The Power of a Good Story

Stories are an age old way of connecting, of sharing, of passing on, and preserving ideas, knowledge, culture and to sow the seeds of a vision. We are all storytellers, some of us more adept than others! So what does it take to tell a good story and how do we develop our ability to spin a yarn?

Some good insights here - take a look at this brilliant example of visual storytelling!

What You See Next

Today, my first break after nearly twelve months of unceasing work, job changes, new friends, new work, deadlines, grief, joy, turbulence and moments of calm. Seems that life can bloom only in the gap between deadlines. And in this gap, my first blog post in months. There’s lots to share.

A while ago, I’d shared a couple of posts about SelectiveAttention and Perceptual Blindness. Deeper perspectives on the art and science of observation can be found in this write up by Maria Popova (an amazing treasure trove of insights!). She introduces us to the book, On Looking: What11 Experts Tell Us About Seeing Our Familiar City Block with New Eyes, byAlexandra Horowitz. 

I haven’t been able to get my hands on this book yet, but Popova is a brilliant curator, holding our hands as she walks us through its pages and illuminating the winding pathways,  and helping us understand the truths and insights revealed. Truly simple truths, and a must for anyone in the creative field, it will open up your mind!

Loved this the most and can’t wait to get to the book.

“The thing you are doing now affects the thing you see next.”

These words are echoing inside me and waves are running up and down my spine. Key word NOW. It holds the key to NEXT. These words have put me into a tizzy, and energised me and given me the secret password to changing my course. Change your now, and change your next.  

More to share.

Stumbled upon two wonderful learning resources and signed up for five MOOCs (yes five, and no one to say when - water for the thirsty!) organized by FutureLearn (thank you for making this so very accessible!).

Also discovered, through FutureLearn, bookboon.com and got my hands on some wonderful reading –yes, free books still give me a thrill! 

Malala Day: For All Silenced Voices

For those who have known darkness, for those who have known fear, and for those who have never experienced opportunity.

Watch Malala's UN address here.

Feel the Fear and Keep Going

Have you ever felt the fear? And held back because of it? Fear holds you back, and keeps you voiceless. It keeps you in a state of subjugation.

For any change, for any quantum leap to happen, for any people to be liberated, for any group fighting for justice, for any bird leaving the nest,  fear is a given. Read here about the suffragettes - the amazing, courageous, wonderful women who fought valiantly for privileges considered a birth right today, and how they also felt the fear. 

The reason we enjoy some of our rights today is that they despite the fear, they kept going.

“The dearth of women in public life today is often attributed to a lack of confidence, and the suffragettes sometimes struggled with this too. Margaret Wynne Nevinson, an avid campaigner, once wrote she felt a "dizzy sickness of terror" the first time she stood up to speak publicly, outside a gasworks in south London in 1906. There were shouts of derision as hundreds of men crowded around her, and she almost succumbed to stage fright before hearing a voice whisper: "Go it, old gal, you're doing fine, give it 'em."”

Here’s a World of Happy clip to help you make the leap. So what’re you waiting for?

Feel the Fear, but don't let it stop you. Just. Keep. Going. 

Wake Up Woman

 “The essence of non-violent technique is that is seeks to liquidate antagonisms but not the antagonists.” Gandhi 

In my last post I suggested that women need to take the lead in India. With each day, I am more and more convinced that we must seize the moment. Wake up woman and be the 
bringer of change! This change must come from within, first and foremost, by a rejection 
of all values that seek to oppress, and diminish the worth of the woman. By a rejection of 
all media that perpetuate these values. Rejection means non-acceptance, non-compliance, 
disobedience, non-cooperation, non-submission to any form of repressive thought or 
action. 
Gene Sharp puts forward a convincing case for pragmatic, strategically planned nonviolent 
struggle, which he believes can be highly effective in conflicts to lift oppression and as 
a substitute for violence. 
Sharp's key theme is that power is not the outcome of some intrinsic quality of the group 
in power. He believes that any power structure relies upon the obedience and cooperation of the people, voluntary or forced. If the people do not obey, then, the hierarchical power structure is destroyed, and the oppressors have no power.”Non violent struggle has been waged on behalf of a myriad of causes and groups, and even for objectives that many people reject.”

But change always comes at a price. The toppling of old ways of thinking, of old ways of 
doing, and old ways of being will always be loud, and noisy with all the commotion, 
clanking and clammering that arises when old, creaky conventions are broken. It will be 
painful as it may mean the breaking of old habits,and stepping out of comfortable 
cocoons, and leaving familiar paths to explore the unknown. It also means allowing 
yourself to become vulnerable and facing the flak and criticism and retaliation that 
always accompanies a change of order. 
“But our daughters’ daughters will adore us and will sing in grateful chorus – Well 
done, sister suffragette!” From the movie, Mary Poppins. 
Read here about the Pink Chaddi Movement. 

Read here about the Suffragette Movement that fought for women's right to vote.

Collective Wisdom and Women

It was a sad year end for women and for India. The battle for life, and the eventual surrender to death of the victim of the heinous assault in Delhi shook us all. It brought to the surface the anguish that had largely till then remained silent within all of us who have been raised in a culture of forbearance.

People wept, and screamed for change. People raged, and argued about how that change will happen.  People stormed the streets and then when there was nothing more to be done, and they were emptied of all feeling, numbed and slightly broken, people went home. They were tired and cynical, knowing that even as the sun would rise and set as usual, much of the evil in the world would continue as usual and women would continue to be vulnerable. There was even the dread that orthodox elements would use this event to justify further subjugation of women by inflicting strict curfew hours and dress codes upon them as a means of “protection”.

In an earlier post, “Women are the Solution”,  I had covered one facet of women’s empowerment, focusing on the right to participate in decisions concerning childbirth and contraception.  These last few weeks have given rise to fresh contemplation on the other pathways to women’s empowerment.

Empowerment means – first and foremost - freedom from violence and access to legal remedy for breaches and transgressions of that right. But there are overt and covert barriers to accessing justice in an overburdened system swamped with over twenty years of backlog yet to be cleared. Those who seek justice are doomed to spend their days in dark dingy corridors breathing in the dust of a hundred thousand petitions waiting to see the light of day. 

Surely there is another way? Not Vigilante Action, but Vigilance.

Vigilance doesn’t mean carrying arms. It means being aware of and getting out of a mindset fed on stereotypes, orthodoxy and judgemental attitudes. It means raising the girl child to have self-esteem and ambition, giving the girl child the education and skills needed for self-sufficiency and success. It also means teaching the male child to value and respect the contributions of all, irrespective of gender and to recognize the role they must play in making this a safe world. It also means rethinking what we are doing for the young and not so young disenfranchised men without hope who are roaming the streets carrying their frustrations with them. Injustice springs from injustice, in a vicious circle, and must be tackled by its many roots.

In the coming posts, I will explore how women must take the lead and drive the change by breaking the barriers of culture and tradition that are the fiction of an insecure society.In support of this, here is an interesting piece of research about women and the collectiveintelligence of groups:

“There’s little correlation between a group’s intelligence and the IQ of its members. But if a group

includes more women its collective intelligence rises.” Source: Harvard Business Review (2011)