Go Beyond

New Delhi, India

Khush Khabri is the Hindi term for Good News — and it is also the name of Vinita Shaw’s radio broadcast in India. Every week, Vinita makes her way through Delhi’s traffic to a radio studio nestled in a corner office of a downtown high-rise to tape her weekly broadcast. What she is doing in that little studio is more than significant, it is strategic.

Vinita Shaw recording her radio program in the studio.

Khush Khabri is the only radio broadcast in India that specifically addresses crimes against women, and a variety of other issues affecting women, from a biblical worldview. Vinita’s message is broadcast on the new and popular FM Rainbow channel of All India Radio, a channel that caters primarily to a younger audience on the move. An estimated 80 million people have access to All India Radio, making it the most effective mass communication vehicle on the subcontinent.

Members of the production team.

This morning, I watched and listened as Vinita and her team taped two programs. The first program addresses the suicide rate among women in India — a disturbing 20% higher than the rest of the world. According to a report in today’s Times of India newspaper, 64% of women who commit suicide in India do so because of domestic violence. The second program addresses the issue of female feticide or sex-selective abortion. Both of these programs will air this month.

The Khush Khabri production team.

Vinita’s team add creative elements to the broadcast to attract listeners, including a Bollywood song about the issue under consideration. I am told that there is a Bollywood song for just about every situation in life in India. The team also produces a drama to highlight the topic of the broadcast and features a quiz that gives listeners the chance to win a prize.

Every week, listeners will write, text, or call with their feedback and questions. And, all those who provide their mailing address receive free follow-up materials. The feedback is proof that people are listening and thinking deeply about the troubling issues that Vinita addresses every week.

The specialist who puts together all the pieces of the program.

Change has to begin somewhere and with someone. Vinita refuses to look the other way or to walk away from the ugly things that find their way into India’s headlines almost daily. The headlines in India will not change until people with the requisite courage and audacity rise up to challenge the centuries-old views that devalue women and put them at risk.

Vinita is willing to lend her voice to those who have no voice and to champion the rights of little girls and women who live in fear, are abused and marginalized, and often die for senseless reasons every day. She is bringing hope through the airwaves to untold numbers of people she will never meet. And that’s good news!