On the fourth leg of its journey, the Freedom Caravan – A discussion facilitation forum, instituted by the Centre for Civil Society (CCS) Delhi, made its way into the city of Mangalore. After St. Agnes College, it was the turn of St. Aloysius College, who were also the college partners for this event, to engage in brainstorming sessions.
The event was divided into various segments, with the first segment by Baishali Bomjan being a sort of ice-breaker with students being asked to answer a political quiz and grade themselves as to what political category they fell into.
The next session was jointly taken up by Baishali and Daphne Vallado, but primarily by Baishali. This was the highlight of the entire programme, and was titled ‘Why is India Poor?’. It was an interactive session where students also contributed to the thinktank and shared their viewpoints. Some of the main causes, it was inferred, was flawed governmental policies. Also the speaker opined that the growing population was not a cause for worry, but for cheer, as all humans are valuable resources. She explained this concept in similar terms as to how farmers feel happy when their livestock reproduce. After this session, the students were distributed badges and a book on the same topic by Parth J Shah, which is available freely for download from the CCS site as well.
The next session was conducted by Sadaf Hussain and Srijan Bandhyopadhyay which was titled ‘Would you trade the internet for a million dollars?’. Here they showed various instances of how internet had changed lives globally and also sought the opinions of the students regarding the use of advanced technology.
All in all, the sessions were well accepted by the audience, and it served as a measure to widen their perspectives.
Sudy Speaks 