Men shine at women's film festival

The male population at MSU whole-heartedly participated at a film festival surrounding issues of women




Vadodara, March 14: It was a rare sight at the Urja Film Festival when an audience of interactive men joined in in the discussion about women injustice. Organized by The Women’s Studies Research Centre (WSRC), Department of Human Development and Family Studies, and Nazariya, the film festival was held at the Faculty of Family and Community Sciences of the Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU) on Saturday.
Based on the theme of girl child, the film festival had a large number of males in the audience as well as eminent male dignitaries on the panel. The students actively participated in the debates surrounding the films that were screened. Heated arguments suggested that involvement on the part of the audience was high.
Gaurang Raval, CEO of Drishti Media and programme manager of Nazariya, was one of the panelists who stood up strongly for women’s rights and justice. Voicing his opinion, Raval declared, “Just because we are men does not mean we are not to fight for our women. It becomes our responsibility to empower women and support them. We should encourage every man who stands up against any sort of injustice and indiscrimination.”
Also present was Dr.Raja Ram, Professor of Sociology at MSU. Impressed by the response of the audience, Dr. Ram stated, “It is indeed interesting to have such a mixed audience. Having the men react so strongly to feminine issues is truly a good sign that the struggle for justice has taken a new turn. Family upbringing, support and encouragement play a tremendous role in instilling such values in the male sex.”
Pradeep Shinde, a student of Psychology and Anshuman Srivastava from WSRC at MSU, affirmed the role of a man in a woman’s battle for integrity and against prejudice and oppression. “It is occasions like these where we get to voice our opinion and actually be taken seriously,” confesses Anshuman. “It is not to be thought that supporting a feminine cause makes us less masculine. We are simply confident in what we believe in.”
The festival turned out to be quite a success with films like Bawander, Maum ki Gudiya, Drizzle and School Chale Hum being screened and professors from various faculties of the university present at the venue.▌