At the university ground on Thursday evening a crowd comprising of young boys and girls, NCC cadets, members of Rotaract Club of an engineering college, a small battalion of 118 Grenadiers and volunteers of AIESEC had come together to be a part of an effort to bring about social change. The CrossBow Miles walk for the safety of women was being led by Shristi Bakshi who is covering a distance from Kanyakumari to Shrinagar to economically empower women through digitalization.
On Thursday night, Bakshi and the crowd were walking to reclaim safe roads for women. But there was a larger purpose behind every step that was being taken by every member of the crowd. Taking those present through the steps to download the CrossBow Miles App, Bakshi explained that around 12 social organizations working in different spheres ranging from women safety, women’s rights, education, to helping acid attack survivors and personal hygiene were associated with the App. “All that one has to do after downloading the App is to switch it on every morning and select the cause they wish to contribute. The steps that they take during the day will be counted as their contribution,” Bakshi who has a target of one billion steps, explained. “Today, I am also walking for acid burn survivors and every 4,000 steps taken will contribute towards the rehabilitation of one such victim,” she said.
The 3km walk from university ground to Shankar Nagar square and back had the participants carrying placards with messages related to women empowerment. “I and my friends from AIESEC are here as we work on UN projects and our goals are similar to those of Shrishti,” said Rishab Sahu. Agreed Kantini Talwadkar, who had volunteered for the event and was guiding participants at the venue. “We can understand and identify with the women related issues that are being taken up here,” said the final year engineering student.
Finding the issues being raised close to her heart, architect Abhilasha Sharma said, “Women still live in danger and face constant threats to their safety. I feel there is a need to take up these issues regularly to draw attention to them.” For NCC cadet Sonali Atre walking for a this was a noble cause as, “women still are not safe and we have to fight for our safety and rights.”
Artist Poornima Sukumar who is travelling with Bakshi and is painting walls in the cities they visit with images of women who have survived various challenges said, “It has been a wonderful experience so far. When I paint people stop by and ask about it. When narrating the story of the women I am painting they get into a pensive mood. That helps in drawing attention to the suffering of our sisters.”
Article Source: The Times of India