15 self-defence techniques in 30 minutes for girls

Their target is to train 20 lakh girls and women by December 2020 and they want to join forces to reach this ambitious number.
15 self-defence techniques in 30 minutes for girls

HYDERABAD : Did you know that two weeks after the rape and murder of Disha, the 27-year-old vet from Hyderabad who was brutally killed on the outskirts of the city on November 27, the students of her college RC Reddy Veterinary College in Rajendra Nagar got to learn 15 self-defense techniques from experts? This was part of Operation Aishwarya, an initiative take up by SheTeams, dietician and yoga expert Jyoti Jashnani, High Court advocate and martial arts trainer Shiva Ganesh and television actor Kapil Deev. 

Talking to Hyderabad Express, Jyoti says that the recent yoga shibir in Nagpur got her connected to the martial arts trainer and soon after she read about Disha’s case, they decided to pitch their project to SheTeams in order to reach out to lakhs of women in Hyderabad who may face similar dangerous situations every day in their lives. “I have always been under the false impression that Hyderabad is safe for women until Disha made us realise we are not.

I felt that as yoga teacher, I can teach women on how to handle the first few moments after they sense danger,” she says. Presence of mind, Jyoti believes, helps a girl stay out of danger and plan her next move. “From teaching about how to hone your instinct to how to strategise your move when surrounded by violent people, to wriggling  yourself out from the grip of the assaulter, our 30-minute workshop packs in a lot,” the Yoga Ratna from the city says. 

Targetted at girls and women aged 12 to 45, the team started a week ago and have already given training at four centres including an apartment complex in Begumpet with 300 women, and 40 turned up and at Skyview where they trained 80 women. “While Shiva teaches the physical techniques, I help them go to stragetise mentally,” Jyoti adds. Their target is to train 20 lakh girls and women by December 2020 and they want to join forces to reach this ambitious number.

In the pipeline is to create a video that can be circulated on WhatsApp or uploaded on YouTube  and urging women to download HawkEye app besides asking them to put the techiques into practice whenever they get the opportunity. “This is free of cost and any school, college, apartment complex, office or colony can reach out to us and we will be happy to teach them,” says Jyoti. They also want to do outreach programmes and empower girls in slums and hostels. 
 kalanidhi@newindianexpress.com  @mkalanidhi

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