The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in collaboration with USAID and ICCO organized the screening of Oscar winning director Megan Mylan’s latest release, “After My Garden Grows” on Wednesday 19th November 2014 from 2.30 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. at the Lincoln Room, American Center, Kolkata. The documentary is on the real life story of a rural girl from Coochbehar, West Bengal. It is a short documentary that captures a rising tide in rural West Bengal where more than 40,000 adolescent girls have become breadwinners and revolutionized the Indian daughter stereotype. The film explored the strategy for empowering young girls, underway in rural India. It revealed one powerful solution among hundreds that are changing the girls’ futures in measurable replicable ways. The documentary touches deeply-ingrained traditions like dowry and archaic customs in rural Bengal and takes notice of how the present generation is coming out of the cocoon.
The programme was addressed by Smt. Roshni Sen, IAS, Principal Secretary, Department of Women & Child Development and Social Welfare, Government of West Bengal; Ms. Joanne Joria, Director American Center, US Consulate General – Kolkata; Ms. Helen Lafave, Consul General of the United States in Kolkata and Mr. P Roy, Director General, The Bengal Chamber. A panel discussion, which was also part of the programme, was addressed by Ms. Oindrilla Dasgupta and Ms. Aloka Mitra, Ms. Soma Kanjilal, Ms Megan Mylan, Ms. Tapati Ghosh and Ms Monica, the main character of the documentary.