Meena (character)

Meena
Meena cartoon official logo
Publication information
Publisher	UNICEF Hanna-Barbera
First appearance	Bangladesh Comics Bangladesh Television Hanna-Barbera
Created by	UNICEF, ToonBangla
In-story information
Alter ego	Meena
Species	Human
Team affiliations	Bangladesh Television
Notable aliases	Mina
Abilities	Effective

Meena (Bengali: মীনা) is a fictional character who stars in the South Asian children's television show Meena. The show has been broadcast in languages such as Bengali, English, Hindi, Nepali and Urdu. The lead character, Meena educates the children of South Asia on issues of gender, health, and social inequality through her stories in comic books, animated films called - Meena Cartoon, and radio series (affiliated with the BBC). The secondary characters of her stories include her brother Raju, and her pet parrot Mithu. Her audience goes on her adventures as she attempts to get an education, have an equal share of food as Raju, and learns about the HIV virus, Right way to baby birth, Helping Peoples, All of her stories advocate change in social and cultural practices.

Her popularity is due to her not being closely bound to just one country or culture of South Asia, but uniting the common characteristics of them all.The cartoon character Meena was created by famous Bangladeshi cartoonist Mustofa Monowar & partly due to the UNICEF, an organization that supports the growing educational awareness of South Asia through Meena and her stories.

There are 33 Meena episodes.

(Bengali Title: সব মুরগী আছে?/Translation: Are All The Chickens There?) Meena wishes to go to school however her parents see no purpose because she is a girl. To overcome this problem, Meena enlists the help of her parrot, Mithu, who memorises the school lesson and relays it to her after class. As a result, Meena learns how to count in twos. She counts her family's chickens and realises that one of the chickens is missing. It turns out that a thief has stolen the chicken. The villagers chase the thief and are able to recover the chicken. As a result of this incident, Meena's parents realise the value of education and allow her to attend school along with her brother, Raju.

(Bengali Title: Intelligent Meena) The episode starts with Meena's mother feeding her younger brother, Raju, a bigger portion than Meena because he is a boy. Meena believes this is unfair so she and Raju switch places for a day to see what it is like. Raju has to do all of Meena's household chores such as feeding the chickens, sweeping the floors and drawing water. Meena has to do Raju's chores however there is less work to do and Meena spends a lot of the day playing. Raju comes home at the end of the day and tells his parents how difficult it was to do all of Meena's chores. The episode ends with both Raju and Meena receiving the same meal portions.

(Bengali Title: মীনা কি স্কুল ছেড়ে দেবে/Translation: Will Meena Leave School). Meena's father is worried because the family have run out of money. Hence Meena and the father have to go to the shopkeeper to get a loan of rice. The shopkeeper tries to cheat them by increasing the amount of the debt however Meena stops him due to her ability to read. Meanwhile, the mother is looking for ways to earn money. The school teacher visits their home and tells the mother that she can work from home. The family buy a cow whose milk they can sell, as well as a bike so the father can sell the milk in the village. The shopkeeper tells them that if the family cannot repay the debt, then he will take the cow, calf and Mithu. The father gets a fever so he is unable to sell the milk in the village. Meena and Raju go instead however their bike crashes which delays their ability to repay the debt to the shopkeeper. Mithu carries the money back home instead so that the debt is repaid in time.