Global Changemakers

Last but not least, here’s Anjali, Global Changemaker from India!

What was your first reaction when you found out you’d been chosen for Davos?

Jet lag took its toll on me after the Summit in London and I was sleeping back home when my mum got the news of my selection. She wakes me up and tells me that I made it to Davos. And I was so sure that I was dreaming that I told her – “ yeah right ! ” and I went back to sleep.

What are your hopes for Davos?

I hope to learn a lot more at Davos by meeting and interacting with people from different countries. Little did I ever imagine that I would be a part of this massive congregation of leaders in various fields of expertise.

What are your fears for Davos?

Davos is probably everything I dreamt of and everything I am scared of.  It’s such a big forum and is overwhelming in its very proportion. Rest assured I’m sure that I will take back a lot from this opportunity and possibly not a terrible flu, like what happened after the Global Youth Summit !

In which area would you want to see more youth engagement?

I think in field of environmental protection. It does not mean that all of the youth out there need to become environmental crusaders. Our environment is the one thing that has been highly disregarded over the decades. I just hope to see more environmentally conscious youth in the world. If each one of them could just say no to plastic bags or stop littering, recycle more, conserve resources efficiently, it  could make a ‘sea of a difference’

How can you make this happen?

By spreading awareness. The environment has a bearing on all other factors. Without it, problems of poverty and hunger, health, and other humanitarian issues would have no meaning. Making people aware of the problems we have at hand is the need of the hour and making them conscious about the fact that all their activities today will have repercussions tomorrow.

What will the world look like in 2050?

If we proceed in the pace at which we are going at the moment I believe that we have a serious challenge ahead of us. Resources are depleting at such a rapid rate and I fear that the future won’t be able to cope with such massive scarcity. It is said that the III World War will be fought over water. I only wonder if what I am blessed to have will still remain for the coming generations. I see 2050 as a year with major technological advancements at the same time major drawbacks. I do not see it as a place that has as much green cover as we have now (which is still less) and I fear for that. I however, do see it as a year where most people have been alleviated from poverty and most of them have access to education and good health care facilities.

If you become the new UN Secretary General what would be the first thing you’d do?

Try and rethink the peace strategies and alliance among nations.

What quality do you like most about yourself?

Patience  and Persistence.

If you could invite 3 historical figures for dinner, who would they be and why?

My first choice would undoubtedly be Mahatma Gandhi, the father of my Nation. Not only has he inspired me but millions of other people in this world with his virtues and ideals. He is the one person who has brought meaning to truth, non-violence and justice and the sole reason I live in a free country today. I would like to hear and see his reaction to the world today. Little did he realize that freedom would come with a cost in the future.  Today in a world of deceit, terrorism and corruption, we need another Gandhi. My question to him though is how another Gandhi would cope with problems that we face today?

The second person I would die to meet would be Leonardo Da Vinci – one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived.I chose him not just because he was an artist extraordinaire but also for being a genius who foresaw things way beyond his time. His inventions and relation with science, math and art never cease to amaze me. Despite the fame of the Mona Lisa, there are many other works of his that I, as an artist just LOVE. I would love to ask this polymath more about his journals, paintings and inventions.

Finally I would love to meet the woman who shattered the opinion of many about female activists. Her name is Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, fondly known as Mother Teresa. Having extensively worked towards the betterment of many, Mother Teresa is one of a kind. This Nobel Peace Prize winner founded the Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. At the time of her death it was operating 610 missions in 123 countries, including hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children’s and family counseling programs, orphanages, and schools. For over 45 years she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, while guiding the Missionaries of Charity’s expansion, first throughout India and then in other countries.

I chose her as she epitomizes benevolence and she has been an inspiration to many women to take to helping the poor and underprivileged.

If you bump into Bono or Queen Rania in the elevator, what do you say?

I would tell Her Majesty that she is a huge inspiration to many girls out there to work towards human rights and education advocacy.  And that people like her is what drives women activists.

- Anjali, Global Changemaker from India