PANI is pleased to announce the release of Splash! and Hilor, a celebration of the indomitable young women from our Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program in Tarun, Ayodhya district, whose courageous, sovereign choices have created splashes and ripples within their families and village communities.
Nine years ago, when PANI launched its program in Tarun, the odds had seemed insurmountable.
The lives of adolescent girls in this region were governed by societal norms and controls that limited their aspirations and propelled them into a lifecycle of subordination and discrimination.
Of the thousands of girls who became a part of the program, Splash! and Hilor narrates the journeys of twenty-five young women who have conquered immense obstacles to excel at sports, serve in the armed forces, pursue careers in music, and work in companies. Their journeys are a testament to the power of the human spirit to rise above limitations of gender, environment, culture, and society.
We thank Rekha Saleela Nair for meeting, interviewing and soulfully crafting the journey of each girl, and Dr Prachi for translating these narratives into Hindi.
We are grateful to our publishers, the Greenleaf Book Group and BrainInk trust who partnered with us to publish Splash!, and the Sarvbhasha Prakashan for publishing Hilor.
We hope the stories in these books will allow you to experience our world of splashes and ripples and offer you deeper insights into the nuances of empowerment.
