In 1974 \u2014 Ek Anek Aur Ekta (One, Many & Unity), a 7-minute animation film was released. It was written & co-directed by Vijaya Mulay – documentarian, film historian, educator & former head of NCERT\u2019s Center for Educational Technology (CET).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The short film taught children about the \u2018unity in diversity\u2019 theme. A young girl teaches her little brother about the theme through a flock of birds. When a hunter catches some of the birds with his net, the other birds gather, & together they fly away with the net away from the clutches of the hunter. A group of friendly mice then gnawed at the net & finally freed the \u2018netted\u2019 birds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mulay was working in the Education Ministry, when she was asked to make a series of films for children, in association with UNICEF. The model was Britain\u2019s Play School & US government programs<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Education Ministry had decided to create education programs for Doordarshan. Till then Doordarshan’s programming was aimed at children in the 9+ age group, & there was almost nothing for children in the 6 – 9 year age group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kind-hearted older sister telling the story was no coincidence. While researching for the film, Mulay later wrote: \u201cA major feature of the patriarchy syndrome has been that only the male characters can be agents of action. The strong, intelligent & noble male acts; the passive woman usually suffers in silence\u201d. She wanted this to change through her work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n