“Making Mumbai: A Youth Convention” was
a special occasion for Youth for
Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA) and Don Bosco’s Bosco
Boys Home, (BBH) Borivali to collaborate and work for youngsters. The main aim
for the programme was “Claiming Identity”. More than 650 Youngsters came
together from different castes, creed, urban and rural, bastis and slums of
Mumbai and gathered at Bosco Boys Home for this event on 17 February, 2019 with
a need to have a vision for a better future.
The theme for the gathering was “Claiming
Identity.” It meant claiming our rights, our responsibilities, claiming who we
are and what we are in the society. It was a whole day programme from dawn to
dusk comprising of two parts a panel discussion from morning 10.00 am to 1.00
pm, followed by lunch and games in the afternoon and then a cultural programme
in the evening.
The YUVA group
approached Fr. Corlis Gonsalves, the Director of BBH and preplanned for the
whole event along with Deacon Romero D’Souza. Fr. Gonsalves
welcomed the whole gathering and declared the event open. Youngsters from
various fields of indigenous communities to
newly-arrived working professionals, rural marginalised populations as well urban
came for this event with a vision to come together and make our city a ComplexCity.
A city which visions the co-creation of democratic, participatory and inclusive
urban spaces.
The morning session comprised of
the panel discussion by the youngsters from different backgrounds and places
like Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Aarey Colony Goregaon, Dharavi, Navi Mumbai,
Ambujwadi, Lallubhai Compound, Mankhurd etc. a platform to come forward and share their problems and to discuss solutions for
the same. Topics ranged
from identity crisis, working with disabled youth, demand for more inclusive
spaces and facilities, socio-economic realities, the struggles in accessing
basic services, the changing face of Navi Mumbai over the decades, how the
greenfield city has not given space to those who have helped build it and much
more.
Shashank from Sanjay Gandhi
National Park spoke of the deforestation and
space for nature and animals which are dwindling. Sana
Shaikh from Dharavi highlighted in her talk the importance to focus on identity
building, and how the strongest thrust on identity formation comes from one's
own efforts. Also a representative from the transgender community, Deepa, spoke
about identity struggles throughout the years and the need for more gender
sensitization and awareness sessions. The
cultural programme comprised of songs, streetplays, band, recitation of poems,
mime, storytelling and dance highlighting the various issues affecting our
city. The boys of BBH also performed a dance which was well appreciated and
loved by the crowd.
Renowned writer and founder member of the group “Dalit
Panther”, J. V. Pawar, was one of the chief guests for the event. He gave a
rousing speech at the opening ceremony speaking about the writing of the
Preamble of the Indian Constitution, the role of B. R. Ambedkar, the importance
of respecting the Constitution, the power of democracy, and how the youth can
play a major role in driving change. Encouraging the youngsters he said, “I am
a 75-year-old youth. The responsibility to drive change lies with each one of
us.”
ideate and plan for working with one another towards sustainable and inclusive urban spaces. The development of city is inclusive. Coming together of rural and urban youngsters to find solutions for the various problems from within by creating a common platform to understand their identity and progress of the city. We brought forth and also showcased our observations from our recently concluded City Caravan, a course on co-creating inclusive cities with youth by putting up various stalls in collaboration with other N.G.O’s. Many games and cultural stalls promoting the importance of using scientific approach to remove superstitious beliefs, ill-effects of drugs, water recycle, on the history and different cultures of our city, road safety awareness and women empowerment and much more.” shared Vijay Bharat, project coordinator for child protection for YUVA, Mumbai region.
“Thanks to this event
I see myself having many options to choose from for my future studies. It also
helped me to analyze and see a cleaner Mumbai with a much healthier relation
between the people” said one of the participants for the event Mr. Sanu Sheikh.
Deacon Romero D’souza, the Perfect of
Studies concluded the event by speaking about Bosco Boys Home and also
presented the different courses available here for youngsters to attend and
also asked for any children who are orphans or runaways saying, “They are most
welcome here. Bosco Boys Home can be their home, their family.”
The vote of thanks was given by the
Executive Director of YUVA, Ms. Roshini Nugehali. She said, “Our city is
complex with all the diversity of castes, creed, religion, etc. It an active
city reinventing itself daily to reveal new shocks and surprises, quirks and
eccentricities. That is why it is important for us to celebrate the richness of
our city, make a journey to listen to and participate in its past, present and
potential urban narratives. We have used this platform to convey this message
through conversations, visual art, performances, street plays, music etc. We
need to collaborate and act to get results for this generation and the
generation yet to come. ”
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