Violence Against Women Awareness Month.

Similar to the CSA Awareness Month, October is going to be Violence Against Women Awareness Month.

Heres what the core team has to say about it:

We know the subject is very wide and includes multiple aspects. To ensure that this awareness campaign is

effective, we have limited our scope to the following aspects:

1. Domestic violence – physical violence by husband/partner, other family members etc
2. Violence against girl child – including deprivation
3. Sexual violence – including marital rape, date rape
4. Emotional/psychological abuse
5. Dowry-related violence – including bride burning
6. Female infanticide
7. Acid attacks

We invite you to support and strengthen VAWM Oct 2011 as only you can. You can...

Keep up with our blog.

Write about it and send your blog post links or writeups to vawawareness at gmail dot com

(confidentiality and anonymity respected, as always).

Tweet about it – don't forget to add http://twitter.com/#!/VAWMonth .

Join in the Facebook discussions.

Show your support with the badge.

It's the season that celebrates the power of women. Come join in our Stree Shakti special posts.

The One in Which Ashu Reads to Antu.

Right from the minute your child starts recognizing alphabets, you are waiting for that awesome moment when your child starts reading books. "Will she be an early reader or late reader? Will she be interested in books at all? How is she doing compared to her peers in India? Will she be like a certain gifted child who goes through books like we go through tissues in this house? Will she retain what she reads?" Dont tell me you never thought along those lines! It cant be just me! And when the said child is nearing 6 and is nt memorizing the Encyclopedia like you wanted her to, you tell yourself, "Well! Whats the big deal! When they are older, they are all going to end up reading and discussing the same teen fiction crap anyway!" What? Thats just me?

Coming to the point, Ashus reading hit an all time high a month back. I think the two month summer vacation did some magic. She was found reading all the time. Begged for "just one more book" before bed time, she not only read the reading book her teacher sent home, she read the note the teacher sent for the parents as well. (And she actually read "read" as "red" when it was used in past tense! I was amazed!) And just when I heaved a sigh of relief and was wondering when to introduce Harry Potter to her, something unexpected happened.

I sent Antu to bed around 7.30 pm today because she had nt napped in the afternoon and was very sleepy. Ashu was sitting next to me on the couch and what else but reading! I heard Antu calling Ashu and told Ashu to go check on her and come back. Then I got busy in the kitchen and around 8 pm, went to check on the kids thinking that Ashu also went to sleep. And what do I see? This.

Antu asked Ashu to read to her, it seems. So she brought the table lamp from the other room, plugged it in their bedroom, kept the lamp on the bed and reading to her quietly! I think the day she starts reading with a flashlight under the blanket is nt far away!