Little girl drives 15 km blindfolded for awareness on female infanticide in Gujarat

By Suresh Soni

Rajkot, May 11 : Believe it or not, an 11-year-old girl in Rajkot has adopted a dare devil approach to spread awareness about female foeticide in Gujarat. She performs magic tricks to convey a social message that girl child is also needed in society. Jolly Shah, a resident of Jamnagar, left people in Rajkot flabbergasted on Saturday by driving a scooty (mini scooter) and covering 15 kilometers blindfolded!

The standard six student Jolly drew a lot of people as she passed through the roads of Rajkot while appealing to people to save the girl child.

She drove along the main thoroughfares like Dr. Yagnik Road, Race Course Road, Ring Road and Palace Road, as a number of people watched her dare devil performance with astonishment.

She wanted to draw public attention over the female foeticide issue.

The young girl, who claims herself to be the youngest female magician of India, feels strongly about the problem of female foeticide. She has been associated with this campaign for quite some time and is encouraged by public response to her endeavour against a social problem. "I have been doing this kind of road shows for over two years in various villages and cities in Gujarat, blindfolded with a green cloth and then covering a Naqab on my face. I am sure my message will go well in the society with this gesture of mine. And I will also ask everyone to save the girl child which I consider is very important campaign needed for our society," said Jolly Shah, the little magician.

She says people in Gujarat should realize the seriousness of female foeticide and take up initiatives to prevent it. Even the Gujarat' chief minister Narendra Modiof is an active advocate of saving the girl child.

Meanwhile, the young girl's parents were delighted to watch their daughter performing such a feat for a cause with such a commitment.

"Jolly is not my daughter but like a son to me. She has been doing it so nicely and drawing crowds to a noble cause. People watching such a young girl involved in a social campaign readily join and support her," said Manojbhai Shah, father of Jolly Shah, the wonder kid.

Young and old alike after watching her opined if such a young girl could be so concerned for female foeticide, why cannot they? "When we saw her being a part of such a noble campaign, we thought why not join her and support her," said Doliben, an audience.

Meanwhile, the Mayor of Rajkot Dhansukhbhai Bhandari flagged off this unique blindfolded drive by this young social reformer in the making, as the audience cheered the young girl all the way.

ANI