Peace Games

The 34-year-old resident of Grant Road,south Mumbai,had taken to this philosophy over a decade ago,as a student of Human Rights Law at the National Law School of India University,Bangalore.

Once she had those games specially designed for children in place,she took them to slums that known to be communally sensitive. “I soon figured out that rather than visiting these slums as a stranger on my own,it would be better if I could first train a few children within these slums,beforehand. It worked wonders,as they trusted their own friends more readily.”

The journey has now reached cities across the country. “My biggest achievement is that the children I started out with are now taking these games to communal hotspots all over India,” says the mentor of 50 such children.

It was as part of an international movement — Play for Peace,comprising a few from various countries who took these games to various conflict-ridden areas — that Shweta targetted slums that had a history of communal violence,like Radhabai Chawl in Sanjay Gandhi Nagar,Jogeshwari,and Behrampada in Bandra. “We lost touch long ago. But I know our games have reached the Middle East,South Africa and Afghanistan. We spoke online and worked on these games,but we could not manage to stay connected.”

Part of a company that works for housing rights of the underprivileged,Shweta could never let go of the games or kids who have now grown into young adults. Dinesh Mishra,27,is one of them. “He was one of the first kids I had worked with,in Jogehwari. A school dropout then,he went on to complete his Masters in Social Work from the Indira Gandhi Open University,and now conducts these games in various slums in the city.

“I was 12 when Shweta Ma’am started coming to our colony. Initially,we all scoffed at the idea of playing games conducted by a woman… I stuck to it because I enjoyed the games. Gradually,more started joining in,when they saw the fun we had,” he recalls. Mahesh,23,was even younger when he started playing with her. “He worked with an event management company after completing his BCom. But he left the job after four years to help in our work,” says Shweta. 

A Masters in Mass Communication,Shweta chose not to make a profession out of either media or law. “I have studied and devoted enough time professionally to both,to have been sufficiently disillusioned,” is all what the former news agency correspondent is willing to divulge. But what drove her to the idea of children and communal harmony? She attributes it to her childhood memories. “I was a young girl when the ‘rath yatra’ was launched. I was then staying in the heart of Bihar. I have seen both the yatra and its repercussions very closely. Even now I shudder to think of those days.”

Her proteges have now come up with a book on her games. Titled ‘Shanti Sena’,it describes every game and its purpose in inspiring her army of peace-children. Start Shweta on games,and she explains the philosophy of every individual “creation”. She explains how every game is designed to inspire children to act against violence,and to protect those who may have been the victims of unfortunate incidents. “In one such game — Bakri-Sher — one child is made the goat,who stands inside a circle formed by the rest. Another child is made the lion,who tries to attack the goat. The rest of the children have to protect the goat.”

Another strategy she has consciously adopted is to absolve all notions of any person losing in games. “Generally children have this concept of ‘out’ in games. In my recce,I found that in communally sensitive areas this imbibes a certain competitiveness,which originates fights. Moreover,we try to avoid any concept of teams,as children in these areas are accustomed to dividing themselves on basis of communities.”

As she looks back,the biggest hurdle she feels is the lack of a tangible measure of her success. “I see my children growing up and marrying into other communities,or Dinesh himself having chosen to marry a polio patient. Such things were unheard of in these areas,given the kind of boys they were… But,it’s a continuous process. The more I see people changing,the more I feel I have to keep going back to these areas,since you never know when the tide may turn… The smallest political statement,the tiniest of provocations can trigger off a storm; it’s extremely disheartening to see that percolating to children.”

She has worked at this for 10 years,and she promises she will add more to that number.