IBN Network, in association with IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd, is back again with the third edition of Young Indian Leaders award to felicitate the spirit of young and dynamic new-age leaders who are carrying the beacon of change into the 21st century. At a glittering function held in New Delhi on August 28, Chief guest Sachin Pilot, Minister of State for Communications & IT, felicitated nine such stalwarts who had displayed their expertise in various fields to be a sources of inspiration to the nation’s youth. In a country bursting with untapped energy, these young people have provided a direction to this ancient nation with the largest youth population in the world. Saluting this spirit of leadership, the prestigious Young Indian Leaders Award is conferred each year to achievers from across the length and breadth of the country, who have personified their spirit of youth and carved a niche for themselves with their grit, dedication and will power.

Kamal Medhi, at 31 years of age is the fourth person from the Northeast to be honoured with this sterling prize. Yet, this young campaigner who has created remarkable inroads into the heart of the native people in his crusade for the sustainable development of forest dependent communities in Lower Garo hills in Meghalaya, remains unfazed. Chosen for the third edition of the CNN IBN Young Indian Leaders Awards, a Network 18 initiative this year, Kamal beams with pleasure. “It’s a great feeling. I feel honoured that CNN IBN saw through my works and selected me for this award.”

In an exclusive interview with The Sentinel before the event, Medhi said it was his early years in Tamulpur in Assam that prompted him to chose this field. He said he was disturbed by the man-elephant conflict in his native village and its adjoining areas, where forest cover was fast depleting with rapid deforestation by the locals for settlement. “The people in my native place were terrorized by the jumbos who were on a destructive rampage. But they didn’t understand that the poor elephants were forced to come out in the open due to loss of their habitat.”

Stirred by the plight of these magnificent creatures, young Kamal decided to be an environmental crusader and embark on a mission to work for sustainable development of forest-dwelling communities with minimum damage to the forest cover.

Medhi, a team leader at Samrakshan Trust, an NGO working for sustainable development of forest-dependent communities, has been at the forefront of a movement for seven years now, a movement that aims to involve the community comprising 36 villages in the Baghmara area of Lower Garo Hills in conservation efforts, making them see the efficacy of their own efforts and helping them engage in livelihood means through eco-tourism.

Asked why he chose to shift to Meghalaya when there was so much to be done in his own home State, Kamal said, “There were already enough organizations working for environment conservation in Assam. Besides, the WWF and the forest department, NGOs like Aaranyak are already doing commendable work for the preservation of forest cover. I felt that instead of overlapping our functions, I should channelize my energy in a place where it is needed.”

   A hardcore activist for wildlife protection and a born naturalist, Medhi has managed to absorb the ethos of the local population and mould them in his endeavour to protect the depleting green umbrella in the region. A strong advocate of eco-tourism, this man has also raised his voice against the illegal mining activity which was going on in the area.

Kamal was presented the Young India Award by Sachin Pilot at a star-studded awards ceremony in the presence of the who is who of the media fraternity. The event opened with a power-packed performance by popular music band Euphoria.

Speaking about the awards, editor-in-chief  Rajdeep Sardesai, CNN-IBN, IBN 7and IBN Lokmat said. “We at IBN network are proud to recognize these young Indian leaders for the third year in a row. This initiative aims to identify people who have the spirit to excel and follow their goal with single-minded passion.”

The grand finale of the awards ceremony will be telecast on CNN-IBN, IBN 7and IBN Lokmat on September 8 at 6 pm, 8 pm and 6 pm respectively. The CNN IBN Awards, will telecast a four-part special series to highlight the stories of India’s new-age youth icons, who are leaders not by profession, but by their deeds and attitude.

The first episode will follow the journey of the Young Indian Leaders Awards since its institution in 2010. The episode will showcase the best moments of the Awards in the past two years and tell the viewers how these Awards have become a pioneering effort in giving India its youth icons.

In the second episode, an esteemed panel of guests including Shoma Choudhary, Kalikesh Narain Singh Deo and Ajay Chaturvedi will highlight and emphasize the youth’s involvement and their contribution towards building a new India.

 Kamal was shortlisted by an elite Network 18 Editorial Board drawn from the editorial masterminds of CNN-IBN, IBN7, IBN-Lokmat who arrived at the winners after many levels of scrutiny, verification and deliberation.

As the entire Northeast, and indeed the whole of India, takes pride in the achievement of this young leader, it is hoped that this award will instill new energy into this movement for the sustainable development of forest dependent communities, scientific use of land resources and wildlife preservation. A voice has been raised, small but strong and the green hills have resonated with the call of this young man for the conservation of the flora and fauna of the hills. We wish him true success in his endeavour.

Q1. My 4-year old son is a hyperactive child. He is always in an irritable mood and does not look happy at all. Even if we approach him or go to him, he gets irritated. What should we do? (Name withheld)

Ans- Try encouraging desirable behaviours in the child, and maintain a calm and pleasant environment. Provide a calm, peaceful and structured environment at home. Avoid too much noise eg avoid having the television on loudly at all times. Try to avoid over-stimulating your child. Do not scold or interrupt the child too often. Praise him when he is not irritable. These small steps help.

You must get a proper assessment of the problems by a qualified professional in your city. You could consult a counsellor or a clinical psychologist at any major hospital. You need to know the exact nature of the problem. You may feel your child is hyperactive, but it is wrong to jump to conclusions yourself. After assessment, you need to follow interventions, medical or psychological, as suggested by the expert(s).

Q2. Dear Maam, I have a question. How can one keep one’s mind calm in extreme situation? How can one divert his mind from painful thoughts? Is meditation the only remedy? (Name withheld)

Ans- Well meditation will definitely help in such a situation. But simply leaving it all to meditation will not suffice. You will have to put in your own effort too. There are lot of techniques we employ in counselling for stress reduction and change in thinking style. You could try and stay busy so that you don’t get much free time to sit and brood. It is difficult to write everything. We usually suggest techniques after taking a detailed assessment of the problem at hand. It would be advisable to seek few counselling sessions if possible. Till then stay busy and engage in some regular physical exercise! 

(Continued from last issue) For Birsa, the sight of this procession and the tune of the revolutionary song had an electrifying impact. The village school teacher accompanying Birsa made queries about the procession. Birsa tries to explain that the processionists are freedom fighters and they are on their way to attend a public meeting to be held at the Naharjan field, where another great leader of the movement, Pandit Nehru will address the gathering. Birsa has now become somber and pensive. For a moment, he seems to have visualized the Godlike face of the great leader, Gandhiji whom he had seen walking through the Naharjan areas earlier. He also feels a sense of grief as he will not be able to participate in the freedom struggle now, with the same vigour and force with which he once participated earlier. A number of queries are arising in his mind, “Why has he now remained away from the movement? Is he now overtaken by a sense of remorse for his past acts of destruction and depredation as a member of the violent Death Squad of the freedom struggle?’ And perhaps because of such self-analytical queries, he is now being drawn increasingly to a life of religious devotion and discourse. And afterwards at the initiative of his foster father, he got himself engaged in a family life after coming over to Chenehjuri garden from Naharjan. So instead of the nation’s freedom struggle, he is involved deeply in a family life with varied responsibilities.

Changing his earlier attitude. Birsa now starts holding in reverence, the basic objective of the freedom struggle, the cult of non-violence propagated by Gandhiji. He has now realized that only through non-violent means, India’s freedom may be obtained. Moreover, as he feels, along with the ideals of non-violent struggle, the people should have faith in the ways of the Almighty. Apart from this, Birsa has also become a votary of Gandhiji’s postulates of self-dependence, dignity of labour. As Gandhiji  himself showed the example, works like spinning cotton fibre, doing ones chores oneself without depending on others is not an act of indignity, he feels. And needless to mention that the inspiration behind this changed outlook of Birsa is his new master, whom he now regards as his own old grandfather. Once Birsa had to suffer much at the hands of the British rulers due to his active participation in the freedom struggle as a member of the ‘Death Squad’. So apprehending possible police action, he now lives under a new disguised name of ‘Hari Nath Bap’ (a disciple of great Mahapurush). Moreover, he is still unable to forget and forgive Collins, the former garden manager for his dastardly unpardonable action. Yet, now as a cruel irony of destiny that the young man who had once pierced the heart of his beloved one with arrows of passionate love is now himself become a dejected man, resting on the painful arrows of despair and despondency. On the other hand, as Birsa feels Phulmoni might have also lost her earlier charm and brightness, both physically and mentally, the only silver lining amidst her present gloom for her being the presence of her only daughter Marry. It may be mentioned that Marry’s original name as given by Phulmoni is ‘Kanchana’, which was later changed to Marry by her father, the ‘Sahib’.

For a while, Birsa remained engrossed in thoughts and his lost contact with Phulmoni and Marry. He now endeavours to get rid of the present gloom of confused thought through religious discourse and devotion. Occasionally, he chants the lines of the ‘Bhagawat’:

Tumihe param guru Gopinath

Abese janilu ami

Tumi priyoatma tathapinavajo

Kinu moi adhogami

(You are the real preacher, Oh! Lord. We have understood only now. How noble is your soul. Yet I have failed to pray to thou. As I am only creatures of low mind.)

Meanwhile, the teacher in an attempt to divert the mental state of Birsa asks him about his day’s destination; whether he is going to the weekly market or to the Naharjan garden or to the venue of Pandit Nehru’s public meeting. The response of Birsa being negative, the teacher proposes to go back to their village home. Birsa agrees to do so.

So she finally decides to ask her daughter the real reason behind the present impasse visa-vis-Marry’s relationship with Rajib. Accordingly she approaches her and asks her affectionately the reason behind her sadnesses. Marry begins to stare at her mother’s face for a while as if she is under severe strain to express some suppressed inward feelings of her. On her mother’s pleas to speak out her feelings Marry endeavors to be somewhat easy and comfortable. She again begins to stare at her mother, whom she finds weeping too. Yet, keeping her disturbing feelings under control, she starts speaking to her mother with a query about her father, “Will my daddy come back? Please tell me if he is really coming? Phulmoni responds with the remark, “Certainly, he will come. Perhaps some people are airing false information so as confuse your mind. Your daddy will have to arrive here from a far off place. So, have patience he will certainly come back soon to be in our midst.” This intimation from her mother fails to assuage Marry’s perturbed feelings, so she asks her mother again-

“As I have heard our country is going to be independent soon. So the new government of our independent country will perhaps prohibit our Daddy’s return to India. Moreover, on his arrival, he may be arrested and given due punishment, being an alien national.” At this, Phulmoni tries to allay such misgivings from Marry’s mind with the remark that even in Independent India, doors will always remain open for foreign nationals to arrive and depart as per rules and regulations. Moreover, the alien British Sahibs will not come to India as rulers, but they will be here for personal and commercial connections only. Thus, assuring her daughter about her Daddy’s return to India, she proposes to her to go to Rajib’s bungalow along with her to meet his parents whom she has not seen yet. But, Marry expresses her unwillingness to go to Rajib’s bungalow or to meet his parents at this moment. Staring at Marry’s face, Phulmoni once again seeks to understand her daughter’s inward feelings tormenting her. She also queries if Rajib has offended her in any way. At this, Marry discounting any offensive act on the part of Rajib, attempts to make the situation somewhat easy and comfortable. She then states that there is nothing to be worried about Rajib not visiting their house for such a long period. Inspite of Marry’s outward show of ease and comfort, Phulmoni is able to discern the hidden feelings of her daughter-feelings tormenting her all along. (to be continued) (This is an English translation of the Assamese novel Cheneh Juri by Dulal Chandra Das)

What do you think is the reason behind the poor performance of Indians in international beauty pageants of late? Do you think we no longer have the talent or does it end with the likes of Lara Dutta, Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai?

1. Chinmoy Seleng (Student): The definition of beauty has changed over the years. Apart from sporting a beautiful physique, the contestants should have a charismatic personality and after Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen, Indian contestants have failed to woo the judges and audiences.

 2. Sujata Das (Student): Indian beauties lack in training. In other countries, the contestants are groomed and polished for such International pageants.

3. F  Alam (Journalist): The beauty pageants won by Indians in the early 90s was a strategy of the cosmetic industry to gain access into the Indian market to endorse and promote their products.  Except the first few, others really didn’t deserve to win.

4. Tapash Talukdar (Student): Apart from beauty, judges of international beauty pageants screen a contestant thoroughly, They go through their intelligence quotient, smartness, overall personality. Maybe India is concentrating too much into beauty aspect rather than producing dynamic personalities. As such after a few Indian beauties, all others have failed to hit the jackpot.

5. Lajusmita Baruah (journalist): After Aishwarya Rai, Sushmita Sen, Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutta, India never had any suitable candidates for winning the Miss Universe Pageant. The poor performance of Indian beauties in world beauty contests is either a sign of corruption or that we don’t have talents to win the contest.

6. Ashish Bhabe (Shopkeeper): There is now a much tougher challenge for the contestants from India as the number of contestants from other countries are also increasing.

7. Sankhya Bordoloi (Housewife):  The beauty pageants are nothing but skin shows. Winning a beauty pageant or not winning it does not matter. What is constructive about winning such pageants? Have the likes of Aishwarya Rai, Sushmita Sen and Priyanka Chopra done any good for the society except entering the film industry?

8. Pushpa Kumar (Self-employed): Maybe it is because Indian beauties lack brains! Is it not that these beauty contests judge people on beauty, poise and leadership qualities?

9.  Mihursha Boro (MD YPM media): Maybe we do not indulge in grooming and training of the contestants from India in international beauty pageants as we did before.

10. Lipika Das (Student): Indian contestants have been focusing more on outer appearance rather than building a charismatic personality, which is very important in beauty contests.

11. J Desay (student): Our beauties lack intelligence and grace. Most important, the 'yeah i deserve that crown' attitude is rarely seen in beauty contests nowadays.