
What is our purpose?
It was 1976 when the Indian government was arresting leaders of the political opposition, my father was arrested and went to jail. I was only 14 years old, and for me the most traumatic issue was when I learned we had to go to my school and request a waiver because we could no longer afford to pay the school fees. I was embarrassed and angry. Then my mother told me that my dad, as a champion of the poor, was giving voice to the people who do not have a voice. I remember how that conversation with my mother shifted from a moment of embarrassment, to a moment of pride, to a moment of obligation. A few years after that conversation, I started a grassroots organization of my own — Calcutta Youth Club — to work with the children and youth in my community. This picture above is from a slum in Calcutta (now Kolkata) where I was working with the community to address sanitation issues. As someone who grew up in that community — I was able to tap into my knowledge of the area — the people, the culture, the language, the day-to-day challenges inherent in that neighborhood, and work together with the individuals who lived there to improve our collective experience.
