A MASTER OF ALL TRADES

This is the first in the series of interviews to know more about the TED India fellows,their views, thoughts and interests. This post would feature the interview I had over mail with Sanjukta Basu.

“There is nothing extra-ordinary about me except that I refuse to be ordinary at every turn of the road.”

Her interests: Anything under the sun.
Her mission: Empower women.

Here is the excerpt of the interview:

Me: Sanjukta, could you give us a brief background about yourself?

Sanjukta Basu(SB):I am a lawyer turned social media enthusiast, women and LGBT rights activist and more. I presently work for a non profit organization Breakthrough.


Me: Many congratulations on being nominated as a TED India Fellow. Below are the words that you wrote on your blog on being nominated:

“As I looked through the list of my fellow TED fellows I felt how insignificant my academic achievements are in comparison to them. I don’t have no foreign degrees or Phds, I didn’t go to Harvard, I am no IITian, IIMite or ISBite, I am no school topper, I never won a medal or a trophy for academics. I graduated out of ordinary school and college with medium grades.”

What do you think has brought you this far?

SB: Well I think it’s my unique individuality that has got me this far, I often say, “There is nothing extra-ordinary about me except that I refuse to be ordinary at every turn of the road.” I try to think out of the box in everything I do, I dare to do things no one else have done, though it may not be something too big.


Me: Goes a saying “Anything that refuses to change ceases to exist”. Is this the reason for “Change” being your much preferred hobby?

SB: Well for me change is the only way forward otherwise I get bored in this journey called life. Life wouldn’t be worth while if we all just did the same things, have same dreams, follow same pursuits etc all our lives. Some of us do that, and I wonder how? My father for example, he did the same job for 40 years, I can’t do that. I need to change myself constantly more than anything else.



Me: A woman, a world citizen, prolific writer, activist, blogger, lawyer, photographer and so on. If I may ask, what is the next facet that you want to add to your bag of talents and why?

SB: To be honest I don’t know what is next. I didn’t add any of the above things in my bag consciously, it’s not like I woke one morning and decided I wanna be a blogger now, or photographer, those things just happened. But there’s one that that’s sure, I would keep doing exciting projects related to women’s empowerment, travel, writing, social media etc. And I would continue to share my life through my writings. Sometimes you learn just by witnessing someone’s life.


Me: You have set your marks on a variety of fields. What drives you to move ahead with all the more energy and passion?

SB: One thing that drives me always is a constant effort to bridge gaps. Every where I look I see people living in their own little worlds oblivious to the pain and sorrow of other’s. There is just too much gap between various classes and communities, the rich-poor, straight-gay. We need to know about other people to understand them. With social media and the power of web publication we can now bring communities together, something that I try to achieve. The other thing that keeps me going is love for travel, meeting new people. If one pays for my travel, stay and food I would jump into any assignment. All I need is my laptop, camera, broadband and I am sorted :)


Me: Can you share with us about the people who have shaped or touched your lives?

SB: My family to begin with - Mom, dad, sister. My sister and I grew up in different times; She’s almost a decade younger than me. Yet I never went too far, instead I waited for her to catch up with me. So it’s like I had a ‘growing up’ twice. I learnt and unlearned a lot of things with her as she grew up. She is also my greatest critic so we fight a lot, fights are learning process too.

And then some of the men I dated, some of them were nice, but some were horrible mistakes, we learn from our mistakes specially me. And may be Aamir Khan too for a bit.

Me: Most of your poems seem to be the reflections of your search for true love. According to you, true love means………

SB: I think true love is a momentous ecstatic feeling which transcends all materialistic pleasures, desires, logic etc. It’s a moment when you want to give your everything to someone, you want to lose yourself and be one with the person you love. It is not necessarily a union of bodies but of minds. It might not have anything to do with worldly arrangements like marriage and procreation. I would say what Meera Bai felt for lord Krishna was true love.


Me: Where do you think you are now, in your efforts to use blogging extensively to reach out to the less privileged? How successful has it proved to be?

SB: I think I have only just started; it’s a long way to go. I want to see myself opening up social media centers in every village in India putting them on world map. I am far from achieving that as of now. But there are other things I am proud of. I inspire people to think differently, I inspire them to think, communicate, question. I am particularly proud of my efforts to bringing many people together as bloggers community. There are small things that matter a lot, for eg I am aware that there are people who found love, friends via these communities, people who rediscovered their own potential. These are achievements albeit insignificant.


Me: Do you see enough provisions in the Indian Penal Code to try the increasing crimes against women and children? What are the changes (if any) that you would like to be amended in the legislature as a lawyer and as a woman?

SB: I think yes. Though there is always space for more laws on marital rape, rape within intimate same sex relationships etc. But the laws we already have is considerably a lot, if not enough, to tackle crimes against women provided, and that’s an all caps ‘PROVIDED’ laws are followed, proper action are taken when they are broken, police and judiciary act honestly. As of now, none of these conditions are achieved. Half of the people don’t care about law they break it and then get away with it because of corrupt systems. System will change only when we introduce gender sensitization in the very patriarchal structure of police and judiciary.


Me: What would be your words of guidance to people wanting to be like you?

SB: He he, that’s quite a question. I am not sure how many people want to be like me; I mean am not a star. But I have a few tips – Always dare to be different, find an excuse for a change. Be honest to your heart always; remember truth is the greatest safety net. And finally, it’s ok to talk about something we do; it’s ok to talk about sex - because it really is something we do. Believe me babies don’t grow on trees neither are they gift wrapped and delivered by Angels.

I am back!!

After a long hiatus from the blogosphere I am back into doing what I like. Speaking my mind is what I have tried to on all my previous posts on a number of social issues. Joining work made the thought of sitting before the computer again at home a task which I did not want to do until next day at office. So what has made me to start blogging again? Well it was an opportunity to interact with and interview some of the best minds in the world through a project started by Kiruba. What is that that links all of them?

1. They dared to be different,
2. They have unlimited zeal and passion,
3. They think out of the box,
4. Their ideas can transform the world, and
5. They all are TED India fellows.

Watch this space to know more about them and their thoughts.

COMMON MAN-THE VICTIM

An upcoming political party celebrated its inception anniversary and a youth rally yesterday here in Chennai. As expected the city was in haywire due to change in traffic routes and diversion of buses around the area. The common man who had ventured to shop for the festival was the victim. Clusters of people were seen in bus stands waiting for buses that never arrived. Auto rickshaws which were scantily seen demanded exorbitant fares (Flight fares are relatively cheap I believe!!). Coming to the point whatever maybe the party their ideologues in regard to making lives of people comfortable seem to vanish in thin air when such meetings are held. Life is thrown out of gear. Authorities who are in charge of regulation and order are the one who are the receiving end for such a poor management. The city boasts of one of the biggest meeting ground for public meetings in its heart center. When thrown open for meetings of political parties galaxies of supporters from places all over the state march to the city from morning till late night in Lorries and chartered buses causing commotion and nuisance to the lives of people. What could be done instead is a huge plot of land could be allotted for holding such meetings outside city limits. This might ease out the additional volume of traffic that would enter the city, bringing it to a standstill. Apart from restoring the normal city activities it would also help the party cadres, organizers, law and order regulators a smooth operation. The city planners should consider this option and bring it into implementation at the earliest.

END OF THE SUNSHINE DAYS??

I had aspirations to study Physics as I was taken in awe by the vastness of the Universe as well as the smallest dimensions of atoms and its particles even though I knew well enough that the mathematical background needed to understand it was poor. Thanks to my Physics coaching master, the urge to study the queen of sciences was growing. Finally I landed up studying Engineering though not by choice specializing in Electronics and Communication after rounds of constant brain wash by parents and relatives. The reason given was the defined and immediate job opportunities it would provide given my ‘middle’ middle class background (this was in 2004 and IT was booming). With the same fervor which I would have put if I had done Physics I pursued the course and as expected I was recruited into an IT MNC with a handsome pay package early on in my pre-final year. It was a proud day for my father as I was the first Engineering graduate in the family and more proud and happy by the fact that my starting compensation was nearly the double of what he currently earns after more than three decades of working. A year has passed since the offer was made and more than four months have passed since my graduation and I am yet to receive my posting orders. Months of waiting has paved the way for frustration and dejection. Similar fate is shared by most of the freshers who have passed out in 2008 and were given offers in IT companies with the exception of a privileged few from premier educational institutes. Even after constant promises from companies that offers would be honored dark clouds looms large with the current global economic turmoil. Over dependence of both our economy and the rising work force on the IT industry has led to this poor state of affairs. Our failure to concentrate on other growth areas such as manufacturing, agriculture, production etc has added to the woes resulting in inflation that has led to drastic organizational measures and restructuring like cost cutting and employee layoffs. News of employee layoffs by IT concerns has become the order of the day sending shock waves across the population of new blood of expectant pass outs. Are these the hours of darkness in the sun-shine industry?