...techniques for finding solutions
:listen to be heard; feel to be understood; think to be clear

Priyanka Kochhar, who is persuing her Masters in Environmental Conservation, from the University of Greenwich in London, came to India in early June as an Associate of the YOUNG LEADERS PROJECT. After her Orientation Session in the LEAD Secretariat, she was sent to KRITI where Aanchal Kapur ( Fellow Cohort 8 ) and her Team Mentored her for two months.

Priyanka has graduated as the First YOUNG LEADER on August 5th.

The Presentation made by her on her Final Graduation is given here

Click to view the Orientation Session, 6-7 June and Graduation Session, 6 August 2005 pictures

With membership to the LEAD network, today, I feel both privileged and responsible. I see before me, opportunities to influence global decision-making and intend to be a full and active member of the larger LEAD family so that with my fellow young leaders, our footprints as change agents will be apparent.

I am an architect, and having passed out from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, am currently pursuing my Masters in Environmental Conservation, from the University of Greenwich, London. In association with the Young Leaders

Programme, I was selected, given an opportunity to join Kriti and be mentored by Aanchal Kapur, who is a LEAD fellow from Cohort 8, India. For the two months from 6th June to 6th Aug, that I was here, I worked on the project titled “Building bridges between sustainable development theories and practice”, which has helped with perspective building on issues pertaining to the same.

The Young LEADers Project is a sister programme to the LEAD global network that promotes change towards sustainable development; development that is economically sound, environmentally responsible and socially equitable. It aims to provide with training in team building and systems thinking to form a network of Young LEADers across the globe. The objective of this project is to help the young citizens of the world to strengthen and better apply their leadership skills and sustainable development knowledge, and to use the network that they acquire to assist them in their work towards sustainable development.

As an intern with Kriti, I had the opportunity to learn and get introduced to a large spectrum of issues such as globalisation, movements, activism, natural resource management, eco-feminism and human rights. A learning experience everyday, interactions with real life achievers and leaders striving to make a change for good, it has been an overwhelming experience. I feel more powerful and enriched on having been introduced to the grass root implications of global strategies and policies on sustainable development.
I stand here today to reflect on the lessons I have learnt during my two-month tenure at Kriti.

The Young Leaders Project, which aims at building bridges between cultures and people, has helped me gain a deeper understanding of issues that ail our country and the world and enhanced my professional and personal outlook of the community.
I have had a chance to attend the ‘Third Freedom from Hunger Lecture’, where, in the seminar titled, “Abolishing hunger, not by food alone”, interaction with Dr. Kirit S Parikh gave me an understanding of the Indian government’s efforts to elevate those below poverty line through various policies that are being implemented. He has been at the government decision-making level since the 60s and his knowledge and experience reflected the thought that goes into policy making. The various criteria on which these policies are based are linked directly to the global trade policies, local variations to which are a necessity we cannot ignore.

The ‘Seed Sovereignty Campaign’, organised by Navdanya, touched on issues of ‘Globalisation and The Destruction of Food Security’. An executive summary of the study on ‘Impact of WTO on Women in Agriculture’ was presented and discussions for keeping food security in women’s hands were also held. A report on the breakdown of WTO’s agricultural negotiations by Dr. Vandana Shiva was also presented. The underlying spirit of the two-day conference questioned a globalisation that puts trade above sustainability, profits above life; the commodification of all resources and relationships that ensure sustainability and peace that have led to a global increase in hunger, starvation, violence and terrorism. At this conference, ‘Amrit Beej Films’, directed by Ms. Meera Dewan and ‘Hunger in the time of plenty’, by Ms. Sagari Chabbra were also screened. While the former dealt with the destruction of diversity due to privatization of land and changing agricultural practices, the latter dealt with starvation caused due to corruption and improper implementation of policies that have been formulated for those below poverty line.

I also had a chance to make an impromptu presentation to the audience, introducing Kriti to the other participants and speakers who were present there.

The Kriti Film Club organised the screening of ‘Dancing with hands held tight’. The film depicted ‘development’ which is leading the youth to ‘education’ that takes them away from their own lands. Krishnendu Bose, who is a LEAD fellow and the director of the film, shared his experiences during the making of the film. As a concerned group, we pondered over the implications of gender bias on natural resources and sustainable development.
Documentaries like ‘Tu Zinda Hai’ and ‘Barf’, gave me an insight into the kind of issues we must look at and assist the alternative media to project to the society so that action may be taken in time. ‘Tu Zinda Hai’ reflects on this spirit that has been cultivated in women who at some point in their lives had given up hope due to atrocities caused either by the system or the men folk of the community. ‘Barf’ looks at young girls’ who have been given exposure to the world outside the four walls their lives have been confined to.

‘Manorama’, a film by Ajay Bharadwaj looked at the situation in the North East caused by the application of Armed Forces Special Protection Act. The misuse of the powers granted to the army men is a curse this society needs to get rid of!

The work on ‘Our Diary’ has helped me capture a share of information and urged me to try and fill the critical information and action gap that exists. ‘Our Diary’ is an attempt to present peoples’ movements around issues related to social and gender-based inequalities, political representation and freedom, the environment, skewed development policies and nuclearisation. As a part of the features that will constitute “Our Diary 2006”, I worked on data collection and doing primary and secondary research. I had an opportunity to meet professors and commorades from JNU and team members from other NGOs. We at Kriti have decided to look at activism within peoples’ movements; and the interaction with Mr. Anil Chaudhary on ‘activism’ per say resulted in interesting discussions in the team. There are organisations that have been formed to take their thoughts forward so that somewhere it may culminate in an effort to achieve development for the nation.

The Infoplace at Kriti has given me insights into a variety of issues that are commonly occurring, but are unacceptable. The Networking for Rights, (a Kriti publication), looks at issues of reproductive and sexual health. It helps to take the sexual health issues out of the context of reproductive health. I could not stop myself from reading The Development Dictionary, edited by Wolfang Sachs and the Green Political Thought by Dobson, which have tried to disentangle the complex terms such as ‘development’, ‘ecocracy’ and ‘environment’. The Tao of Personal Leadership by Dreher is a book that has encouraged me to read and then reflect it in my own actions.

Rati is an activist I had a chance to meet over lunch at the Kriti workplace. She has strived as a part of a larger group to help the gujjars of Rajaji National Park, Uttaranchal, to get their rights over the land and to employment generated in the area. The enthusiasm with which she spoke of her nerve chilling experiences in the Himalayan foot hills spoke volumes about the dedication and devotion towards conserving the natural resources which are only finite on our planet. The victory in this struggle has ensured apt management for the forest by the natives who could have done more harm than good had their rights over what is theirs were questioned further.

Mr. V.P.Singh chaired the ‘Jan Manch’, on the Employment Guarantee Act, organized by MKSS, Rajasthan. This people’s forum marked the return of the rozgar adhikar yatra led by Aruna Roy. The Right to Information campaign has given birth to movements such as the right to employment and right to food. Participation in such a forum introduced me to the enthusiasm with which individuals are fighting for their rights across the country. There are leaders fighting for rights from every walk of society. Introduction to leaders such as Bhurji, who have been closely associated with this movement and have lost their lives in the quest, encourages and gives me the confidence to work towards bringing about a change and promoting critical thinking of one’s own conscience.

Leadership, I’ve learnt, is about the individual conscience; about having a clear thinking and understanding of issues. It is about creating awareness and building support for newer directions towards development, and with my newfound position, I intend to work towards achieving this. LEAD has helped me recognize my leadership skills, which I intend to use to awaken, and convert the unconverted.

To comprehend information in India that stands divided today is not easy. While on one hand, India makes bombs and missiles to earn a place in the sun; the other looks for clean drinking water for most waking hours of the day. Efforts to seize every possible opportunity to grow and develop are met with even bolder efforts to hold on to our soil and roots.
The task is not easy. A balance has to be struck.

We can deal with this storm only if we choose, and chose carefully.
Our technological advancements ought to be determined by our own priorities and needs. The industrialized countries will flood us with information and technologies. What we choose will depend on our values and our intelligence.
The rampant environmental degradation puts on us another set of responsibilities. India’s Gross Natural Product is in deep trouble. Croplands, grasslands, forests, rivers, streams, ponds, tanks and wetlands, mountains and hills, deserts and floodplains are stressed, polluted and degraded.
We have not yet reached a stage of development that can provide all people with water from a tap. A decline in water quality, like other forms of environmental degradation, can affect the poor very adversely. Ensuring that the Gross National Product grows, without a decline in – in fact with an enhancement of the Gross Nature Product is important for India. This will require constant learning and mid-course corrections.

‘Development’ has stood like an idea to orient emerging nations in their journey through post-war history. It may be incomplete to consider it as technological or class performance. It’s a particular cast of mind. It is much more than just a socio-economic endeavor; it’s a perception that models reality, a myth that comforts societies, and a fantasy, which unleashes passions. Development’s hidden agenda of Westernisation (read Globalisation) of the world is resulting in a tremendous loss of diversity. The worldwide simplification of architecture, clothing, and daily objects assaults the eye; the accompanying eclipse of variegated languages, customs and gestures is already less visible and the monocultures are eliminating the innumerable varieties of being human.

Humankind’s capacity to meet an increasingly different future with creative responses is what is required.

Various theories and practices have emerged in response; and unfortunately, there exists a gap within the system. We are a part of this system.
With respect to sustainable development, I have had a chance to work with a team that does research, collects information and disseminates it. It is instrumental in projecting the grass root realities and promoting action at the structural level. At one level, where grass root realities are unearthed, spreading awareness ensures action. The policies and structural changes do not always reach where they are supposed. To get an exposure to situations where structures can be questioned, people be motivated and movements be formed, I feel responsible to ensure that the goods are delivered, and this is where such placements play an important role.

Kriti has presented these movements to people for the past seven years. A movement of thought has begun in my own mind; to question the strategies, the activists, the development worker and the various kinds of activism that exist…

And with more such individuals as Young leaders, I hope we can together establish an understanding towards techniques for finding solutions. I found my answer at Kriti.
“Listen to be heard, feel to be understood, think to be clear”
(from a Kriti bookmark)

Priyanka Kochhar,
Kritian,
Young Leader Programme, 2005
Dated: 1st Aug 2005