In India unwanted girls know they are unwanted, because they are named “unwanted.” Now, an effort to change a negative self-image begins with a new name.
A central Indian district held a renaming ceremony Saturday that it hopes will give the girls new dignity and help fight widespread gender discrimination that gives India a disproportionate gender ratio, more boys than girls.
The disproportion is due to the abortion of female fetuses or the profound neglect of girls, leading to their deaths. Boys will bring a dowry to a Hindi family, but girls are expensive - with that cost of a dowry.
Girls in the ceremony were happy with their new chosen names - such as Vaishali, which means prosperous, beautiful and good - and believe it will bring them the respect they deserve.
Spokesman-Review features writer Rebecca Nappi, along with Catherine Johnston, an Olympia, Wash., writer who works in hospital administration, write about issues of grief when facing serious illness, dying, death and other forms of loss.
Ask a question: Rebecca and Catherine answer grief questions in their syndicated EndNotes column for McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. Email them at endnotescolumn@gmail.com.
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