Pink Ladoo is a new campaign to celebrate the birth of a daughter to challenge existing social values that are placed on daughters in the South Asian community.
Seeing the campaign on Facebook filled my heart – coming from a family of three daughters, the birth of a daughter and how (or how not) it’s celebrated is something really close to my heart.
Traditionally, in South Asian families, you’d only give out ladoo (Indian sweets) if you had … a son. You’d only celebrate Lohri if you had … a son. You only celebrated by gifting loved ones with elaborate Indian outfits if you had … a son.
Why wasn’t the same done for daughters? It was almost seen as a minor catastrophe if you had a daughter and no sons. Who would carry the family name? Who would take care of parents during old age?
I can safely say that my parents have never missed having a son. Yes in our culture daughters do move out to live with their husbands. And yes one day mum and dad will be living alone in a big house and yes that sucks. It hurts. But they know we’d never leave them or not take care of them. We wouldn’t do that now so why would we do it during old age? Why does it matter what gender we are?
Pink Ladoo is about celebrating equality. It’s about encouraging a positive perception for the birth of a baby – be it a boy or a girl. It’s a movement for change. A movement towards equality in the South Asian community.
To any mother in law or mother that doesn’t celebrate the birth of a daughter or granddaughter, I ask you one thing – who produced your son? You did. What are you? Point made. Women are phenomenal and without women there would be no men and they deserve to be celebrated the same as men if not more!
As Guru Nanak Dev Ji taught us …
“So kyo mundha aakhiye jith jameh rajaan”
“Why call her bad, from her Kings are born”
When we fell pregnant, the gender of the baby wasn’t even a question for us. To fall pregnant was a blessing, to carry and deliver a healthy child was a miracle and ultimately that’s all we cared about. We are blessed that both of our parents belong to the same school of thought as us.
I pray one day I am also blessed with a daughter and she showers me with as much love and care as we do our parents and as much as my mum and her five sisters do to their parents. I’ll be painting the town pink! My late Papa Ji always said he was blessed to have five daughters and was equally blessed to have his one son.
Thankfully times have moved on but you still find pockets of backward thinking.
Hug your children extra tight tonight and celebrate what God has blessed you with – a perfect little gem, irrespective of gender. Accept God’s gifts open heartedly.
Well done Raj Khaira for bringing this issue to the forefront.
Good night x
So beautifully written. Can’t believe this thought process still exists in society. We gave ladoos when our daughter was born & did a massive Lohri party too which was hosted by my in laws. Boy or girl….every child is a blessing xxx