Friday, December 13, 2013

Jurrat : Aurat maange azaadi, inkar karan ki azaadi...

Aurat maange azaadi, inkar karan ki azaadi... the call rang loud at the launch of 'Jurrat', the week-long campaign to mark one year of the Delhi gang-rape. Two groups, Swaang and Majma, with the help of other artistes and groups like IPTA from JNU, kick-started the initiative, saluting Nirbhaya's fight through protest songs, sketches and plays. 

Activist and lawyer Vrinda Grover's speech took guests to episodes where a woman was harassed or assaulted, but justice wasn't meted out. The Mathura rape case and the Bhanwari Devi rape case were also discussed. Protest songs by groups, "an alternative to Yo Yo Honey Singh", according to the host and member of Swaang, actress Swara Bhaskar, followed. "He'd faced a lot of backlash when it came to light last year that he'd sung songs like Balatkari, but Honey Singh's back, asking us to do Lungi Dance," she said. 

What froze the audience in the auditorium was the 10-minute sketch presented by former DU student Mallika Taneja. Her act began with Mallika in nothing but her underwear, with heaps of clothes around her. One by one, she wore each piece of clothing, one over the other, describing how the society thinks that it's important for a girl to dress 'properly' in order to save herself from sexual harassment. 

Rasika Agashe's Museum... Of Species In Danger, a play in Hindi with women impersonating Sita, Surpanakha, Kunti and a commoner, brought the curtains down. The campaign is on the streets now. "We're going into bastis and communities, trying to break the language barrier, so that it is not confined to just the English-speaking audience," said Swara. "It's very encouraging how people have come together. It's a massive movement that we're launching, and we hope to make Jurrat an annual feature. Our main event is the mobile concert on the 16th, when we'll have Sona Mohaptra, Rabbi Shergill and Swanand Kirkire with us," she added. Jurrat will end with a final concert at the JNU convention centre on December 16. 

-Bohni Bandyopadhyay and Alina Sayeed in mumbaimirror.com
(http://www.mumbaimirror.com/Entertainment/Art-Theatre/Marking-one-year-of-Delhi-gang-rape/articleshow/27239757.cms)

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