It is not always that I watch a video I want to write about. This one by Mahindra is special.
A few of you think times have changed but let me tell you, you are not 100% right. We are privileged to have supportive parents and society but there are also many Indian girls who are still cocooned in their worlds.
I will let you watch the video first and then get to some points that I want to make here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGWq01XhtEQ
Did you notice the girl? The innocence in her eyes and her questions stole my heart. When little girls ask such questions and are told to shut up, two things happen. They stop asking questions and they accept things the way they are. They accept that girls need to stay at home and learn cooking and house work. The boys can play when they want. Girls in the meanwhile learn how to clean the shelves, arrange books and keep their mouth shut. There are nosy neighbors around who want to dictate the future of children and mind you, according to such people future is dependent on the gender of the child.
Her father. I loved how patiently the father responds to questions. Did you notice how he chooses not to respond to the other man? Why should he? His daughter and he can do what he wants. Then his answers were focused around financial independence, the right to choose what his daughter wants and the right to do what she likes to do when she grows up.
Boys and girls. The right to education and self-dependence is for both boys and girls. Being a boy or a girl doesn’t define that. The stereotypes, the pinks and blues have been done to death. Most readers know and are aware of these things. However, there are still those subtle nuances we fail to realize. One of them is being open with children and sharing with them what’s right.
“Having children makes you no more a parent than having a piano makes you a pianist”- Michael Levine
The message. Give children the wings and let them fly. A girl or a boy – they should be the queen and the king of their own lives. Let’s them own their life and don’t make it miserable by dumping your choices and desires on them. Let them fail and let them realize and learn. Protecting them from failing will do no good to them.
The video has been shared over a thousand times but I want it to reach the places where the above words don’t matter. Those small villages where girls need to save their honor and boys are the breadwinner.
This is not a sponsored post. I am genuinely happy with the effort of the company and the creativity of the story-teller. Tagging this post to Monday Musings.
happiness and food 
I saw this video and loved it so much that I shared it everywhere 🙂 On my Facebook page, my Insta stories and Twitter. The message was so simple and yet so effective. What I liked was the way it was conveyed, without being overly in-your-face but still sending an assertive message. Gy also LOVED the video when I showed it to her. This is using the power of influence for good. 100/100 for this initiative. 🙂
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You are right! Assertive and no nonsense kind of message. 🙂
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It was beautiful, Parul. Have seen it before and loved it. Must show it to my sons. The points you mentioned are the exact ones that appealed to me. The innocence of the girl, the patience of the dad and how he did not react to the other man. The other day I shared on Twitter that the best way to shut up someone whose views you don’t agree with is to smile and nod. That way one does not need to engage with people whose opinion really does not matter. I’ve used this approach effectively with older ladies, neighbourhood aunties and some pesky relatives I don’t have to meet regularly. Loved that you wrote about it.
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Thank you Rachna! I spotted it on Saturday and ended up watching it a couple of times and then wrote about it. Wasn’t aware it had already done rounds in social media. 🙂
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This made me cry happy tears Parul. It reminded me of my parents and how they believed in both my sister and me in pursuing our ambitions and goals regardless of what society kept telling them. I’m so glad there are movements like this occurring because as you rightly said, there is still the mentality that an educated girl will somehow be a bad thing. Thanks for sharing this!
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I have seen this ad too and loved it. Simple yet braking shackles every moment.
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this video is gold. I saw it laat week, shared and since then watched it countless times.
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Looooved this! Thanks for sharing, had not come across it yet! So thoughtful, such an important message put forth beautifully!
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Awww it’s indeed such a heart warming advertisement. So simple and meaningful. I loved that you shared it because you liked it and not as a sponsored post. 😀
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Oh so damn beautiful! I’m not crying, your are :’-)
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interesting but not surprising- no men seem to have commented on this post yet! 😀
this ad is definitely the way to go forward… agree with you completely
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Thank you! Sometimes I wonder how many men even read my blog or any for that matter 😀
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