In the morning, we loitered outside the Chief Minister of
Orissa Mr. Naveen Patanik’s residence, waiting before they let us in to meet
him. Eventually, they let 4 of our team in and from what I heard, they really
got his support for our campaign and not only that – he agreed to write a
letter to the Prime Minister of India to take immediate action about revising
the youth policy which should have been done 3 years ago. Lots of prayers and
wishes that this is fruitful.
We pass through the city and Alan, our Production
Director remarks on how green it is. And not only that – He says how it is a
city, developed and everything, but the pace is so gentle. Like in Delhi,
everything is very fast paced. But here, there’s no rush. We’re on the road on
the way to the venue of our program, and the average speed of the traffic is
40-50 kmph. And it’s not a problem. I know a photograph cant capture speed, but the whole non-rushing attitude was just something special.
Our first program of the day is at NISWASS – the National
Institute of Social Work and Social Services. Some of the youth here were very
vocal about the issues. They raked up the leaves on youth policy, the
environment and what to do to preserve it and a whole bunch on participation in
politics and the decision making process. But one new point which we haven’t
come across so far came from Sonali Chand, who is from Institute of Technical
Education and Research, who was also emceeing the event. When the topic of
women and their rights came about, she spoke about the right of women to not be
forced into marriage. She said girls should be allowed to refuse marriage at
the age of 20-21, be educated, work, earn and become independent. The opposite is
a very widespread thing that happens, but strangely, no one has put it in the
spotlight before. There are so many girls at this age who are just not ready
for marriage and face pressure from family. Hopefully this will also change if
we at least acknowledge it. Hopefully..
The beautiful Sonali:
Our next program is at Cambridge School in Cuttack. The
youth here put up a song on the youth and it was so catchy that half an hour
later when Ravi got up to speak it was still in his head and he sang the first
few bars. I think this is going to linger for a very long time..
When one of the presenters addressed us, he jokingly said
that we all have taken up a yatra from K2K from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and that
they could take up a yatra from C2C which is from Cuttak to Chandi Chowk in
Orissa. But later when Rakesh spoke, he said that they could actually that up
the initiative and have an awareness yatra on cycle from Cuttak to Chandi
Chowk. It was interesting to see how an idea that came through as a joke and
could actually transform into something so inspirational. It’s fascinating how
inspiration can just strike..
To more such brainwaves!
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