In recent times, subjects regarding toilets and sanitation have been open spoken about by several people, including the Prime Minister himself. Narendra Modi mentioned it, in his Independence Day speech last year. However, the ground reality remains the same for woman as they still have to struggle to get their basic ‘Right to Pee’.
Taking this initiative forward, the activists from CORO and Right to Pee have joined hands to help spread awareness about this issue through a commercial play called ‘Baikanna Ka Nahi?’ means ‘Why Not for Women’.
The play aims to throw a light upon the perennial unavailability of clean toilet facilities in public places, which is a matter of concern to women.
Using comedy and drama as an important tool, the creators of this play intend to give out a strong message.
“Toilet is a fundamental need of women. After much talk about it, much work hasn’t been done on the ground level to improve this situation. We need to have a sufficient number of clean and accessible toilets at the public places. Through this play we want to highlight this issue,” said Rajesh Kolambkar writer of the play.
In spite of suffering a lot due to a lack of toilets facility, most of the women choose to suffer in silence. One of the motives of this play is to encourage women to raise their voice to solve this problem.
“Women don’t speak up on this issue. They are still too shy to talk about it openly. Through our play we want to address this issue as well,” Rajesh Kolmkar said.
Becoming an exception to the norm, Mumtaj Sheikh didn’t keep mum and made ‘Right to Pee’ her mission.
Speaking about the play, ‘Baikanna ka Nahi?’, Mumtaj said, “At the moment, the play focuses on the plight of women in Mumbai. But gradually we want to extend the scope of this narrative. We will try to incorporate the problems faced by women in rural areas as well. We want to reach out to a wide audience to spread the message.”