16 July,2024 07:20 AM IST | Mumbai | Hemal Ashar
Kiran Bedi stressed the empowerment aspect. Pic/Aditi Haralkar
Social activist she is now, but just her presence still makes one want to snap a salute to Dr Kiran Bedi, who was in Mumbai to unveil a flashlight with a safety alarm. This is a torch made with an eye on the safety and security of women and other vulnerable people. The Eveready siren torch, dazzling bright during the demonstration launch, has a siren which will wail when put on by the person carrying it and is an immediate attention getter. The noise resonated through the venue when Bedi pressed a button on the flashlight, as it was formally launched at an Andheri East hotel on Tuesday.
The one strong message behind the device is: break or shatter the silence, and hence the siren. When in distress, danger or during any emergency in fact, the compact torch can be put on by the person who must carry it in an accessible easy to reach place, like hanging it on your bag, so that one does not have to look for it feverishly in an emergency. The flashlight emits a 100-decibel loud alarm while flashing, when its attached key chain is pulled. This draws the attention of passers-by. It is meant to act as both deterrent for would be danger and a shrill, easy to hear cry for help.
Bedi, who has so many firsts to her name, including first woman IPS officer, said that this torch will, "enhance the confidence level of women. You have actually empowered a woman who is feeling scared and wants help. This siren will go a long way, I wish it reaches more and more hands," said Bedi cutting a dapper figure in her salwar-kurta, jacket and shoes. Her statement, "this is a weapon, a non-violent weapon of another kind," was cheered.
Bedi highlighted that even schoolgirls returning from evening school, perhaps, when the sun is setting can use the device. "When you enhance a woman's physical safety, it means better mental health too."
Bedi touched upon her two foundations Navjyoti India Foundation and India Vision Foundation, working towards women empowerment, in which the girls and women would benefit from this product. She also suggested that the torch should have a little strap, so that people can hang it, "and they are hands free. We can also consider giving them as gifts for Diwali or Women's Day," said Bedi. She had the audience laughing when she said, "My first experience with a torch was when I went to see a doctor, as a child. The doctor said: open your mouth and shone the torch. Maybe at some time, you could bring in a doctor's torch, where when the doctor asks a patient to open their mouth, what he sees can be documented and analysed. The torch has a memory. Maybe, that can be yet another torch innovation using Artificial Intelligence (AI)."
For this #AwaazUthaneyKaPower campaign, Eveready collaborated with India Signing Hands, an organisation dedicated to providing solutions to "accessibility" issues faced by the deaf community.
Eveready honchos said people will now see a blitz of awareness about the flashlight on which the #AwaazUthaneyKaPower campaign has been built. The compact siren torch with charger costs R225 and will be made widely available across as accessibility is vital, they stressed. The curtain fell on a thought provoking late morning which could be summed up as: giving dignity, power, agency and a voice to those who are voiceless, both literally and figuratively.
