What would you change in your area? What gets overlooked and what is important in your world? Hundreds of people from across the world have taken part in Radio Netherlands Worldwide's multimedia competition. They sent in their story in the form of a photo, video or text.
RNW competition winning entry
I get headaches, terrible ones. I black out many a times. They beat me a lot. On the head. He started drinking. He cannot take stress, oh so much stress because I was incomplete. No, he is fine, it has nothing to do with him at all. Why? Because it comes out of me. I am the one who delivers and delivers always the wrong one. Oh he is so stressed. He needs his drinks. I am full of strength. My spirit can never die. I live to take on even his stress.
Every time at the delivery room, it is sheer panic for me. Oh no, again a girl. 4th time. I pity her and me. Will they let her and me live peacefully?. His mother hates me. She looks at me with disgust.
Yet again, the delivery room. And yet again the girl for the 5th time. They don’t even look at the child. She means nothing to them. They do not give me anything to eat. It's enough now, I do not want to go through all of this again. His mother hits me. She hates me. She does not even think for a second how we are going to feed all these mouths. How am I going to give all of them good education? And where will I get the money to marry off all the girls?
Again the delivery room. Please, please God save me. Please deliver me of all this pain. Please make this the last time. Yes, God listens to me. Finally it is a BOY. There is happiness all round me at the delivery room. So much joy. She has brought food for me. They are all distributing sweets. They are walking with their heads held high. She is now so happy. She loves me. They do not think I am incomplete, that after 5 children. They have a son, a son, a son.
My husband’s mother soon dies and leaves me with all these mouths to feed. And also leaves me with these headaches, they don’t go away and I cannot work now. Oh, who will look after so many of my children?
An international jury of leading journalists has evaluated all the eligible entries, and the winner is Veena Krishna (39) from Mumbai. Her entry ‘To make the girl-child live’, consisting of a photograph and accompanying text, tackles the issue of child policy in India, where girls are considered inferior to boys. Her prize is an all-expenses-paid week’s internship at RNW’s international newsroom in the Netherlands.
RNW received 535 entries from around the world in response to the question ‘Share your world with the world... What do you want to change?’. The majority of entries came from Arabic and English-speaking countries and from Indonesia. The international jury of leading journalists awarded the second prize to Bai Xiaoci from China and the third prize to Eric Barrantes Garcia from Peru.
Jury chairman Rik Rensen, RNW’s editor-in-chief, commented that Veena Krishna’s seemingly simple photograph reveals an entire hidden world: “Her entry made a powerful impression on me, because it conceals a dramatic story.”
Other prizes
Second prize, a digital video camera, goes to Bai Xiaoci from China for his photograph of a man carrying a huge load of chemical drums on his bicycle. Xiaoci’s photograph reminds us that China’s economic development has often taken place at the expense of the environment.
Eric Barrantes Garcia from Peru won the third prize, the choice of a reference book in the field of journalism. The jury noted that his photograph addresses three issues: the problem of poverty and its social consequences, social injustice and the precarious condition of this kind of construction in case of heavy rainfall caused by climate change.
The other nominees are:
- Winsley Masese Azael, Kenya (photo)
Education opportunities for prisoners
- Bernard Rwebangira, Tanzania (photo)
Transport for students
- Adilson Faxina, Curitiba, Brazil (photo)
Social exclusion
- Sandra Sueli Garcia de Sousa, Brazil (text)
On the noisy Amazon city of Belém
- Lwindi Kibamba Pacifique, Congo (text)
A child amidst the chaos
- Bo Fransen - Canada (text)
Motorists need to become more energy conscious - Fazel Mondani, Iran (photo)
Postage stamp to strengthen ties between Morocco and Iran
- Ibad Noer, Kampung Basman, Papua (text and photo)
Papua is a neglected region of Indonesia; improved education gives children a future
- Masrur Jamaluddin - Indonesia (video)
'Sanah and Boyo' – about a woman who lives beside the railway line in Jakarta and whose dog is her only company.
- Bella Hassan - Indonesia (photo)
Drawing attention to street children
- Laura Rodriguez - El Maitén, Argentina (photo)
Unity through a common goal
Competition
Contestants were invited to submit their stories in the form of a video, photograph or short story. All the entries and the 15 nominated entries can be viewed at the competition page.
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Hi Veena, Congratulations on winning... and on telling a story that needs to be told... and retold! So much to be done here in India! On a positive note, so much is also being done by people who care! What will it take to make a that gigantic shift???
Purnima
Hi Jasmin & Veena,
I’m a nomad. I look like an Indian (Brown coloured), I eat like an Indian (Thali, Birjani Dosha), I love Indian classical music (Haripersad Chaurasia) & modern music (Asha & Usha Bhonsale, Anuradha Paudwal) & dance (Bharata Natyam), but in my head/brains I’m not an Indian. I don’t understand the mind set of the female in India. Refer to the story:” They beat me a lot. On the head. He started drinking. He cannot take stress, oh so much stress because I was incomplete. No, he is fine, it has nothing to do with him at all “. I from the West can’t agree with her. He is not fine, it is totally wrong. Refer to Veena Krishna:” India has a lot of unwanted traditions to do away with....and also the fact that while on one hand Indian women are respected and considered the voice of the home... on the other they are also looked at as a burden... and again this is more for the lower strata and mainly arising out of the dowry system (and also the fact that a girl bears all the expenses of marriage which again is huge here)”. The lower strata is a minor problem (education?) but the dowry is a huge one. This stupid system is going on for centuries. It started with the Ithihasa in the RAMAYANA with king Janak at the wedding of RAMA & SITA?. How do you end this? Education, ICT revolution (Information & Communication Technology). Kali Yuga (Iron era) or Dwaper Yuga ( Glass fibre technology with the speed of light era). I hope that the change in India will take place with the speed of light. My female ancestors in India (I don’t know them) are (I think) in the same miserable circumstances as the majority of the female gender in India. Raj, the nomad.
Thanks for the reply, Mr. Raj. Great to know that the Hindu-Dutch are following their traditions, and also integrating well into the Dutch society. But, I am curious to know about the status of women in your ancestral place in India!
Thanks Veena, for your kind post. Things are changing fast here. Girls outnumber boys in schools, colleges, universities and professional courses, and are doing better than boys, in work sector too. Women are more empowered than before and have their say in the family. Ofcourse, the male chauvinists are there too who control some percentage of women, as in your maid's case. Women are in the armed forces too and recently were employed as border security force officers on the Attari-Wagah international border with Pakistan. As for dowry menace, the filthy rich flaunt wealth in the weddings of their kids, which does affect common people who want to emulate them, getting under debt for years. The recent spate of suicides by farmers in the North, has dowry debts as the main reason besides, the failure of crops and other debts. The leaders and people of influence, must show the way to dowry-free weddings, and media should play a greater role in highlighting this fatal flaw in our society. However, I must add that I did not take dowry from my parents when I got married 25 years ago, despite the fact that they were rich enough to give one. So, a lot depends on our personal values too!
It is a disgusting idea to consider people of the female gender as inferior. How can you love your Grandmother, your Mother, (not your wife), your daughter and your granddaughter and you do not take care of your wife. In the West our daughter is a product of our love (male and female). This should also be the goal in India. The religion and the phylosophie in India is dominated by man. All the male gender people in India should come from trees or ghosts (not born but just be there; like in Hindi the word "Pragat"). They should never enjoy "the love of the mother". The mother in Law (also a woman) beats her. How can she do that, she is a bitch.
Education is one of the solutions. Women can also consider to take the role of the Boolywood girls. Very short and open cloths from beneath and half open from above. Flirt to every man and show what you have in "house". Play the role of a LUST object. Male gender love that also the Grandfather, Father, the Man himself, the Son and the Grandson.
It will take some time (maybe centuries) untill the dummy male gender wakes up and protect the woman they love. Think, without women no world.
Congratulations, take care and try to speed up the time (no centuries but much shorter (years)).
In The Netherlands only 2 Hindu caste left. The Black and White so called brahmin and the others. We did that in one century. The brahmin will soon disapear.
Raj, RNI The Netherlands
Hi Raj, thanks for your concern for the women in India.I think Veena should respond to this, but I will have my say too. To know why female foeticide and women abuse is so prevalent in India, you will have to glance back towards the history of India. The muslim invaders always targetted the women of India-raping and kidnapping them or killing them. And India was invaded time and again from the Western border of Punjab and Rajasthan. Later too as the muslims ruled India, Hindu and Sikh women were never safe. They were kidnapped at will and their men were either killed or were just mute spectators. This led to a wave of female child killing by the parents. They thought it was better for a Hindu female to die than to be violated by muslims. It is no wonder that the maximum killings were in the Northern India that bore the brunt of invasions. Secondly, the dowry system made the things worse for the surviving females. The groom's family always wanted more and this led to parents wanting fewer or no girl-childs as brides were killed or harrased for more dowry. Thirdly, the Hindus and Sikhs seek male heir for carrying on the family name and they want that a son should lit their pyre after death for moksha. So, this malady has deep roots that will require lots of awareness and exorcising of past ghosts. However, there is a ray of hope, the govt. of India has very strict punishments for people going for female foeticide and women abuse. A lot is changing fast. In my state of Punjab, which was once at the top of female foeticide, the male-female ratio has improved for the past few years. Recently, my health deptt. honoured villages where no foeticide were reported at all- more than eighty villages! Our deptt is very active in creating social awareness as well. I am the representative of anti-female foeticide campaign of my city and we do plays and monoacts to create awareness. Things are improving in India on the whole. As for women being an object of lust, I think the place where you live, leads the way.Women are allowed to be born in the West but are treated as objects. And Indians copy the West! And you know despite everything, women are respected more in India, than anywhere else!
Yes completely agree with Jasmin and she has well written out all the issues... India has a lot of unwanted traditions to do away with....and also the fact that while on one hand Indian women are respected and considered the voice of the home... on the other they are also looked at as a burden... and again this is more for the lower strata and mainly arising out of the dowry system (and also the fact that a girl bears all the expenses of marriage which again is huge here). Again compounded with the fact that a girl's education is not important, so again she tends to be a burden as she does not earn money (which ofcourse is changing now). So if we look at it very simply and objectively, our country needs to first take the issue of dowry very seriously (as they did with Sati.. widow immolating herself on her husband's funeral pyre) and then see that girl child is educated (which again the government is encouraging here by making girl education free). Yes female foecticide is now getting a voice in India but yet lot is to be done. So some time to go before a girl child will be preferred over a male one!!!
Hi Jasmin. Thanks for the short summary of the Indian history about women. Thanks God that not all the beautiful Indian girls were kidnapped by the muslims. India have a lot of goodlooking and respected women. It also means that a lot of the muslims have Hindu blood & DNA in their body. Maybe this will help a lot in a later stadium.
The dowry system is a stupid thing. Suppose you have a boy and a girl in every family. The boy gets dowry and for the girl you have to pay. The balance at the end is zero dot zero. What is creates is the practical and psychological lower ranking of the girl. Why do you do this? In economic terms if you have a good that every body wants, than the price go's higher. You have a shortage of girls than the boy should pay now.
I'm very happy to hear that in your state of Punjab things are improving and now the female are better protected also by states law. I think that you can also use the help and support of all the male/man in every householding in every (small) village. When Grandfather, Father, Son & Grandson say no more dowry in our family and from now on we are going to protect our women in our small familyhouse and provide some more status. The only thing they need is curriage & tools. Tools to help them to protect you. I hope one day all the women will be totally free, physically & psycologically. Raj, NRI in NL
Thanks, but being an NRI, you should know better about Indian women and mind! You seem to be from North India/Punjab, wonder what's the status of women at your place of birth. And please do not demean less goodlooking women by your comments. Every person is beautiful! Dowry system in India is very complicated and has many reasons, so is not easy to eradicate. However, I must admit that women themselves are responsible for abuse, and men are culprits only because they are mute spectators. The mother-in-law/sister-in-law of the bride is always found to be the main culprit in dowry cases. You as an NRI have a responsibility towards your hometown, hope you are doing some good for them. The Indians are doing their bit to improve things that are not always reported by the Western media/RNW and the Indian journalists working for them. Journalism isn't only about negative reporting, positive developments too should be highlighted, which I find is done rarely. That is why I keep highlighting the positive news, when such articles appear here.Moreover, we need action more than words to improve the conditions in India for which all Indians and NRI's must contribute.
Hi Jasmin, at your sevice some information about the position of our women in The Netherlands.
Position of Hindustani women in The Netherlands
Generally speaking (there are always exceptions)
A girl child from 0-4 years stays at home or partially in a day care center/day nursery (play time period). From 4 till about 25 years she goes to school/highschool/college or university (education period). After this education period normally she gets married. Sometimes arranged marriage (when the girl has problems to find the right guy) but mostly love marriage. It is also normal that she start with a suitable job. This creates her economic independency. It is quite common that she start with her own new family at her own house (not any more at the parents place). So you can imagine that she has no direct problems with her mother in law. Also her husband stays no longer at his parents place. This new young couple starts with their own children. In case of two boys then mostly they take 3th child because they want also a little girl. When 2 girl then a third child because of the harmony/equilibrium in the small family (no moksha things). 3 boys or 3 girls or a mixed form is mostly the absolute maximum.
The marriage: It starts with a suitable hall and a lots of guests, family, friends etc.(same as in India). No kundalini things. The couple makes their own decision. Then the ceremony. We do also 7 bhawer (7 times around the holy fire) and also Kanya Daan. We do not have any tradition in “Mangal Sutra”. Just a golden ring is enough/sufficient. No DOWRY system. Naturally the parents (both sides) help the young couple to start a new life with presents. The pundit has only the role of preaching the vedic holy Sanskrit mantras and lead the ceremony. Just like when you are sick you need a docter.
When the marriage doesn’t work out then they divorce. In case they are still young then they start a new life. It is a normal accepted form of life that young people can start a second life (with or without a marriage, we know also a system of LAT [Living Apart Together].
A (young) widow can also start a second new life without any problems in the society or family.
Because we do not have lots of children we love our boys and girls in the same way. We really love them both male and female children. In most cases a daughter is better than the son. She always takes care of the parents. That’s why (maybe) we love our daughters more than the sons.
Goodlooking and RESPECTED/Highly VALUED was meant as a compliment to all women in India.
It is a disgusting idea to consider people of the female gender as inferior. How can you love your Grandmother, your Mother, (not your wife), your daughter and your granddaughter and you do not take care of your wife. In the West our daughter is a product of our love (male and female). This should also be the goal in India. The religion and the phylosophie in India is dominated by man. All the male gender people in India should come from trees or ghosts (not born but just be there; like in Hindi the word "Pragat"). They should never enjoy "the love of the mother". The mother in Law (also a woman) beats her. How can she do that, she is a bitch.
Education is one of the solutions. Women can also consider to take the role of the Boolywood girls. Very short and open cloths from beneath and half open from above. Flirt to every man and show what you have in "house". Play the role of a LUST object. Male gender love that also the Grandfather, Father, the Man himself, the Son and the Grandson.
It will take some time (maybe centuries) untill the dummy male gender wakes up and protect the woman they love. Think, without women no world.
Congratulations, take care and try to speed up the time (no centuries but much shorter (years)).
In The Netherlands only 2 Hindu caste left. The Black and White so called brahmin and the others. We did that in one century. The brahmin will soon disapear.
Raj, RNI The Netherlands
Congrats!!!!!!!! Veena..... for such a powerful story.... have a nice week in the Netherlands.....
Proficiat aan Veena Krishna uit Mumbai (India), Bai Xiaoci uit China en Eric Garcia Barrantes Peru, en willen allemaal het beste.
Congradulations to Veena Krishna from Mumbai (India) , Bai Xiaoci from China and Eric Barrantes Garcia Peru , and wish to all of them best.
Fazel Mondani
Congradulations to Veena Krishna from Mumbai (India) , Bai Xiaoci from China and Eric Barrantes Garcia Peru , and wish to all of them best.
Fazel Mondani
Wow! India wins, congrats Veena!
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