Promoting Inclusive Democracy for Young Leaders

 Hi everyone! I am Safa Salsabeel Z. Hope you are doing great! Today, I am going to braid my thoughts and emotions about a worthy certificate course.US Consulate General Chennai and Justice Shivaraj V Patel Academy for Democratic Values ( a unit of SOCO trust) which is conducting a one year certificate course on, "Promoting Inclusive Democracy for Young Leaders”. I feel delighted and proud to be a part of this course. 

To begin with, I would like to crown my thoughts on the journey to Kodaikanal ( five days stay). Talking about halcyon days of my life, which were filled with ripples of joy and a sense of wisdom. My parents saw me off at Trichy railway station, we set off at 7:20 AM and we arrived at Madurai railway station at 9:30 AM. The inaugural session commenced at 10:00 AM which was out of this world i.e.  impressive! All the resource persons gave a phenomenal speech during the sessions and then one of the resource persons Mr Pushpanath Krishnamurthy, a Global Consultant, Trainer, Motivational Speaker, Climate Campaigner and Fairtrade Activist, quickly asked us to form a parliament, elect a speaker, deputy speaker and a reporter. In order to break the ice, and he introduced to us an activity called “Know, Feel, Do” which was fine and dandy. Later, after having lunch we started our journey to Kodaikanal. We reached hotel Dreamland @ 9:00 pm. The hotel was sublime besides that the dinner was appetizing and we had a peaceful stay and sleep.

Now, I would like to harvest my opinions about the five days  sessions one after the other. On day 1, the resource persons were Adv. Suresh Babu ( Advocate High court Madras) , Prof G Palanithurai ( Former Head, Dept of Political Science and Panchyat Raj) Gandhigram Rural Institute, MS TK Lily Grace, DSP,EOW,CID, Trichy, Mr A Martin (PG Asst Physchology Counselor) and the facilitator was Prof P Vijay Kumar, Secretary Indian School of Social science, Madurai.

Advt Suresh Babu Sir, brought to limelight about 'What is democracy?' He also addressed about Indian Constitution. He invested his time on concepts like meaning of democracy, various forms of government, how India was formed? features of union government, federalism, secularism, socialism, industrial revolution, three organs of government (legislative, executive, judiciary),three tiers of federalism (local, state, union) . He emphasized his views on social justice and directive principles of social justice. After his lecture, we even had question answer sessions in which I asked, "Is India perfectly following democracy? " He gave me a contented answer. In his session, many students questioned Sir and he gave us all  mind blowing answers.

During the second session, Professor G Palanithurai, Former Head Dept of Political Science and Panchayat Raj, Gandhigram Rural Institute sown the seeds of wisdom on Grassroot democracy . 

He threw light on 'Liberity, Equality and Fraternity'. He drew a line between partner and group formation. He defined democracy and he crowned his views on minimum democracy.

 He also highlighted about democratization of the communities is the most important thing and supreme court says,"Gram sabha is no way inferior than Lok Sabha”. In his lecture, I have a soft spot for minimum democracy and dignity is more important in democracy. The most exciting part of the session was article 14, 15, 16 which is about right to equality and today we reside in pluralistic and tolerant society.

Ms TK Lilly Grace DSP, EOW, CID, Trichy showcased her views on democracy at home, workplace and society. She discussed about the various cases which she had encountered. She spoke about the grave situation, she narrated a painful tale in which she brought to limelight the various methods on how she chalked out a plan and solved the cases. When I listened to her cases, my heart was throbbing ,I was momentarily confused how people could be so blithe and it was jarring for me. Within a few paralyzed seconds, when she narrated how she solved the cases perfectly, I felt a sense of respite within me. And the most gripping part of the session was, she elucidated about police which is badly portrayed in many movies, but not all police are like that . Most of the police are dedicated and show a sense of allegiance towards their duties.

In the next session, Mr A Martin PG Asst Physchological Counselor, elucidated on, “ Fostering Democracy among Teachers”. I would like to blend my thoughts and bring to attention that ,“ Teaching is the only profession that creates all the other professions. "He sparkled his thoughts on importance of Dr SARVEPALLI Radhakrishnan. Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan led the Indian delegation to the United Nations, educational scientific and cultural organisation UNESCO (1946 - 52) He served as Indian ambassador to the sovient union besides that, he also emphasized on reservation, threw light on the fact that 'Hindi is not a national language but one of the official languages'. He also emphasized on Gender Equality. 

On day 2, Tuesday the resource person was Mr P Vijay Kumar, Secretary of Indian School of Social Science, Madurai .He expressed his views on,"History of Human Rights". He engrossed about five stages of Human Rights namely:

1)Primitive Social Society

2)Slave Society

3) Agriculture worker and landlord 

4) Capitalisation society 

5)Modern social society

 Later, he expressed his thoughts and elucidated about Russian Revolution, French Protest, Union National Organisation, Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. He also discussed about various books like Gujarat files written by Rana Ayu and he sprinkled his views on 'Train to Pakistan'. He spoke about 'I have a dream' by Martin Luther King. The session was indeed thought provoking .

In the second session, the Resource Person was Mr Henry Tiphage. He threw light on, "Democracy, Peace and Human Rights". He expounded on right to life, right to equality, right to liberty and right to personal dignity. He elucidated about National Human Rights institution and their two institutions namely: States Human Rights Commission and National Human Rights Commission. He triggered us with Right to Information Act. It is a fundamental right under the constitution of India. It is therefore a part of article 19(1)(a). Information is necessary for protection of life and liberty. It was undoubtedly an engaging session!

 For the third session, Mr PB Prince Gajendra Babu was the resource person and he sketched his views on education and social justice. He highlighted about World Trade organisation, General Agreement on Trade in Services.

World Trade organisation sees what is allocated:

1) offer

2)negotiations

 3)agreement

He also shaped our thoughts about National Education Policy( NEP).  It is a switch from 10 + 2 education structure to  the new 5 + 3 + 3 + 4 education system. It is introduced for stress free education and exam will be conducted for every 6 months and also there will be depletion in the syllabus. After completing 12th grade, students are expected to write an entrance exam called 'National Testing Agency' in order to step into colleges. It was absolutely an intriguing session!

On the third Day, Mr Gajendra Babu elucidated on the Second World War and Protective Trade Policy which were followed by many countries and intellectual property Rights. He elaborated on Jallianwala Bagh incident, Swadeshi movement and he spoke volumes about great legends like Rani Lakshmi Bai, Nana Sahib and Akbar. The interesting question which was ringing in my ears and the one which I liked the most in the session was, "Why was Akbar called Akbar, the great?". The answer is quite interesting.It's because he was able to recognise the diversity in India. He also answered the questions asked by students in a lucid manner.

The resource person for the next session was advocate P Balasubramanian, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Retd). He began with, "Before You learn to Command, Learn to Obey". He also hamered in our minds that, "Whatever the role you take, play it well". He highlighted about honesty and character. He also shared his life experiences by going down his memory lane. It was indeed a great session!

Rev Paul Mike Sir, brought to lucidity about, "Constitution and Secularism". He spoke about the four pillars of democracy namely: Legislature, Executive, Judiciary and Media. He also stirred our thoughts about transparency, responsibility and accountability. He  spoke about Moraj Desai, first non Congress member to become Prime Minister (1977). He also spoke about NITI Aayog, which has replaced planning commission. He painted our minds  about demonetisation in which 15 crore people have suffered and 105 people have died. From 2016 -18, nearly 5 crore people have lost their jobs. He also emphasized on Goods and Service Tax.  

At 6:00 p.m. all the groups presented their Group Discussions. Almost all the students participated in GD. It was indeed a mesmerizing session! Students where able to exhibit a sense of creativity  and a holding hand for the future generation. In the presentation, leaders led the students with a beam of success and the reporters reported their ideas which they had learnt and discussed in their previous sessions. They also portrayed about their responsibilities which they are going to lead in the mission .For instance,  in my team, we have promised to participate in Graam Panchayats, spreading awareness to people by enacting plays and also launching an App for lodging complaints without revealing one's identity.  Isn't that the need of the hour? Let me explain, that's because many people  fear to disclose about their identity and hence step back. It was indeed a gripping and an exemplary session! To be honest, I loved the way they voiced out their thoughts.

Day 4

 Mr S Annamalai Sir spoke about media and democracy. The plural of medium is media there are three types of medium print namely: medium, electronics medium and new medium.  In media, there are two types namely: mainstream and social stream. The primary duty of media is to reveal the truth and do fact checking. 

The responsibility towards citizens are  being the voice of the voiceless society and also they have to play a role of watchdog. The system has been created by the people to provide credible information and freedom is significant for media.  leadership streams are of four types namely: Democratic, Autocratic, Dictatorship and Laissez Faire. He described about the qualities of leaders .The leader should accomplish his goal, Inspire others, be determined and flexible. He also emphasized on global leaders who should have an excellent communication besides being able to manage diversity He should also  have an expectation management and an impression management. The exciting part of the session was a thought provoking statement  India and leaders are MAD i.e  Make A Difference.

 In the last session, Mr Tamil Sir, writer sketched his views on cultural institutions .He said, "Sowing the seeds of culture are parents". He spoke about  casteism issue and he also explained about the burning question, "Is there democracy in Art and Literature?". In order to hammer the thought he played a short film about 'Transition of Culture and Passion for Women'. It was  truly fascinating and compelling! 

Followed by this, at 6:00 PM they asked all the colleges to perform a presentation within an hour. It was based on ," Know, Feel, Do". They provided with all the stationary items. It was really a great opportunity to expose our hidden talent. We invested our efforts and hoped with a ray of success for a brighter and a better tomorrow. We felt resented with our efforts and our presentation went on a smooth sail.

After our presentation, we had a peaceful sleep. Before that, I would like to mention not to miss the boat, as I am goona reveal the most exciting part. Keep your fingers crossed and I will let the cat out of bag soon . 

We had one hour session by a resource person. Mr SP Udaya Kumar , who is a Social Activist. He inscribed our minds about"Democracy and Human Rights". He also painted his views about Anarchism, communism, socialism, left in centre, right in centre, fascism, nazism. He explained all the ideologies and need for democracy with lucidity. It was really a thought provoking session! Students even got an opportunity to record their voice in AIR. 

After having spent hectic and worthy sessions, it was time for feeding our souls too by getting soaked in the serenity of the place. The most exciting and adventurous part of our journey began and we visited various places like the Suicide Point, Pine forest, lake and we went for shopping. To be honest, I was sailing in the ship of nostalgia. I felt as if, it was a sense of reward for investing my efforts. Talking about friends, the comradeship which, I have is everlasting. Though we were mere strangers in the beginning. We never realised until it turned into great friendship. We created memories, which we will treasure for our lifetime. The selfless care and hospitality shown by the entire team is beyond words. The planned engaging sessions were truly meaningful. I look forward for many such engaging and inspiring sessions in the near future in order to become a better version of myself.

 The days of our stay will be cherishing and lingering in our memories forever. At last, we left Kodaikanal at 2:00 PM. I always believe that, "Life is a journey with problems to solve, lessons to learn but, most of all experiences to enjoy". Though it was a short span of time, I really learnt a lot from all the phenomenal legends and their experiences which, I will cherish and treasure my entire lifetime. Dear readers, stay tuned to know about the next updates about this course very soon. 

Safa Salsabeel Z