Powering Change

To be held at the Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce on July 16 and 17,the event will feature various segments of activities and talks. The first day includes a discussion on ‘Does it have to be a revolution?’,which will focus on the role of an individual in bringing about change,as opposed to mass protests. ‘Art Mosaic’ on the same day will bring alive the visual forms of the sentiments of the participants. Artist Reshma Valliappan will be the guide in this segment. “It will be an on-the-spot event about visually expressing the youth’s points of view on paper. We will simply guide them on how to utilise their feelings on an artistic level,” says Valliappan.

‘Social Movements in a Global Perspective’ on the second day will analyse the impact of youth protest movements,with a focus on the unrest in the Arab world. Continuing on the theme of artistic expression will be a theatrical presentation called Creatures of the Earth . The play will be performed by anti-mining youth groups from Goa,who will also emphasise on the role theater can play in registering protest.

A talk titled,’Youth,Relationships and Responsibilities’,will present more thoughts on the key role that youngsters play in influencing the direction of change,and how,what they glean from their surroundings and social media,equates to some responsibilities. The last event of the programme will try to lay seeds of a spontaneous idea of protest in the form of Flashmobs. “It will start with a general intro on how it is used in youth movements,and how effective and hard-hitting flashmobs are,” says Abhishek Nilamber,who will steer the segment. “A flashmob had gathered in Mumbai in 2003,but was banned by the government. Since then the idea has traveled to Bengaluru,Delhi and Hyderabad,but is new to Pune. We want to mobilise the large youth population here and show how we can put out voices out there.”