‘Ga Gheshe Daraben Na’: The power of a young entrepreneur
Recently, pictures of girls wearing hair pins and t-shirts with the text, 'Ga Gheshe Daraben Na' created quite a stir. The project, which has garnered widely encouraging reactions, was started by Jeenat Jahan Nisha, an alumnus of University of Development Alternative, after she was inappropriately touched by a man inside a bus.
"When that man touched me, no one inside the bus reached out to help," says Nisha. "So, I said to him, 'Ga Gheshe Daraben Na.' All of a sudden, the people took notice, but they started speaking against me, brushing the incident off as a mere mistake."
After coming back home that day, Nisha painted the statement on one of her hair pins and started wearing it, as her way to bring about subtle positive changes.
"I have faced many such situations before, and I would just get off the bus before it stopped at my destination," explains Nisha. "But that one man made me realise that by not taking a stand, we are breeding molesters everywhere. I did not start this movement as a business idea, but to break the silence and encourage people to raise their voices against sexual harassment."
Although she received several negative comments, Nisha was met with an overwhelming amount of appreciation for her work from women and girls across the country.
Her brand, BJNS' (Biju, Jisa, Nisha, Shuvo), took part in the Raangta Mela held at Midas Centre recently. Biju, Jisa and Shuvo are Nisha's siblings. She has been running the enterprise for more than three years with their help. They make traditional and unique Bangladeshi products.
"My brother and some of his male friends came up with the idea of printing Gaa Gheshe Daraben Na on T-shirts, as they wanted to support the movement," says Nisha.
After the launch, people started ordering the T-shirt in huge numbers and Nisha is hopeful about expanding this social project further.
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