2017 – The Year of Change.
- timtim1005
- Mar 13, 2020
- 5 min read
While I was not blogging, I was busy gaining life experience, travelling and discovering things other than finance, running, sport, training, injury, events and Bangalore. NEB Sports was an intense experience for me what with setting up so many events across the country and off course optimising the use of limited available resources. The kind of learning curve I had in terms of being a professional and working under pressure is something I will forever be grateful for – It is a large part of who I am today – I think, eventually we all are but a result of our environment, experiences and influences around us – but this is a topic of discussion for another time and another place.
After NEB, I was looking for something phenomenal to sink my teeth into – and it was not too long after that I got the opportunity I thought was the one that I was waiting for. I heard of a campaign which was looking to bring together fitness and women empowerment. At the start, I was not even aware of how this could be bought together and eventually when I heard more about it I was so damn excited – just like a little puppy gets when he sees you call out his name from a distance – sometimes – they even pee a little out of the excitement – I obviously didn’t – but I digress.
Eventually, I came to understand that a lady was planning to walk 20-30Kms/ day across NH7 from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. Along the way, she was planning to do workshops with the rural women in various villages, districts and talukas on the topic of digital and financial literacy – essentially, we were to educate them of the use of internet to learns various vocations to be able to become financially independent. This Event was to take place over the course of 8 months and the team was in need of a project manager who would bring together all the elements – logistical, government, security, branding, marketing & off course social aspect in addition to looking for stories to be covered in the documentary of the journey.
I have always been active in voicing my opinion about the condition of women and I truly am a believer that we as women should uplift other women. Back in NZ, I was an active volunteer with an organisation which worked with victims of domestic violence and that was the first time that I was exposed to the extent of violence that women faced – not just in a third world nation but in a first world country as well. So, I didn’t really need any convincing to pack my bags and hit the road. In August 2017 into Delhi, met with the team, the sponsors and the various other entities that had come together to make this campaign a reality. Next stop was to head on down to kanyakumari and start the journey from there. Over the next 3 months , until the end of 2017, I travelled ahead of the team from Kanyakumari to Nagpur – sometimes on my cycle, sometimes driving and sometimes on an Enfield to liaise and work with the various authorities to bring together the workshops, the night walks, the media, the documentary… so on and so forth.
It was an illuminating experience – in so many ways. I would like to share my learnings of this experience:
People are the same everywhere – In India, Overseas, cities, villages – you name it!
Not everyone can handle fame and recognition. Most times the ‘We’ gets lost in the ‘I’.
Our society has been conditioned and how. 90% of the women truly believe that her sole worth lies in keeping their man satisfied and bearing children.
Domestic Violence is an accepted fact.
Marital Rape is an accepted fact.
Alcohol is used as an excuse and crutch to justify unacceptable behaviour. I truly do not accept the influence of alcohol or drugs to justify any act. There must be an underlying intent for it to even manifest.
Even Educated families let their daughters get exploited in fear of ruining Social Status
Open-mindedness is not a degree. Live and let live is not an ideal. These are fundamental rights.
Most people get abused due to financial dependance and lack of self-confidence.
The onus of change lies with each individual – with our friends, with our families, our colleagues, our employers, our children and most importantly US.
Boundaries need to be drawn and misbehaviour needs to be called out.
We have a long way to go. But the seed of change has to be sown at some point by someone.
“If not now, when? If not you, who?” ~ Hillel, the Elder
The responsibility lies on us – to stop following the herd, to use the mind that has been given to us, to take decisions, to walk away from that which doesn’t serve us, to question the conditioning that we have been exposed to, to be the voice of reason and logic when we are being swept by emotions, to question the burden of societal responsibilities shoved on us – TO BE THE CHANGE WE WANT TO SEE .
At a certain point, I saw the pointlessness of the exercise- the PR angle of it and I also realised that a 2 hour workshop with women who have been conditioned for generations was not going to make a lasting change or impression. It was just giving them a glimpse of things they could never aspire towards. This exercise was only magnifying the plight that they were in furthering them into the darkness of despair. Instead, it was those organisations that were doing great work on the ground quietly, people who had devoted their entire lifetime to the cause – like the RDT ( Rural Development Trust) or The Timbuktoo Collective, or the SHE Helpline which was actually giving some respite, vocational training and the tools to women to empower them.
This experience also gave me a chance to be grateful for all the opportunities, education and privilege I had been born into – the support of wonderful parents, a support system in my brother and a remarkable network of friends, colleagues and peers who have always believed in me and encouraged me to be the best version of myself. Most times, we take our privilege for granted, but it is always important to keep in perspective all that is around us, appreciate what we have and try to spread a little bit more love, happiness, positivity, support and gratitude around us. It doesn’t take much to make this world a better place.
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