Turmoil (Part 1...)

I connected,
because she seemed 'one of my own'
I connected,
as I heard her anecdotes,
As I went deeper, I felt her pain
Sleepless nights and moist mornings
I was introduced to her on a night
and by dusk, she was my known,
I connected.


They spoke of her everywhere I went
The details of that gruesome night
eventually reached my soul.
I regretted this connect!
Her turmoils haunted me like my own!

I was not the only one who connected!
They came in huge numbers
they expressed their anger
they must have been haunted by her turmoil too.

They also came. In not so large numbers
but with a strength of authority
They tried hard to disperse us clones
Clones because we all felt the same turmoil
and we all connected!

An army against an army
They tried to break our connect
They broke many a things, but our connect was intact.


In the meanwhile,
the source of our connect was on her 11th day of battle
she was nerves of steel and bundle of iron
but when iron and steel are tempered
they give in at a set point and they too melt!

On the 12th dusk, I opened my eyes
and hers had already shut!
My first awake minute was her millionth step towards almighty.
As I looked up, she looked down
As I got up, she had long gone


.....To be continued

COP experience- Part 2: Highlights of my trip....

Here goes my personal favorite highlights of my Doha trip.


1) Momentum for change (Solar sisters and LEVA)

In the hustle bustle and crazy parallel sessions schedule of COP18, I am glad I made time for attending side events related to this initiative called 'Momentum for Change'. Launched in COP17 Durban last year. This initiative recognises and rewards key environmental initiatives (focusing on climate change mitigation and adaptation) that strives to bring change at the grassroot level. This year 9 winners were selected among thousands of entries.
The list of winners can be found here:
http://unfccc.int/secretariat/momentum_for_change/items/7159.php

My personal favorite winners were: The solar sisters and Lanka Electric Vehicle Association.

Solar Sisters is an inspiring story of how solar technology was adopted by rural women in Uganda through the principle of entrepreneurship. Watch their story here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Nymr2Nbxow0

The reason I like this initiative so much is, because two of my closest friends took up a similar initiative this year. But their target audience is urban poor. I made a short movie on their work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvZV2tXyy00&feature=youtube_gdata

The struggle and efforts behind establishing Lanka Electric Vehicle Association is also very inspiring.
This initiative has led to their national government (Sri Lanka) introducing conducive policies for electric vehicles.
I got a chance to interact with the sweet couple behind this (Mr. Dhatusena and his better half who supported him throughout his journey):

2) Knowledge cafe sessions

I was first introduced to the 'World Cafe' format of dialogue and discussions, during the Asia Pacific youth forum in Kathmandu in September. (http://www.theworldcafe.com/method.html)
Ever since, I have adopted this as an important tool for enabling discussions.
I got a chance to participate in a World Cafe style discussion (We called it Knowledge Cafe) twice during COP. One was on Mountain Day 2 event (December 3) and the other was during an Asian youth gathering (which we had pre-planned before arriving in Doha).
It is a very effective way of facilitating discussions and I recommend this method to everyone!
During the Asian youth cafe, I hosted the discussion on 'Green economy' and the results from the session are uploaded here: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B5ou-4sv4VO_RDNhMC1KT2ZzVTQ

I asked the participants: What do you know about Green economy (Listing down all the words, phrases and meanings they are aware of); If given a chance, how will you re-define green economy (According to you what all should it include?); What can youth do for green economy?

3) World Climate Summit (December 2)

I would call this the most fruitful day of my trip! Networked like crazy here (ran out of my business cards ;)) Met top climate business leaders from across the globe and discussed about green entrepreneurship with them! Also presented our declaration to everyone we met on this day. Though, this was held outside the COP venue, this side event was very prominent and had good level of participation. It is here that we met the IPCC vice chair Professor Jean Pascal, managed to pass the declaration to Christiana Figueres (UNFCCC general secretary) and H.E Minister of Energy, Qatar. As a working professional working on urban climate change adaptation, I also networked professionally on behalf of my organisation.

IPCC Vice chair with our declaration

4) Interaction with school kids through British Council (December 4)

I was selected as an International Climate Change Champion in 2009 (By British Council and TERI).
Ever since, I have been involved in several local environment initiatives and activities designated for this youth climate group. As part of this programme, I got an opportunity to interact with kids from local Qatar schools.
And what was my session on? Composting and Waste management :D (My love!)

Sareka, a fellow climate champion from Bangladesh began with an interactive session on understanding Climate Change. She used visuals and simple words to make the kids understand the 'complex' nuances of the concept of climate change. This gave a perfect backdrop and I joined in later to tell them what they can do in response to this global phenomenon. I told them about the general concept of waste and how segregating our kitchen waste (wet waste) from our dry waste (recyclable waste) can reduce the pressure on landfills and by composting at home, we can do our bit for the environment!
The kids were enthusiastic and very receptive to our session. We thoroughly enjoyed interacting with them and in the end they came up with a list of activities that they were inspired to  take up after our small session!
It was heartening to know how some of them were considering to start composting their school waste!
Wherever I go, I like speaking about composting, so this one goes down to my memory box. Thank you BC :)

5) Asian youth climate network

This is something that I am really excited about. Throughout COP18 and even before arriving in Doha, one of our agenda was to collaborate with other Asian youth delegates for sustaining meaningful activities after COP ends! It is very important to be environmentally active and committed all the year round and not only during the annual COP meeting!
With this common goal in mind, around 25-30 of us made it a point to meet regularly, share ideas and frame a strategy for continuing our association.

So while we are back to our home towns, we are still in touch and plan to regularly skype every month through a 'steering committee' comprising of 2 representatives from each country.
We pledged to disseminate our learnings and work with other young people in our countries and also with each other.

We hope (fingers crossed) to revive the Asian Youth Climate Network (haven't decided on an official name yet!) and make the under-represented Asian youth voices heard at the global platform.

I am very positive on the future of this cause and I will make sure that each one of us, is in the same boat and there is no space for politics. Only love and unity for the environment :-)

6) This blog is getting too long, I hope I don't lose you as a reader, so here goes my final sixth highlight from my trip!
During those 7 days I was constantly worrying whether I am making the most of what I have got? Whether I am utilising my time meaningfully. There were times, when even though we were youth representatives, we had to indulge in 'grown-up' tasks like speaking about our declaration responsibly and approach as many policy makers for this! We really wanted our document to be taken seriously and not like a piece of paper!
And I am more relieved than proud to say that : Yes, we did it! :D

We succeeded in what we had set out for. We gave our declaration successfully to a diverse set of people and there was a moment when we encountered few people who already knew about it through a person we might have interacted previously! And that was the most fulfilling moment for us, to know that we did our job decently! (Read our declaration here:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5ou-4sv4VO_b2QyckdwVy1GWFE/edit)

A lot of thought, hard work and BELIEF went into our declaration and it was received well. We learnt a lot from this entire process and I can say this with full conviction that we represented 'Responsible youth!'. We networked, enjoyed, participated, worked, partied :D and in the end, atleast satisfied our inner self (which is more important than impressing others!)


Wow I have so much to say. Ok, ending this quickly now.
Some of the other highlights were:

Desert Safari Ride (The best 'tourist' experience ever as our jeep travelled through sand dunes)

My article featured in Outreach magazine article (The official daily magazine: http://www.stakeholderforum.org/sf/outreach/index.php/component/content/article/163-cop18day9-cities/1257-improving-urban-governance-through-ict-a-game-changer-for-climate-change-adaptation)
Met Composting people- A session by ISWA and other passionate composting people

Met Lord Nicholas Stern (again thanks to British Council!)

My flight back home was equally eventful, as I sat next to Erik Curren, author of 'Buddha's not smiling!' and had a non-stop 3 hour long conversation with him! It was the best ever conversation I had with a stranger whom I connected with instantly! (Check out: www.transitionvoice.com)

Doha you will be missed....will relive those 7 days through the pictures and through my new friends :-)
(Phew! So glad I wrote this in 2012 itself! :p) 

I was there. But what did it mean to me? The experience of my first COP attendance- Part 1

The green sheep of the family made it to THE top environment conference (as the world sees it).

So, yes I made it to my first COP. The 18th meeting of parties to Kyoto Protocol (almost the entire world).
It was a big achievement personally and it happened because I participated in the 'Asia Pacific Youth Forum on green economy' held in Kathmandu this September. Read about it here: http://gradyouth.wordpress.com/

It was a 5 day long learning programme focused on understanding the concept of Green economy through lectures, field visits and knowledge sharing. It had a decent representation of 40 young participants from 13 different countries of the Asia pacific region. Collectively, we had prepared an outcome document which was to be disseminated during COP18 in Doha, Qatar. For this purpose, I along with 3 other participants were selected by the organisers.
They were: Timila Dhakwa from Nepal, Marufa Ishaque from Bangladesh and Netra Chap from Cambodia (Same order in the pic as well, From L to R)

                                            Speak about women empowerment ;) 

Our task was to shorten this document into a one page declaration which could be presented to negotiators and other stakeholders participating in this Climate Change conference.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5ou-4sv4VO_b2QyckdwVy1GWFE/edit (You can add your comments to it, if you want!)

So for two months we devoted few hours every week to coordinate with each other and prepared and planned out our BIG dream trip. We even collaborated with other Asian youth delegates participating in the conference. They hailed from China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Myanmar, Pakistan. And this was my best decision ever! (Will come back to this later).

So the D day finally arrived and I left home with lots of excitement, happiness, positivism and luggage :p
Arrival was non-eventful, but the excitement and the eagerness to reach Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC), the venue, was building up badly. I could not wait to get there.

When we finally reached there, the scale of the event was evident, the size of the venue is a direct indication of its importance and hype. You need a day or two just to figure out and get used to the place!
Unfortunately, we were on a tight schedule as we had already missed the first 4 days of the conference. We had to make use of every minute there (This was on our minds always!).

But wherever you go, the company, the sweet caring people around you just make your day. So, I had the privilege of being in such company and a friend of ours showed us the place and made us really comfortable and prepared (Thank you Wilson!)

We had planned some of our days and had registered for some side events in advance.

I can go on and on, recounting every minute of my experience there, but this would become a really long long post :) So, I will describe only the highlights of my trip.
There is a tendency in us to do everything, be everywhere but the first learning from COP is that, quantity does not matter. So its not about the number of sessions you attend, its about living in and learning from, each of those sessions. And of course the people you meet, play an important role in shaping your experience. Its the only way you can make your stay meaningful and journey memorable!

So, my next post would be on my personal top 7 moments from COP18.

:-)

Wait for it......
    

Protesting against the system? Criminals are born among us!

We gathered. We gathered in large numbers. For once I felt proud of the high population in my country. India Gate and Rashtrapati Bhawan were the places where we gathered.

They too were there in large numbers. Our dear Delhi Police. But they could not match up to our strength, will and number!

Shame, anger, disgust, frustration etc etc etc was what we felt today....

We shouted slogans for justice, strict punishment (read CASTRATION) and safety.

It amazes me that the kind of police force our State had sent to STOP us is ABSENT when such crime against women and children occur.

Sadly, as Delhi and several other states in India HEAT up in anger, I saw a small column in a national daily reporting 8 FRESH rape incidents. One among them was a case of a 3 year old! Yes, you read it right, a 3 year old pre-nursery school going girl child was raped!

As I protested in full force with some of my friends, another FRESH case was taking place in a remote village, 22km from Agartala (In the State of Tripura). A woman was stripped naked in public and raped brutally.

Today so many of the young protesters present at Rashtrapati Bhawan were demanding for a change in the legal system! But is that enough, I wonder?

What about change in society? Well thats a tough one! Many will turn back on asking them to change THEMSELVES first! Where do the rapists come from? Not sent from hell, they are one among US.

I swear in the crowd that had gathered today, I could see some potential rapists (no kidding), who were there just for fun and entertainment sake.

You’ve got to respect Women! You’ve got to see them in a different light (beyond sex objects!) And as far as this is concerned, there is a LONG LONG way to go. These crowds will disburse soon, the government will announce some short cut, face saving measures and then those ‘actions’ will fizzle out too. A documentary called ‘Rape diaries’ on a news channel depicted first hand victim accounts.

Most of them said: “We were discouraged to register FIRs!” ; “We were humiliated by public prosecutors in court”; “Our character was assassinated”.

And the most chilling anecdote was: “After getting raped by a man, I was raped again and again by society”.

So, I appeal to all the Men and Women in this country to Change themselves.

If you are a man, respect women and do not commit such heinous crimes.

If you are a woman, please report any cases of molestation, eve-teasing, unsafe elements and places to the police immediately.

If you are part of the system: Law maker/Government/Police: If not castration or death penalty, atleast imprison the culprit for 20 years or more and implement this in the same year the incident occurred! 

And my message for everyone: Many incidents occur in public sphere, in broad daylight, in presence of the public, please Stand up against such acts and support the victim openly. Do not fear, don’t be a coward, just STAND UP AND ACT. Remember, crime can be prevented in this way. Be active and not passive. Do not tolerate so called ‘small’, ‘petty’ ‘stray’ incidents of verbal comments, eve-teasing and harassment.

Remember you are the ones in majority! Your number is larger than the number of law makers, politicians, police force in this country! So make use of it.

You want a safe world? Its in your hand!