From: Sumathi V Iyengar Date: Sun Dec 2, 2001 9:21 pm Subject: Minutes of Ms. Rajni Bakshi's talk at Asha-Princeton Here is a brief summary of Ms. Rajni Bakshi's talk at Asha-Princeton on November 18th 2001. "Creative Quest: looking for possibilities amidst fear and chaos" Bapu Kuti : I wrote Bapu Kuti, not because I wanted to write something, but all these stories were there.The society does have people who have special virtues, eg. Mother Theresa. But these virtues do not replicate among the general public. Writing about these people is one way to break through this problem. There is so much pessimism among people. Stories of people with ideal ways of living must be publicised, in order to set an example. There has been good work in the areas of health etc. But this kind of progress is not seen in the area of social work. There is a great need to multiply creative thinking. There is a desparate need to make macro linkages. During the meeting of the World Commission on Dams, L.C. Jain said "Ours is a Knowledge Resistent Community" in reference to big dams being be built despite proofs of their negitive effects. Penetration of negetive thinking in the society is much faster. This book is a small step to spread hope among people. Global North and Global South : There are large percentages of humanity living in low nutrition levels. A depression worst than the 1930s is coming. There are solutions to save the planet. But can enough of them be put in place in time ? Electricity can be generated by two-three families together, by means of local alternatives. In the current scenerio, 'Small' is not just beautiful, but is also inevitable. More emphasis should be given to decision-making at the community level. There is great advantage today to demand decentralization. Neither capitalism or communalism will work in today's world. State control in itself is not an answer. Neither is complete control by corporations. What happened on September 11th is a trauma for the whole world, not just the United States. It is a problem of our civilization. Real divide in the world is that of 'Global North' and 'Global South'. 'Global north' comprises of the elite who have access to a multitude of resources and opportunities. The 'Global South' are all those who are undernourished, lack education and jobs.This group also includes an unemployed black person in Harlem, NYCity. The divide is due to varied levels of empowerment of people. It is now location-independent. There are several attempts to overcome this divide. 1. Computer software examples : Free software - Open Source is a good example. Richard Stalman of MIT started this initiative in the 1980s. Linux, an open-source operating system started 10 years ago, is fast becoming popular. A group in Palo Alto called "Computer professionals for social responsibility" is noteworthy. 2. Alternative monetary schemes : The problem with the current global monetary system is at its core. The journey of markets began 150 years ago, with the central assumption that the human being is a self aggrandizing unit(in the western world). The money markets have evolved from there to the current state. The problem is due to the 'interest bearing money'. Islam forbids use of money bearing interest. The Islamic term Haram means 'Earn money from money without doing anything'. What is permitted is investing money in a venture and reaping benefits out of it as this also involves a risk factor to the investor. Many local currencies have evolved. A notable example is Ithaca Hours used in Ithaca, NY state. Local currencies were widely in circulation in the 1930s. 3. Banking on Biomass : Veteran engineer and activist K.R.Datye in his book "Banking on Biomass" outlines a solution to the energy problem. It is possible to produce electicity locally using biomass and solar energy. This involves community effort. It is an ambitious project, but is feasible. Similar to this effort are other cooperative ventures. 'Amul India' in Ahmedabad, Gujarat is a success story of such an effort. 'Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA)' headed by Ila Bhat is another good example. There is also the 'Gramin Bank' started by Mohammad Unus in Bangaladesh. There are several such cooperatives, but linkages between them are not happening. Unemployed youth from polytechnics and those who call themselves 'Dasvi fail', can be brought together into such cooperatives. One good news is that class interest is a reality. People do work for a larger common good across class lines. Conclusion : I would like to end my talk with an inspiring conversation I had with Divendra Bhai (He is one of the people i have written about in 'Bapu kuti'). Divendra Bhai says that social change will happen, but it requires various factors. This can be likened to the preparation of curd at home. To start with it requires the right curd culture. In the real world, this constitutes the social workers. Then there is the desired quantity of milk. This is the general public. The milk should be of the right temperature... i.e. the public should be aware of what is happening. Then, the culture should be added to the milk and stirred. This stirring is the agitation that the social workers should create by means of demonstrations etc, in order to get noticed. Finally it takes time for the curd to get done. It takes time for any changes to take place. So we should wait.. patiently. A relevant book to read is "Aquarian Conspiracy" by marilyn Ferguson.