The picture above is of Jawaharlal Nehru making his Famous “tryst with destiny” speech. It was a pivotal moment in twentieth century history. The midnight hour ushered an end to the failed leadership, failed statesmanship and short sightedness of the British Empire.
Fast forward 63 years and India is free but so many women and poor villagers are very far from freedom.
Below is Amal Lads track “Escape” which features samples from Mr. Nehru's famous speech. Though the piece isn't a patriot track yet a reflection of the founding words of a nation and the journey it still has to travel to achieve those words.
The inspiration behind “Escape” is beautiful and once you understand what emotions Amal was trying to achieve you’ll appreciate why Nehru’s speech was sampled.
In 2007 Amal took part in Connect India's Learning Journey trip to Gujarat, India. Whilst on his journey, he was introduced to a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) known as KMVS, which focused on women's empowerment. There he was told a true story of a woman from an "untouchable caste".
There is great pressure for women from the "untouchable caste" in India to give birth to boys and this particular mother gave birth to 5 daughters consecutively. The baby girls were killed by the in-laws as soon as they were born by a method known as "doodh pitthi", where the baby is dipped in boiling hot milk. The mother had been getting abuse from her husband and his family and was unable to return back to her own village.
One day it got too much for her and she walked to a dry well and flung herself in...However, she was still alive. Her husband dragged her out, with many broken bones, and dumped her at the doorstep of her father in her home village, a shameful rejection and a reminder of her failure as a wife. KMVS has been working with similar cases and communities to improve mentality and education so that women can be treated better.
This story really stuck with him and he tried to imagine what made her want to end her life. He imagined the feeling of maternal satisfaction that she would gain by being re-united with her lost daughters and he imagined her doing her motherly duties with her babies. Amal's track "Escape" is an interpretation of this hopeful feeling of being re-united as well as the sadness of leaving the world behind.
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