Mumbai: MukkaMaar celebrated International Women’s Day with over 1500 girls from 56 schools at Gallant Sports Arena - Juhu in Mumbai. Each year, MukkaMaar celebrates International Women's Day, through an inter-school competition while being cheered on by their favourite celebrities. They presented the idea of gender equality through skits, songs,  self-defence techniques and dances. This year, the performances highlighted women’s rights and addressed the stigma around menstruation, domestic violence, eve teasing, and safe and unsafe touch among others. 

There were 15 performances of 5 minutes each in the First round, while the second round was a quiz round between the top 5 teams. MHB No.1 School, Malvani, was the winning school while Kherwadi School and Dixit Road School were the first and second runner-ups. 

Actor Amol Parashar in support of MukkaMaar said - “There are issues with how differently girls and boys are brought up. Girls are blamed for things they are victims of and then shamed for it. This is a great initiative that makes sure that girls have access to ways to build self-esteem, learn self-defence and make a name for themselves in the world; and to introduce these ideas in the modern education system.”

Aditi Mittal commented on the performances by saying - “What I loved the most were the ideas of izzat and sharam were addressed on the stage and I thought that was just magical because I think language plays such an important part in how we bring up girls and the fact that girls brought these terms up on the stage to show how they are not conducive to raise strong, independent girls was delightful!

Amol Parashar was later challenged by MukkaMaar Girls in a plank-holding challenge and was thoroughly impressed with how strong the young girls were. After holding the plank for 2 minutes, Amol gave up while the MukkaMaar Girls continued. Comedian Aditi Mittal, athlete Ayesha Billimoria, cyberpsychologist Nirali Bhatia and VP of the Federation of Mixed Martial Arts Preksha Jhaveri with Sukhnandan Vohra were the judges for the event.

MukkaMaar, a non-profit organisation established in 2018 by actor Ishita Sharma, teaches young girls about gender equality, their rights and the laws that support them to encourage them to stand up and defend themselves. Through the 3-year, bi-weekly, in-school program that runs in partnership with BMC Education Department, girls in 6th, 7th and 8th grades learn to defend themselves against the spectrum of gender-based violence. MukkaMaar’s programs are supported by philanthropic organisations and CSRs. Azim Premji Foundation, Edelgive Foundation, Metropolis Foundation, Social Venture Partners - Mumbai Chapter, Saint Gobain, Network Intelligence, Systems Plus, and Bandhan AMC supported this year's projects.

Ishita Sharma, Founder & CEO, MukkaMaar added, “It has been our constant endeavour to encourage girls to stand up for their rights in today’s world. To empower them our first step is to make them feel that they have a team supporting them so they don't feel bogged down by circumstances. With our Annual Events, we add to it by providing them with a platform and a community that is ready to support them. At every step, we are working towards our vision of a nation where women feel safe and can live a life of their choosing”.

In the past, judges and guests included Shabana Azmi, Richa Chaddha, Sania Malhotra, and Fatima Sana Sheikh who attended to support the young girls.