Dreams - dedicated to Belli
Meet Pavithra Chandra AKA Belli (which means silver in her local dialect). Belli is from Bangalore in India — yes, India my favourite place (other than Upper Hutt) in the whole wide world. Belli was part of the 2015 Global Sports Mentoring Programme and was invited back to DC this year to ‘pass the torch’ to the next group of GSMP sisters.
What Belli, and most of you won’t know, is that India is always in my dreams. There are a select few of you who I share my biggest goals with and a bucket list of my phone that I often stare at and wonder how I will ever achieve these goals.
Right at the top of that list is the goal to live and ‘work’ in India, empowering young women and providing opportunities for them to flourish. I wear India around my neck everyday and in my heart everyday. The magic that country provided me, the way I grew and the connection I felt has been unrivaled by any other place on earth.
Today, Belli stood in front of us all and shared her journey. I wish I had recorded it — it made me laugh, cry, believe and dream. She talked about the situation for young people in her country, she talked about the rape of women, the gender inequality, she talked about her family and being empowered through sport. Belli shared images of truth, of success. She shared stories of pain and struggle. She explained the steps of building and creating B7 Sports… where dreams begin.
In front of me I saw a visionary, a savvy business women, a humanitarian and a fighter. Belli - you blow my mind!
Back home the Shifterhood often talks about #ShiftingGlobally, world domination or partnering with others who want to improve the wellbeing of young women and empower them to lead and change the world. Today, I saw what is possible. I saw the way the connections, through this international family, can play out and I saw the ways in which we can each inspire one another.
Rachel highlighted and commented on something I wrote in my recent blog Challenges, I wrote “ For me the biggest one is feeling like a fraud. Fear that you’re all going to find out I’m not actually capable of making my dreams for Shift become a reality. That it’s not really a thing, it’s just a small project that will fizzle out and die”.
Rachel wrote “ My Dad used to always say to me ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’. The worst that could happen for Shift is that it ends. Would that be so terrible? In my view, we’d (the whole shifterhood) all go on to keep creating positive change regardless. It might be the end of Shift, but it would not at all be the end of you creating an impact for young women. Just food for thought :)”
Today, between Rachel’s comment and Belli’s talk, I realised that the reason Shift is my whole life is because it’s been the first step in being able to do the work I really want to do in this world. It’s fulfilling my intention, my reason for being on this earth and you know what the best thing is…
It’s only just beginning.
