P&G launches SHIKSHA music video

Company News

Mumbai, June 16

Continuing its focus to support the right to education of underprivileged children in India, P&G India and CRY launched the SHIKSHA Song and Music Video today. The video is titled Padhega India, Badhega India, Mille Sabko Shiksha ka Haq. The whole team – Singer Shaan, Music Director Bappi Lahiri, the face of Shiksha Renuka Shahane, Music Video Director Hansal Mehta and lyricist Virag Mishra – was present to support the education of underprivileged children in India at the launch of Shiksha song and music video.

Project Shiksha is a national consumer program run by Procter & Gamble (P&G) in association with Child Rights and You (CRY) and Sony Entertainment Television. This program allows consumers to participate in a national effort to support the education of underprivileged children in India via simple brand choices. Every time a consumer buys a large pack of Tide, Ariel, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Rejoice, Vicks VapoRub, Whisper, Gillette Mach 3 Turbo, Gillette Series, Oral B, Duracell or Pampers during April, May and June, she will have made a definitive contribution towards enabling a child’s right to education.

The decision to create a Shiksha song was a decision to tap into the power of music to inspire people to support Shiksha and help underprivileged children access their right to education. Music touches a person’s mind, body, heart, and soul and has the unique ability to inspire many to take action against social injustices. It has played a role in every significant social change movement from abolition of slavery to civil rights to peace to feminism to world hunger to AIDS to anti-globalization.

The Shiksha Song sung by Shaan, Bappi and Renuka talks about the right of every child to access education and how education will take India forward and onto the world map. Directed by Hansal, a well-known feature film director, the video is based on a day in the life of a child and stars Bappi Lahiri, Shaan and the face of Shiksha 2007-Renuka Sahane. The Shiksha song & video will be released nationwide to all music channels and will be aired and played across all supporting networks.

Project Shiksha, a part of P&G’s global philanthropy program P&G Live, Learn and Thrive that focuses on the development of children in need, has, till date, contributed Rs. 2.69 crore to support the education of 33052 children in 435 communities. The Shiksha projects are working with the State Education Departments to re-look at existing education policies; are creating awareness to build more schools with better infrastructure, and more basic amenities like water, electricity, health; enrolling more children into formal schools and promotion of retention in schools; and building all-round development of children.

Vivek Gupta, Associate Director, Market Strategy & Planning, Procter & Gamble India said, “This year we have endeavoured to turn Shiksha into a national consumer movement and what better way to do it than through music! Music has a tremendous power to inspire and motivate. Great struggles and causes have always had a song, an anthem that has kept people going strong on the right path of their beliefs. Project Shiksha is the platform where we engage and empower the consumer to make a difference to a child’s life simply by choosing to buy quality products from P&G. Shiksha is not just an initiative of one corporate and one NGO, it is in fact an act of nation building that all of us as concerned citizens should participate in.”

Irwin Fernandes, Regional Director, Child Rights and You said, “‘We must become the change we want to see’, said Mahatma Gandhi and I believe the ‘Shiksha song’ is a suitable example of how people like Shaan, Bappi Da and Renuka have chosen to be the change agents. They have dedicated their time and skills towards making the cause of right to education popular with the Shiksha song. Today, each one of us has in our daily life witnessed children being prized away from quality education for no fault of their own. For they have not chosen to be born of a certain religion or caste or class or gender. So how can these be factors influence what opportunities they get? A change towards justice and equality is what each one of them deserves. Let us today promise to be that change agent for all children in India. Let us pledge our support for child rights.”

Renowned Music Director Bappi Lahiri said, “Shiksha, education, is one of the most critical factors deciding the choices that life offers to a child. However, millions of children in this country today are being deprived of this very important opportunity because quality education is only possible when every child has adequate nutrition, proper healthcare, can live in safe surroundings, is free to study, rest and play, and doesn't have to work for a living. I support project Shiksha and I am happy to have been part of the Shiksha Song & Music Video.”

Shiksha Supporter and Highly Acclaimed Singer Shaan said, “How many times have we felt the problem of education is just too big, too deep rooted, too complicated for our individual efforts to make any significant difference? In reality, however all it takes is your voice and time. Just ask the right of education for every Indian child. If each one of us makes a start, the right of education will be taken up as urgent national issue and it won’t be a distant dream to see an India developed in the true sense, where every Indian is living a fulfilled life”

Shiksha Supporter and Face of Shiksha Renuka Sahane said, “There can be no doubt that education is one of the most important inputs a child can get while growing up. There can also be no doubt that it is our responsibility as adults to ensure that we ask for affordable and quality education infrastructure and teaching methods for all children in India. It is for us to contribute in our own little ways to make it happen. I endorse project Shiksha because I firmly believe that you need to involve everybody when you want to make a difference of this nature and scale. With the Shiksha song, we're using music to galvanize people and create awareness of every child’s right to education.”

Neeraj Vyas, National Sales Head, Sony Entertainment Television said, “As one of the leading national television channels, we have the power to reach millions of families watching us with the message of growth of project SHIKSHA and its achievements. Sony Entertainment Television has been associated with this initiative since its inception in 2003 and as a responsible corporate citizen, we believe that it is our responsibility to support social issues, which are of national importance and therefore continue with our commitment to SHIKSHA - helping children access their right to education. SHIKSHA reflects our belief and we are sure our consistent approach will make a big difference someday”.

Shiksha Song

Teen rang se rangega duniya…

Padhega India, Badhega India.

Aao tumhe chand pe le jaayein...

Shiksha ki lau ko jaalayen.

Jitne bhi sapne hai aakhon mein,

Shiksha se sach kar dhikhaien.

Aao tumhe chand pe le jaayein...

Kitne rang hain duniya mein bikhare,

Padh likh kar ke India bhi sanware...

Shiksha ka rang hai gehra,

Hai aaj sab ka sunhera..

Teen rang se rangega duniya…

Padhega India, Badhega India.

Shiksha ki lau par, haq hai sabhi ka...

Har akshar mein hai naam kisi ka...

For further information, please contact:

Karen Peters / Rachita Ravindran / Latika Srivastava

Madison Public Relations

98214 55795 /98207 69251 / 98922 99281