To welcome home the first girl child born in 35 years; a family hires a helicopter worth 4.5 lakhs in Rajasthan
Rajasthan a state always in news for the wrong reasons of gender inequality reported a stunning event on the occasion of Ramnavami, when a newborn female child and her mother were welcomed in the paternal village with grand celebrations and a chopper ride after the post-delivery care in the girl's maternal village.
Rajasthan is a state where even in the technologically and societally advanced 21st century a male child is preferred over a female child. The socio-economic indicators for women are dismal in the state of Rajasthan.
The Child sex ratio statistics is a matter of great concern with 18 districts having a ratio of less than 900 with some districts like Sikar and JhunJhuna reporting statistics of less than 850. This is enough evidence to prove the preference of male children in Rajasthan and gives an indication of the prevalence of female foeticide and infanticide.
If unofficial reports are to be believed nearly 2500 cases of female foeticide take place in Rajasthan every day. Even if a girl child is born, she is treated unequally and married at the young age of 10-14 without much education as she is considered a burden on the family due to the dowry system.
Between all these dark statistics slowly and steadily things are improving with a lot of efforts from the authorities too who carry out gender sensitization drives
An extraordinary event happened on this year’s Ramnavmi in Nimbdi Chandawata Village of Nagaur district in Rajasthan as villagers were surprised to see the whirling sound of a helicopter over their rural households, a rare sight for them.
It was the welcoming of the girl child Riya- daughter of Hanuman Prajapati and Chuki Devi nearly 2 months after she was born in her maternal village and completed the postpartum care. Hanuman Prajapti said it was the idea of his father, Madanlal Kumhar, to celebrate the birth of his granddaughter wholeheartedly, the first girl child in the family after 35 long years. The grandfather even took special permissions from the respective district collectors to set up helipads for the same.
There is a distance of nearly 40 km between Nimbdi Chandawata and Harsolav villages ( Riya’s maternal village ) and the helicopter took around 10 minutes to cover the distance costing a whopping amount of 4.5 Lakhs for the small joyride.
The helicopter first took off from Nimbdi Chandawata with Hanuman and his three relatives onboard. After spending around two hours in Harsolav, Prajapat and others boarded the helicopter again with his wife and daughter to finally head home.
The delighted father neatly dressed in a coat deboarded the helicopter with the little girl strongly protected in the warmth of his arms as villagers turned up in numbers to catch the glimpse of the new celebrity in town.
Riya was welcomed with great fanfare and pomp with bands playing music along with her side and rose petals being flowered on her till the time she reached her sweet home. After Riya reached her home she was blessed by the village elderly and Bhajans were sung in the hope of her living a good life.
The proud father who has completed his education only till matriculation said, “By bringing my two-month-old daughter in a helicopter, we want to tell everyone that the birth of a daughter is an occasion that should be celebrated like a festival. Instead of feeling sad, we should all be happy when a daughter is born. ” Indeed inspiring words which even some so called educated urban class fails to understand till date.
He continued, ” It is usually seen that people do not celebrate the birth of a girl. There should be no discrimination between a girl and a boy. I will make my daughter study and fulfill all her dreams.”
“After 35 years we have been gifted with a daughter in the family so we made this arrangement. I’ll fulfill all her dreams” said Madanlal, grandfather of the baby, to news agency ANI.
This is indeed a remarkable and landmark event for Rajasthan where society still discriminates between a boy and a girl. This heartening event gives hope and indication that the tide is starting to turn toward’s BharatMata’s daughters who for long have been looked upon as a curse. This spectacular event will help a long way in sensitizing people that a girl child is no less and one hopes it becomes a trend in the long run.
