India Rises: One Billion Rising

On February 14, 2013, people in Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bangalore, Mumbai, Imphal, New Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad, came together in a first-of-its-kind protest against the widespread violence against women. After the horrific gang-rape of the 23-year-old medical student in Delhi, in December last year, the nation came out in protest demanding safer cities and the right to live free from fear. Joining the global movement ONE BILLION RISING, a call for the one billion women and all the men who love them to walk out of their jobs, schools, offices, homes on Valentine’s Day 2013 and strike, rise and dance, people in these cities came out to dance.

“Nothing we have ever done has spread so fast and happened so easily. It is happening in 205 countries. It is happening where women will risk their lives to dance and where women have never danced before. It is happening in all 7,000 islands of the Philippines and in over 50 cities in Turkey. There are 100 risings in Italy, 135 risings in UK and thousands in North America. We are expecting 25 million to rise in Bangladesh, and it's hard to imagine the numbers in India but they will be massive,” says founder Eve Ensler, explaining how much the campaign had accomplished before the dancing even began.

More on One Billion Rising.

Flash mobs, street plays and musical performances merged at the Parliament Street at 5pm, 14th February. Flash mobs in the city were coordinated by a group of young professionals, Delhi Rising and ... more

Flash mobs, street plays and musical performances merged at the Parliament Street at 5pm, 14th February. Flash mobs in the city were coordinated by a group of young professionals, Delhi Rising and rehearsals went on for a month in preparation. With a local instruction video on the dance steps up on Facebook. Sakshi Bhalla, a development worker, choreographer and member of Delhi Rising , along with another member, Reema Gudwani had choreographed the dance sequence to the song, Dilli Jago. Song composed by Karsh Kale and Gaurav Raina especially for Delhi’s One Billion Rising. The group was helped by NGOs like Sangat and Jagori. “Consciously, we have tried to do away with renowned names. There are about 35-40 participating groups. Most of them spontaneous acts.” less

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| Photo by REUTERS