Youth Development speech delivered at a conference in the presence of P.P Swami Ramdev

[Summary of a speech delivered in the presence of P.P Swami Ramdev at a conference hosted by Patanjali Yoga Peeth Trust (UK) on the subject of “Youth development through the eyes of an NRI”]

Dharmesh Mistry, 

22^nd September 2013, London

Youth Development Panel.

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Youth development will only happen when the standard we expect from our young people is reframed.

There is a saying that is perhaps only a half joke:

Let Ram be born, but not in my house.

Let Sharda Ma be born, but not in my house.

Let Vivekananda be born, but not in my house.

Whether we live in India or not, this statement applies to each one of us, our attitude to the issues in the country we call our motherland, and issues anywhere in our world.

This statement suggests that we are waiting for a great soul to 'guide us' out of the challenges we face personally and globally. However, I believe the real challenge is how we make 'those' challenges, 'our' challenges? To make them personal. When 'that' child’s hunger, becomes my child's hunger. When 'that' child’s illiteracy, becomes my child's illiteracy. When 'India's' corruption reflects as my corruption. At a time where we have access to more information than ever before, we cannot turn a blind eye to the world around us.

Agreeing with the saying is very noble. Except, we want our children to have safe and comfortable lives. To have the steady income, the safe environment and a known path. To not be burdened with the struggles that inevitably come with uncertainty and risk.

Youth development in India, the UK or anywhere, will only begin when we challenge our own children to relentlessly pursue a goal greater than themselves. To make sacrifices in their safe and comfortable lives. To be willing to struggle and persevere. It will happen when we encourage them to set out into the world and discover what purpose they are personally willing to commit themselves to.

There is a famous quote by Lila Watson, an Aboriginal lady, who said “If you have come here to help me, you are wasting our time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

For NRIs around the world, we must start with this quote in how we choose to engage with India. India has overcome much sterner challenges than those of today. India does not want our sympathy or our commentary. It does not need our emotional, pseudo-patriotic outbursts. India and Indians must accept that we are in 2013/Vikram Samvant 2069 and not some romanticised past. The world has moved on. We need to look forward. To build a future self identity that draws on the depth of our heritage but does not simply hark back to times past. Each of us needs to find a new determination to work silently and contribute to building a future we all will be proud of.

Interestingly, youth in India and around the world are already searching for more committed ways to serve. In India, programmes such as the Indicorps Fellowship, Teach for India, the SEARCH Nirmaan Fellowship and the Gujarat Government's Chief Minister's Fellowship are creating opportunities for talented and committed young people to apply their time, skills and energy to India's most pressing issues. These young people immerse in the communities they seek to serve and through the process they become clearer in their purpose and firmer in their values. Such experiences strengthen their faith and raise awareness of their role in making the world a better place. This is character building. This is youth development.

I argue that we are past discussion on youth development. India's youth are thirsty to do more and we as a wider community are not offering enough to quench that thirst. They are searching for opportunity, not rhetoric.

It is an exciting time for India. 50% of its population was born after 1991; this means they have not felt the pain of partition or the shame of emergencies. They are living in the story of a new India: one of economic growth and a growing presence on the global stage. Their challenges are new and will require a new approach to solving them. They have an amazing opportunity to participate and create the India we all will be proud of; and, on the whole, they are getting on with it while we are talking about it.

The challenge is how do we nurture and channel that potential?

How do we spark our collective imagination to realise that opportunity?

With recent events, it seems quite topical to offer a VISA for youth development in India

V= Voice – Our silence communicates our apathy. Clicking like on Facebook or Tweeting is not enough. Let our actions amplify our words and our clicks. It is very easy to talk of the levels of deprivation in India from the material comforts of our western lives. Only when we personally connect to a cause will we find long term solutions to the innumerable issues we see around us. Through that real experience, we can articulate more clearly the long term vision to which we aspire.

I = Ideas – The wonderful thing about technology and globalisation is that, when used correctly, we can learn from other cultures and peoples. I encourage all Indians to go around the world, to exchange new ideas, to innovate and apply relevant ideas to India. Only then will the apparent brain drain become India's brain gain.

S = Skills – Indians around the world are graduating from the finest institutions and working for leading organisations. What will it take for us to apply our economics degree to help build livelihoods in underserved communities? How can our medical doctors apply themselves to eradicate public health issues, and our educators develop a stronger education system?

A = Authentic – As people uniquely placed to understand both eastern and western cultures, can we create a model of development that is authentically ours and not just ape the predominant models of western global development? Can our model of development be respectful of our sanskruti and be applied in the globalised world in which we live? We must have the discrimination to choose wisely in the knowledge that what is right will generally not be easy.

The youth of today want to find an active way of building a vision for their future whether that is India or not – for this we need a young population that can dream and a belief that together we can translate those dreams to realities. The youth are ready.

We must realize that without the tools to engage our youth with India, we are doing a disservice to them, our motherland and our future world.

But this begins right here, right now, with me, with you.

I urge you all to personally reflect and confidently say one day;

Let Ram be born in my house.

Let Sharda Ma be born in my house.

Let Vivekananda be born in my house.