Meet a Changemaker (8)

Monday, 29 December 2008 | posted by Matt_BC
General, Guildford 2009

Hello Friends,

I am Vasundhara. I am very happy to be one of the Indian representatives among you all in January.
I am 19.Born and brought up in India, I have yet to see my share of the world outside. The forum, I believe is going to be the first big and fantastic step for me in that direction.

India is a country on the southern part of Asia. We have many neighbours like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and China. We also have a fairly extended coastline. India is the only country to have an ocean named after it. There is a huge diversity in relief in India. From picturesque Himalayas to the Gangetic plains, from Thar Desert in the west to seafaring landscapes we have them all.

We are a colourful country, abounding in rich tradition and heritage. The people of India, warm and welcoming, make it a point to mesmerise you with their hospitality and elaborate culture.

As you may know, India is a progressively developing nation, playing an active role in the international community. The biggest strengths of our country today are its human resource and entrepreneurial ability. India is also making strides in information technology with some of the best educational institutions here. But the major stumbling block which has remained ahead of us is lopsided development. While we are sustaining a growth rate which is nearly thrice the world average, growth between sectors has been very disparate. The services sector which accounts for more than half the GDP absorbs only a marginal percentage of the workforce. Thus huge sections of unskilled labour in manufacturing and agricultural sectors are impoverished. Problems of poverty, inequality, acute pressure on public resources and insuffient primary education infrastructure persist. The life of a middle class Indian is challenging. Though a lot is being done to overcome these roadblocks, we have to put in more hard work and sincerity through public private partnerships etc.

India is the world’s largest democracy.  We are pluralistic, multilingual, and multiethnic society.

I am currently in the University of Delhi, in the second year of my graduation in Economics and Political Science or I could put it this way..I am in the second year of doing Ibtida Honours. Ibtida which means ‘the beginning’ in Urdu is our college dramatics society. We are an amateur team. Our forte is street theatre. Immense fun and deliberation goes into making a street play. As I have described in another column, a street play is a photographic presentation of what is happening around us and what one can do to change things at a personal level. Issues such as waste management, displacement, communal tensions, and consumer awareness have been taken up by us in the recent past. I feel blessed to be a part of this family and owe a lot to it.

 
Through the National Service Scheme of the Indian government for students I have worked in a team for helping slum children with their school work and daily chores. Also, I have been a volunteer at an orphanage from a young age and feel there can be nothing like the experience of working with ten year olds.

I enjoy writing. I’ve done some work as a reporter for student journals as well as the Hindustan Times.

I love to read (specially Indian authors!)Some of my favourite books are The God of Small Things and Train to Pakistan. To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee is a complete delight too. Tehmina Durrani who writes about women as an entity in conformist societies I believe is a very powerful writer. I never felt so moved and intimate with a writer till I read Blasphemy by her.

I love watching movies. There are many I’m fond of but one that always stands out for me, is Life is Beautiful.

I did my schooling in my hometown which is a beautiful hill station in North India. Everything about school is just so uplifting. It’s the best place in the world.
 
I want to do a programme in Rural Management. There are a couple of state of the art institutions in India who are churning out professionals whom farmers can employ to oversee their operations and run cooperatives. I’d like to be one of them.

More urgently, I want to learn to play the guitar really soon..

In Guildford I want to have the best time of my life.
I’m too eager to meet everybody..

I’d like to sign off by sharing with you an idea described to me once, by one of the members of my dramatics team here, that there is nothing like darkness in this world; only where there is no light darkness becomes known. Similarly, there is nothing like evil, only the absence of good.

So I believe we should believe in the power of good and rest will follow.

Keep shining wonderful people..
Namaste( “see you” in Hindi !)