By Claire Yacoboski
A beloved TV cartoon series that has captivated audiences across South Asia with its heartfelt storytelling and powerful social messages, has become more than entertainment — it is a vehicle for social change, Indian scholar and author Jawa Jha told a UC Santa Barbara audience last week.
Meena Ki Kahani (Stories of Meena) is an animated series created in 1993 by UNICEF, to address critical issues such as gender inequality and child labor. It was relaunched in several South Asian countries during a period of heightened viewership due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and became a cultural phenomenon.
“Media has the power to change society,” Jha said.
An image from the animated series Meena Ki Kahani (Stories of Meena), a TV cartoon that tackles issues such as child labor and education inequality for young girls in South Asia. .
Jha was speaking remotely at a UCSB Interdisciplinary Humanities Center’s Research Group talk, to discuss Meena Ki Kahani’s impact on South Asian society. Written by Neill Mckee, the series was originally broadcast by the Bangladesh Television Network. Jha discussed the TV cartoon as part of the IHC’s Global Childhood Media lecture series.
Jha has served as Guest Faculty at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Bangalore City University in India. She co-authored Elementary Hindi for Korean Learners, published in 2020 by Busan University of Foreign Studies.
Jha said that important episodes, such as Count Your Chickens, portrayed the fight for the education of young girls in South Asia. She described an episode called Take Care of Girls, in which a friend of Meena’s is deprived of health care even though her brother gets care for a similar illness. These narratives are not just for entertainment but act as a mirror reflecting societal inequalities and serve as a call to action for change, Jha said.
At the IHC research talk, she screened the episode Girls Come Back, which shows a friend of Meena’s being sent off with a stranger who promises her a good job, but instead hands her over to a brothel. Although the cartoon was made for younger children, it teaches of the devastating effects of child labor and trafficking, so was actually aimed at all ages.
Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of education, knowledge, and the arts. In her discussion regarding social inequalities for young girls in South Asia, scholar Jawa Jha said reverence for Saraswati could advance social change.
Jha cited a case study from Bachpan Bacaho Andolan–an India-based children’s rights movement, which documented a girl abducted from her village who was forced to work as domestic help, and was ultimately abused. “She was the real-life Meena,” Jha, said, asserting that such case studies like these show that children's literature isn’t always overly dramatized, and in fact, can be true to life.
Jha stressed the importance of understanding Meena Ki Kahani within an Indian context. In many Indian households, the birth of a male child carries the weight of legacy, she said. These deep-rooted patriarchal values seep into the smallest facets of life. One example that Jha offered is that mothers with only daughters often forgo fasting traditions meant to ensure the prosperity of their offspring.
“This is conducive for gender role segregation, confining girl children to homes, depriving them of formal education or encouraging school dropout culminating into child labor,” Jha explained.
She believes that Meena Ki Kahani challenges these deeply ingrained inequities, holding up a mirror to these traditions while offering a vision of a future when every child, regardless of gender, is seen as deserving of opportunity and dignity.
Jha offered the audience another example of how media could use Indian cultural figures to advance social welfare in the future: Saraswati, the goddess of education, is a female deity that is worshipped in India, despite societal practices that often deprive girls of education, she said.
Jha suggested there could be a cultural shift—one that aligns the celebration of Saraswati with tangible actions to empower young girls. She called for cultural reform along with increasing the distribution of cartoons like Meena Ki Kahani to support girls’ education and to encourage South Asian societies to end child labor.
Whether it’s through the stories of Meena or other local traditions, the series has shown that storytelling is a transformative force, bridging knowledge gaps and fostering a more equitable world, Jha said.
Claire Yacoboski is a fourth-year UC Santa Barbara majoring in Communication. She is a Web and Social Media intern with the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts.