26 THE GLOBAL MALAYALEE
Altius retreat to rebuild Kerala T
he logical response to a social malaise is an idea of social reform. Somehow not many people in literate Kerala are troubled by the caustic presence of social evils and the general neglect of social reforms. For the members of the project Altius, however, it is a different story altogether. Not only are they troubled by the diseased state of Kerala society, they are on a mission to reform this society as well. An initiative of the World Malayalee Council (WMC), the project Altius brings together some very promising college students and provides them with the necessary training and ideas to reform Kerala. The idea was to select some bright minds from all districts of Kerala and to promote them to become socially responsible and globally competent. The youths were targeted as they have the energy and ability to enact a long-term and concrete change in society. But given the state of the career market and the nature of education and social conditions, the young students are almost always blind to what is happening around them and are solely driven by self-interest. In such a climate, the development of both the State and its culture gets jeopardized. Besides, being driven largely by packaged career goals, the students often deny themselves their own dreams in spite of their inherent talent and ability to do exceedingly well in that field. It is to prevent such malaise that afflicts both individual and their society that the project Altius was commenced by Mr Priyadas and his team of committed WMC members—Mr K Balachandran, Mr Anoop Dhanwanthri, Mr Anoj Kumar, Mr Joy Abraham and Mr Biju Vargesse. In the last academic year, various Altius camps were held in different districts of Kerala and students from all the 14 districts were invited to participate. In these camps the students were given training for personality development and were exposed to diverse constructive ideas. From among the participants, a group of students— who had the potential to lead the programme of social reform—were finally selected for a weeklong retreat held at Maria Rani Centre, Sreekaryam, Thiruvananthjapuram, between June 19 and June 27. The retreat was unique in many ways. It was carefully designed to reflect upon almost all aspects of undergraduate life and education in Kerala. Some weeks before the retreat commenced, the selected students were provided with some reading material that would help them understand Kerala society and the Malayalee people better. A special effort was made by Mr T P Sreenivasan, who drafted two essays concerning the mindset of the Malayalee people required to rebuild Kerala and the ideal social behaviour that should be expected of all Altius students. The readings, thus, sensitized the participants of the issues that were to be discussed at the retreat. During the retreat, the students were provided with a working schedule from early morning till late evening so that they learn the rules of time management, self-improvement and
During the retreat, the students were provided with a working schedule from early morning till late evening so that they learn the rules of time management, self-improvement and contemplation. They were made to follow an ideal routine, where they devoted some part of their day in productive activities like newspaper reading, meditation and self-study. In order to ensure that these activities become their mental habit, different trainers and life-guides were invited. contemplation. They were made to follow an ideal routine, where they devoted some part of their day in productive activities like newspaper reading, meditation and self-study. In order to ensure that these activities become their mental habit, different trainers and life-guides were invited. Mrs Reba Paul guided them through their meditation session and explained to them various techniques and benefits of meditative awareness. Mr K Balachandran, an executive of All India Radio (AIR), discussed the significance and method of reading newspapers and conducted various quizzes to ensure that his observations were driven home. During the course of the day, the students brainstormed on the project ‘Samanwaya’, its organization and implementation. ‘Samanwaya’ is the
signal project of the Altius students to improve the state of education in Government-run institutions. Most educational institutions run by the Government lack the kind of resources and training that the private educational institutions provide. The Altius students, therefore, took upon themselves the responsibility to better the condition of students studying in these schools by providing free academic support to them. In order to help the Altius students in undertaking their task of social reform, eminent personalities from different walks of life were invited to discuss various aspects of such an undertaking. The selection of eminent personalities, too, was as carefully done as was the selection of the students themselves. As one of the mottos in the oath of Altius, that was scripted by Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, former President, announces, “I will work with integrity and succeed with integrity”, only those eminent personalities were called upon who have displayed exemplary track record in their career. Among the bureaucrats, Mr Babu Paul, Mr A P M Mohammed Hanish, Mr Tikaram Meena and Mr Vinson M Paul were invited and they all graced the camp with their wise words. The students opened up many social issues that troubled them and were quite inspired by the experience of these honest civil PASSLINE
July 31- Aug. 31, 2010
servants. One of the most insightful sessions was conducted by Mr John Samuel, one of the directors of a United Nations programme. He deftly laid down the framework within which the young minds could negotiate their self-interest and social responsibility without impairing either end. Another seminal role was played by Dr Justin Padamadan, eminent psychologist, who talked about the challenges of growing up. In one of the most humorous sessions, he delineated the problems concerning adolescence and early adulthood and explained ways of dealing with such problems. For discussing the role of the media and the ways of reconstructing Kerala, Mr Sreekantan Nair, popular television personality, was invited. Dr A V Anoop, entrepreneur and social worker, shed light on different issues of development and led a productive discussion among students. The presence of Dr Sahadulla, physician and entrepreneur, was very fruitful. He focused on the mindset and value system of Malayalees that pose difficult problems for any programme of development in Kerala. A very notable presence was that of the Education Minister of Kerala, Mr M A Baby. Mr Baby has been a consistent support for Altius and even on this occasion he immensely inspired the students. Mr George Kulangara, educationist and activist, enlightened the students on environmental issues and exhorted them to spearhead the ‘Malinya Muktha Campus’ project in their towns. A significant focus of the retreat was to provide students with certain training that would help them excel in their career goals as well. Different training sessions for personality development and for leadership training were conducted efficiently by Mr Benny Kurian, a professional trainer and CEO of a leading consultancy. In order to help them improve their language skills, Ms Sangeeta and Mr Shibu took language classes every day. Besides language skills and personality development, the organizers made arrangements for feeding the creative impulses of the young mind. A host of artists and scholars were, therefore, invited to assist them to improve their creative imagination. Mr K G Jayan, cinematographer who has won many State awards, conducted extensive workshops and helped the students improve their creative skills. The focus of Mr Jayan’s workshop was to assist the students to develop a script for a movie that would capture the negative mindset of Malayalees and deliver a message for positive change. Ms Betty Louis Baby, Programme Executive of Kairali Channel, and Mr John Brittas, another Kairali Channel executive, conducted
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