and at the time of divorce or breakup, the husband will get the custody of the child though as per the law, the child should always stay with the mother.

11.10 am – Ms. Neelam, a legal luminary who was involved with the External Affairs Ministry is now addressing the crowd. She emphasized on the dimension of the domestic violence more from a violence on children perspective. She quoted a report on Child Abuse which stated 70% of children are abused, both physically and mentally which is a startling find. Summing up, 2 out of 3 children are abused. She recollected her proud moment when her daughter did her PhD. ‘Men will not stop the domestic violence until Women resists’ was her mantra. She congratulated all the people involved for working on the cause of domestic violence.

11.05 am – She further spoke about the domestic violence prevailing and sought a solution once for all on the burning issue. She also let the crowd know about the list of events that will happen throught the day culminating in a Yakshagana performance and thoughts from the people assembled.

Now the traditional lighting of the lamp is on with the revered guests lighting the lamp one by one with the background of some soothing music. The mood is ecstatic in the hall.

11.00am - The much awaited event organized by Break Through – Sashakta Hejje – Mahila Mela is now on at Mangalore’s Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

Braving the Bus strike which is the lifeline of DK, it is heartening to see Anganawadi workers assembled in large numbers.

The event started with a customary prayer and continued with the falicitating the Chief Guests assembled on the dias. The Chief guests have done commendable work in their fields and deserve all the praise.

Ms. Vani in her speech expressed speculation in the beginning about organizing the event. She related Anganawadi as the ‘Jeevanandi’ which can be called as Life Line when translated to English.

Kaamini lives in a slum near the Shivaji Nagar area of Bangalore, India. She along with the help of few more girls, all of who have atteded a breakthrough leadership training, took action against a man who used to always get drunk and create nuisance in the neighborhood.

Following is a video story on Kaamini’s breakthrough, her courage and determination to make the environment violence free.

The video tells the story well,  here we would just quote Kaamin from the interview, “Earlier we used to be afraid of police and used to leave these matters to men but after attending Breakthrough training we feel empowered so we decided to take it up ourselves with police.”

They persisted for four months and finally police took action against the man.

This was Kaamini’s story of how she rang the bell. What is yours?