Berhampur, Orissa - 13th Feb 2011

We reach Jatni at 3:30am, sleep for about an hour and a half and leave for the remainder of the journey to Berhampur at 6am. We reach the Queen of the Missions Cathedral in the afternoon for our interaction. You would think that with that much interrupted sleep we’d be groggy at the event, but we weren’t! (And even if we were, the youth there were so happy to see us and the way they welcomed us would have snapped us out of it)

Everyone got these name tags when we went into the hall for the program. I was kinda late coz I was helping set up, so when I came in, this young boy, must have been 8-10 years old, he noticed I didn’t have a tag and came and asked me my name. The thing with my name is, people dont seem to get the first time round. Some never get it. And it being 3 syllables, for some reason, it gets twisted into Nandini or Shalini or something that sounds like it. But never had it become:

These girls from the welcome dance were soooooo cute!!

New state. New language. Rakesh leads the interaction in Oriya. It was something really new coz here Rakesh was speaking to everyone in their own language and his, and the connect he had with this audience was different from the ones before. It was so fun to see.. The ones of us who knew and understood Hindi could get the gist of what was being discussed, so it wasn’t completely alien.

And Rakesh was a different shade of happy out here. Returning to his hometown, his people.. I’m sure it must have been a very special feeling..

A few of us got called outside for an interview and photo with a local newspaper. Rakesh is giving the interview in Oriya and is talking to the local people around and is guiding us on where to stand and in the flow ends up talking to us in Oriya too! And Deepika is like, “Humaare saath to theek se bolo.. Hindi me..”

A sheepish Rakesh smiles, points ahead and says, “Yahan khade ho jao...”

He does that a number of times today.

Kandhamal, Orissa - 14th Feb 2011

At breakfast, we’re all eating aaloo puri at a dhaba on the way to Kandhamal, when Ravi attempts to speak to the waiter guy in Oriya.

“Na na.. Ami finish kar chhanti..”

Bengali – English – Hindi – Oriya.

Genius.

It’s a long way to Kandhamal and we pass through a major part of rural/tribal Orissa, all through the shades-of-green hills, passing these kuchha – pucca huts spattered across the countryside. Nice thick vegetation here. But it is like the middle of nowhere.  Rakesh remarks, “If you kidnap someone and bring them here and keep them, no one will be able to find. Who will even think to look here? And where all will they look? Impossible.”

“Why are you giving everybody ideas?” I said.

We reach Kandhamal at Divyajyoti Pastoral Center at Kanjamendi Village, where the building was brutally burned and nun was raped during the riots that happened in October 2008. Yesterday, before leaving, we were all briefed that this would be a solemn affair, and we should not say or do anything that would trigger any memories of the incident and provoke a reaction. But when we reach here, there is jubilation in the air, the people are so happy to see us! They were so enthusiastic and all smiles! There was a whole procession to receive us about 200 metres before the gate and there’s drums and singing and dancing and clapping.. The positive spirit of community and togetherness is so evident.. It was beautiful..

We enter the building and see the scorch marks everywhere. The floors, the ceilings, the walls, the corners.. Some parts were cracked or broken with a few layers of mortar missing. A whole lot had been restored, but the people had consciously left the scars on the walls as a reminder of what they had been through. What I found incredible was that they kept this visual in front of them everyday and chose to rise above it, stronger, allowing it to be part of their past, but not letting it rule them. The contrasting optimism and upbeat attitude was exceptionally inspiring. It makes you look at your own life in perspective, and realize how sometimes small things can bring us down, and what true strength and resilience actually is. Powerful stuff..

Ravi’s been learning a couple of lines in the language of each place we’ve been. He learnt from Rakesh how to say in Oriya, “Hello. I am very happy to be here and greeting you all. A very warm namaskar.”

 I think he mixed up a vowel somewhere, in one word, and he ended up saying, “Hello. I am a fool for being here and greeting you all.” Ha ha!

The people at Kandhamal had prepared such an excellent program for us, rich with traditional songs and dances. And the interaction was so much fun! Rakesh led in Oriya and helped translate when any questions were asked. And Sister fuelled the women empowerment section and the reaction was soooo funny!

“You should not let your husband hit you! If the guy slaps you, you give him 2 back, dont stand for it! Why should he treat you any less than himself? Are you?? Haan? And this whole system of dowry is also wrong! Girls will you give dowry?”

All the girls in the audience yell “No!”

“You should not. It is wrong to take money when you are taking a girl to be your life partner. Why do you need to? You are getting a girl to spend your life with, is she not valuable enough that you must take money also? You boys! Why you take so much money? You should be giving money! You take money and gold and car AND the girl also.. What re?”

One of the gents said, “The thing is, one man earns only so much. They keep asking for money for lipstick and clothes and all, how much can one man pay? So it’s like an investment for the future.”

“Then when she asks for lipstick and all, you tell her she looks beautiful as she is. She doesn’t need any of that.”

“Arre then Sister, they will go after another man only!”

The crowd erupts into laughter and even Sister cant help but to join them.

But the message of how this practice is wrong rang through clearly. At least the girls refused to stand for it. It was great to see how such a serious issue could also be learnt through humor.

Later in the discussion, the topics shift to a deeper focus. The audience starts asking things like – we want to study, higher education and this will help us have a better future. But we dont have the money for this.. What should we do?

Rakesh said that a lot of what was holding them back was not so much money, but mindset. He told a story about how on the way here he saw this fully grown elephant chained in this truck. It wasn’t moving, trying to break the chain at all. And it wasn’t like the chain was really strong or anything. He could have easily given one fierce tug and that would be it. But probably, when the elephant was in its childhood, he must have been chained and despite trying so hard, coudnt break it. So it gradually stopped trying and eventually grew up with this mentality that it could not break through. Here the situation feels the same. You’ve been told for so long that you are tribals and backward classes, so you cannot do anything or become anything important. But it’s not true. You need to break these chains in your minds. You can do anything you put your mind to. You have all the talent and ability as any other person. Just don’t hold yourself back.

Another person asked something about how they can make a change in society being from the tribes or classes they were from. Before Rakesh could respond, Ravi got up and took the mic. He said that any change that has to be made begins with you. If you want to fix something, you must change yourself from within first. Don’t think that you cant. Make yourself strong from inside and go forward to make the change in society and the world around you. He said a whole bunch of other things, but the entire vein was on getting it out of their heads that they can’t accomplish anything. But what struck me was that it was all from the heart. He felt it very strongly and projected that to the audience. Looking around, I could see it on their faces.

That look is one of the most fulfilling experiences on our journey. The expression of realization. And that it’s not even 1/10^th as difficult as they thought. That it starts with a thought. How simple, yet so profound.

Sigh.

Bhubaneshwar & Cuttack, Orissa - 15th Feb 2011

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!

Balasore & Baripada, Orissa - 16th Feb 2011

We reach St. Vincent’s Convent School in Balasore to one of the most royal welcomes we’ve come across so far! There was a full marching band with a swirling baton with all the drums and trumpets and horns escorting us to the stage. Seriously, people have made us all out to be such celebrities!

The St. Vincent’s experience was a really awesome one! They performed this dance on national integration where they fused traditional Odisi dance with theme based dance/drama depicting Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian prayer and at the end they formed the Indian flag.. The most unique thing was that in the song that they were all dancing to had excerpts from a speech given by Indira Gandhi on national integration, in her own voice. The whole thing put together with the dance and the flag and the expressions by the young school students was so powerful.. I didn’t tell anyone, but it actually brought tears to my eyes..

At the end of the program, this young girl came and spoke to conclude. Her name was Aakanksha Das and what struck me about her was that she spoke so crisply, without a touch of nervousness, and with such aplomb that you just had to admire her. I remember back to when I might have been her age, but if I had to something like that, it would scare the daylights out of me! She had a maturity within her, but it didn’t disturb her innocence of being so young. But she really made an impact on me for being able to balance all that out and come out on top with all that confidence.

Next, we’re at Jyothi Hospital in Balasore interacting with the nurses from the nursing college there and it’s the most touching thing – this young nurse stands up and says, “I really like your team and how you are spreading the message of peace and harmony wherever you are going. I have a small request – I am from Darjeeling and there are many problems there and people keep fighting with each other. Please go to Darjeeling and spread your message there also. They need people like you.. Please go there..”

I sincerely wished in that moment that we could have remoulded our program to accommodate Darjeeling too.. If any from Darjeeling are reading, please know that all of us care and are praying for you and praying for peace and harmony in your part of the country.

In the evening we reach Rakesh’s own MCP College in Baripada.  Despite it being Eid and the college being closed for the occasion, a whole bunch still turned up and came for our program. Rakesh was  vibrant, being back in his own land, where he was Youth President and had such connect to the place and its people. But here Ravi also spoke and I dont know what particularly inspired him today, but the way he spoke was the most uplifting we’ve seen. He spoke about being from a small place and how people can really put you down for it and say that you can never reach anywhere or make something of yourself, and how not to listen to any of that coz it’s not true. He was using himself as an example (being the National Youth President of the Indian Catholic Youth Movement from Muzaffarpur, Bihar) just to prove he wasn’t talking all fluff. We had never seen him bloom so much before during his speech, standing amidst the crowd, instead of in front of them, and addressing them, increasing the feeling that he is more like one of them. The expressions of the youth were dramatically different by the end of it.

After this we reach the Ashutosh Maharaj College of Management & Technology where we have a small session with about 30 students here. The response was a little more dismal than we’d have liked, so Rakesh decides to pack up a little earlier and head to the next place on the program. Just as we’re about to leave, a couple of the students call us back and say that they want to share something with us. We go back inside to a small room somewhere and sit on the floor with the other students. In front there’s a garlanded picture of Hindu saint and next to that, this young girl kneels on the floor, quiet in meditation, and waits for the shuffling to dissolve before she begins to speak.

She starts talking and it’s all this rich, spiritual truth. She’s not reading from anywhere nor looking at anything for reference, but she’s saying the Sanskrit shlokas and their meaning and relating them to life in todays world. I recognised it was all from the Bhadwad Gita and it was crisp, solid spiritual truth, which had less to do with religion, rather it was more about how to live life and be a good human being. She sounded like those sadhus who hold satsangs and give out all this wisdom to the devotees who flock every week. And the most astounding thing was that she didn’t look a day above 25!

We end up having to leave early, but we meet Mr. Ansuman Mohanty, the Member Secretary of the college on the way out who told us that this young girl of spiritual wealth is named Rosalyn Behera and that she also holds such talks on the Bible, the Quran and other holy books and treasures of knowledge. People have always talked about young prodigies in music, mathematics, science and the like, and this felt like that, but totally different. How many times do you see one in your lifetime? That too, whose gift is spiritualism? Sure, there’s the Dalai Lama and all, but how many of us get to see something like this in person?

We must’ve sat there for some 20 minutes and despite it being near the end of a hectic day, we came out feeling fresh, rejuvenated. Wow..

Our last stop of the day is Rakesh’s own home in Baripada. His mom greets us and takes us all in to a warm meal with vivid flavours and variety. After being on the road for so long, it felt wonderful to have that homely feeling with the soft togetherness of family. It was like the perfect end to a long day.