Is it possible for a girl superhero to inspire children in India to shatter prejudices and create a more inclusive world? The answer is yes. Young people are being inspired to break stereotypes, thanks to a new hero. Children in India are embracing a new female superhero, Dabung Girl. "Dabung" means "fearless" in Hindi. It's an award-winning comic book series that promotes gender equality, inclusiveness and diversity. She's smart, she's fearless, she motivates children to discover their inner superheroes and to recognise the superheroes in the girls around them. This superhero was created by Saurabh Agarwal, an IIT-Harvard alum, in an effort to educate children about societal issues. Together with Saurabh, a group of educators have come up with a way to make this happen, through powerful superhero stories.
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Stories have tremendous power. They have the power to move us emotionally, improve our relationships with one another, and even persuade us to change our beliefs. According to some of the research studies, superhero stories give children's imaginations wings. When children hear stories about superheroes, they feel more empowered. However, the majority of superheroes that Indian children read about are male, and these stories rarely address challenges that children experience.
Dabung Girl's comic books address difficult themes such as child protection (preventing child labour, preventing child marriage, and so on) as well as essential topics of encouraging girls to participate in sports and leadership roles. Throughout the comic books, there is fantasy, creativity, humour, relatability, and fun. The titles are available on Amazon, Flipkart, and the Kindle app. In addition, the books are being provided free of charge to kids in collaboration with civil society organisations, schools, and teachers.
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The first comic book was released by the team during ComicCon Delhi 2019. Since then, the team has released 12 comic books. Team Dabung Girl has collaborated with a number of social organisations to create and broaden the reach of comic books. Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation (India) and Seeds of Peace are two such organisations (USA).
One of the characters in the latest comic book "Cyber Attack on America: SuperAvni and Dabung Girl" is Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States. The story encourages young women to take up leadership roles.
Children and educators are loving Dabung Girl. Dabung Girl was just named a Generation Equality Ally by UN Women India. Dabung Girl was also named the best rising comic book series by AnimationXpress at the CABM 2021 Awards. The team earned an award for the child protection community campaign at the Digital Empowerment Foundation's SM4E 2021 Awards.
To build on the success of Dabung Girl, the team has launched SuperAvni, a digital superhero who helps teenagers and young adults deal with cyberbullying, mental health, and other digital world challenges. Next-gen superhero SuperAvni blends empathy and technology to combat today's most pressing issues. A social impact influencer and a rebel who Indian youth can identify with, she has become an inspiration to many.
So, the next time you want to give a child a book, think about a comic book that challenges preconceptions and encourages them to be changemakers.
