It’s a sprouting sign of manhood, the ultimate symbol of masculinity. More than just bushy whiskers on the face, the moustache is all things mard. Aan, baan, shaan – bhai, mooch nahin to kucch nahin. Sporting a handlebar on his upper lip is actor-director-writer Farhan Akhtar. No, it’s not a fashion trend. It’s, like we said, a mark of respect and concern for women, for gender equality, for tolerance, for Men Against Rape and Discrimination. MARD.
Started by Akhtar, Bling and JWT along with EveryMedia Technologies Pvt. Ltd, MARD is the buzz on field and off field. The camping kicked off with IPL 6 and about 70,000 fake moustaches were distributed during the match in Kolkata, along with flyers with a Bengali poem printed on it.
“Every time I look into the mirror, I want to see a man whose mother, sister, wife and daughter are proud to call their own. Every morning when I flip through pages of the newspaper, I am reminded of how important it is to educate people today about something as simple as respecting a woman. Something as obvious as that now needs to be drilled in everyone’s heads,” says Akhtar in a release.
The change brought about by this initiative won’t be immediate, but is hoped to be long term. Apart from supporting the initiative on social media, the fans of the Facebook page can also take a pledge online. They can also check out the moustache app on Facebook, coming soon. Users can click to access the Facebook and Twitter pages.
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