Younginfluencers at work!

SMILE In-turn-Ship is here!!

2011-04-26T21:17:00.010+05:30

Hi,

Since the sun is shining bright, and holidays are not far away, what are your plans for the summer? Do you want to make new friends, explore the world, get out of the city, be with yourself? What if you could do all, at the same time??

We have an offer that has excited many…

“This internship of 4 weeks taught me much beyond my educational career of 14 years. It was not just working with an organization, but an opportunity to discover one’s potential as well. The journey was worth the experiment, as I came to discover myself… the real me….” – Ratnpriya, Miranda House, 3^rd year History Hons.

Like her, do you also:

- Want to know yourself and create a new identity for yourself?

- Like to explore and make diverse relationships?

- Want to understand the issues around in the world?

- Feel the need for a space where you can be yourself?

- Want to engage in real action at the grass root level?

If the answer to any one of the above is yes, then what are you waiting for? Just apply for the SMILE In-Turn-Ship programme that will give you a chance to work with organisations/ movements in various parts of the country for a period of 4-6 weeks. We are offering this programme in 3 batches of May, June and July.

Interested?? Then just fill and e-mail the First Interaction Form to sulab.kumar@pravah.org/ youth.pravah@gmail.com. We shall be in touch with you shortly, for further interaction. If you want to know more, feel free to contact Sulab/ Shilpa at 011 – 26440619 / 26213918/26291354 or email them at the above mentioned IDs.

Along with this mail, we have also attached a newsletter that will tell you about experiences of the batch of 2010 (of which Ratnpriya was a part). You can also have a look at the attached poster and information leaflet, to understand the processes and also get a tentative idea about the dates for the programme.

Thank you!

Love, peace and energy

The YI team at Pravah

P.S: Please note that we will only be able to accommodate 25-30 young people in a batch. Please enroll yourself as soon as possible and we will then share the further details such as the meeting point and time with you.

P.P.S: We are currently reaching out telephonically only to those people who have clearly indicated that they would be interested in the Internship through the First Interaction Form. However if you are interested, please feel free to call us or mail us.

Deep Self-Awareness Workshop

2011-03-23T12:56:00.001+05:30

Dear All,

Greetings from Pravah!!

First of all a big THANK You for engaging with us through the various processes over the year and sharing your excitement to continue exploring the journey with Pravah…

As you may all know, Pravah helps young people travel the journey from ‘Me to We’ through innovative, creative and experiential spaces, where each of you is the owner of their own learning journey. All our volunteers have shared how much they enjoy the chance to explore and meet new people and learn and discover something new about themselves and the world around them… This time around we bring to you an opportunity to take a deep dive into yourself to explore yourself , those around you, and your relationship with the world, through the Deep Self Awareness workshop on 26- 27th March.

This is the second time we are offering this workshop after piloting it in early March, to great feedback.

Many of you may be wondering why a Deep Self Awareness workshop? Well this has emerged as a result of the many conversations and interactions that we have had with young people like yourself and explored with depth some of the questions that we as young people deal with....

‘How do I understand and create MY identity ‘

‘How do I deal with my fears’

‘How do I figure out what is reality and what is fiction’

’How do I figure out what I want to do and what I can do’

‘How do I understand why people behave the way they do’

‘How can I figure out what I need to do to unleash my potential’

'How do I connect my self to the world around me.'
So we got working to figure how all of us could do this for ourselves…at least make a beginning …and the result is the two day Deep Self Awareness workshop.

We invite you to explore yourself and your universe through conversations, creative processes, games and experiments to perhaps take away at least a tangible starting point to find answers to questions like the ones above!!!

If you are interested to know more and participate please contact Shilpa Jhawar at011-26440619/26213918/26291354 or email her at shilpa.jhawar@pravah.org.

Please note that we will only be able to accommodate 15- 20 young people for this workshop which will be a 2 full day residential camp in Delhi on 26th-27th March 2011. If however you are interested and cannot stay do let us know and we can explore alternatives. Please do confirm your participation as soon as possible and we will then share the further details such as the venue and time with you.

And just before we sign off…here’s something that one of the participants from our first workshop shared:

‘ The workshop was an awesome experience!...it has completely changed my point of view… I have always done what people around me have told me to do…but I have learnt how to understand what others are saying… reason it out and gauge what is right and wrong for me…think and then decide…and this will really help me in my future..’- Binay , Kirori Mal College

Hoping to see you there …

Love, peace and energy

The YI team

YI- Wassup....from December to January

2011-01-27T16:24:00.002+05:30

"The YOUTH ADDA"

2011-01-19T12:54:00.002+05:30

Dear All,

SMILE

Invites you to your own space

"The YOUTH ADDA"

Day: 23rd January 2011 (Sunday)

Place : Pravah Office, C- 24B, 2nd floor,Kalkaji, New Delhi

(Yup! we are back to the original adda!!!)

Timings: 10am onwards.

For a day filled with Music, Masti and loads of learning...
as you decide
whether you want to be a part of one of the most happening youth led events in Campus... The Music for Harmony!!!

And a M4H charcha without Music???? Na re na na!!
So we have musical performances by
- Meghna and Sonali (old Smilers and members of Goonj- a M4H inspired band!)
and
IP Singh ( Old SMILEr, Musician and Puppeteer)
(and if you like you can also be one of the performers just pick up the phone and let us know!!!:))

Meet some of the previous Core group members of M4H

as they take us on a trip down the memory lane.....

and explore the meaning of

PEACE AND HARMONY

as we shape and create the design of

MUSIC FOR HARMONY

Remember the Youth Adda is your space.. Come and own it..

We would request you to bring your own food and water.

Kindly confirm your participation

Call Sonal at 9990162481, Lokashish at 9999609980, Pooja at 9999238725

for any information and confirmation

And please DO SPREAD THE WORD AROUND!!!!!

Thanks!!!

Hoping to see you all soon,

With love, peace and energy..

The SMILE team

SMILE ACTS : PEHLA KADAM WITH BADHTE KADAM

2010-11-25T11:49:00.003+05:30

Dear all
We are glad to tell you that SMILE ACTS, SMILE theatre group is going to do its first street play as part of a Nation wide campaign of AADI(Action for Ability Development and Inclusion), “Badhte Kadam” ,which aims at creating awareness about disability. It talks about how disability is an evolving concept.
Play is an attempt to make audience look at disability differently. It challenges the notion of normality (in terms of physical ability), also attacks on the view that differently abled people should not have power of decision making.
Since it’s the first play of the group, presence of all of you would really encourage them. Hope to see you people there!
Other details are following-

Date:27th’Nov’10
Time: 2pm-5pm (3 performances)
Venue: Dilli Haat, Near INA market
For more info:
Contact: Sonal 9990 1624 81,sonal.sharma@pravah.org
Pooja 9999 2387 25, pooja.mehta@pravah.org

With love,Peace and Energy
SMILE

Group Exposure 2010!!

2010-10-19T17:14:00.005+05:30

The Group Exposure 2010 can be your window to explore, learn and know more about your own self. The exposure will be a team effort with 15 individuals who will come together for this two week journey. However, as much as this experience would provide you the opportunity to experience - leadership, team work, in real life settings.. it would also be a fun filled journey and it’s not only us who are saying that, you can read this to know more!

This year the team would be headed to Barefoot College, Tilonia. The organization works with rural men and women who are barely literate and have no hope of getting even the lowest government job. They are being trained to work as day and night school teachers, doctors, midwives, dentists, health workers, balsevikas, solar engineers, solar cooker engineers, water drillers, hand pump mechanics, architects, artisans, designers, masons, communicators, water testers, phone operators, blacksmiths, carpenters, computer instructors, accountants and kabaad-se-jugaad professionals.

There might be questions coming to your mind - Where will I stay? How will we go there? What is the cost? Etc etc. We have tried to answer most of these questions on our website in the FAQ section. Visit http://www.pravah.org/content/ for the application form, FAQ, and also if you wish to know more about Pravah.

Also, do feel free to contact Astha or Shubhi at 011-26213918 / 26440619 / 26291354. You can also email them at astha.gupta@pravah.org or shubhi.dwivedi@pravah.org.

Looking forward to meeting you!

The SMILE team,

Pravah

SMILE SHOOTS...A STEP FORWARD

2010-09-14T11:43:00.000+05:30

SMILE SHOOTS...A STEP FORWARD

The first meeting of SMILE SHOOTS(film club) was held on the 12th of September 2010 at the Pravah office in Kalkaji.Despite the unfavorable weather conditions and heavy raina considerable number of SMILErs were enthusiastic enough to turn up for the event.
The day kick-started with a discussion on the influence of films and their impact,being one of the most powerful means of visual communication.The other questions dealt with were - what we expect from the club,how we intend to proceed with it and how to explore the self and have a better understanding of it through films.Activities like film screening in colleges,slum areas etc.,film appreciation,film making were the ideas that came up during the discussion.
The meeting gained momentum with the entry of Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas,the noted film makers of the documentary film"In Search of My Home".The documentary portrays the stark reality of the lives of the asylum seekers in India and reveals to us the misery and agony of their poverty stricken existence.This documentary was screened during the meeting after which a discussion followed.Sushmit and Rintu shared their valuable experiences as well as answered the questions posed by the SMILErs.
With this the session concluded and a consensus was reached to meet on the day of the next Youth Adda(18th Sept) in order to decide the date for the next SMILE SHOOT meet and the future course of events for the same.

Group Exposure 2010

2010-09-09T16:35:00.001+05:30

SMILE Group Exposure forms are now available! Click the link below for more details. Last date to apply is 18th September 2010! Hurry - there are limited seats!

http://www.pravah.org/content/SMILEGE

Project UNNAMED: Exposure Visit to Burmese Community in Vikas Puri

2010-08-06T12:05:00.000+05:30

Project UNNAMED is an initiative by SMILErs to create awareness about the issue of asylum seekers in Delhi.

It was violence, massive violation of human rights and absolute power concentrated in a few hands which made them take asylum in respective neighboring countries, including ours. India is a home of lakhs of such asylum seekers from Burma, Afghanistan, and Somalia and many other countries facing civil war, dictatorship, military rule etc.

If you are wondering why we are not using the term REFUGEE for them. Reason is, technically, one has to have a certificate issued by UNHCR to be called a refugee and majority of them are not able to obtain that. And, Project UNNAMED is about such asylum seekers who are forced to live life of uncertainty and helplessness.

But the worst is when they are not accepted by the society giving asylum, like ours and further victimized by the hatred and ignorance.

So, Project UNNAMED aims at creating awareness about such asylum seeker communities in our city and country through film screenings, discussions and getting associated with the organizations already working on the issue.

So, this exposure visit intends to help us in understanding what the issue is, and what we feel about it once we interact with asylum seekers. And, the initiative has been intentionally named "UNNAMED" since the issue is not just about lack of some facilities these people are deprived off but also the issue of identity, and their inability to associate themselves with the asylum giving society. its almost like a person without a name, without any identity!

we are meeting at Janak puri west metro station at gate no.-3 at 12.30pm on 7th of August .We can gather over there and can go to the other media office togethe.its mandatory to be in time.if you are late ,following are directions for reaching the venue
1. by bus
Nearest bus stops–Janak puri, C-1(bus route no. 724 and 711 can be taken from ring road)bus and Dhauli Pyaau ,take a rickshaw for asalatpur.

2. by metro
Janakpuri west,is the nearest metro station(it’s on blue line),take a rickshaw from there(pay 15-20 rupees)

NOTE: ask rickshaw wala to take you to gurudwara in asalatpur.Get off at gudwara. Opposite to gurudwara is, Maharaja Banquet, take the path beside the banquet to reach the venue.

Hope to see you all there

Regards
SMILE

Youth Adda

2010-08-04T16:52:00.003+05:30

Pravah

SMILE

invites you to

Your own space

"YOUTH ADDA"

for a day of learning, Sharing and fun
Come and join other young people like yourself
for
Exploring the meaning of

" FREEDOM "

The Youth Adda includes intereresting activities like the Kite Making Workshop by professional Kite Maker....
MAKE YOUR OWN KITES

explore what else is coming up in SMILE
Remember the Youth Adda is your space.. Come and own the space

The day: 8th August Sunday
The Place: Bal Sahyog, Opp. L Block Mkt. Outer Circle, near Kake Da Dhabha
Timings: 10:30am onwards

We would request you to bring your own food and water.

Kindly confirm your participation

Call Sonal at 9990162481 or Lokashish at 9999609980 for any info and confirmation...
And please DO SPREAD THE WORD AROUND!!!!!

Project UNNAMED:A TALK WITH ACHAN MUNGLENG

2010-07-26T15:05:00.002+05:30

Project UNNAMED:A TALK WITH ACHAN MUNGLENG

15th July'10

at Pravah conference hall

They are homeless, poor,helpless and vulnerable.No,it's not the city's slum-inhabitants we are talking about,It's'Asylum seekers.Today at PRAVAH , human rights activist Achan Mungleng gave us an insight into the pathos of the lives of refugees.An Indian Naga by birth, the activist has been working for the amelioration of the living conditions of Burmese refugees in India and Thailand since 2003.The talk was organised to have a better understanding of the issue of Asylum seekers in our city with a view to use that in project UNNAMED.Having discussed the political crisis of Burma which was the cause of large-scale exile for millions of Burmese people, she went on to relate the desperate conditions the asylum-seekers are forced to live in.Not only is the procedure for application for the grant of asylum an extremely tedious one but it also proves to be a very expensive one as a refugee first has to come to New Delhi and bribe officers for verification of his legal documents.The refugees are paid minimal wages and they find it difficult to make ends meet ,leave alone providing their children with a good education.They also have to face a lot of antagonism from the natives and being a vulnerable group become easy targets of violence. Another reason for this reluctance is their inability to speak and write in English or Hindi, which proves to be a bane in other ways too.

Possible courses of action to help mitigate the sufferings of Burmese refugees in India were also discussed.Since,through this discussion we also wanted to explore how we can engage with the such communities. Achan feels that the support for refugees is generally sporadic.To make it more consistent she suggested that some workshops be held for the asylum seekers to make them aware of the provisions for refugees in Indian law so that they can benefit from the same and become more confident as a group. As many refugees die of curable diseases like Malaria, Dysentry and Typhoid, healthcare facilities are indispensable. Furthermore, to be a self-reliant people,when they do get to go back to a democratic Burma, they need to be educated so that they can take responsibility for themselves.These, among others, are the ideas that we,the SMILErs ,are going to work on as a part of our 'project'UNNAMED' in which A campus campaign for spreading awareness and consolidating support is also in store.

If you are wondering if you can be of any help, stop wondering and come straight to PRAVAH !! There's a lot to be done!

Next....we are planning for an exposure visit in collaboration with 'The Other Media' to Burmese community in Vikas puri somewhere around end of this month or first week of August(we still have to finalize the date for that!!!!!) if you are interested in joining in for this great learning experience.Please conform it by sending a mail with your name,contact no. and email address on sonal.sharma@pravah.org.

Reconnection Camp of the Urban Volunteers

2010-07-20T15:42:00.003+05:30

On the 14^th of July, Pravah organized a feedback camp for all the urban volunteers. Because of “traffic jams”, everyone landed up at least an hour late, and the session for the ten volunteers who made it finally kicked off.

The session started off with the volunteers getting to know each other, through activities like name-games and sing-alongs. Then, we broke into two groups, and “Pravah Idol” commenced, which was something like a socially relevant version of Antakshari… the two teams were the ‘Yo!Girls!’ and ‘Break Free’, and we had to choose songs to sing that represented our own volunteering experiences.

Both teams sang their hearts out, and then talked about what each song represented.
After the singing, we started working on giant collages, also depicting our experiences, expectations, challenges, and impact stories.

Because of all those “traffic jams”, we had less time on our hands and had to finish in a crazy rush, and by the end of it the collages looked like a messy explosion of colour and random objects thrown together.

Despite the apparent chaos on the chartpapers, there was a method to our madness; as each cut-out represented some aspect of our journey. Inside each of the footprint stencils, we wrote individually about our experiences, and after we were done, we shared our experiences in a presentation for all of the people at Pravah.

I learnt a lot from hearing about other people’s experiences and frustrations; some of them that I had experienced myself, and others that were new to me. It was great me be able to talk to other volunteers as well, at the end of their journeys, and share what we were all taking back.
We also watched a movie about Pravah and active citizenship, and discussed what it means to us and decided to take up an action plan of our own soon!

Interacting with the people at Pravah was great too; we found that in a few hours the office began to feel like home. We were able to talk to people who also started off as Smilers, and they gave us a broader perspective on what we were going through.

The entire day was full of laughs and fun, as well as a lot of learning, and I hope to join the other volunteers for the next Youth Adda, and get together like this again soon

Radhika Chakraborty

THE PROJECT UNNAMED : AN INTERACTIVE SECTION WITH ACHAN

2010-07-15T12:52:00.001+05:30

THE Project "UNNAMED", which came out of the last youth adda on 20th june on International Refugee Day, where we screened a documentary movie"In search of my home" by Rintu thomas and Sushmit Ghosh .

The project aims at creating awareness on the issue of asylum seeking community (refugees) in Delhi and India within us, among us and through us via various mediums like DOCUMENTARY, BOOKS, BLOGS, DEBATES ETC....... but before actually starting an action project on this issue we, SMILERS have decided to deepen our own understanding about the issue and as part of this learning exercise to understand the issue better, we have scheduled an interactive session with a Burmese human right activist,Achan Mungleng!

She has been active with Burmese community in Delhi since 2003 and in 2007 joined Euro-Burma office as co-ordinator of India office.Euro-Burma office aims at promotion democracy in Burma. So, we think there will be a lot to learn from Achan's experiences, which she'll be sharing with us.

So, all of you are openly invited for this learning space by US, The Smilers,

The Venue for the INTERACTION

PRVAH, Conference Hall

15th July' 2010 at 2.30pm

YOUTH ADDA:Fun,Masti and Film

2010-06-23T15:42:00.004+05:30

Youth adda,the monthly meeting of SMILE,was organised on 20th june'10 on the occasion of international refugee day at hope project charitable charitable trust.
The theme of the youth adda was to explore the various aspects of the term Refugee.Event covered a range of activities ranging from fun games, group activities such as skits and also the screeniong of the documentary "In search of my home"by Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas.Sushmit has been a smiler. Film was a moving experience for some participants and led to 2 hours long discusion between participants and film makers.
Participants have shown their willingness to take the action forward in the form of movie screening and discussion in other spaces.For planning out the action project,participants have decided to meet up at pravah office in kalkaji.at 11am on 24th june.
The next youth adda is due to take place in August. For further information ,keep checking this space out.

Youth Adda

2010-06-17T17:32:00.005+05:30

Dear All,

SMILE

Invites you

To your own space

YOUTH ADDA

For a day of learning and sharing

On the occasion of World Refugee day

Come and join other young people like you

for

A documentary Movie Screening

- In search of my home -

A documentary made by

Sushmit Ghosh
&
Rintu Thomas

Sushmit is an old smiler and he, himself will be present there for a talk
apart from that there will be a workshop on kitemaking
and A LOT OF FUN!!!!!

Remember the Youth Adda is your space.. Come and be a part of it!

The day: 20th June2010, Sunday

The Place:Hope project charitable trust,127,basti hazrat Nizamuddin
Timings: 9:30 am - 5.00 pm

We would request you to bring your own food and water.

Kindly confirm your participation

Call Sonal at 9990162481 or Sulab at 9971158313 for any info and confirmation...

And please DO SPREAD THE WORD TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE!!!!!

Directions to the Hope Project Charitable Trust:

1. From Moolchand Hospital side: After Moolchand Flyover
a) Take a U turn from under Lodhi road Flyover
b) Take first left turn near old Shiv Mandir
2. From National Zoological Park (Zoo):
Come straight towards Oberoi Hotel/ Blind School. Cross the Red light in front of Oberoi Hotel and move towards the Electric Crematorium. Take first left turn at the Shiv Mandir
3. From Ashram: Take a left before the Lodhi Road Flyover to go towards Electric Crematorium. Take first left turn at the Shiv Mandir.
General Note: Come Down from that road and take right turn from the T point and ask for Hope Project or Just opposite to Electricity transform climb their stair and enter to the project office.

Address:
127 Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin
Near Alvi Chowk
New Delhi 110013
Thanks!!!

and hoping to see you guys soon...
with love, peace and energy ...

SMILE

Applications invited for YfD/GX

2010-05-24T17:36:00.005+05:30

Are you are keen on: ·

Developing skills
Gaining knowledge
Contributing to issues of social justice
Making a positive difference
Growing as an individual

Are you
· Between 18 – 27 years of age for YfD
· and 18 – 25 years for GX
· Indian National
· Have knowledge of spoken Hindi and/or English

then apply now!!

for further info visit http://www.pravah.org

Just briefly,
YfD (Youth for Development) is a 6 month long development internship program. It offers a transformational experience, by providing opportunities to develop skills and gain valuable experience in the development sector. It also gives you a chance to contribute to development issues by being associated with a grass root level NGO in India. As YfD interns you will receive training, mentoring, monthly stipend and a chance to meet and interact with some top development professionals through the period of your internship. This internship includes training and placement with an NGO in India from October 2010 to March 2011.

GLOBAL XCHANGE is a 6 month long international volunteering program. It aims to build in you, as young people, mutual respect and understanding and to facilitate a process of becoming active citizens in an increasingly global world. The time period for the exchange would be September 2010 to March 2011 where you would be placed for 3 months in a community in UK and 3 months in a community in India. The program pays for travel, accommodation, food, medical costs and a modest allowance.

If you have the desire and the passion for such an enriching journey, then fill in the application form and send it back to us. Last date for receiving completed application form is June 15th, 2010. Please complete and return this form to PRAVAH, C-24 B, 2nd floor, Kalkaji, New Delhi-110019 or email the applications to lokasish.saha@pravah.org or smile@younginfluencers.com

Good luck with your application. If you need any further information, please visit http://www.younginfluencers.com/ or contact Lokasish/Abhijit/Shubhi at 011-26440619, 011-26213918, 011-26291354 or mail us at lokasish.saha@pravah.org or smile@younginfluencers.com

Orientation Camp - May 2010

2010-05-22T14:01:00.015+05:30

heya,

the May batch of rural interns ended their orientation camp at Rajasthan just a couple of days back..... they had a fun time discovering, learning and sharing, with lots of masti and work, thrown in......some of it follows - in their words, and photos.......

self-reflection - work-in-progress

the camp/ GVNML campus

the streets of dudu....at 4:30 in the morning

games, and masti......

having food together.......

The four days of the orientation were the one of the most rocking days of my life. The camp gave me the right platform to connect with people of similar interests and people who are really determined to bring about a real change in the country. In the so hot Rajasthan I made real cool friends. The most amazing part was the village stay. We learnt about issues ranging from child marriage to domestic violence, health, education and different government policies. The perspective of learning was very different. The view on such issues was given from villagers and I was utterly surprised to notice that reality was far different from what we had so far known before coming to the orientation camp. The learning was further augmented by interactive sessions by our facilitators. It was a true enlightening experience. Apart from this the camp was high on the fun quotient. It really got me out of my comfort zones. Now I can confidently travel in local buses for long journeys, live partially without the basic facilities and have become more sensitive to various issues. It has turned me to be a more responsible person. -

Bhavnish Walia, Eco. Hons. at Hansraj, placed at Vayali, Kerala

at the village community education center

The orientation camp was really nice.And the thing which I liked most,

was the interaction with many other college students .I also
appreciate the sessions ,which are very helpful to my rural internship
and also for my personal life.Overall ,I really enjoyed the camp. -

Naveen Kumar, IIT Delhi, placed at Manthan, Rajasthan on education

sessions in progress (mixed with fun)

trying to find meaning in confusion

the camp was awesome... i really liked the tribal song, dance and name that we all made... it was a gud experience of team work and coordination plus the time management that we learnt as we were given only 10 minutes to prepare hehe... the last session was also awe- inspiring in which we shared our feelings about each other... overall it was an unforgettable experience with inputs of pravah coordinators and wonderful sessions
-
Ambika Agarwal, Eco. Hons. at Hansraj, internship at Manthan, Rajasthan on micro-finance

forming new relationships, starting with trust

jo seekha char din mein,

maine orientation camp se..

woh sirf rural internship nahi,

par jud gaya meri life se...

camp mein tha, full masti aur fun, naa thi koi bandish, par har baat mein tha dum

agar karein sessions ki baat hum, to page padega likhne ko kaam..

har session ka tha apna andaaz, sab mein chuppa tha koi na koi raaz.. -

Neha Jain, Msc from Lady Irwin, interning with Manthan, Rjasthan on Health..

the entire bunch.....at the tila, GVNML.......

The camp came to an end with all the people leaving for their respective internships in different parts of India.. keep watching this space to learn about the journeys of these young people as and when they return.
Youth Intervention Team
Pravah

Group Exposure '09 - Narmada Bachao Andolan

2010-04-18T18:09:00.002+05:30

Condemned To Progress

"Namaste" he said and politely asked us to sit down. A thin sheet of sweat covered his limbs presumably from the laborious toil at the fields. The house was simple and clean, had earthen walls, a thatched roof and a wooden frame to support the structure. A moment's silence follows the exchange of pleasantries. On probing about the government schemes for rehabilitation and resettlement, he slowly related his tale. The government notified them that his village and its surrounding lands will be submerged in the reservoir waters of Indrasagar dam 4 years back. A few months after which a group of officers came to survey their region estimating the costs of the houses and their farmlands(section six).They claim that the estimation of cost for their farms was done by using outdated cost data, thus guaranteeing inadequate funds to the prospectively displaced people. The compensation for the lands was to be given in one of the two ways:

(i)Land for Land: The land offered in most cases was found to be hilly, infested with stones, not irrigated and so incapable of bearing harvest. In certain regions, the land being offered was found to be already being occupied by a third person. Also another issue was of an individual being granted land in two different areas, making it physically impossible to utilise both the lands and hence, rendering a part of it useless.

(ii)Monetary Compensation for land: The rate as per which money has been reimbursed is on an average 7-8 years old. Such is the situation that even the full promised amount does not reach the coffers of the poor rustics. The helpless villagers fall prey to corruption also, thus losing a part of their rightfully owned money.

A daily wage labourer had another facet to add to the picture. Since these labourers have no land to claim compensation for, they were promised 5 acre land or Rs. 38,000 compensation per working member of the family. But the scene actually is not so simple. It is claimed by the villagers that the officials have comfortably stated alive, walking and talking persons non-existent and thus kept away the rehabilitation benefits from these people.

Ah, what to say, the future of these people indeed seems in darkness. As if all this is not enough, the contractors to which the fishing rights of the reservoir had been tendered out to have already started harassing and shooing away local fishermen who are already suffering due to lower fish count in rivers which again is an example of ecological impact of the dam. Ah a bleak present and a dark future. What could be worse?

Group Exposure '09 - Narmada Bachao Andolan

2010-04-18T18:01:00.002+05:30

A Rural Portrait

A kaleidoscope of colours,experiences,scents and visuals.A tradition and culture that is enduring.The mighty Narmada.Descending into the plains of Maharashtra from Amarkanth.A river that inspires awe.And reverence.Lush primordial forests,exotic wildlife,undulating hills,rapids and the infectious tune and cheerful rhythm of dharaji.......
Calm and serene,the expanse of water stood beside the undulating hill slopes covered with a lush green cover,betraying the harmony and peace that existed here.The first rays of sunlight accompanied with the regular call from the village roosters proclaimed day rise and appeared on our bright and sparking faces,which promptly responded with huge smiles.Our inquisitive eyes surveyed the picturesque surroundings,enthralled by the ethereal beauty that abounded around us.
A moment later,the truth dawned on us.We were blistering fools to admire that scenario in which we claimed to experience peace and harmony.Initially i could not fathom the sadness that pierced the entire landscape.Half a tree top lay exposed through the water surface as if yearning to stay above the surface,as if yearning to stay alive,as if…......Behold,to my horror, the water was not blue,but mildly green,as if dyed by all that lay beneath it.What a dance of destruction is this?What sort of silent torment is this?Who knew what stay in store for later?
There was a complete lack of commotion,no noise,no yelling,no confusion,nothing out of place in this pleasant environment which apparently appeared to be oblivious to the fact that its doomsday draws to a close. All the activity of the women was directed towards the two hand pumps placed strategically at the two ends of this village of Dharaji,situated on the high ground just beside the "present" river bank.Women walked towards the hand pump in pairs,with utensils on their heads and tucked at their waists.While one worked the pump,the other cleaned the utensils with a earthen mixture,and then filled them up with water presumably for the morning household chores.

Films With Wings in LSR!!!

2010-03-04T12:47:00.001+05:30

Projekt

in association with

Pravah

invites you to

Films With Wings

LSR

Films with Wings is an initiative of SMILE and Learning Journey’s Institute (Pravah, India), and Interactive Resource Center, Pakistan. It aims to provide a dynamic platform for young people of both India and Pakistan to engage, co-create, challenge and capture a variety of experiences and expressions through a series of Intensive dialogues using the medium of films on issues concerning young people across the borders.

This year 17 students from Delhi and Lahore have created 7 short films on issues concerning them.

Come watch the films and engage in a discussion with the young people from Delhi.

Date : March 4th 2010 (Thursday)

Time: 11:30 am onwards (Special Assembly)

Venue: Projekt Room, LSR

We hope to see you there!!!

P.S. Please help us spread the word around. :)

Thanks!

On behalf of Pravah

Vertika

3rd year, B.A. (Hons.) Political Science, LSR

9871623823

On behalf of Projekt

Bedatri

9873290095

feb. youth adda

2010-02-23T15:50:00.001+05:30

As this academic year draws to an end,

and exams become your new best friend....

We call you over to Pravah once more,

for a day full of masti and shor!!!

Pravah

invites you to the last

"Youth Adda"

of this academic year

What is in it for me?

An opportunity to discover yourself,

understand various leadership styles,

and also relate to each other better......

(become one of the few lucky ones who get to try out an interesting way to explore yourself and others....through lots of activities and other fun stuff....)

Also, participate in the fun and frolic later....

as we celebrate holi in our own special way........

to acknowledge and celebrate all of you guys.......

who have made the SMILE space as beautiful as it is....

Time: Feb. 27th, 9:30 am

Venue: Pravah office, C-24B, floor 2, kalkaji

Also, let us all do each other a favour,

and carry our 'filled' lunch boxes along....

For more details,

call/ sms 9871210681(Astha)/ 9811736031 (Puneet)

Do confirm your attendance, thru a mail/ sms.....

Love, peace and energy,

The YI team,

Pravah

C-24B, 2nd Floor, Kalkaji
New Delhi - 110019
011 26213918, 26291354
http://smilevolunteers.blogspot.com
www.younginfluencers.com

Jan. youth adda

2010-01-28T17:39:00.003+05:30

Pravah

invites you to

to your own space

The "Youth Adda"

This fun-filled space will talk about all

possible engagement spaces within the

Youth Intervention programme

What is in it for me?

A wonderful opportunity to discover, understand,

and relate to each other's journeys, and to

inspire others to take such wonderful journeys......

Also, take a first look at our ongoing Indo-Pak

FWW (Films With Wings) programme

and be a part of the film premiere of 'Dastoor'

(some thoughts on society and stereotypes)

So, come, join us, and be a part of yet another journey with Pravah, to celebrate our experiences and learnings, and to inspire and encourage others to undertake the same.....

Time: Jan. 30th, 12:30 pm

Venue: Hope Project (directions attached)

Also, let us all do each other a favour,

and carry our 'filled' lunch boxes along....

For more details, call/ sms 9871210681(Astha)/ 9971158313(Sulab)

Kindly confirm your attendance, thru a mail/ sms.....

!!feel free to get your friends and loved ones along!!

Love, peace and energy,

The YI team,

Pravah

C-24B, 2nd Floor, Kalkaji

New Delhi - 110019

011 26213918, 26291354

http://smilevolunteers.blogspot.com

www.younginfluencers.com

rural internships......

2010-01-22T10:05:00.004+05:30

Heya.....

Wondering what to do this summmer??
Want to try out something completely different from what you might have done before....

Come, try out the rural internship programme under SMILE (Students' Mobilisation Initiative for Learning through Exposure)....

Click here to know more......

Love, and energy.....
SMILE, Pravah

Coming up.....group exposure presentation at IIT

2010-01-20T13:26:00.002+05:30

Hey guys,

We have some energy for you, to warm you up in this chill .....The volunteers from IIT, who went to the Narmada Bachao Andolan, as a part of the Group Exposure in Dec. 09....are presenting their journey in front of their peers and the NSS representatives at IIT.....

They are busy finalizing the various events and programmes, which range from a photo story, to sharing individual change stories.....and experiences in the various villages, not forgetting an overview of the movement....As always, in a fun and interesting format..... They have also arranged for Alok da to come and interact with the audience..... As you might know, Alok da heads the movement from Khandwa, and is also an ex-IITian......

We would like for you to come and share their energy, and enthusiasm....at this presentation...... Please try and take time out off your schedule......Your presence will inspire them greatly, and support any probable future endeavours......

Date: 24th Jan '10 ...... Sunday
Time: 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm (approx.)
Venue : 2LT2, IIT Delhi

Looking forward to catching you there,

Love,
YI team

ps: for directions to 2LT2, please call 09891537063 once you reach IIT Delhi.

Group Exposure '09 - Narmada Bachao Andolan

2010-01-12T00:48:00.002+05:30

MERE SAATH CHAL ....... The beginning

The devils were taking over,chasing the gods out of the universe.Fear-stricken gods fleeing for the fear of their life.And buzzzzz my alarm rang..six in the morning,too early to rise..but today was exceptional.4th december,the first day for the exposure camp organised by pravah.Every body managed to make it for Karm marg charitable society by eleven,and we be immediately began with the introductions.The initial phase caught on fast with sulab and deep organising silly but nice games and inculcating team spirit within the group.The aftenoon session came up with an even more exciting prospect-A Community Visit. Interaction with the simple rustics of khedi kalan,having tea with them,being offered hukka at the village were the highlights of this visit.

The orientation camp was in nature a unique experience.Dinner with the kids there and and the community interaction were catalytic in completely discarding our inhibitions about rural folk and their way of life.The sessions here laid the firm foundation to the world we were going to be propelled into.Some of us were here to create a mental picture,one in which they themselves verify the colours and diversity,of rural india,or to be more accurate a microscopical part of the rural india.Making friends,shedding inhibitions was another big hit on the wishlists .Other top hits include developing team spirit,introspection and having a ball of a time.

The inhibitions list was lot more longer.Neha had scared the wits out of us telling us about crocodiles,and snakes and emergency precautions ,essential but still monstrous.What if that happens?What if this happens?What to do in that situation?Will i be able to manage that?How will i make sure i dont panic? Will i manage to do my job in the morning itself?Will i be chased by a bull when i am doing my morning job?Ooooh too many....

And with all that in mind we settled down on our seat berths(RAC=>two on one ) squeezed against each other,fighting for the blanket like a pack of dogs being forced to share a bone.....more follows.....

Harsh Gupta
Undergraduate student
Dept of Computer Science
IIT Delhi

2010-01-02T16:12:00.003+05:30

Dear SMILErs,

From past few months you all were doing... a number of film screenings to interact with other students on various socio-economic issues and people recognized our efforts , this time one of the well known film maker Stalin (maker of India untouched) wished us for what we are doing.... and this is what he wants to say. ... So Congrts...I

Dear Smile team,

I am very happy to read the blog report on the screening of my film India Untouched at DCE recently. It is heartening to know that the film created so much discussions and opened many eyes. Thank you so much for organizing such screenings and using the film.

It would be nice to get an email from you for future screenings. It is possible that I am in town at the time and would love to participate in the discussion.

All the best for your younginfluencers program!

In harmony,
Stalin K

Music For Harmony '09 in pictures

2009-12-16T14:41:00.020+05:30

Music For Harmony '09 Banner created by waste material made by SMILE volunteers

Peace Tree that grew with messages left by visiting students

One of the many leaves exhibiting students' point of view on the Peace Tree

Sudesh performance by Sudesh Devi at Music For Harmony '09

Peace exhibition that shows students' interpretation of peace

One of the students at the face painting stall

Zenith from Jaipur perform at Music For Harmony '09

Meghna Nag Chowdhuri, Mark Takefman and Joe Spence perform at Music For Harmony '09

Astitiva perform at Music For Harmony '09

Ghazal performance by Santosh at Music For Harmony '09

U.8.Noise perform at Music For Harmony '09

A young person contributes to the graffiti wall

Young people placing candles to create a peace sign

The peace sign that drew Music For Harmony '09 to a close

Music for Harmony - at The NSS Youth Fest on Dec 10th 2009

2009-12-07T12:26:00.001+05:30

Dear All,

Greetings from Pravah!

Pravah in collaboration with National Service Scheme(NSS) - Delhi University, would like to invite you to a two day Youth Festival on the 9th and 10th of December 2009.

The Programme

Day 1

Inauguration: 10am- 11am

Youth Panel: Young people as catalyst for social change: 11am- 12:30pm

Volunteering opportunities for young people: Stalls by different NGOs: 11am- 4:30pm

Skill and Issue sessions: Parallel sessions by different NGOs: 2pm- 4pm

Day 2

“ENCORE-Music for Harmony 2009": Celebrating peace through music, theatre, face painting, Peace Chai, photo exhibition, interactive games and a lot more!

Organised by SMILE volunteers of Pravah: 9:30 am- 4:30pm

Inter college debate: 9:30 am- 1:30 pm

Details

Date: 9th- 10th December 2009

Time: 9:30 am- 4:30 pm

Venue: Sir Shankar Lal Concert Hall (Opp. Department of Social Work, Delhi University),

University Road, Delhi - 110007

We hope that you will join us in this effort to bring together young people and diverse non governmental organisations. The event will offer the participants opportunities to explore and identify ways in which they can engage with these groups and begin their journey towards becoming active citizens. We expect that through this platform, the young people will be able to travel from 'Me to We', and be able to lead processes for positive social transformation.

This year for the first time Pravah’s SMILE volunteers are also organising Music for Harmony at North Campus as part of the larger festival. We look forward to this endeavour to redefine and understand peace and together celebrating and exploring ways of realising it, creating just as much energy in north campus as it did over the past 7 years at Dilli Haat during the Dastkaar Nature Bazaar.

Please find attached the formal invitation for the two day Youth Festival as well as “Encore: Music for Harmony 2009” on the 10^th of December 2009.

We would appreciate it if you could spread the word and circulate the invite to as many people as possible.

Hoping to see you there...

Thank you!

With love, peace and energy

The SMILE- Pravah team

Lokasish Saha

(M) 9999609980

lokasish.saha@pravah.org

Tanmayee

9953846904

tanmayee.sahu@pravah.org

Puneet

9811736031

Neha Buch

(M) 9891293484

neha.buch@pravah.org

About Pravah:

Pravah is a youth development organization which has been working since 1992, to promote leadership for social justice among young people. Through our work we aim to promote values such as non violence, love, diversity, interdependence, collaboration and sustainable development. Pravah's work over the past 15 years has been mainly directed towards making a case for youth development. Our core competence lies in developing and facilitating creative and impactful experiential learning initiatives for adolescents, youth, NGOs and other educational institutes. We also support youth startups and other organizations through organizational development and programmatic support. In addition we are engaged in influencing public policy in the field of youth. Our college level intervention takes place through the Students Mobilisation Initiative for Learning through Exposure (SMILE) programme.

We are supported in our work through partners all over the country as well as national and international resource organizations such as – The Ford Foundation, Sir Ratan Tata Trust, Wipro, Misereor, Ashoka, Global Fund for Children and Voluntary Service Overseas.

For more information please visit: www.pravah.org , www.younginfluencers.com , http;//smilevolunteers.blogspot.com

Youth Adda in Pictures

2009-11-19T13:59:00.014+05:30

In the middle of an intense discussion

Music For Harmony moments being shared with everyone

Racing minds for the presentation

Some of the ideas for Music For Harmony 2009

Post lunch; charging ourselves up!

What pops up in your mind when you hear 'peace'?

SMILE Tshirt...get yours soon!

We're thrilled with so much going on for this year's Music For Harmony! Join us so we can have another memorable event!

Next Youth Adda is happening this Sunday, November 22nd, 2009, 10:00AM onwards at Pravah Office.

Pravah
C-24B, II Floor
Kalkaji

See you there!

India Untouched @ Pre-Tarang week in LSR!

2009-11-16T15:19:00.003+05:30

India Untouched@ LSR
SMILE Pravah in association with VAPP, LSR organised the screening on the 11th of November from 3:00 – 5:30 pm which was facilitated by SMILE volunteers. The event started with a brief introduction of Pravah and SMILE and the movie. The points put forward in the post-movie discussion gave a better insight and helped everyone explore the various dimensions of the movie.

The movie India Untouched explores the prevalence of caste in contemporary India among people from different religions, geographical areas and cultural backgrounds. Award winning director Stalin.K had put in 4 years of research for making the movie, showing us how widespread and real the Dalit oppression is contrary to what we may believe.

Some of the major points and observations that came forward were:

Almost everyone in the audience acknowledged that they had no clue that it was still so prevalent and the movie made them realise the magnitude of the problem.
Someone pointed out the arguments in favour of reservation on the basis of economic criteria instead of caste based criteria was an attempt to neglect the issue and only a means to deny the Dalits equality of opportunity.
It was also pointed out that in generality education and geographical location had no relation to caste discriminations but only the ways that these discriminations occur.
Someone pointed out that the caste fragmentations are so deeply ingrained into our minds that it’s almost impossible to get rid of them. Some confessed that it was still practiced in their houses (like different utensils for Dalits) and also that they themselves somewhat believed in these caste based distinctions though it was difficult to explain why.
Quite a few people present there confessed to the fact that even though they don’t believe in caste based discriminations as such they would still like to marry within their casteslike the lady in the movie. Someone cross questioned and pointed out that such examples show that we still believe in caste system and try to dismiss the fact by giving illogical arguments and quoting texts.
It was also pointed out that the problem with Dalit women was more acute and they suffered more in reference to the part in the movie where a Dalit woman is referred to as a ‘double Dalit’.
The discussion specially the citing of personal instances started the process of self-introspection and self-questioning. The very hope to change and not to accept things as they are seemed to flame in everyone and was this was very inspiring. The importance of spreading awareness and instilling in ourselves and those around us a rational outlook and a feeling of tolerance was emphasised. The discussion was wrapped up with explaining the SMILE process and distribution of RI pamphlets.
SMILE Pravah would like to continue its association with LSR. Please feel free to write out your views of the event and also to contact us for any sort of information or comments.
Keep :)ing
SMILE'rs

Send Us Your Photos!

2009-11-13T18:00:00.004+05:30

Hi all,

Music for Harmony is back!

It is an event led, organised and managed by young people to celebrate peace and harmony. It is an effort by Pravah, a community of changemakers, to bring everyone together and make a difference.

This year again, we are getting together to understand and spread the message of peace through music, puppetry, theatre, photography, and such creative outlets.

We invite you to help us create a photo exhibition. What do you think peace means to you? What around you signifies harmony? Send in pictures of anything and everything around you that bring you happiness and joy. Let’s put together peace in pictures and make memories!

You can email two-three of your pictures (high resolution pictures, please!) by November 25th, 2009 at youth.pravah@gmail.com. You can even send us hard copies (5” X 7”) of your pictures at the address given below. Make sure they reach us by December 7th, so everyone can be a part of this! We’d also like to request you to send a short note describing the pictures and how it signifies peace. It’d help everyone to understand your point of view clearly.

Call Prachi at 9891963336 or our office at 01126213918 for any queries.

SMILE Pravah team

Pravah

C-24B

Kalkaji

New Delhi

www.pravah.org

smilevolunteers.blogspot.com

Music For Harmony, 2009

2009-11-06T12:20:00.011+05:30

It’s back! After many successful and memorable times, Music For Harmony is here again, to let us have a blast while we share our concerns, talk about change and our efforts, and celebrate peace and harmony.

Music For Harmony stands as a unique effort for all volunteers at Pravah as it establishes the spirit we all work with. It’s known to generate immense excitement, energy and passion for things we care for but mostly resist in our expression. And the best part of it all is that we invite everyone to join us! It’s unique because it is organised and managed by young, motivated people. Being SMILErs mostly, they have many stories to share, many ideas to execute.

These young people will bring musicians, theatre artists, puppeteers, among other creative individuals together as they go out there to let everyone know the sort of inspiring things they are involved in. To let you really get an idea of the level of fun we have, here are some pictures from the past. And it’s only going to get better!

Come join us, as we get together yet again. You’d love their energy. Come over to the office this Sunday, the 8th of November (address given below) and help these young people out and share their energy and excitement!

Bring your friends and family along, to see how we all can contribute while enjoying together, and envision a peaceful world. See how you can bring in the much required change, in our own little ways.

Come back soon for details of the venue, the date, and such things. We will sing, dance, write, enjoy together very soon though!

See you at the meeting!

Pravah

C-24 B, II Floor

Kalkaji, New Delhi

011 26440619

War and Peace - IIT

2009-11-04T15:49:00.002+05:30

SMILE Pravah held its third movie screening at IITD on Saturday, i.e. 31^st October. War and Peace was screened which is a documentary by Anand Patwardhan on global peace activism in the face of nuclearisation, militarism and war.

The film is framed by the murder of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, an act whose poignancy remains undiminished more than half a century later and goes onto to portray tumultuous years in India, Pakistan, Japan and the USA following nuclear tests. It explores the humanitarian angle showing the dangerous affects of toxic wastes and also the politics involved behind the arms race and rapid nuclearisation.

A discussion followed the screening in which several issues were discussed and some very though provoking points came forward

It was discussed as to whether there is anything such as peaceful nuclear energy use. Most were of the view that nuclear energy was an essential energy source for the future and so they believed that there was a need to enforce stricter regulations for the usage of nuclear power.
Someone pointed out that the change in our ideology from non-violence and tolerance (of the Gandhanian and Nehruvian era) to our present ideology of rapid militarisation was due to our need to be a part of the global world order and become a power to reckon with.
Someone raised the point that power and position cloud our idealism and thinking and that our virtues change as we climb the ladder in politics.
There was a discussion on whether India should make use of nuclear power in the future and there were points on either side but most were of the view that India required it as a source of energy and also for nuclear weapons in the face of a rapidly increasing threat from its neighbourhood. Someone pointed out that there were other cleaner and safer alternative sources of energy and also that the lust for better weapons would always continue and this mentality could lead self-destruction.
Some were left perplexed as to why the government wasn’t ensuring the safe disposal of radioactive wastes from nuclear plants and how they could be so indifferent and ignorant towards the plight of the people.

Hence, the discussion ended and people were left thinking about the complexity and the various dimensions of the issue. We hope to continue our association with IITD with more such events.

Keep :)ing......

SMILER’s

Winter Group Exposure 2009!

2009-11-03T13:40:00.003+05:30

Dear All,

Pravah in collaboration with NSS, IIT- Delhi brings to you the Winter Group Exposure 2009.

The Winter Group Exposure 2009 will give 15 young IITians an opportunity to undertake a journey of ‘Me to We’ by participating in a 12 day group exposure to the Narmada Bachao Aandolan. The Aandolan has over the last decade been at the centre of a debate around development- what it is and what it should be. Interestingly there are enough young people from the technical field on both sides of the debate. Here is your chance to go and volunteer with one of the most prominent people’s movements in the country, see another aspect of the Indian reality and understand the issue for your self by actually experiencing it firsthand.

If you are someone who likes to challenge yourself, learn through experience, volunteer, think for yourself and of course have fun while doing all of this, then apply now !

All you have to do is fill up the form attached provided at the Pravah website and mail it to either sulab.kumar@pravah.org or neha.buch@pravah.org . Please write ‘Winter Group Exposure 2009’ in the subject line.

http://www.pravah.org/content/iitexposure

The last date for submitting your forms is: 5th November 2009
Please do read through the Winter Group Exposure Concept Note for further details, before applying. Please do feel free to contact us should need any clarification or more information on 011-26213918 and talk to Sulab or Neha. You can also contact Anurag Kumar( 2nd year,9891537063), Abhishek Surana( 2nd year, 9990909760 ) or Naveen Khandelwal ( 2nd year,9990910542).

We look forward to receiving your application soon!

Best of luck!
Love, peace and energy
The SMILE team☺
Pravah

Young influencer at work- Jitesh in Jaipur papers

2009-10-29T17:42:00.000+05:30

Five friends & 40 kids

When most village youths are running towards urban India, Jitesh is an inspiration

Anshika Ajmera

a_anshika@dnaindia.net
He came to Jaipur with a mission to do MBA. But it was while he was pursuing his BBA (second year) from Commerce College, that he realised his real aim of opening a Youth Research Centre (YRC) and doing something for the betterment of his village Ratanpura in Sikar and thereby develop the nearby ones too.
"My idea was that if you want to go into the corporate sector, you have to develop your skills practically," says Jitesh Kumar, who is 20 years old.
His drive to do something for his village started taking a real turn when he came in touch with the NGO, Pravah Jaipur. And it was with them that Jitesh and five friends went to his village on October 12 and organised a two-day workshop. The schedule covered a comic workshop conducted in a public school with 40 students from class 9-12, a survey on village issues and shramdaan with the kids.
But that was not all! With his friend's idea, Shubham, a tree plantation programme was also launched in collaboration with the school. "We initially faced a lot of opposition, but then we managed to convince the students after we promised them prizes," says Kumar.
"The villagers said we are doing all this for money. It was shocking for me to hear this from my own people," Shubham adds.
Now within these two days, this vigilant group has also cleaned up two streets of the village along with making earthen drains. "We collected Rs10 from each house on the street to make the drains," says Kumar.
The various activities Kumar and his friends did in the village were presented to other volunteers and representatives from Sir Ratan Tata Trust on Saturday evening at Pravah.
And, trust us, looking at him, there is only one saying that come our mind—big things come in small packages.

Copyright Permission www.3dsyndication.com

India Untouched screened at DCE!

2009-10-29T01:20:00.003+05:30

India Untouched @ DCE

Date: 27th October Time: 5:30 – 8:00 p.m Delhi College of Engineering

The movie screening at DCE started off with a very brief introduction about SMILE, Pravah and the theme of the movie. An enthusiastic crowd of around 20-25 people turned up for the screening.

The movie India Untouched explores the prevalence of caste in contemporary India among people from different religions, geographical areas and cultural backgrounds. Award winning director Stalin.K had put in 4 years of research for making the movie, showing us how widespread and real the Dalit oppression is contrary to what we may believe.

A brief but quite intense discussion followed the screening and quite a few points and issues were raised.

Most acknowledged this was an eye-opener and they weren’t aware of the magnitude and implications of caste segregations.

Someone pointed out that in their college itself in some cases people of same communities/castes only bonded among themselves. Also if people found out that someone was from a backward community they wouldn’t befriend him/her.

The point of local leaders and authorities exploiting caste segregations for their vested interests was also raised.

Someone also confessed that he was personally against reservation before seeing the movie but now is pro-reservation because even if reservation benefits a fraction of the oppressed and needy it’s a big step forward and is essential.

It was said that it was almost impossible to get completely rid of the caste discriminations or notions of ‘superiority’ and ‘inferiority’ as they were very deep- rooted in our minds but we could work to bridge the gap between people by making sure that the discriminated were granted opportunities to excel and discover their potential.

Someone said that the only way to combat this was to make people think rationally and to question established structures instead of blindly following them.

Thus the process of self-introspection and questioning norms got underway. It was concluded by initiating discussions on what we can personally do get rid of these stigmas. The importance of spreading awareness and instilling in ourselves and those around us a rational mindset and a feeling of tolerance was emphasised.

This led to explaining the SMILE process and how it helps in understanding and comprehending all these issues better. It was wrapped up by showing the SMILE video and distributing R.I pamphlets. We hope to continue our association with DCE.
Keep :)ing..................

SMILE’rs

Born into Brothels screened at IIT! Read On..

2009-10-29T01:11:00.002+05:30

Born Into Brothels@ IITD

Date: 25th October Time: 2-5 p.m Venue: 2LT2, IIT Delhi

This was the second movie screening and the third SMILE event at IITD. Beyond our expectations a crowd of over 120 came for the movie screening.

The Academy award winning ‘Born Into Brothels’ set in Sonagachi, the red-light area of Kolkata examines the complexities associated with the lives of sex workers and their children. Directed by an American duo of Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, it shows the lives in the red light area through the eyes of these children using photography and film as a medium. The directors are determined to provide these kids with a better and more secure future.

The screening was followed by a discussion which threw light on various issues and brought forward many viewpoints. The discussion began with the audience being asked to give their initial impressions and feelings on the movie.
Someone suggested that red-light areas should be broken up and the sex workers should be sent to different places away from the city so that prostitution is stopped since as individuals they won’t be able to continue their profession.
This raised the larger issue of whether sex work is per se ethically wrong. There was a heated discussion on this. Someone said we need to broaden our mindset and accept sex work as a profession.
This started the debate on the legalisation of prostitution. Those in favour pointed out that it would reduce the exploitation of sex workers by pimps, clients, it would improve their pay and working conditions and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Those opposed said it would encourage people to join sex work and make it a lucrative profession and would wrongly impact the Indian society. They firmly believed that profession should be abolished and should certainly not be legitimised.
Someone pointed out that it would be better if Indian organisations would pick up such issues so that they could be better followed up to which someone replied that there were already many organisations working in the area and that the efforts of each individual should be recognised and appreciated.
Someone questioned the rationale of taking out some select 8 children (and even all of them weren’t able to leave the brothels) and deciding to teach them. People counter argued that there would be a trickledown effect and also that we can’t stop making efforts just because we can’t help everyone.
It ended on a note of hope and optimism as exemplified by the examples of Avijit who is currently studying in NYU and other children who are out of brothels and are doing well in their respective institutions. The movie was about finding light in the darkest corners and we were all very inspired by it.

At the end of it there was a formal announcement of the winter group exposure which would be an opportunity for everyone to witness a grass root level movement and to develop a better understanding of the prevailing social issues. It received a very enthusiastic response and many expressed their willingness and excitement for the same. We hope to continue our association with IIT through such events and specially the winter group exposure trip.

Keep :)ing

SMILErs

International Day of Climate Action- 350

2009-10-25T12:18:00.002+05:30

24th of October was the International Say of Climate action and many of us participated in this global day through our own interesting ways...

Just sharing with you the letter from 350 ...

Dear friends,

For 20 years the world has managed to do very little about the greatest problem it's ever faced. In three days time, you can help change that--and if you step up you're going to have a lot of company!

It looks like the International Day of Climate Action this Saturday October 24th will be the single most widespread day of political action the planet has ever seen--we're closing in on 170 nations, and more than 4000 rallies and events.

There will be climate events from the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef to the summit of Mount Everest. At each event -- at rallies and parties and deep-sea dives -- people will take a big photo that somehow depicts the number 350. Our crew at 350.org will be taking these thousands of photos, projecting them on the giant screens in New York's Times Square, and delivering them directly to hundreds of world leaders and politicians in the coming weeks.

There's almost certainly an event happening near you--if you're not sure what, this link will let you find out quickly and easily:

www.350.org/map

People in all those cities and towns all around the world will be saying the same thing: science tells us that we can't have more than 350 parts per million CO2 in the atmosphere if we want a planet like the one we were born onto. That sounds complicated, but it isn't--350 is the bottom line for the earth.

Please take a moment to forward this along to everyone you know in your community and around the world, and ask them to find an event near them to take part on on this important day: www.350.org/map

Thanks for everything you do,

Bill McKibben for the 350.org Crew

P.S. We're simply astonished by the viral growth of this movement in the last couple of weeks--can you spare 15 seconds and two mouse-clicks to share the momentum with everyone you know on Twitter and Facebook? Many many thanks.

THEATER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE!!

2009-10-19T14:07:00.004+05:30

Student's who attended the two day theater workshop with Ms. Jaya Iyer (theater person) will be getting together again on 21st October at Pravah Office, 3 p.m. to prepare and perform..

There will also be a performance of the play that has been prepared on the issue of Climate Change on the 22nd October!!

It's your turn to show that you care about your environment !!

If you have ideas about spreading awareness about climate change and want to do something then this is the platform where you can get together with a larger group and implement innovative ideas like.. a cycling awareness drive, making a new campaign.. got ideas? then this might be the space for you!!

Join us on both the days and be a part of the group..

For more details please contact: Sundeep - 9582338381, Puneet - 9811736031

Pravah Office Address: C-24B, second floor, Kalkaji, N.d. - 19

Gende Bender.. Movie for thoughts @ Jamia!

2009-10-08T13:09:00.002+05:30

Movie: Gender Bender
Date: 7th October, 2009
Time: 3:30 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.
Venue: Seminar Room, Deptt. Of Social Work, Jamia University campus

The second day of the film festival saw the movie Gender Bender. Titled thus for the changing roles of women, the movie forced a re-look on the traditional definitions of gender, and gender-specific roles. To get the audience thinking along the same lines, a teaser was organized – a mind jog where the participants were asked to delineate various jobs into male/ female. It was deliberate on the part of the facilitators (Nishu and Sonal) to not give them time to think – we wanted to record their first responses. With this activity, the movie started.

After the movie, the discussion touched on multiple issues, and an effort has been made in this report to record all of these, and the interconnections between them as well.

Perceived gender roles – The audience was asked to revisit the jobs that they had categorized into gender definitions and say if they wanted to change some of those responses. Through this discussion, we also tried to check if these roles were assigned because of some intrinsic gender-specific qualities, or were they just part of a stereotype. It was decided that although roles were necessary, it was also important to allow individuals to make their own choice – and that their choice be respected. Also, the roles, though different, should not decide the gender dynamics; the status of a male/female should be the same.

Reservation for women – With equal status, the question of reservation for women also came up. Here there was a divided opinion. Some were all for reservation in educational institutes, while some felt that an opportunity should be provided to girls to allow them equal access, but admission should only be on merit. From this, the discussion moved to reservation in public transport, like buses and the metro. Members of the audience thought that this was not justified.

Eve-teasing – From buses, the discussion progressed to eve-teasing – reasons for it, possible consequences, and who, if any, is to blame. This discussion was intense, and had to be carried on from the seminar room to the garden, due to non-availability of time. There was no closure here (and neither were we aiming for it), but the participants realized the role they had to play in it, and thus took the first step towards being active citizens.

The discussion came to a close with a vow to take back some learnings from this space into personal lives, and to be the change they want to see.

A Narmada Diary @ Jamia, Social work Deptt

2009-10-08T13:02:00.003+05:30

Movie: A Narmada Diary (57 mins.)
Date: 6th October, 2009
Venue: Seminar Room, Deptt. Of Social Work, Jamia
Time: 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Subject Association, along with Pravah, held a screening of the movie – A Narmada Diary, as a part of the ‘Movies for Thoughts’ film fest at Jamia Millia Islamia University campus. The movie explores the question of development, from the perspective of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. Set in the early 1990s, when the dam was still under construction, it documents the early stages of the said project and the Narmada Bachao Andolan. It touched upon such pertinent issues as rehabilitation, traditional vs. modern irrigation techniques, transparency and disclosure, and the like.

With this in mind, the actual screening was preceded by a question for the audience – What development meant to them?? The responses ranged from sustainability, positive and need-based growth to freedom, a high HDI, and the decentralization of decision-making to the rural villages and towns. With this background, the movie commenced.

After an hour or so, the discussion began by asking the participants to revisit their parameters for development, and apply the same to the movie. While some people said that the movie could promote vested interests and bank on it’s emotional quotient, a majority felt that everybody saw development with a different perspective, and what one sees as development might not be that for another. In this context, the question of need-based growth came up, and the participants were forced to question the aims of the dam, in light of the expectations of the rural poor.

A cost-benefit analysis was also considered necessary by a few, since the benefits were to come only after 30 years, while the costs could even be borne by the displaced forever. This naturally led to the question of the stakeholders, and who was bearing the costs without reaping the benefits, and vice-versa. The issue of adequate compensation (in kind and cash), and how much is necessary for sustenance, and whether it is even measurable, was also brought up in the course of the discussion. With regard to this, the participants came up with other examples, like thermal power plants, and SEZs, where the same situation was prevalent.

Due to time constraints, the discussion could not continue further, but it proved to be a very healthy interactive space for all. The discussion did heat up at some point, but the facilitators were able to bring decorum again. It was agreed by all that there was a need for active citizenship, and understood that even having an opinion on such issues, and being confident to take a stand, is a vital part of active citizenship, and of what Pravah does.

SMILE Youth Adda!!!!! 20 September

2009-09-18T10:05:00.001+05:30

Pravah's SMILE programme

invites you to

the freshly rejuvenated

YOUTH ADDA

for a day of fun, creativity and learning

Come and join other young people like yourself from across different colleges of Delhi

for

a theatre performance and workshop with Theatre Y

(www.theatrey.com) - an inspiring theatre group from Chennai, who will perform their piece 'Realities' and help us explore and express the different perspectives on development through theatre.

Also

find out how you can stand up and be counted through the different volunteering opportunities like with the

United Nations Millennium Campaign and The Commonwealth Women's Group

and

explore what else is coming up in SMILE

Remember the Youth Adda is your space.. Come and be a part of it!

The day: 20th Sept 2009, Sunday

The Place: United Nations Office, Next to India International Centre, Lodhi Road

Timings: 9:30 am - 5:00 pm

We would request you to bring your own food and water.

Kindly confirm your participation as we would need to let the UN office know.

Call Neha at 9891293484 or Lokashish at 9999609980 for any info and confirmation...

And please DO SPREAD THE WORD AROUND!!!!!

Thanks!!!

and hoping to see you guys soon...

with love, peace and energy ...

the SMILE team

A Narmada Diary @ LSR!

2009-09-16T01:54:00.003+05:30

Movie: A narmada diary
Date : 16th september
Time : 3-5 p.m.

Venue: LSR

It introduces the Narmada Bachao Andolan (the Save Narmada Movement) which has spearheaded the agitation against the dam. As government resettlement programs prove inadequate, the Narmada Bachao Andolan has emerged as one of the most dynamic struggles in India today. With non-violent protests and a determination to drown rather than to leave their homes and land, the people of the Narmada valley have become symbols of a global struggle against unjust development.

Be there!!

Spread the word!!

SMILE Monthly meeting amidst food, masti and work!!

2009-09-16T01:44:00.004+05:30

On the 13th of September, the monthly meeting of SMILErs was held and it went on from around 10 in the morning to 6 in the evening!

Many things were discussed during the course of the day related to our targets, our accomplishments of the past month and our future goals, the details of which will come up soon.

Through the final discussion in which Abhijit, Neeru, Sudeep, Surana, Nishu, Rashmi, Neha, Sulab and Anurag were present we decided to modify our action project and slightly alter our future proceedings.

Firstly, it was mutually reached that the goals were to be modified a bit keeping the current scenario of working into consideration.

Secondly, it was decided that the film club was doing a great job in increasing visibility of Pravah in various colleges which was highlighted by the fact that we have been asked to return to all the colleges to which we’ve been. So it was decided to strengthen our relations with those college students by continuing the screenings and discussions so that they might be involved with Pravah as and when something comes up in the future. It was also decided to reach out to more colleges through similar means so as to start the process in those colleges too.

Thirdly a new project was discussed and was decided to be started asap. It was established by consensus that the Rural Internship was all about grass root level movements and engaging positively with those people to bring about some sort of change and enriching our knowledge along the process. It was felt that this aspect was previously missing from our action project and needed to be fused with our plan of action so that we don’t lose touch with our learning’s. So the plan was that we will take up a backward / underdeveloped community and develop a plan in that space. The plan broadly had 3 aspects :

1. Initially, it was about interacting with the community through various conventional and unconventional means so as to get an insight into their lives and develop a bond. This is meant to be a continuous process.

2. At the same time it was decided to revive the ACR (action research group) so as to effectively compile the information on the community, establish various trends about them and concluding something with all the data. This will be very time consuming and intensive process which will require a great amount of dedication and seriousness on our part. At the same time it will be in all probability a very fun process in which we will get to learn a lot.

3. Using all of this it was decided that we could develop and launch some sort of program if things worked out well that would benefit the target community.

Apart from this a plan to Jaipur was decided so as to witness a community project and learn from it. It will take place at the earliest

Meanwhile search of the community will also begin.

Also as usual we ppl had a lot of fun!!

Looking fwd to seeing u all.

Keep :)ing

SMILE'rs :)

Rural Internship:presentation, discussion and lot more at IIT-D!!

2009-09-16T00:55:00.009+05:30

Venue: IIT, Delhi

Date: 13th September

SMILER’s from IIT, in collaboration with NSS took up the initiative of giving their rural internship presentation at 2LT2 in IIT. The session was being moderated by Abishek and Anurag. It started with an activity wherein, the audience was divided into pairs and one member of each pair was told to hold the index finger of other member and the latter had to free their finger. Everybody was then asked that how did they free their fingers and spontaneous came the reply from all that they forcefully pulled their finger out from the grip. But no one had requested the other member to leave their finger. So the point that was stressed here was thinking out of the box and looking at the alternate and sustainable ways to deal with things.

The audience was asked that why do they feel volunteering is important?
Following were some of the responses:-

Leadership quality enhances.
To be heard by the larger society.
To help other’s and not just looking at our own personal benefits.
Volunteering is a two-way learning process.

There was a brief discussion on the last two contradictory statements and finally the conclusion that the audience arrived upon was that volunteering is not just giving something to society without any personal benefits but the learning that unfolds and the skills/qualities that enrich the volunteer there-on help in his/her personality development.

Then the question was thrown to the students that how does volunteering help us and following were the responses:-

Provides Satisfaction.
Helps in networking.
Personality development.
Communication skills are enhanced.
‘Job karke hum engineer ban sakte hain, insaan nahi’
Also one of the students said that rural people are not aware about the schemes meant for them and neither do they have an access to them. So, volunteering is about reaching to these lesser privileged people and in his words – ‘kisi ko to pehla kadam lena padega’.
People have a lot of expectations from IIT’ians- that they are educated, they are the cream and would help the masses.

Abhishek and Anurag then gave a brief introduction of Pravah and the SMILE program of it. And also shared their rural internship experiences:-

Abishek Chaudhary: who went to SECMOL, Ladakh shared that his main task there was to teach students. He also threw light on the fact that in 1990, the pass percentage was just 5-10% in the village where he had gone and how SECMOL took up the initiative of “Operation New hook” of improving upon the educational status of the village. He also said that the internship was the most cherishable period in his life.

Anurag: who had gone to Sabuj Sangha, Sunderbans for his internship shared that he chose the organisation because it works on a lot of issues and for the holistic development of people. He gave a brief introduction about the organisation, where he interned and threw light on the Cyclone AILA disaster that had struck the coastal areas of West Bengal on 25th May, 2009. He emphasised on the hostility, warmth and kindness of people and the very fact that despite being poor, they are very welcoming and gracious.
He concluded with his learnings- that he learnt to get out of his comfort zone, learnt professionalism as he had to finish the tasks assigned to him in time and to have fun to the optimal level.

Abishek Surana: who went to Satpuda foundation in Maharashtra, shared his experiences of living without electricity for 1 month and going to jungle for the first time. He also stressed on the fact that everything has to reach the bottom too and has to be sustainable like if electricity is not reaching to all, then what is the use of having it. It leads to more disparity and urban- rural divide.

Other SMILER’s also shared their experiences of their rural internships.
There were a few questions by the students:

Who made the arrangements for you to stay in the rural areas?
How was the reaction of people regarding the work you did?
Why doesn’t scheme reach to the masses?
What change did you bring there?

Response: Political motives and corruption are so deeply imbibed in our country that leads to deliberate lack of resources to the people and deliberately keeping them away from the resources. To bring about change in a month is very difficult but the very fact that we are sharing our learnings and screening movies on social issues conveys the fact that we can bring in some change somewhere. And more importantly if we change even our own selves is an achievement.

Moderators also shared about the changes in themselves:

Our problems suddenly seemed very small in front of their’s.
Have become more self aware.
Filled with optimism.
Knowledge about many issues has enhanced.

The session was concluded with the following lines and then the video, which summarised the whole process of rural internship experience:

Peel life to see the real life,

Expand your boundaries.

Keep :)ing

SMILE'rs :)

Skin Deep screened at Mata Sundari College!

2009-09-13T22:38:00.006+05:30

Date: 9th September 2009
Venue: Mata Sundari College for Women, Mata Sundari Lane
New Delhi- 110002

Introduction:

The movie screening at Mata Sundari College was Different in many ways. The observations that came up during the screening and facilitation has been a great leaning experience in terms of our planning and Implementation of the whole Movie Screening Process. The Movie was screened in the computer lab of the college and it was encouraging to see that not only did the students turn out in large numbers but also one could see that there was active involvement of the teachers, admistrators and the members of Matasundari Movie Screening Society. The Movie screening started with a brief introduction of Pravah and Smilers and then we screened Skin Deep – “A documentary which reflects on the eternal search for Ideal Feminity and how it permeates the self image of women.”

Issues :

The Screening of the Movie could not complete due to a power cut, however the discussion was more or less Fruitful. A number of interesting perspectives relating to following issues were discussed and elaborated

FEMINISM IDENTITY

STEREOTYPES PORTRAITS

GENDER

Discussion :

• The discussion commences with the audiences expressing their views on the movie and the issues that were evident from the narratives of the characters who hold an integral part of the movie
• Once the discussion gathered momentum a small activity was undertaken o understand the stereotypes that are generally formed especially in context of the term Beauty/Beautiful
• The activity was basically a one word association, wherein each one of us tried to define beauty in one word and a few interesting question and viewpoints emerged
• What does the term Beautiful mean?
• Beauty is not all about physical appearances it is equally relevant to the inner self
• “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” – The way we look at things often influence on what is considered as beautiful
• Then the discussion was routed towards the stereotypes- Its Origin, Impact and personal experiences.
• Our society is male dominated and a lot of stereotypes have been formed by them
• Instances were quoted by the audiences to show both the sides of the gender discrimination

Summary:

The active involvement of the audiences intensified the discussion and gathered momentum at different times, in spite of the fact that the movie screening could not be completed due to frequent Obstructions such as power cuts which did lead to unforeseen delays. However, the fact that a lot of people were actually willing to carry forward the screening at a future date was very encouraging. One of the high points of the movie screening was that a number of students approached us and asked if in the future we can organize more of such event and even create spaces for students to discover. We have learnt our lessons from the screening and a quote by Mr. Clay P. Bedford top executive of Kaiser Industries in California sums up our experience.

“You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives”

We would like to thank the Teacher's for their support in carrying out this screening and also thank the students for showing so much interest by being an active part of the discussion.

Keep :)ing

SMILE'rs

Upcoming Movie Screenings!

2009-09-09T18:37:00.004+05:30

Sorry to inform all of you that the movie screening organized of the movie "Born into Brothels" at IIT on the 12th of September at 5:00 p.m. has been called off due to non availability of space on the particular day. We apologize for the same and will make sure that we inform you whenever the next screening takes place.

However the presentation of the Rural Internship by the SMILE volunteers will take place on Sunday the 13th of September and we hope to see all of you there!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Born into Brothels", An American Documentary film about the children of prostitutes in Sonagachi, Kolkata's red light district. The highly acclaimed film, written and directed by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, won a string of accolades including the Academy Award for Documentary feature in 2004.

Stay tuned!

Keep : ) ing
SMILE'rs

Rehanna @ Miranda House

2009-09-09T18:03:00.004+05:30

Our third screening was held with a very enthusiastic crowd from the Sociology Department of Miranda House college. The screening was held in the college auditorium and was attended by over around 25-30 students. The day started with the SMILE’rs sharing their Rural Internship experiences with the audience and it managed to generate quiet a lot of interest among the students.

The movie screened was “Rehanna” which is a journey of a Muslim woman who decided to break the shackles imposed on her by the society and work for the betterment of other women who might be in the same position as her own. After the screening was over the general consensus among the audience was that they felt charged up and emotional some of the initial reactions generated from the audience were:

- If you really wish to live a “normal” life then you can challenge the ways.
- Shocked that issues like Domestic Violence, rape and other atrocities among women exist in such magnitude.

-Some of the members of the audience felt that there were no male reactions in the movie and the only two men showed in the movie were smiling and meek. Which led to somebody asking from the audience what would be men’s reaction to the movie to this one of the Sociology Department Professor who was amongst the audience shared his experience

- The notion of oppression of women by women was also discussed, to which some people from the audience said that it is a result of conditioning by the society.

- The issue of Reservation for women in Parliament and Panchayats was also discussed.

- The discussion also touched upon topics more closer home like, wearing clothes appropriate to the society one lives in, perception of women as an object, no identity for women apart from those provided by the society.

In all the discussion led to a lot of us in the audience to think and explore new grounds. We would like to organize more such screenings with the college and a heartfelt thanks to the organizers.

Keep :)ing

SMILE'rs

Movie screening @ IIT Delhi, read on!

2009-09-09T17:28:00.003+05:30

"NSS IITD" in collaboration with "Pravah" organised the screening of "India Untouched" on August 29, Saturday facilitated by SMILE volunteers. The highlight was the discussion part after the screening. Beyond all expectations, audience found the relevance of the issue and almost everyone present there was an intimate part of the discussion. The issue of the movie was well known to all, but the way it was put there in the movie and later the points discussed seemed to enlighten everyone and put a lot of unknown facts forward. The way the audience discussed their personal examples related to the issue, showed it was very near to their hearts.
Some of the major points that came out of the discussion and movie were:

· The awareness of the fact that it was still so prevalent both in practices at the grass root level and psychologically in the so called educated elite, the point to think about is, does it exist in IIT too? (as highlighted by the JNU student case).

· The fact that people who are victims of untouchability further perpetuate the practice (subdivisions in Dalit castes and how some Dalitsub-castes subjected other Dalit sub-castes to various atrocities that they themselves were victims of).

· Someone pointed out that the Manusmriti isn’t an integral part of the Vedas and that in the Bhagvad Gita Lord Krishna offers help to everyone irrespective of their caste.

· The caste discrimination subconsciously still exists in our hearts even if we don’t explicitly practice it in reference to the lady who denied any caste beliefs but still wanted to strictly marry within her caste.

· State machinery uses castes to divide us for their own political gains.

· It was new to some to that caste distinctions occur in almost all religions and even states like Kerala which is a communist state and boasts of the highest literacy rate in India has such a rampant growth of caste based practices.

· There was a heated discussion on the issue of reservations and whether they should be community based or community, on the creamy layer issue, the positives of the system of reservations which drew some interesting and thought provoking arguments from either side.

· Finally some were perplexed at the reasons for this sort of discrimination and longed for the prevalence of humanity in all.

This brought us to the question of taking initiatives and not waiting for the society to change but to start changing ourselves. The effort to start the process of thinking and self-questioning thus got underway. The very hope to change and not to accept things as they are seemed to flame in everyone. It was very encouraging for us to see your enthusiasm and to hear out your point of views.

SMILE Pravah would like to continue its association with IIT Delhi and we eagerly await any comments on the movie or related issues. We would also like to further conduct such screenings and discussions if feasible. Please feel free to write out your views of the event and also to contact us for any sort of information or comments.

Anurag anurag0999@gmail.com

India Untouched screened @ Kirori Mal college

2009-09-01T21:15:00.003+05:30

Our second movie screening was held in Kirori Mal College on the 26th of August with the help of the film society in the college. The movie screened was “India Untouched” by Director Stalin K. who with his team spent four years traveling the length and breadth of India to bear witness to the continued exclusion and segregation of those considered as ‘Untouchables’.

The screening was attended by about 20 participants and after the screening a brief description was given about Pravah and SMILE to acquaint our audience about where we were coming from and why we wanted to share our experiences with them and why we felt the need to be there.

Some participants shared that they felt “Sad” “Disturbed” and “Shocked” after watching the movie, some also said that they were unaware that caste existed in so many areas of the society. What shocked most of the audience was the fact that issues like untouchability and caste system are still prevalent in states like Kerala which has the highest literacy rate. One of the student also shared, and I quote, “JNU is supposed to be an institution which is stereotypically a leftist and it’s shocking to see that discrimination like this is there also, I wonder if this also happens in DU” .

The issue of reservation which in our country is closely related to the system of caste is also raised in the movie and the students gave their opinions and shared what they felt about the issue, and I quote again, “Caste is prevalent across all parts of the country and all sections of the society” Another issue that was raised in the movie was that of back door entries and students coming in through self financed seats.

To this the students said that Many instances of the Vedas came up as many portions of the Manusmriti are mentioned in the movie, to this the group reached a consensus that it might be that when the Vedas were made during the ancient times it fit into the scenario and they might have been scientific for those times, but the interpretation that has trickled down during centuries has been seriously misinterpreted.
A very interesting topic that was raised was the discussion of Burqa which was left at the open ended question of “Does the individual really have the choice to decide whether to wear one or not? “

In all it was a great discussion which led to a lot of thinking, it was followed by another screening on the 28th of August details of which will be coming up soon. A special thanks to the film society of Kirori Mal college in helping it become a success and we would like to carry on with this association.

Keep :)ing

SMILE'rs

First screening @ Youth For Development workshop!

2009-09-01T00:44:00.014+05:30

Date: 24th August 09
Venue: Don Bosco Technical Institute

Introduction:
The event started with a fun activity, wherein the volunteers were divided into pairs and were asked to balance a pencil between their foreheads without actually touching it. The activity managed to gear up the audiences and also helped the facilitators who were supposedly unknown initially to develop a connection which is an integral part of any interactive session. Thereafter, a random question was thrown at the audiences. The question was “What images come to your mind when you hear the term boundaries." There were diverse response to these questions and following terms seemed common in the responses that were received.
Partition
Controversy
Limitation
Barriers

A thought process commenced and just to add spark to the fire another question was thrown randomly after jotting the previous points at the whiteboard. This time the question was “What image comes to our mind when we hear of the term terrorist”? Again a lot of different answers came from the audiences and following points seemed prominent.
Blood shed
Violence
Destruction
Fighting for a cause

Movie : Little Terrorist
The movie managed to keep the audiences engrossed at all times. The very first scene which depicts a scene, wherein a group of children are trying to retrieve a ball which has crossed the Line of control aroused curiosity among the audiences and that connection seems to be everlasting. One amazing thing about the screening was that audiences were thrown in an ocean full of varied emotions and at the end one could see questions of the faces of people. People who were from different background, Different geographical locations having different interpretations. However one thing seemed to be common. There were questions looming large on their faces.

Discussion:
Once the movie was over the question about the images comes to our mind after hearing the term terrorism was again referred to. It initially started with the debate on identities. A part of the audiences agreed to the fact that that we fall prey to stereotypes and our own preconceived notions and label a person as terrorist and the views are predominantly based on physical features which has been beautifully shown and portrayed in the movie. Gradually a few interesting perspectives came up which not only intensified the discussion but also gave a proper ground for brainstorming.
“People are same irrespective of their religion”
“Humanity is our first religion”

Thereafter the discussion turned towards the cause of the problem under consideration and the following important points were the core of the discussion

It was discussed that fear is an important cause and the customs/tradition that we at times blindly follow are affected by fear that we have

A few thought that fear exist owing to the insecurity that a living being have and it is an animal instinct to form a group in order to feel safe and secure.

Finally the discussion moved towards solutions and almost everyone present there agreed that we are the only problem and we are the only solution. And although it is not possible to find a solution instantly but the fact cannot be ignored that the onus is on us to change the things.

Feedback:
The involvement of the audiences during the movie screening and the subsequent discussion helped us to get a feedback on the proposed activity. The discussion has a direction and purpose. One important observation of this screening was that a film with limited duration helps us to connect with audiences better and leads to a comprehensive discussion.

In all it was a great session which provided us with just the perfect amount of motivation, enthusiasm.

SMILE'rs :)

Action Project '09!

2009-08-30T22:11:00.007+05:30

Hello to all!

Guess who is back in action?

Yes, you guessed it right.. it's we SMILE'rs '09!!

We have come back from our Rural Internships and have boarded the ship loaded with ideas, learnings, experiences and much much more, we have been moving from shore to shore sharing experiences and taking in more and more of them.

As a part of our Action Project we have started a chain of movie screenings across different colleges in Delhi, SMILE'rs themselves are facilitating these sessions with a lot of enthusiasm and we are very happy to tell you that till now we have screened documentary movies in 3 colleges starting from 24th of August with a thought provoking discussion followed by a documentary screening.

We will be keeping you posted about the screenings through this space and we will also be posting about the discussions that are taking place in various colleges. So that we can share our experiences with all of you and get to know your thoughts, as they are important to us :)

Looking forward to hear from you and sharing with you!

SMILE'rs :)

SMILErs at play this summer

2008-09-18T11:33:00.007+05:30

the journey just started at the orientation camp there's a long distance that was covered post that... an account of some of those journeys...

http://www.younginfluencers.com/sitec/images/public/Publications/SMILE_NEW_LETTER.pdf

Orientation camp

2008-09-18T11:33:00.006+05:30

a little insight into what goes into preparing oneself before we tread towards our rural internships... read to get some accounts of some SMILErs experiences

http://www.younginfluencers.com/sitec/images/users/1/SMILE/SMILE%20please.pdf

M4H - Ek SMILErs ki Nazar Se

2008-03-09T12:29:00.000+05:30

Smile ke andar hai ek program,
‘Music for Harmony’ hai jiska naam,
Sandesh hai iska ek hi, shanty aur badhana,
Logon ke dilon mein, ummeed ki roshini jalana.

Shanti ke program ne,
success khoob kamai,piche hua kya,
kitni khalbali isne machai,
aao hum milke yeh batate hain,
Lodhi garden mein thoda fun late hain.

Hoch-poch, hoch-poch,
Yeh tha shuru mein haal,
Manmeet, Namrata, Kanika ka,
Sir dard se tha haal behaal,
Dheere-dheere SMILErs ne,
Seriousness apni dikhai,
Sur apne ideas deke,
Manmeet ki diary badhai.

Dili Haat ke alawa,
na tha kuch bhi pakka,
josh tha itna andar,
par mila nahi tha dhakka,
SMLIErs ne wahan jakar,
Jagah ki ki napai,
Aur tab jake side events ki list ban payi.

Resource aur poster ki meeting,
Campus mein bithai,
Thode se kaam ke baad,
Namrata ne treat khilai,
Dhabe mein SMILErs ne jam kar khaya,
Namrata ki pocket ko khali karwaya!

Peace package ke kaam mein,
Lag gaye sab log,
Itne colours ke beech mein,
Painting ka pehla rog,
Subah se sham tak chalta tha yahi kaam,
Par uth jate the sab sunkar tikki ka naam.

Conflict map, banner aur exhibition ne kiya kamal,
Aur ‘Music for Harmony’ ne macha diya dhamaal!!

Gaane kitni bhashaoon aur states ke logon ne gaaye,
Face painting mein jane kittno ne peace symbols banwae,
Clay modeling mein bacchon ne khoob kari masti,
Chudiyan aur diye sajakar,
Kar di raunak dugni.

Pravah ke natak neb hi,
Khoob dhoom machai,
Anyaaye aur ladai ke khilaf
awaaz uthai,

sham ko toh jaise ek suroor sa dil mein chaya,
SMILErs ne nach-nach ke shor bindaas machaya.

Candles jalake end mein,
sabne milje banaya symbol,
which represents
and a heart that is humble

Aise hua ‘Music for harmony’ ka ant,
aur last line banne se pehle mera
Brain ho gaya band!

Rural Internship - An oppourtunity to be your own teacher

2008-03-06T18:11:00.004+05:30

Hi all

We have been talking on and off about rural internships and soon you will be seeing posters etc about them around in campus too and so thought should write a bit about them to all of you.

Rural internships are an exposure oppurtunity that we offer in the summer for young people to go to a rural community and intern with a local organisation working on an issue you are passionate about. We at SMILE strongly believe in experiential learning where the world is your classroom and you chart your own learning journey and that is the basic theme behind these internships.
It's a 4-6 weeks long internship oppurtunity. We have partners in rural areas across India who work on various issues and before placing anyone with an organisation we do match expectations from you as well as the hosting organisation to ensure that you are placed with an organisation you would like to work with.

This internship is an oppurtunity for you to get hands on experience working in an environment you may not be familiar with, hone your skills, get work experience of a different kind, push your limits and come out of your comfort zone adapting to a new life and
make a difference.

What does the summer broadly look like if you are interning with us....

In the first half of May we will be conducting an orientation camp which will be compulsory for all those doing internships this year. This will ideally be a 4 day camp held somewhere outside of Delhi. This camp essentially looks at building capacities in certain soft skills, like assertiveness and conflict resolution, which we feel would come in use during your internships. The camp would also be an important space to share expectations and preview what is in store for you to ensure you are well prepared and an oppurtunity to get to know other fellow travellers on this journey.

Post the orientation camp each one can decide when in the next few months you will be doing your internship and figure your travel and other logistics.

In the second half of July (ideally by when everyone should be back from their internships) we will hold a feedback camp which will also be a compulsory component of the internship as its important for us that experiences are documented and shared. It will also be a space to plan forward for your action projects as each one is supposed to take on one post their internship and touch base with all other travellers and so we can be a part of more than one journey even if we haven't been on all.

We firmly believe that learning is not complete if its not actually used in some way which ensures internalisation of all that one has gathered. With this faith the next component of the internship is an action project which everyone has to do once you are back in Delhi. Now action projects are basically forums to share your learnings or do a small project with them once you are back in Delhi. these action projects are really dependent on what you want to do. It's a great space to get thinking out of the box and do something fun.

What are the costs involved....

The basic costs for travel, lodging and food from past years of experience works out to be upto Rs. 4500. For core group intensive SMILE volunteers we ask you to contribute Rs. 2000 and the over and above is covered by Pravah. For all others who are applying for internship we ask you to contribute Rs. 3000 and the over and above is covered by us.
Apart from this we also offer bursaries and there are possibilities for fundraising for those who may find it difficult to come up with the given amount of money. So lets talk about it...

What is the process like?
Write in to us immediately if you would like to apply. There isn't a selection procedure per se but there are certain assessment parameters with which we make our recommendations on whether you are prepared for the internship right away or might want to consider doing it next year.
Please be prepared to come in to meet us sometime during the next two months (before the orientation) so we can talk about the process further and get to know each other and the program better before the orientation camp.

So this is what it broadly looks like please write in to us if you have any queries. To apply for the program please visit our website younginfluencers.com where an aplication form willl be put up shortly and do just call or let us know that you are interested so we can talk further.

Well, hoping to hear from you soon.

To find out more contact the SMILE team at Pravah

@ 26440619 or 26213918 or 26291354

Music for Harmony 2007

2008-03-06T16:55:00.003+05:30

Film Sceening - 'Lesser Humans' by Stalin K

2008-03-04T10:17:00.003+05:30

The SMILE film club recently bounced back in full swing, holding film club meeting cum film screenings every Tuesday in Arts Faculty, North Campus. Here is the first hand experience of one such movie screening.

The meeting began almost on time with a healthy congregation of around 10 people. It was time for the screening of the film ‘Lesser Humans’ by Stalin K. The film prominently focused on the issue of manual scavenging with sharp undercurrents of several other social evils, as in there in our society. The plight of the scavenging community was on display with a razor’s edge, as scenes and narrations of their everyday ordeal filled the cinematic space. Agreeably, it wasn’t any pleasant or easy topic to deal with. It was quite interesting to observe the expressions of all those who were present at the screening fluctuating in tandem with the plight of the community. The acrimonious shots of people cleaning night soil and carrying it over their heads made audience squirm in their seats. It was actually a jaw dropping experience for most of them, as some of the audience tried to buckle under the flurry of hard hitting ‘shit-scenes’ either by slanting their faces away or trying to lessen the intake of the ballistic truth with squinted eyes. As soon as the screening came to an end and lights were on, there was absolute silence, occasionally broken by the understandable clearing of throat, most of them for sure would have got a lump; faces were pale and eyes completely dazed.

Though the film pivoted around manual scavenging, it also unearthed other very serious issues than actually accentuate the central theme. It was actually a broad spectrum analysis of the issue of scavenging, wherein caste system, apathy of the general public, negligence by the judiciary, legislative and the executive all have collaborated to make them the ‘slave of the slaves’, driven to such extreme periphery, that literally they are living on the edge. The reactions were all borne out of sheer shock and awe of the appalling situation. Rehana, one of the participants reacted to the movie as “stunned, disgusted”, thinking of the people who have to actually do it. Bhavna enquired surprisingly if there is any way out for those in suffering. Isha related to the problem in a way that has to do something with corruption, which constricts the people from going up the ladder. The range of expressions swung from being “helpless and frustrated” to “ashamed and responsible for all this”.

Manmeet facilitated the entire proceeding and she started off interestingly with a salvo “if anyone ever has tried to enquire as to who is cleaning our shit in own homes or surroundings” It almost flared up the already flaming discussion. During the course of discussion, the participants wondered if technology could be the answer. Here David, who is from Canada, delivered a very interesting point, “Even in Canada, there are people who coming and cleaning your shit. These people are either minority or are neglected lot.” This made us wonder, even in our context “why only a Bhangi has to clean up the mess”. The discussion towards the later stages turned more towards finding solutions. It was nice to see everyone coming forward with their own bit on solutions or ways to address this issue. Radhika opined “It wouldn’t be nice to take away their jobs. The idea would be provide them with better opportunities. All this can be carried out simultaneous to the process of restoring respect to profession and community in general.” “More opportunities” almost echoed from mouth to mouth but Prachi felt that “It’s not so easy to take steps when you are so vulnerable”. Manmeet cited the example of one meeting where Martin tried to explore what the people really wished to do, given the freedom to choose their profession. The most natural response was that they wanted to carry on with their work although with better equipments. Then they said they would open a shop selling cleaning items. It took enormous efforts and amount of prodding to enable one person imagine that they could open a saree shop. Amidst, all soul searching and discussion regarding caste system, Swati popped a very pertinent question, "How many of us are ready to marry a lower caste person"? Well, to some extent the question was partly rhetorical, in the sense that it underlined the need of a paradigm shift in our perspective, in our approach to this issue. There must be a concerted, collective effort of positive change that should start at the individual level and ultimately result in a societal change aiming at restoring respect and dignity to the community. Improving their lot only becomes imperative.

Kadam Newsletter

2008-02-19T14:49:00.000+05:30

A Proactive Civil Society is the most Crucial Factor in Addressing the Global Issue of Climate Change

2008-02-18T13:19:00.000+05:30

What does our world wake up to??
To the news of children being killed in Iraq, of the homeless in Sudan, rising inflation, new consumer products, cinema, scientific discoveries and what not.
But of late, we are waking up to another unfortunate reality. That of climate change.

Climate change is a global problem that is going to affect us all negatively. And I realise that government leadership might seem as the most important factor. But given the fact that governmental goals are short term, only a proactive civil society can help spread awareness and mobilize people for public opinion, political participation and exerting pressure on representatives.

We need to realise that a civil society includes not just non-governmental organisations and groups, but individuals as well, you and me, people from various sectors - business, media, finance, academics, the young and the old. In fact, anyone who believes in creating a society that can sustain itself and move towards a better future. Climate change is predominantly an urban phenomenon and challenge. Though people living in rural areas bear the brunt of it, the challenge against it has to emanate from us. In response to this, cities are also making strides in mitigating Greenhouse Gas emissions from sectors they have direct control or influence over and that is why, some of the most influential sections amidst us can help build this proactive civil society, namely: the media, the business sector, NGOs and the youth.

The media is undoubtedly an element that can single-handedly create a global platform to tackle climate change and related issues. Both the print media and electronic media and the Internet have had a significant impact on the way we think and act.

So imagine what change can be brought about if the media was to provide information to the people; if TV channels and newspapers begin to tell us of the ups and downs of the products we consume. We all know that global mass media lives off certain buzz words and they will be only glad to create an atmosphere of fear, with an issue as dangerous as this. But let us not deny the power possessed by the media. What we need is a responsible mass media that will handle the truth in an efficient manner. The media can help in educating people across regions, as media consumers can demand the truth in a way only a proactive civil society can.

We are also witnessing a trend wherein the business sector is taking up this responsibility of addressing climate change. They are doing it, both in the face of risk and increased opportunities. The business sector is facing challenges to make greater advances in energy efficiency and introduction of cleaner technologies. Recently introduced examples of cleaner products and services (e.g’ Ecoimagination’ by General Motors, ‘Ecovison’ by Philips and eco products by Sony) are proving that responsible business can pay and this sector forms an important component of a proactive civil society. Their strategies can immensely affect our consumption patterns and cut down on non-renewable energy, provided it comes at a low cost and reaches more people. In this regard, over the few years, many corporate citizenship initiatives have taken birth.

Voluntary action can never be a substitute for government action. However, they can accelerate the process of solution finding and inspire consumers, peers and policymakers to have the courage to face the climate challenge as early as possible. Local politicians and citizens acknowledge that supplementary polices from the State is necessary to substantially expand the policy momentum.

This is where civil society alliances can fill the smaller gaps. International organisations such as Oxfam, Greenpeace, Christian Aid and others across the world are sensitising the public and providing alternative perspectives. NGOs are also playing an important part in forming public opinion and using techniques to reach out to more people.

The benefits in public-private partnerships are many. It combines a huge resource pool of financial capital, political influence, knowledge and expertise. It has been a relatively recent phenomenon, but it has been applied to fight climate change and promote environmental sustainability. In India itself from May 2005 onwards, the ‘Renewable Energy’ and Energy Efficiency partnership joined efforts with Econoler International of Canada (Econoler) to provide energy efficient street lighting systems to many cities. Similarly, free city bike programme in Copenhagen is encouraging more and more civilians to use bicycles for daily use.

Last but not the least; the youth is a power in itself. They help in transforming public attitudes. The youth led coalitions in Britain and elsewhere, such as the ‘Stop Climate Chaos’ and ‘I Count’ are mobilising young people in large numbers, spreading awareness and using innovative ideas to take the message further. Efforts such as launching the ‘Live Earth Concert’, public rallies and demonstrations are a step forward in this direction. Schools, colleges and universities are also coming together to do their bit. But most importantly, young people are educating themselves to come forward and fight for this particular cause.

This will definitely go a long way and gain strength with people from developing and developed countries realising the importance of acting globally. The youth of today are aware of the need for sustainable development and we need to encourage them. Young people are also exerting considerable pressure on local governments and calling for a dialogue with members from other related fields.

The fight against climate change is not just a concern for the developing world, but for the developed as well. We all know that major portion of the carbon emissions are caused by the industries from all over the world. This challenge is certainly global and unless we act together, we are going to face dire consequences. This is not a blame game and nature spares no one. Be it Indian or American, nature makes no distinctions. Every country and its people need to be responsible and actively do their bit to tackle the problem. Perhaps we can start by critically re-looking at our own urban lifestyles.

P.S. - Divya Kannan is a 3rd year History student of Lady Shriram College, Delhi University. She has been associated with the SMILE programme since last three years, first as a SMILEr and now as a Youth Facilitator. This article is in fact her edited speech that she presented at the elocution competition organised by TERI and the Canada High Commission titled the 'Youth Dialogue on Climate Change'. It was a special event held as part of the- the 'Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS). Her theme was Proactive Civil Society. She won the first prize in the competition.

Glimpses of Some Action in SMILE

2008-02-14T12:00:00.001+05:30

The month of November was really action packed for SMILE. The month saw a plethora of activities ranging from theatre workshops, to camps exploring various issues, workshops on conflict resolution, film screenings and discussions and lot more. Since we don’t have the space to take you through the details of everything, here’s a small glimpse…

Theatre
Have you ever thought that an issue can be explored by using a performing art, even if you had no prior experience of the form? Well this is precisely what we did in our theatre workshop that was organized at the beginning of this month. We all know that we have three clubs, Theatre club, Media club and the Film club.The workshop was the launch of theatre club for this SMILE year. It is known to all that any part or any kind of theatre cannot be learnt in a few days. But this workshop was our first step to explore the medium as a means of expression and communication both technically as well as aesthetically and also in special context to impact social issues.

During the workshop we came up with our own play. The play explored the issue of communalism that plagues the country in its every nook and corner. It was a reiteration of the fact that violence and injustice in any form is not what we want. There were various scenes in the play that referred to specific incidents in different states of our country, ranging from the Northeast to Gujarat.

Coming up with our own play gave us a whole lot of confidence and faith in ourselves. There were many SMILErs at the workshop, many of them who had never done theatre before. It was such a fun experience. Over a period of three-days, we learnt a bit about theatre and its history. One of the biggest learnings was how with some effort on our part we can break our own inhibitions and come out of our own comfort zones.

The workshop allowed us to give form to our voices so that it reaches the masses and does not just remain inside us. And what a voice it was…it took a lot of discussion, deliberation and disagreement followed by overwhelming consensus for the group to give itself a name…Ektara.

Our first public performance was at Central Park CP. We were overwhelmed after the great response, feedback and encouragement we received from the public. It showed that our efforts had not gone in vain…even if the play affects one person positively we have been successful in bringing about some change.

Film
The first official film club meeting was held on 26th October and we have been meeting on almost a weekly basis since then. We have been playing games, interacting with diverse group of people, watching films on various issues and having interesting discussions on them afterwards. We mainly tried to explore the issues under the umbrella of 'social exclusion' in the first few meetings through documentaries like 'A second hand life' by Nutan Manmohan, 'Vande Mataram' by Amudhan R.P., 'Turf Wars - Revisited' by Sanjay Barnela etc.

Besides, we have also been looking at enhancing our understanding of films as a medium, which has been the focus of the past few meetings. Here, through film appreciation sessions we saw how films could communicate a lot to us and the way different genres of films like documentary, animation, feature etc. do so.

The film club is currently being led by a group of SMILE Youth Facilitators who wished to take their learnings from last year forward. We have got a very enthusiastic response from the group of new SMILER's, keen not only to learn but eager also to put their learning to use by organizing a film festival or even making a short film of our own.

Window To SMILE
We all know what a window does, don’t we? It gives us a glimpse of the outside world, and the breeze that it lets in is refreshing and energizing. The Window to SMILE Camp does just that. It gives us an insight into how SMILE works, and Pravah’s way of doing things. It is about learning through first hand experience, as well as charcha. It is about working in a group, and so of course, about masti and mazaa !

Not many of us know about the Tibetan struggle for independence and the lakhs of refugees affected by it. In our attempt to explore the issue of social exclusion, we visited Tibetan refugees staying in Majnu ka Tila and interacted with them. We did a small community study, where we got an opportunity to find out about this issue directly from people affected by it. The chat with some members of the Tibetan Youth Congress, who are fighting for a free Tibet, was truly enriching. They patiently answered all our questions clearing many cobwebs in our minds about the community. Continuing with the theme of social exclusion, we also went on a walk through Sanjay Van near Qutub Institutional Area. The whole walk (facilitated by a group called KLODB – Knowing and Loving Delhi Better) on one hand brought us so close to Mother Nature and on the other made us realise that how by our activities we are excluding some sections of people from a more wholesome life, along with natural environment.

The process made us realise that exclusion is not about just a community or specific people, but about how we unconsciously exclude people through our actions, behaviour and even the way we communicate. Everyone's desire was to try and become more inclusive in our ways.

This whole concept was carried forward in the next WTS camp where we explored issue of homelessness and ‘Right to Shelter’. The workshop made us stop and think about how privileged we are to have a roof over our heads, have food to eat and families to care for us and how safe we are with all these things.

During the workshop we visited a night shelter and were overwhelmed by the interaction we had with children who stay there. It was an opportunity to know more about kids who had stayed on the streets and faced hardships that we can’t even imagine in our wildest of dreams at a very tender age. Some of them were as young as 3-years-old, but had seen the world inside out. Their very existence showed the stark reality of today’s world where over a lac children in Delhi itself are devoid of even their basic rights. By the end of the camp, the participants decided that they were not just going to sit back and watch. While some said that they would like to volunteer their time at the shelters, others decided that they would fundraise and collect warm clothes for the children.

Walking the Talk…

Mostly life goes on. We get so busy moving ahead, or getting ahead of the next guy or gal, that we don’t think beyond the present. We ignore history and thus are condemned to repeat it – with every painful, nauseating detail intact. Our spines are so bent with the burden of conforming, of saving ourselves - that we find it hard to break the habit and stand up for others, against injustice, for peace, for humanity.

Fifteen years ago, one chilly morning in the last month of the year, something happened. December 6th, 1992 - a day that has gone down in history as a day when the world witnessed a frenzied mob demolish a monument of faith to the almighty.

But how many of us remember that fateful day? How many of us have voiced our protest against a few people dictating terms and playing with our lives? Do we remember how the country and its people changed that day, the day the Babri Masjid was demolished? In 1993, a few young people quit the safety of their jobs and set out to talk to and bring together other young people like themselves, who wanted to be that voice of protest, to remember, to change the country again and set it on the path of peace and humanity again, a path, long forgotten. Pravah was born.
…6th December 2007
In December 2007, we at Pravah decided to delay no further. We set out to take a public stance against that and other injustices. We decided to use the powerful medium of theatre to reach out to people. With three days of intense soul-searching and passionate debates, we came up with a short street play that said that we, the people, have a right and a duty to speak out against all injustices – our silence makes us complicit in that very injustice.
We took the play to our young change makers, and where better than at DU North Campus! Our first performance was at Hindu College followed by one in Delhi School of Economics. Our banners and slogans got some amazing young people to join us and share with us their concerns and their plans and dreams to change the world!
Our next stop was at Central Park in Connaught Place, where the SAARC Folk Music Festival was being held. There too, an amazing crowd of around 500 people, supported and appreciated our efforts, boosting our confidence and motivation to keep trying to do our best to make the world a better place.

Music for Harmony

The month of December saw yet another effort to engage the public through our annual event ‘Encore – Music for Harmony’. The event is a celebration of peace and it brings together various genres of music- and performing arts, which reflect the diversity of cultures. Like every year since 2002, the event was held at Dilli Haat and saw a number of performers who brought their music to a common stage to spread the message of peace. The performers included – Hameedji, Sur Pass (Sanskriti School), Brazen, Goonj, Chhonnochhara-The footloose, Bhawaia music etc. It was a mixed bag of songs with some theatrical and dance performances.

In order to bring together people from varied age groups and give everyone a chance to express their creativity we had a number of parallel interactive events taking place, such as – face painting, nail painting, clay modelling and an exhibition of various presentations prepared by the SMILErs. We also had peace packets that were distributed among people who had come to see the celebration. The packets contained numerous things including a peace ribbon, peace songs, peace quotes and names of some organizations that work directly to bring about peace.

“Encore Music for Harmony” concluded with everyone lighting a candle as a symbol of hope for a peaceful world and then to the melodious singing of “We shall overcome” everyone moved in to create an illuminating and fiery universal symbol of peace.

The event itself was a day to celebrate diversity, to celebrate music, to have fun, rejoice and spread the message of peace around. It was a day planned and organized by the efforts of many; especially SMILE volunteers, who took on the execution of the event with the hope to reach out to many. The planning and execution of the event also gave SMILErs the opportunity to work together as a team. It was great to see the energy, the madness, mayhem and the masti that led up to the event. Volunteers did everything from painting the banners, to creating the displays. Several evenings were spent over tikkis, chai and lots of charcha as the event drew closer.

Build Up to the Event

The build up of the event began right at the December monthly meeting in Balsahyog. It was a day long meeting of SMILErs, wherein we tried to understand the meaning of peace better. The meeting as usual began with some fun filled activities to warm up our lazy bones on a chilly morning. We had Madhuresh and Nidhi with us, to give us first hand information of the situation in Nandigram, for they had just returned from the place. The morning was utilized to interact with them and broaden our horizon on the issue of SEZs, especially Singur and Nandigram. Then we moved on to a session wherein we came up with our definition of peace and again with a help of some interesting activities. And how can we forget the amazing movie put together in one night to give an essence of what ‘Music for Harmony’ is. The movie motivated the SMILErs to come forward to spread the message of peace. We also formed our core group of volunteers who anchored the whole event and also what we wanted to do that day. It was a long fun filled interesting day and we closed by having some nice blank noise

coffee and pastries.

To find out more contact the SMILE team at Pravah
(Kanika, Manmeet, Namrata)
@ 26440619 or 26213918 or 26291354
email us @ smile@younginfluencers.com
OR
Suchismita (LSR College) – 9810835082
Surabhi (Hans Raj College) – 9810431568
Prachi (Miranda House) – 9891963336
Fahad (Deshbandhu College) - 9873188872

what the heck is SMILE?

2007-12-20T09:30:00.000+05:30

A lot of people are bound to ask... what the heck is SMILE? .. well to make all our lives a little simpler read on to know a bit bout SMILE.... :)

SMILE IN DELHI

Students Mobilisation Initiative for Learning through Exposure

SMILE is a national level youth program, which creates spaces and opportunities for young people who want to make a difference to the world, to understand social realities, learn skills for social leadership and demonstrate active citizenship.

In a nutshell, SMILE offers you a forum to meet other young people like you, build your knowledge and skills about yourself and the world around you, and work to address issues of concern in an open, interactive manner, using methodologies that are contemporary, creative and varied.

SMILE student-volunteers running a theater campaign
on Active Citizenship in front
of PVR

What does it mean to be a SMILEr?

To be a SMILEr means that you are a part of a large team of active citizens – young people who care for the world they live in, are concerned about causes, want to learn more about what they can do to make a difference and how to do it, and are ready to take the plunge – to get out of their comfort zones and act for change.

To be a SMILEr means that you want to learn about the skills you have already and further learn the skills you need in order to be an active citizen.

To be a SMILEr means that you are open to an adventure in a world that is different from the one you have known so far.

To be a SMILEr means that you are open to a lot of serious fun. Because for SMILE, fun is serious business.

SMILE student- volunteers
forming a close bond at
the 'Suno Dilli'
campaign event.

On opportunities that SMILE offers…

SMILE offers you opportunities to build your knowledge and skills to become an active citizen. As a SMILEr,

* you will learn to see yourself as a part of a larger society, and learn about what you can do to make a difference,
* build your personal skills through workshops on communication, team building, leadership, assertive behaviour, etc.
* learn more about the issues that affect society today through monthly meetings, residential camps, events and workshops
* volunteer in NGOs in Delhi and in rural NGOs. Through these, you will work to make a difference and learn hands-on about the issue that is of importance to you. What's more, the experience will stay with you for life…

SMILE student-volunteer shooting some action

* really act for change … you could join the film club to make films to build awareness, join the theatre club to perform street or proscenium theatre, join the media club to publish newsletters or hold photo exhibitions, volunteer for campaigns to impact issues of change… the opportunities are endless.
* have serious fun . SMILE is all about participatory processes, energizers, simulation games, adventure sports ... it's all about discovering new horizons for yourself.

SMILE student-volunteers preparing a photo
exhibition on the issue of
Right to Shelter

What are the expectations from a SMILEr?

Commitment - You will be expected to commit at least two days a month to SMILE.

Responsibility - As a SMILEr, you will have an opportunity to be a part of diverse processes. Please be responsible while choosing your commitments. And follow through with whatever you commit.

SMILE student-volunteer
making a presentation

Volunteering - In SMILE, it will be mandatory for you to commit 80 hours to volunteer with an NGO in Delhi . While we will offer you a host of options and manage your placement, you will be expected to keep to your commitment. We will also encourage you strongly to go and volunteer in an NGO outside Delhi for a period of 3-6 weeks.

Openness to new experiences and knowledge – In SMILE, you will be likely to encounter many new people, ideas, views, issues. You will gain the most out of the process if you are open.

What are the personal, social and professional benefits of being a SMILEr?

Being a SMILER will open you to a whole lot of experiences and help you gain on the following fronts–

At a personal front you will have a better understanding of yourself, improve upon your interpersonal skills like leadership skills, communication, confidence levels etc.

At the social front you will find an opportunity to enhance your potential and begin the journey to search for constructive alternatives in order to make a s ignificant difference in the society and the world around us.

At a professional front , your experience and exposure to various people, organizations, working styles as well as volunteering would make you better prepared to work in a professional environment.

Who can join SMILE?

If you are living in Delhi , Noida, or Gurgaon , studying in a college here between 18 and 24 years , you can join SMILE.

How to register?

You can e-mail the SMILE Coordinator at smile@younginfluencers.com with the subject line: New Applicant - SMILE

or you can call Pravah at 2644 0619, 2621 3918 and ask for the SMILE coordinator.

For more information check out- www.younginfluencers.com

SMILE student-volunteers
at an exposure trip

P.S - If you wanna see us in action then drop in on the 23rd of December to Dilli Haat for the youth led 'Music for Harmony' day long festival bringing together various genres of music from sufi to rock, folk to instrumental along with various other performing arts... In fact if you are lucky you may even catch the Pravah staff in action!!!! Watch this space for more info.. or pick up the phone and call us... !

luv
:) team