Mahindra Nanhi Kali champions the education of girl children in India. In the twenty years since its establishment, it has worked relentlessly to educate over 250,000 young girls and reduce school drops out by 10%. But, this hasn’t even scratched the surface of the problem. While the government’s Right to Education Act mandates the education of all children under 14, around 40% of adolescent girls aged 15-18 have not seen a school in their lifetime. This is because, Indian families prioritize the male child. They believe that girls are meant to take care of the home, for which education is not essential. More importantly, they believe that by educating a girl, her newfound independence will create further problems. She might be swayed by modern ideas and walk away from age old traditions and practices. She might adopt western dressing habits and marry outside the cast. In short, education might lead her astray.

To build a promising future of consistent education for the girl child, we had to change this mindset. And break the patriarchal hold that restricted a girl’s freedom.

Reuters found that India was the most dangerous country for women in 2018. Female feticide is still rampant in the country. In many parts, girls are denied basic nutrition. The World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report ranked India 108 out of 149 countries, identifying it as one of the worst countries on gender parity in 2018.

This is a grim situation for women in India. Most are still expected to be housewives. Girls are denied a proper education in the name of religion and socio-cultural practices. The right-wing government has appointed themselves as moral guardians of women but has done little to improve their condition and protect their rights.

The need of the hour is education for girls. It is their only ticket to freedom. Because an educated girl will become an independent thinking woman who will take control of her life. To enable this, we need to bring about a change in the mindset of the society, which is what this campaign aims to do.

If you are a parent of a girl in India, you have definitely heard this phrase. “Ladki Haath Se Nikal Jaayegi”. It means, “Be careful, she will stray.” What it really means is that a woman has to be monitored and controlled, because she can’t be trusted to take the right decisions for herself. And, if you don’t do so, she will do something that could bring shame to the family.

Mahindra Nanhi Kali, one of India’s biggest promotors of girl children education, wanted to change this archaic thinking. And they did if by changing the usage of the phrase from controlling women to liberating them, through an endearing film.

In the last 20 years, India’s progress has been phenomenal. It has been one of the world’s fastest growing major economies. This is in spite of half the country, its women, still being held back by its patriarchal mindset. A mindset that says a woman's role is at home.

We had to talk to a large part of the country that still believed in this control over women. So we decided to take this patriarchal mindset head-on. And remind them of the wonderful things that can happen when you give a woman control over her own life.

The phrase “Ladki haath se nikal jayegi” (“Be careful, the girl will stray”) is a phrase that is very commonly used across India, to warn parents against giving their daughters too much freedom. To turn this statement of control into a slogan for women empowerment, we created an endearing film to bring alive our idea. The campaign Launched on Youtube on 1st August, 2018 and was promoted on social media platforms for one month. It was also subsequently released on television.

• 100 million+ views

• 600 million+ impressions

• 3520% increase in new visitors to Mahindra Nanhi Kali Website

• 1572% lift in searches for Mahindra Nanhi Kali

• 94.8% lift in brand interest

• Campaign India’s most viewed ads in 2018

• Impact Magazine’s 10 best ads in 2018

• When the country’s women won medals at the Asian games 2018, the phrase was used widely in social media to celebrate their achievements. And today, the meaning of the phrase has changed. People now use it as a slogan for women empowerment.