Zavian – Transforming Agents urf Changemakers – Sourav Nandi

It’s the country of our birth and even though we now live in a parallel universe, we have never lived far away from its center. The thoughts abutting across the lanes of our beloved country are like a raucous cacophony defacing the last inch of India’s image. The view of today’s political platform is an uneasy mixture of vintage old and handsome new views. And what we are glaring at is a slow unfolding of nothing.

Threading its way past ignorant people, haunting rhetorical questions and under the veneer of the Lok Pak bill a prolific institution has blown in with its dazzling vision. As India gears up to trudge up the stony path of 2012, disheveled and exhausted, Zav Foundation promises to infuse a staggering and untappable energy into India. Through its vision of Live-Grow-Create-Change it promises to rejuvenate India’s ego which seems to have been run over by an array of myriad flaws. The Zavians are hoping to establish a society with norms acceptable to everybody. Stepping on to the third year of its functioning Zav Foundation has had a slow but steady walk towards the sublime light. And with the help of all of you this light now seems like a flashlight than a firefly like before.

Zav- Envisaging the concept of transformation – Anand Krishnan

As the wise men suggest, change is the only permanent thing in this world. The mountains, seas, flora, fauna and other forms of beings, both living and non-living, undergo change as a part of natural process. The Homo sapiens are no different. They are subjected to change like any other and weather like the rocks losing their sheen. Change is a much smaller concept when we consider transformation. It brings in the importance of evolution.
Zav is all about evolving a person to a brand new individual rich in thoughts, vivacious, a person with broadened outlook with a positive approach towards life. Zav acts like a catalyst in the shift. The catalyst which do not just simply hasten the process but hasten it for a purpose. Zav is all about infusing one’s mind with the right mix of all, preparing him to undergo that all important transformation. With the training it imparts to the needy children, Zav intends to break the barrier between the privileged and the non-privileged thereby creating a level playing field for all. Zav is about transforming the lives, instilling confidence in the poor children. Zav stands for a change in the society. Zav carves out a niche for its contemporaries. Hence, it transforms the way we think, act, and the very way the society functions just to see that the less privileged get their dues and rightly so. “Zav” the entity which symbolizes modern day transformation. Zav will soon attain the cult status with the noble practise they are carrying out.

Zav Transformation – Gursheel Sahni

On seeing the topic given, one reminisces about the past, his whole life flashes before his eyes. What stands out is that one incident, that one period of his life that saw him ‘transform’ to an entirely new being. Such is the weight, the word carries. We all have without doubt, at one point or the other experienced such a phase in our lives, though the instrument of transformation varies in each case.
Our inner self is changed in a way that is nothing short of revolutionary, with a complete renovation of the very fundamentals on which our life is based. Our outlook of life alters, we become more mature in our dealings, deeper in our thoughts so on and so forth. It is this very positive transformation that the Zav Foundation seeks, something that is well espoused by the foundation’s tagline ‘Alter, Change, Transform’. The foundation, through varies novel activities involves a lot of people especially the youth, from a plethora of backgrounds and facilitates the process of transformation.

Zav – Transformation – Partha Pratim Panda

India embarked on a journey of transformation, of Zav in 1991 when it freed itself from the shackles of license raj and ushered in a new era where mediocrity is looked down upon and meritocracy is the only license to success. This transformation has since been led by people such as Dhirubhai Ambani, Ratan Tata, to name a few whom the world adores and admires. Entrepreneurship got a fillip and today the Indian entrepreneurial spirit is known the world over. What these agents of change have accomplished has not just made them rich but has also filled the government coffers and has provided employment to millions of people. The GDP growth rate has skyrocketed from a measly 1.6 % in 1991-92 to an impressive 11.1 % in 2009-2010. Per capita income has more than doubled in the past two decades. This provides quite a rosy picture of India’s growth story, isn’t it?
Now take a look at this. According to a 2005 World Bank estimate, 26.1% (around 31 crore) of the total Indian population falls below the International Poverty Line of US$ 1.25 a day. India has an adult literacy rate of 74.04% which means 25.96 % or about 31 crore Indians are still illiterate. India still ranks a lowly 134th in the Human Development Index (HDI). So considering all the above stated facts, can we still claim to be the second fastest growing nation in the world?
Anyone with his heart in the right place would reply in the negative.
Despite all this phenomenal growth over these years, the government has still not been able to do its part properly. The primary education system is still in shambles. The youth of India is lacks the necessary life skills and is unemployable. This is exactly where Zav foundation comes into the picture as an agent of change. One of the programmes we have introduced in the Youth Leadership Programme. The objective of this YLP is to offer the opportunity for the youth to grow, develop and practice the principles of togetherness and self-reliance.
Another flagship programme of Zav has been the book donation campaign where in people are encouraged to give away their unused books so that they can be used by someone who is in need of them but can’t afford to buy. This way we have jumped into the uncharted territory and we stand by our commitment to take India to the top of the world.

Transformation- New Personality, New Self – Niti Garg

Zav of oneself brings forth the possibility of a life without pain, suffering and violence. There is a complete focus on creating a conscious awareness on what you really are and in visualizing what you want. Thus, transforming one’s thoughts, feelings, patterns through the self transformation process. It brings high potential in the personal life as well as gives the courage and tools to truly follow the life quests. Zav is the slow, steady infusion of the vision into the reality, moving from seeing a new to being a new.

Transformation is the complete paradigm shift in the way we speak, think, act, relate to ourselves to others and to life, the changes it calls for are drastic, which means to even begin to effect these, a sound sense of self esteem is needed. Self-esteem will only enable us to look deep within ourselves and not baulk at the unpalatable sight. Growth occurs by becoming more and more of who we are, not by our trying to be someone we are not.

Zav Foundation turns 3 !!!

The silent sunday morning of the 8th of January 2012 this year saw us turning three years young. With slow but sure steps, we tried to trace our journey of three years through a small get together which saw many of the participants involved with the progress of Zav, in attendance.

Starting off with a small invocation song to pep up our spirits, we were all re-introduced to Zav’s Philosophy by Saranya.It provoked all of us to question our ideas of Zav and the work that we were associated with. Aman’s speech about his realizations and experiences with starting off with Zav moved many in the audience and his tangible and raw emotional connection with Zav was evident in his talk. The passion and commitment into driving himself and the other Zavians into taking their time off their schedules and imprinting the idea of putting empathy over charity or sympathy into everyone’s mind was the very epitome of his speech. The event then saw many volunteers coming upto the dias and talking about their experiences with Zav.

Names would be a big list to mention but the emotions and Passions that oozed out of every experience echoed similar thoughts. A varied perspective of the work that every Zavian shared was an experience in itself and had the audience relating to the speaker, even when they had very little personal introductions.

All in all, the 3rd year Anniversary laid a firm foundation to the aspirations of Zav and its 2020 dream. It saw the meeting of ideas and perspectives and the zest of the young at heart. With dreamy eyes we bid adieu to the day for what it stands, with promises to live up to and lives to touch. 

 Ambika Patil

 

Social Media as a tool for Social Change – Tanya Sengupta

Facebook and twitter are names synonymous with today’s youth. Many individuals use the social media platform to voice their opinions and thoughts. News gets immediate reaction on this platform and spreads faster than the forest fire. These dynamics of social media encourage one to leverage to bring about social change.

Unlike e-mails, social media’s stickiness factor is far higher. The comments written by people bring about a varied perspective to a challenge. Often there is humour in the comments which gets a very strong social message across subtly.

The response elicited for ones comments/views keeps the user engaged in conversation which helps to bring about a change in perspective. This is the first step towards change where the youth are convinced and are willing to take action to bring about the needed change and they have many power tools that can empower them to do so.

On the Job – Kavya Srinivasan

When I walked into Uttarahalli Government School on a Monday afternoon, I had butterflies in my stomach. I had just spent a month of my vacation lounging around the house, and I was convinced that my first day ‘on the job’ would be a disaster.
We first met the teachers; people I would come to be good friends with before the week was over. There was the Headmistress, and her friendly secretary who would go on to buy me a cup of tea everyday. There was Kannada sir, and Maths Ma’am, and the assortment of wonderful people I got to know.
And then we went to class. Tenth A. As I walked in with Aman Sir, whom they worshipped, thirty-five curious pairs of eyes looked at me. I went and sat down with the girls, who started to laugh and talk, always wary of the new person.
The next day was scarier because I went alone. But I walked in and they smiled. And I knew that this internship was going to be a dream come true for me.
It was an uphill struggle from the start. Although I’ve lived in Bangalore all my life, my Kannada is far from fluent. It goes to follow that I can’t read and write Kannada either. And to translate ideas in Kannada that were really simple to me in English was very hard. I made many desperate phone calls to my friends who spoke better Kannada than I, and to friends owning English to Kannada dictionaries. I struggled with words like ‘deposed claimant’ and I once spent the better half of a class talking about anti-corruption, only to realize that the kids had no idea what corruption was at all!
Everyday was an adventure for me, and I absolutely loved going to school. The kind of education that I had growing up was so far removed from everything that I saw here, and I was often hard for me to digest. I have pretty strong opinions on corporal punishment, and I would get very upset when I saw the teachers hitting children with rulers and the like.
And the children themselves? I could write pages about what they said, and jokes they told me, and games we played, and lectures I’ve given them. I’ve never learnt so much about myself than in the time that I went to school to teach.
Sometimes, it felt futile. I had no idea how much of a difference I was making to their lives. I didn’t know whether I had influenced them at all. And the language barrier really depressed me.
But I tried, and tried, and tried some more. And hopefully, it paid off.
Personally I knew it did. I knew now more than ever that my heart was in teaching, that I wanted to teach English and History, and that teaching would make me happy.
And so it goes. I’m hoping to go back to that school someday soon, but not as a teacher. As a friend and a mentor.

Internship Opportunities at Zav – Kavya Srinivasan

I’m a college student and since first hearing about Zav, I’ve wanted nothing more than to do something for them. But it doesn’t help that I live in another city for 8 out of the 12 months of a year. And on checking the Zav site, I’ve just found the answer to my prayers: an internship.
Regardless of your qualifications and interests, the Zav internships have something for you. From web-designing and content-development, training to management, an internship at Zav can assure of a lifetime’s worth of learning and fun. But they come with their share of responsibilities, and you leave with a certificate, a letter of appreciation and the satisfaction of a job well done. So hurry up and apply for your internship with Zav!

You can apply with your resume to president@zavfoundation.org

Women is not the plural of Woman – Saranya Francis

Have you noticed how every single independent and free thinking woman has been alone – if not literally then figuratively, she is always noticed only as a reference to a certain context or then she is alone.

I often think to myself… why does a woman who chooses to live her life on her own terms always land up being alone? I guess the answer lies in how a woman looks at herself. I cannot blame men for how a woman is treated. It is a woman who subjugates herself to the man in the house, it is a woman who seeks permission even to perform actions that are an integral part of her persona, it is a woman who feels guilty at a man’s displeasure and it is definitely a woman who blames herself for being her true self. A woman allows what a man does to her and never the other way round.

To the women who read this When are we going to change our perspective of looking at ourselves? When are we going to see ourselves as creators of not just more people but of ideas, societies and ways of life? Unless we give ourselves the privilege of being ourselves, no feministic cry or masculine mercy can liberate us.

To the men who read this  When are you going to see independence as a choice and not a privilege? When are you going to liberate yourselves from chauvinistic perspectives? When are you going to let a woman be a woman? When you will you stop measuring women with the yardstick of your own years?

The next time you typecast a task as being a woman’s task or a man’s, the next time you are going to say “its not right for a woman to do…” the next time you dream a dream and ask yourself if it is right go ahead in its pursuit because you are a woman… remember this, each woman is unique, every woman is made of distinct personality features, there is no predecessor to the woman that you are, there is no history of the same personality having existed before. Every woman is unique. Women is not the plural of woman cos’ there are no two women who are alike.

Every woman knows what she wants but every woman hesitates. When you want something, don’t ask yourself if a woman can want such a thing, only ask if you want such a thing and will be enriched by it. The next time you want to do something do so because you want to not because someone else thinks it is appropriate for a woman to do so. Being a woman is not a work of providence but a careful handling of self doubt!! Being a woman is not about being right but having no regrets about being you!!

Happy International Women’s day!!