A Field Worker’s Diary _ Part 57
Last year in the month of August, I was at Delhi. I went there to participate in a two-day conference organized by the United Nations Volunteers Organization along with the Ministry of Youth Affairs. August 12th is the International Youth Day. This meeting was organized to mark that occasion. Normally, these kind of conferences happen every 1-2 months, but keeping the various specialties of this conference in mind, I thought of writing about it.
What appealed to me most about the conference was the attendance of youth from all corners of our country. Around 50 youth received special invitations to participate in it. All of them were in the 18 to 30 age bracket. Some of them were students. Others were settled in diverse professions. The commonality between all of them was that they were all doing voluntary service. Without being related to any organization and without the support of anybody else, these 50 youngsters are doing whatever service that is within their scope to the society. Many of them belong to the rural areas. It was delightful to hear some of them talk so enthusiastically about the work they do.
In contrast to a section of youth who don’t concentrate on studies, some who don’t work saying that they haven’t found work that is to their tastes, or others who cry foul about the society not making any progress without moving their butts an inch, these youth who were concentrating equally on studies and career were doing that bit of voluntary service without leaving their passions and interests. By looking at their infectious energy, I wondered if that’s the reason why some people call youngsters the messengers of the next-generation, the harbingers of a sacred, new way of life.
Special attraction in this conference was Revanta Sarabhai, the grandson of Vikram Sarabhai and Mrinalini Sarabhai and the son of Mallika sarabhai. Although coming from a renowned family, he managed to create unique Identity for himself. He was one of the very few male Bharatanatyam dancers in the country. He had acted in a few Gujarati movies. He is renowned as a TV anchor and theatre artist as well. He performed a special dance created by him on the subject of caste and gender discrimination. While his dance was wonder in itself, his aim of using his art for bringing about social change seemed to me like a greater thing. Working on social issues didn’t require special organizations, resources, or skills. Each and every one of us has some skill. My belief that with a little bit of heart and perseverance, we can use the skill-set we possess to bring about much social change, got stronger after looking at the people at the conference.
Another aspect that I loved about the conference was the attendance of many specially abled people and the arrangements that were in place to make the conference more accessible. Just one person with hearing disability attended the conference, two girls took turns to explain all that was being discussed there in sign language to him. Even the Union Youth Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who had attended the meeting on the first day, and other guests waited in between their speeches to give time to the girls to finish explaining what was being said in sign language to him.
The organizers of the event made sure that even in the group discussions organised, there had at least 1 specially abled person in each group. They had given instructions to all to not only to include visually challenged, hearing impaired and other physically challenged people in the groups but also to give them the necessary space and scope to take full part in the discussions. There were so many nice discussions that day; all the participants have so many valuable suggestions. The meeting might have been a little later than was the norm, but each and every one participated in it.
The organizers subtly made us understand on our own that inclusion of specially abled people in discussions, plans and progress is not that difficult. They said it without actually saying anything that if the governments worked whole-heartedly then the agenda of ‘Leave No One Behind’ is not impossible to achieve. Though there are many policies like inclusive education, workplace inclusiveness, etc., how many of our education and employment institutions, public places, government or private offices are actually inclusive? How much are we aware about the special skills of differently abled and their special needs?
Now, both children and adults have been confined to our houses due to Covid. Facilities like online classes and work from home have become the new normal. Use of technology has increased largely. Looking at the current scenario, I feel that this is an opportunity for achieving an inclusive society. Even if special arrangements could not be made for the specially abled in schools and offices, online classes can be arranged, right? Those who have the necessary qualifications can be given the leeway to work from home. If the necessary support and opportunities are provided to them, then it would not be a herculean task to make them participate in all fields of the society. All that is necessary for it to happen is a little bit of compassion and some will power — the lack of these is the real disability.
Bharathi Kode