Talking about Ahimsa (and many other things)...Reflection of 2020 and Looking Forward to 2021 with Rajni Bakshi

 It was perhaps in the early days  of being introduced to the alternate sector in the late 90s or early 2000s that I was introduced to the amazing book called Bapu Kuti by Rajni Bakshi. It had profiles some of the most amazing people who were making a big impact already in the country. We were fortunate to meet up with some of those in the book and work with a few of them as well. 

But I had not met with the Rajni Bakshi till early 2019. In fact, I saw her name appear in an online group couple of years ago. It was in Jan 2019 when she came to the Vikalp Sangam meeting in Auroville that I actually got to meet with her.  A serious scholar, she was hanging out with another one of her generations heroes for me, Uma Shankari. 

While in the office she recorded an interview with with me as part of the Ahimsa conversations that she was having.  Of course, due to background sounds and poor recording quality, we had to do it again and the same is online now.  The Ahimsa Conversation kept coming in my inbox continuously and it was amazing to watch some of the most inspiring people have this conversation with her bring out nuances on several domains of human activity. She has completed close to 45 by the end of the year and she  has been the most consistent producer of any activity as for as I was concerned in the otherwise challenging year 2020. So, when I wanted to gather the reflections  of several people, she was the first person I could think of. To consistently produce a series of interviews and recordings is amazing. 

So, I asked her for an interview with her and wanted it to be a reflection on the overall programme as well. It was an amazing ramble of a conversation full of several insights and interesting ways to move forward. Here is the video