Daan Utsav: Opening Young Minds And Hearts To Social Leadership

Daan Utsav celebrates acts of giving, from October 2 to October 8. BloombergQuint brings you on-ground stories of change, from social sector leaders shaping them.

There were 2,500 students in my college when I joined, and only a few were clear as to why they were pursuing engineering. You study electrical engineering for four years, and then an information technology company recruits you to do coding! Where’s the logic in that? Our society today, is in a crazy race towards ‘success’, without a proper understanding of what defines success. In this race, the connection with our inner-being gets diluted and happiness tends to get determined by external factors. Since when has inner peace or happiness been dependent on external factors?

In an age where we are witnessing leadership crises across the globe and fundamentalism is on the rise at a worrying pace; it has become all the more important to invest in our youth and kindle the innate goodness in them for larger social good. While on one side we see a race toward quick-fix solutions and investors who look for large numbers even before they begin funding; it is important for a few to invest in leadership development. So that both the likes of Tata, Infosys as well as ailing old school non-profits have leadership capabilities within to take the established legacy forward.

I grew up in Kanpur and was fortunate to spend my summer holidays in a village which is yet to get its first electricity pole. Forming a close connection with villages kept me rooted to the inequalities of our society. I witnessed how the destinies of some are stamped and decided before their birth. In college, I realised that the answer to this social injustice was around us, but the 2,500 students in my college were likely unaware of both: the existing inequity and the potential for change. Driven by the sense of social justice, Youth Alliance was established with the vision to nurture emphatic leaders by exposing youngsters to the social realities.

Youth Alliance takes youngsters on intensive immersive journeys through programs like ‘Gramya Manthan’, a rural immersion program in the villages of U.P. and Gujarat where they experience how almost 60 percent of India lives. In this journey, they interact, engage and live with different communities, understand the privileges they enjoy living in the city. These journeys help peel off their urban plaster, reshaping their perspectives.

“Gramya Manthan was one of the major turning points in my life. I could see a huge change in myself in many dimensions. I began to see a strong sense of possibility in everything,” says Manoranjan, an alumnus of Youth Alliance. Manoranjan established his social initiative Ek Pahal - ‘Education beyond Schooling’ in Nalanda, Bihar to challenge the “unfilled gaps in tapping the true potential of students.”

Manoranjan’s belief in his own strengths is what enriches the organisation. During these immersive journeys, when a 19-year old witnesses an old person suffering from curable blindness caused by cataract—the treatment of which doesn’t cost more than Rs 2,000 (which also might be cheaper than the glasses they are wearing); or women going out to defecate either at night or early morning in the dark because there is no toilet at home, then they begin to ask questions about the areas of development lacking in our country even after 70 years of Independence, and about their role in changing the scenario.

Youth Alliance keeps personal transformation at-the-center, learning through social action as the key to problem-solving, and empathetic leadership as a solution to India’s myriad challenges. We build, among the young, an intention to work towards change by making them use their head, heart, and hand through service learning projects which vary from education, personal hygiene, sanitation to anti-alcoholism drives in villages.

These elements empower the youth to be sensitive and expand their mindset as they begin to see a whole community as theirs and emerge to become ethical leaders.

Youth Alliance’s immersive programs have helped invest 600+ youngsters in acts of nation-building by kindling empathy for communities.

“I firmly believe that life-changing pathways for kids come from the community," says Subodh, a ‘Gramya Manthan’ alumnus, who is working closely with villages, urban slums and college students of rural and low-income backgrounds on creating learning spaces with the help of the local community.

Talking about his inspiration to start more centres, he said that through ‘Gramya Manthan’ he experienced the power of immersing in the life of people and understanding them by doing the same. It is these stories from the alumni pool that keeps us going, from ‘Ridhi’, who established a non-profit, ‘Swatantra Taleem’ to educate first-generation Muslim girls near Lucknow; ‘Samarth’, influencing policies through data-based journalism with a leading newspaper; to ‘Divas’, working with Safai Karmachari Andolan to abolish manual scavenging.

A cocooned lack of awareness prevails from top colleges of metro cities to the youth of Tier-II and Tier-III cities, who have immense potential but scarce exposure.

While we have largely failed in the purpose with which IITs, IIMs were set up, because more than strengthening public infrastructure, many young graduates end up sweating it out to sell fairness cream and advising millionaires how to become billionaires.

The truth is it’s not their fault, the immense societal pressure and archaic learning styles keep them away from the realities of the world and most don’t know about the grave inequity. The ones who wish to do good succumb under pressure and end up in the mad race wanting to move out until the pressure to maintain their bank accounts’ status quo surpasses their will of doing good.

Nevertheless, I am more hopeful than ever because in the last 10 years I have met hundreds of young people, listened to their heartfelt stories of following their passion. The ecosystem is not entirely supportive yet but still has made space for such crazy hearts. With numerous fellowships and social entrepreneurs leading the way, there’s hope to understand and serve the world better, making it more equitable, cooperative and sustainable.

Prakhar Bhartiya is the founder of Youth Alliance.

The views expressed here are those of the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of BloombergQuint or its editorial team.