‎Cyclists tour

By Our Reporter

SHILLONG, APR 6: Captivated by the exquisiteness of the matrilineal system in Meghalaya, three Delhite cyclists have decided to spread this “culture of zero-discrimination against women folks” across the country.

Akash, Navin and Siraj landed in the state-capital about 10 days ago on their first season of Cultural Integration Tour to North East India to further propagate the government’s social campaign of – “Save Girl Child, Educate Girl Child”.

The three passionate cyclists have covered at least 13 states before arriving in Meghalaya and Assam, the first two states of North East region they have visited so far, in their journey for documenting the celebration of girl child.

In an interaction with journalists here on Thursday, Aakash, a lawyer by profession said, “Meghalaya is a place from where the other states in the country should learn on how to respect women”

According to census data, the child sex ratio (0–6 years) in India was 927 girls per 1,000 boys in 2001, which dropped drastically to 918 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2011. A 2012 UNICEF report ranked India 41st among 195 countries.

However, Akash, who remarked that there is absolutely no such discrimination against girl child in the state said, “We want to speak about the culture of Meghalaya to the other states to imbibe this kind of celebration of girl child.”

While having interviewed a lot of girls during their trips to famous tourist spot – Cherrapunjee and other places, he said, “It is pleasant to know the wonderful things about how women have a better playground in the society.”

Another cyclist, Siraj, also an artist said that the team would soon come up with a book besides using social media as a medium to spread awareness on the issue.

“We will put down all the stories including experiences we had in matrilineal Meghalaya, which we feel will inspire people a lot that they need to go to the North East and learn from the beauty of its culture,” he said.

They would however cover other states in the North East – Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram in the second season of their tour to the North East.

The cyclists also visited the unique living root bridges which they termed as the “Taj Mahal of Meghalaya” and said, “This is an important example of public/community art. The state government should promote such rich culture by inviting people from other countries to this part of the world.”

They were also of the view that the government should also promote arts and culture in the curriculum apart from holding musical programmes and extravaganzas.