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Humraahi |
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JlHumraahi" :A Happy Blend of Entertainment and Social Communication
''Humraahi'', the family planning
soap opera, currently being screened
on the Doordarshan national network
every Tuesday (the first episode was
telecast on January 14, 1992), is all set
to become a trend-setter for such
programmes aimed at securing desired
behavioural change in support of
socially important issues.
Produced by Roger Pereira, the
programme emphasises the point that
when women's status improves,
population regulation follows almost
automatically. It is now well-estab-
lished that some of the fundamental
f'.ct.:>rsresponsible for India's high
birth rate are the low status of women,
female illiteracy and the early age of
marriage. ''Humraahi'' is tailored to
awaken viewers to the realisation that
such traditional norms are self-
defeating and must be changed.
"Humraahi" promotes inter-
spouse dialogue - a concept of com pan-
ionship in which decisions are made by
common consent, including the
planning of families.
According to Roger Pereira, it has
been a long journey in their search to
find the perfect balance between
entertainment and social (:ommunica-
tion. Judging by the popularity of the
serial, it app~rS to have been well
achieved.
"Humraahi" succeeds to a
considerable extent, in creating a
critical awareness. The recently
introduced epilogue by the famous
film actress Tanuja not only puts the
featured issues in proper perspective
but also helps in carrying the debate
forward as is evidenced by the stream
of letters received from viewers.
Incidentally, the serial commands 80
per cent viewership in the metros,
according to latest surveys.
Mr J R D Tata and the Family
Planning Foundation have been at the
back of this venture all along. "One
man - Mr Tata - gave us unstinted
support all through our long wait and
much of the socio-cultural data that
have gone into the scripts of
"Humraahi" has come from research
done by the Foundation and provided
to us by Mr Harish Khanna whose
abiding interest in the fruition of the
project is very gratifying," acknowl-
edges Roger Pereira.
Two research projects will seek to
vaJidate the Humraahi thesis: that
social communications can playa key
role in education and motivation. One
project will be conducted by the Family
Planning Foundation in collaboration
with Doordarshan. The other will be
conducted by the Annenburg School of
Communications in Los Angeles,
California under Prof Everett Rogers.