The travails of young women, specially from the Old City, who are forcefully married off to much older men, remains a concern. Their plight and their journey towards freedom is well documented in a short film Pinjron ki Udaan. The film that’s soon to be screened in the city by Moving Images and made by Shaheen Women’s Resource and Welfare Association in the Old City, does not tell a sob story. It holds a mirror to society and showcases the struggle of four of its members. The 85-minute film has been directed by Sujit Kumar KV and follows the lives of Tasleem Begum, Waseem Fatima, Sultana Begum and K Pooja. “These four girls who work with Shaheen narrate their personal journey of living in poverty, facing violence, harassment and traumatic experiences and how they rebuilt their lives,” shares Jameela Nishat, founder, director of NGO Shaheen.
In one of the scenes, Tasleem talks about her unending story of pain, sorrow, violence and abandonment. As an18-year-old, she was married to a 62-year-old sheikh from the Gulf. She shares how she came out of it and and how Shaheen helped her to continue her education and even learn to drive a car. “The middle men involved in this racket made this alliance sound like a gateway out of poverty,” she says. “I believe my story will resonate with many other women faced similar situations,” she adds.
Sultana, the second protagonist was married young and was eight months pregnant, when her violent husband caused injuries on her face. She speaks of the changes after educating herself and how dreams can come true if one works towards it.As a 13-year-old, Wasim was horrified when she was married off to an old Arab. “When she was abandoned, she empowered herself and now trains other girls in zardozi work,” says Jameela. Pooja belongs to a family of conservancy workers. A victim of child sexual abuse, she came out of the trauma to lead a new life. “It has taken me a lot of effort to get where I am; I have reached a stage where I am able to share my experiences in front of a camera; this is a big deal for me,” says the young girl. The film concludes with a qawwali and the lead singer in the group is none other than Pooja.
The documentary was screened at Urdu Ghar and Goethe Zentrum recently and the audience found it hard to hold back tears. “The girls speak in Deccani and after watching it, the audience said, ‘we don’t want our daughters to suffer’,” says Jameela, who registered the NGO in 2002. She has seen many changes in these 17 years. “Earlier we could not even talk about gender equality or domestic violence and the police would not help saying ‘ yeh ghar ka maamla hai’ . Now there is police support and the Telangana government has also been supportive with its scholarships.”