A rose is a rose is a…?
In India unwanted girls know they are unwanted, because they are named "unwanted." Now, an effort to change a negative self-image begins with a new name.
A central Indian district held a renaming ceremony Saturday that it hopes will give the girls new dignity and help fight widespread gender discrimination that gives India a disproportionate gender ratio, more boys than girls.
The disproportion is due to the abortion of female fetuses or the profound neglect of girls, leading to their deaths. Boys will bring a dowry to a Hindi family, but girls are expensive - with that cost of a dowry.
Girls in the ceremony were happy with their new chosen names - such as Vaishali, which means prosperous, beautiful and good - and believe it will bring them the respect they deserve.