Vayam…!

There is no count how many times I have used the analogy of UBUNTU – an African moral story that explains coexistence in such a simple and effective manner that is unmatched – in my Capacity Building Training sessions for any topic, in general and for Team Building, in particular. I am fascinated with the UBUNTU concept of ‘I am because we are…!’ and that’s the reason my e-paper Be[a]Cause has a tagline – ‘We have to Coexist and not compete!’

Today I want you to meet a phenomenon (calling Milind a person would be an understatement, I guess!) who is practically living UBUNTU day in and day out for about 2 decades now in the dense jungles of Jawhar. Milind Thatte, student of Political Science from Mumbai University who used to be a Journalist for Mumbai-based newspapers around the new millennium, a convenient job in the comforts of urban life that he relinquished for volunteering 3 years full-time in a non-formal education project for tribal children.

Milind’s journey from a Grassroots Volunteer to a State-level Consultant on Mass Communication for the Government has earned him a good picture of reality from varied perspectives. Milind has lived and walked in tribal villages of Maharashtra, MP, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. He has also worked as a Consultant on ‘Development Communication’ and Developed Communication Strategies for some other government and non-government projects in the NRM [Natural Resources Management] sector.

Today Milind lives in a tribal village in Northern Western Ghats and to unite and empower the tribal youth, he initiated a movement named – ‘Vayam’ – [We the people!] spread over 114 villages that works towards strengthening the roots of democracy at the smallest unit of democracy at the grass root level for which Vayam has won several awards. Milind describes ‘Vayam’ as the voluntary movement of inclusive and balanced development by conserving nature and fostering leadership at grassroots to strengthen the democracy at roots with Capacity Building and empowering the people.

The Governor of Maharashtra State has appointed Milind as an expert member on the State Tribal Advisory Council considering his rich experience and excellent rapport with the Tribal people. Milind has featured on the TEDxSIESCASC talk as well as on Swayam.

Also watch the Interview of Milind by Uday Nirgudkar on Swayam wherein, while explaining the unique definition of applied Democracy as ‘Responsible People and Responsive Government’, Milind hopes to build that bridge between the People and the Government to find a synthesis towards an integrated effort for inclusive development!

Vayam is offering an opportunity to explore the parts of Tribal Culture and experience the Tribal living in bits and pieces with a flavor of Ranbhaji – peculiar vegetables from the jungle the urban people will never get a chance to taste. This Cultural Fest is organized on 30 Sep 2018 and least we can do to support Vayam to uphold the voice of democracy is participate in it and/or contribute to this cause with all our capacities.