Gen-next leads the way

The two youngsters who have represented India at the UN, speak on how the youth can make a difference

When one says India, it’s the diversity that comes to our mind first, and then the land of extremes that it is — high rises to slums, excess food to poverty. To make way for a more equal society, young Indians are no longer looking to settle down in their corporate jobs. Instead they are taking on social issues with their initiatives, trying to make a change in the country. These two youngsters — Ankit Kawatra, the founder of Feeding India, which aims to reduce poverty in the country and Trisha Shetty, the founder and CEO of She Says, a portal to empower women to take action against sexual violence — are two such individuals who didn’t stick to conventional jobs. They started their own firms that aim for a social change and have placed India on a global map. Ankit and Trisha, have recently been chosen by the United Nations as the UN Young Leaders for Sustainable Development Goals, and have made it to the list of 17 youth leaders from across the world.

“It was in 2014, when I was invited to a wedding in Gurgaon, and there was food, which could be served to over 10,000 people, left over. The food was all going to go into the trash, and I thought there must be a mechanism where the needy can get access to excess food. Out of this idea, Feeding India took birth, at a time when no one took any interest in redistributing food. And today, we have over 2,000 volunteers working to avoid food wastage, across 28 cities.”

Being chosen from the 18,000 people who were nominated from across the globe, to make it among the 17 UN Young Leaders is absolutely incredible. It was such a privilege representing India and voicing our country’s issues, which hold true for many other countries too,” reminisces 24-year-old Delhi-based Ankit, who gave up his business advisory job to start Feeding India.

Being at the UN, working alongside the country presidents, prime ministers and other global leaders was enriching and fascinating, he says, adding — “The global leaders I met at the UN see India as a huge potential. By 2020, the average age of Indians is going to be 29, which is much less than any other country. So we have a large number of youth and at the same time, the most number of malnourished children. This is where the young must step in to fill the gap. I wish more youngsters take up social projects.”

The duo was a part of some high-level breakfast meetings with the world leaders and a Global Goals Dinner, where they shared the table with Richard Curtis, Chris Anderson and many others.

Twenty-five-year-old Trisha says the platform was extremely overwhelming, “The experience was almost surreal, to be chosen among so many in the world. It is easy to get overpowered at such an occasion, being among the state heads, but the people there made it so human — they were all working for bettering the world. I represented the issue of sexual abuse, which is not something that I can celebrate. But it was an opportunity to highlight the issue on a global platform.”

The young girl, who hails from Mumbai, explains that prior to She Says being launched, there was no information available online on the laws against sexual abuse in India and how to seek remedies. “A woman shouldn’t have to pick up the phone and ask for help, the internet had answers to everything, but not how to fight sexual violence in India. Our NGO She Says wanted to change that scenario, making help available for women in distress. My agenda now is to strategise on how best I can translate my learnings from the UN to reflect upon my work back home,” Trisha says.

Trisha says platforms like that of the UN, help in bringing people from different ethnicities and backgrounds together, to discuss issues that the world is fighting.

“Many urban Indians don’t realise the graveness of sexual assault, gender discrimination and think it doesn’t exist in Indian cities. It starts right from what we ask a woman to wear and goes up to sexual abuse in marriages. One in every three Indian men have admitted to having had forced sex with their spouses, which even the law doesn’t count as abuse. We can battle this only by talking to young people constantly about it and not letting ourselves be bullied into silence,” she elaborates.

With the young being important stakeholders of the future world, it is important to engage them in the conversation, Trisha believes. We are nowhere close to doing as much as is needed to address sexual violence. Everyone can start with themselves, and if we ensure that we take it upon ourselves to lead a life of equality, then there is hope,” she anticipates.