बस बिस्फोट, युएलए र राजनैतिक अशान्तिको संकेत
मनोज वोगटी, कालिमन्युज, कालेबुङ, 30 जुलाई। गोर्खा जनमुक्ति मोर्चाले गोर्खाल्याण्डको आन्दोलनलाई विश्राम दिँदै दार्जीलिङ जिल्लाको विकास गर्न गोर्खाल्याण्ड टेरिटोरियल एड्मिनिष्ट्रेशनमा हस्ताक्षर गरेर पहाड़मा शान्ति वहाली गर्ने निर्णय लिएको ठीक 9 दिनपछि कालेबुङमा बसलाई बमले उड़ाउने चेष्टा गरेपछि पहाड़को राजनैतिक शिविरमा निकै सनसनी फैलिएको छ। उत्तरवङ्गाल राष्ट्रिय परिवहन निगमको सरकारी बसमुनी स्टोभ बम पड्काइएको थियो। पुलिस प्रशासनले बसमा भएको विस्फोटलाई स्टोभ बम हुनसक्ने अनुमान गरेपछि नै बस उड़ाउन गरिएको विस्फोटको उद्देश्य र यसमा सलग्नहरू चिन्हित गर्न अनि बम निरोधक अनि सीआइडीसमेत ल्याएकोले घटनाले गम्भिररूप लिइरहेको छ।
आन्दोलनलाई विश्राम दिएर तृणमूलका मुख्यमन्त्री ममता ब्यानर्जीको पहाड़लाई स्वीटजरल्याण्ड बनाउने सपना पनि साकार पार्न अनि पहाड़को अर्थनैतिक विकास पनि गर्न आन्दोलनकारी दल गोर्खा जनमुक्ति मोर्चालेे एउटा असंवैधानिक व्यवस्थामा सम्झौता गरेपछि केन्द्र सरकार, राज्य सरकार अनि गोर्खा जनमुक्ति मोर्चाले अब पहाड़मा शान्ति वहाली हुने अनि गणतान्त्रिक परिस्थिति निर्माण हुने घोषणा नै गरेको थियो तर कालेबुङको बस बिस्फोट काण्डले केन्द्र, राज्य अनि मोर्चाको दावीलाई शंकाको घेरोमा हालिदिएको छ। बस बिस्फोट काण्डले शान्ति बहाली होइन अशान्तिको माहौल बन्ने कुराको सङ्केत दिइरहेको पुलिस प्रशालनले घटनालाई लिएर देखाइरहेको गम्भीरता अनि अचानक बस विस्फोटलाई केन्द्र गरेर यूएलएले दिएको टिप्पणीले दिइरहेको छ।
घटनाले आलोच्य रूप त्यतिबेला धारण गर्यो जब यूएलए नामक कथित भूमिगत सङ्गठनले बम आफूले पड्काएको स्वीकार गर्दै जीटीएको विरूद्ध अनि सार्वभौम गोर्खा राष्ट्रको पक्षमा वकालती गर्यो।
शान्ति फर्किरहेको पहाड़मा सरकारी बसमा बिस्फोट गराएर कसले के कुराको सन्देश दिनखोजेको हो भन्ने प्रश्न उठिरहेको बेला यूएलएले सार्वभौम गोर्खा राष्ट्रको दावी गर्दै जीटीएको विरूद्ध आवाज उठाएपछि सनसनी मच्चिएको छ। बस बिस्फोट अनि यूएलएको दावीले पुलिस प्रशासनको टाउको दुखाइ शुरू भएको छ भने खुफिया विभाग पनि सक्रिय बनेको छ। दुवै घटनाले दार्जीलिङको राजनीतिमा पनि महत्वपूर्ण हस्तक्षेप गरेको देखिएको छ। बस बिस्फोट अनि यूएलएको प्रकटीकरणले गोर्खा जनमुक्ति मोर्चा र जीटीएको विरूद्ध अर्को शक्ति चल्मलाईरहेको सङ्केत दिएको छ।
यसैपनि 6 महिना तराई-डुवर्सको सीमाङ्कनको समस्या समाधान गर्न हाइपावर कमिटीको सकारात्मक टिप्पणी नआइ जीटीएको चुनाव हुनेवाला छैन। यसैवीच विमल गुरूङ समेतले 6 महिनाको समयलाई अग्निपरिक्षाको संज्ञा दिँदै रक्तपात पनि हुनसक्ने कुराको सङ्केत दिइसकेका छन्। यस्तो बेला बसमा बिस्फोट अनि यूएलएको क्रान्तिकारी उदयले भविष्यका दिन निक्कै अशान्त हुनसक्ने सङ्केत दिइरहेको छ। एम. थेगिम नामक कथित यूएलए नेताले सार्वभौम राष्ट्रको कुरा गरेकोले गोर्खाल्याण्डको आन्दोलन र मागलाई ग्रेटर नेपालको आन्दोलनसित जोड्ने अवसर विरोधीहरूको निम्ति दिनसक्ने सम्भावना बढ़ेको छ भने नेपालमा नै पनि एउटा शक्ति लिम्बुवान-को दावीमा कटिवद्द रहेको अनि पौराणिक इतिहासलाई खोतल्दै लिम्बुवानसित दार्जीलिङको भूभाग जोड्ने आशयको आन्दोलन भित्रभित्रै चर्किएको अन्तराष्ट्रिय मीडियाले सङ्केत दिइएकोले पनि अबको परिस्थिति जटिल बन्दै गइरहेकोतिरै सङ्केत दिइहेको समिक्षकहरूको अनुमान छ।
शान्ति फर्किरहेको पहाड़मा सरकारी बसमा बिस्फोट गराएर कसले के कुराको सन्देश दिनखोजेको हो भन्ने प्रश्न उठिरहेको बेला यूएलएले सार्वभौम गोर्खा राष्ट्रको दावी गर्दै जीटीएको विरूद्ध आवाज उठाएपछि सनसनी मच्चिएको छ। बस बिस्फोट अनि यूएलएको दावीले पुलिस प्रशासनको टाउको दुखाइ शुरू भएको छ भने खुफिया विभाग पनि सक्रिय बनेको छ। दुवै घटनाले दार्जीलिङको राजनीतिमा पनि महत्वपूर्ण हस्तक्षेप गरेको देखिएको छ। बस बिस्फोट अनि यूएलएको प्रकटीकरणले गोर्खा जनमुक्ति मोर्चा र जीटीएको विरूद्ध अर्को शक्ति चल्मलाईरहेको सङ्केत दिएको छ।
यसैपनि 6 महिना तराई-डुवर्सको सीमाङ्कनको समस्या समाधान गर्न हाइपावर कमिटीको सकारात्मक टिप्पणी नआइ जीटीएको चुनाव हुनेवाला छैन। यसैवीच विमल गुरूङ समेतले 6 महिनाको समयलाई अग्निपरिक्षाको संज्ञा दिँदै रक्तपात पनि हुनसक्ने कुराको सङ्केत दिइसकेका छन्। यस्तो बेला बसमा बिस्फोट अनि यूएलएको क्रान्तिकारी उदयले भविष्यका दिन निक्कै अशान्त हुनसक्ने सङ्केत दिइरहेको छ। एम. थेगिम नामक कथित यूएलए नेताले सार्वभौम राष्ट्रको कुरा गरेकोले गोर्खाल्याण्डको आन्दोलन र मागलाई ग्रेटर नेपालको आन्दोलनसित जोड्ने अवसर विरोधीहरूको निम्ति दिनसक्ने सम्भावना बढ़ेको छ भने नेपालमा नै पनि एउटा शक्ति लिम्बुवान-को दावीमा कटिवद्द रहेको अनि पौराणिक इतिहासलाई खोतल्दै लिम्बुवानसित दार्जीलिङको भूभाग जोड्ने आशयको आन्दोलन भित्रभित्रै चर्किएको अन्तराष्ट्रिय मीडियाले सङ्केत दिइएकोले पनि अबको परिस्थिति जटिल बन्दै गइरहेकोतिरै सङ्केत दिइहेको समिक्षकहरूको अनुमान छ।
दागोपापसित खुशी नभएर छत्र सुब्बाहरूले जीएलओ गठन गरेर त्यसको विरोध गरेको थियो भने गोरामुमोको कालमा नै यूजीआरए नामक जङ्गी सङ्गठनले पनि गोर्खाल्याण्डको मुनीका व्यवस्थामाथि असन्तुष्टि जाहेर गर्दै आन्दोलन मच्चाइसकेको छ। अहिले जीटीएको हस्ताक्षरपछि यूएलए जस्तो भूमिगत सङ्गठनले जीटीए र मोर्चाको विरोध गर्दै सार्वभौम राष्ट्रको कुरा गरेकोले पहाड़को राजनैतिक भविष्यलाई गम्भिर बनाएको छ। पक्ष र विपक्ष दुवैले यूएलएको दावीलाई नकरात्मक र असान्दार्भिक बताउँदै यस्ता सङ्गठनको कुरामा ध्यान दिन ुनहुने बताएपनि जबसम्म पुलिस प्रशासनले सबै वास्तविकता छर्लङ्ग पार्दैन तबसम्म सनसनी चर्किरहने स्पष्ट देखिएको छ।
Hope for NHPC projects after GTA deal
Amalendu Kundu, TNN, Jul 31:Gangtok: With the signing of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration agreement between the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and West Bengal government, there is now hope for two hydel projects that the National Hydropower Corporation had taken up in Darjeeling district, Teesta Low Dam Project III at Rambhi and Teesta Low Dam Project IV at Kalijhora.
Because of the agitation launched by GJM, leading to frequent bandhs and labour troubles, work in these two projects had been stalled since 2009. Besides, an embankment at the project site had also breached in a flood, washing away heavy machinery. A 100-metre stretch of the national highway near the Rambhi site had subsided. But NHPC executive director for Sikkim and North Bengal Dhiman Pariza says construction work has resumed and the two projects are expected to be completed by 2013.
The two projects together would generate 292 MW, TLDP III would generate 132 MW and TLDP IV 160 MW. Both the projects are in their final stages now. West Bengal would get 12 per cent of this free as its share as the project is coming up on its soil. Pariza says West Bengal is likely to buy the rest of the generation as well and transmit it through the state electricity grid. It is likely to meet the power requirements of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri areas. But power transmission through the SEB grid could be delayed because NHPC has not been able to obtain clearance for erecting 37 poles for transmission tower lines in the forest areas of Kalimpong subdivision.
Pariza says NHPC has initiated community development activities in Darjeeling. A fund of Rs 40 crore has been sanctioned for setting up an engineering college and a Central institute of technology as well as upgrade of hospital. Under a community social responsibility, another Rs 50 crore has been allotted. But NHPC would release the sanctioned fund only after GTA makes available the land required to set up these projects. Some of these projects also figure in the agreement signed between the state government and GTA as the ones that would be set up in Darjeeling district.
Gangtok Walks for Raising Awareness on Forests
Prabin Khaling, KalimNews, Gangtok, 30 July:To mark the year of the International Year of Forests, WWF – India has launched a new campaign aimed at the urban youths called as Cities for Forests Campaign in July, 2011. The campaign is being launched to raise awareness on the importance of forests. WWF has launched a separate website for the campaign at www.citiesforforests.in.
The campaign encourages students and youths to visit nearby forest areas, and to study the biodiversity and threats that can be documented through photographs, stories, paintings, poems, etc. All these can be uploaded at the website that WWF –India has specifically developed, and the information will be compiled at a later stage. The campaign will run for 3 months and culminate during the Wildlife Week, in October.
Gangtok will also take part in this event, and to mark the beginning of the campaign, WWF- India has organized a Walk on August 6, 2011, called as ‘Walk for Forests’. At a meeting was organized at Rachna Bookstore on July 30, with the participation of 11 schools and the media fraternity and different organization wherein the idea for the walk and route to be followed for the walk was discussed.
The walk is also being supported by the media fraternity, who will take active participation in the same. WWF – India and its partners for the event inform that the walk is open for all organizations, and the general public to participate in for raising awareness on the importance of forests. The walk will begin from the Private Taxi Stand near Police (10:30 AM) Headquarters and end at Tashi Namgyal Academy with a brief programme.
Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh meets Minister for Development of North East Region
PR, KalimNews, 29th July, New Delhi: A delegation of Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh comprising Parisangh Secretary General Sukman Moktan, Gen Sec CPC Munish Tamang, National Co-ordinator of Gorkhaland Task Force R. Moktan , Central Office Incharge B. M. Pradhan and National Executive Member Navin Subba met the Minister for Development of North East Region (DONEAR) Shri Pawan Singh Ghatowar at his office today at Vigyan Bhawan Annexe in New Delhi.
The Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh believes that only full statehood will resolve the problem of identity faced by Gorkhas across India. It is currently meeting ministers and MPs in New Delhi to create awareness about the various dilemmas confronting the Gorkhas of India and to press for the creation of a separate state.
The delegation held detailed discussions with Shri PawanSingh Ghatowar on various issues concerning the Gorkhas in the North East including the problems concerning D-voters in Assam, Displacement of Gorkhas in states such as Manipur and Meghalaya, Land registration, and lack of opportunities in employment and business. The Minister assured that he would look into all of the issues and activate all agencies for the redress of these problems. He also promised to be in constant touch with Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh for inputs on these issues. “My office is open 24 hours to you,” he promised the BGP delegation.
Earlier, a special meeting of the National Federation for New States (NFNS) was held at Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. The meeting was chaired by the NFNS Convener P. Niroop. Raja Bundela was also present in the meeting. The meeting analysed the present political situation in Gorkhaland, Telangana, Bundelkhand and Vidharbha and discussed various constitutional aspects of these movements. Convener of Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh’s Gorkhaland Task Force R. Moktan made a detailed presentation of the various Constitutional approaches to the question of Gorkhaland.
Mamata announces sops for minorities
ENS, Kolkata, July 31:In her first meeting with minorities after she became the Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee on Saturday announced a host of schemes and sops for them and also promised to table a revised draft bill at the Assembly in the next three months for 10 per cent minorities reservation in Government jobs.
The Chief Minister was present at an event held by The West Bengal Minorities Development and Finance Corporation(WBMDFC) under the Minority Affairs Department of the state government at the Netaji Indoor Stadium. Scholarships, stipends and loans worth Rs 21.37 crore were distributed at the event among 54,166 persons while the Corporation also announced distribution of Rs 145 crore under self employment schemes. In the evening, the chief Minister also held consultations with Justice (retd) Rajinder Sachar to implement the recommendations of the Sachar Committee for making special provisions for minorities.
Earlier in the day, addressing a huge gathering, she thanked the minorities for voting her to power and promised to do the maximum for their overall social development.
She announced a special grant of Rs 122 crore for scholarships and stipends and Rs 82 crore as loans to meritorious minority students in the next one year. She also announced a new housing policy for building 37,300 houses under the Indira Abas Yojana for minorities. Another 5,000 shelters for minorities will be built by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. Banerjee also announced official recognition to 10000 madrasas and recruitment of 700 teachers for them.
She said the state government is scouting for land and has already identified 9 acres at Sonarpur and Champahati for this housing scheme.
In addition, she also announced 7200 Anganwadis, 39 Urdu medium schools, 717 health centres, 6750 tube-wells, 5000 solar lights and 3 government poly-technic colleges in minority-dominated areas.
The Chief Minister also announced the government plan to set up an expert committee to check legal implications and issues related to minorities reservation in the state. She criticised the earlier Left Front government for a ‘hurried and erroneous ‘ notification regarding 10 per cent reservation for minorities in government jobs and termed it as a ‘politically motivated move’.
In February last year, the left government had announced 10 per cent reservation in government jobs for the 53 backward classes among Muslims. “As far as I know the Governor has not signed it and we would fix it soon for delivering the necessary benefits,” added Banerjee.
She also announced setting up of an employment bank for minorities, Scheduled Castes , Scheduled Tribes and OBC’s in the state.
Later in the day, Banerjee discussed several issues related to minority development with (retd) Justice Rajendra Sachar, who was in the town. “We shared our plans and also took his opinion regarding the overall development of minority communities in the state,” she said.
Raising Children In Changing Times
Dianne Monroe, 29 July, 2011, Carolynbaker.net, KalimNews:
We have received a tremendous gift – to be alive at the edge of these changing times. It’s not an easy gift, if we look open-eyed into possible futures. Yet within this gift lies the tremendous opportunity (and yes, responsibility) of crafting tools to place in the hands of those who come after, to enable them to shape the world in which they live through their own vision.
If you have children in your lives – as parents, grandparents, educators or in any other way – there’s a particular magnitude to this. You have no doubt asked yourself what you can do to enable them to navigate the turbulent times ahead, to build meaningful lives in the midst of crisis and decline, to greet the future with creativity, resilience and joy.
“How can we nurture and raise children so they can grow into adults who are able to survive, thrive and contribute to new ways of being with the Earth and each other? ” This how I pose this question to myself as I look into the hopeful eyes of the children whose lives I have the opportunity to touch through my work. It is perhaps this sense of contributing to new ways of being with the Earth and each other that will make it possible for the youth of today to survive and thrive in a challenging and rapidly changing world.
Carolyn Baker writes in Navigating the Coming Chaos about the upcoming collapse (Great Turning, Great Unraveling, Transition, or by any other name) as “humanity’s next rite of passage, our imminent initiation into adulthood as a species.” In Sacred Demise, she writes of an “odyssey” that “is about the transformation of human consciousness and the emergence of a new paradigm as a result of discovering our purpose in the collapse process and thereby coming home to our ultimate place in the universe.”
Bill Plotkin, in Nature and the Human Soul, writes that, “we must mature into people who are, first and foremost, citizens of Earth and residents of the universe, and our identity and core values must be recast accordingly. This kind of maturation entails a quantum leap beyond the stage of development in which the majority of people live today. And yet we must begin now to engender the future human.”
So how do we prepare our children to take their place in this multi-generational species initiation, to find their way to joyful, meaningful lives in the midst of crisis and difficulties we can only imagine? How can we cultivate the growth of interior structures that can enable the youth of today, the adults of tomorrow, to make their contribution to a transformation perhaps as huge as re-visioning what it means to be human?
This wide-vision of humanity’s future, not turning away from the difficulties and hardships, yet recognizing the potentials that grow within this crisis, has everything to do with an approach I have developed through my work with youth, that I now share with you.
Tools for Shaping Their Future
For over 20 years, part of my work has been with children in difficult circumstances (children in Child Protective Services care, children who have experienced abuse, immigrant and refugee youth and others). Daily I asked myself what I could give them that would really last, that they could hold on to and use as they charted their uncertain futures.
As I considered the future of all children and the juncture we are headed into, I realized that the things I developed for children in difficult circumstances were exactly what all youth needed to find their own way through the difficult times people and our planet are facing, to help shape a new and different future.
I saw that the ways I developed to build internal structures with children who life had dealt a difficult hand also builds those internal structures with all children facing challenging situations. This nurturing of interior structures is perhaps the most important gift we can offer youth today, to enable them to play their full role in these times of human initiation and transformation.
My approach revolves around four qualities and strengths adults can cultivate with the children in their lives, and a wide variety of practices, activities and experiences that can nurture them. They can be brought into a broad range of situations, are adaptable for youth of any age, and can be shaped to fit differing interests and inclinations.
These four qualities and strengths are:
Inner Self
For youth to survive, thrive and make their contribution to this time of transformation, it is essential that they that they learn to know, value, and trust their inner voice, that they become deeply rooted in a sense of self. Beyond this, it is crucial for children (and adults) to understand that they have gifts to bring to this world, something valuable to offer to the times in which they live. I tell children that this is true even if they do not yet know what it is because they are still growing, and it is yet to be discovered – and that discovery can be as joyful as unwrapping a birthday present. This sense of purpose, the soil from which their life’s meaning will take root and flower, is one of the most valuable things we can offer those who are youth today.
Creativity and Imagination
“A healthy imagination is essential to growing up, becoming fully human, encountering our souls, and offering our unique and necessary gifts to the world,” writes Bill Plotkin in Nature and the Human Soul.
Creativity and Imagination are an integral part of what it means to be human, a vital resource we each carry within. By nurturing these qualities with the children in our lives we offer them ways of knowing and growing their inner selves, finding personal meaning and enjoyment in life, and as a way of seeking solutions to, or ways of being with, life’s challenges and difficulties. Through cultivating creativity and imagination, we offer children resources for growing into and through the coming times, and for making their contribution to re-visioning humanity’s future.
Connection with Nature
We are part of the natural world and evolved within its embrace. This understanding is perhaps as ancient as humanity itself. Giving children the gift of knowing nature as their home, feeling themselves as part of the web of life is an invaluable life resource for exploring their inner self and developing their ability to act in this world and on its behalf.
It is perhaps our culture’s break with nature, the viewing of our planet as nothing more than a collection of things to be exploited and discarded, that has brought us to this time of crisis. And perhaps more than anything else, this time of turmoil and transformation calls for a rediscovery of humanity’s place within the earth community. This re-visioning of our relationship with life on earth, rooted in indigenous wisdom and shaped for contemporary times, is perhaps the cornerstone of the human initiation and evolution being called for today.
For youth to discover their place within the natural world, to grow their connection with it, has everything to do with their ability to remain grounded in turbulent times, everything to do with them being able to grow their vision and play their part in this upcoming transition.
Joy, Gratitude, Wonder
We live in a magnificent world. Children express joy and wonder naturally and beautifully. It can be a delightful experience for adults to help children cultivate and deepen this natural way of being with the world. Knowing what brings you joy strengthens sense of self and connection with the world. The ability to find joy, gratitude and wonder in difficult circumstances, in places where it may not be obvious or easy to see can make a big difference in how people experience and respond to times of crisis and change. This capacity is a vital part of finding and making meaning in life, in the fundamental redefining of “a good life” that our times are calling for.
A Note About Resilience
It almost goes without saying that children (and adults) need resilience to meet the future. Resilience is a complex interweaving of many qualities. Core resilience is rooted in two things, the ability to be grounded in self and the ability to respond creatively and flexibly to change. This is fundamentally the same as the qualities of Inner Self, Creativity, and Imagination. By nurturing these qualities you are actually growing resilience.
Knowing one’s place as part of the natural world, feeling this connection, brings a groundedness and flexibility in times of challenge and change. The capacity for joy, gratitude and wonder offers a source connection and replenishment, especially valuable in difficult times. Perhaps the most powerful component of resilience is the deeply rooted knowing that you have something valuable to bring and a part to play in the unfolding drama of these times, an opportunity to touch and shape the unfolding of the future, and something important to pass on to those who come after.
Through Their Own Vision
There are countless activities, practices and experiences that can nurture these qualities and strengths. Many I have developed during my years of working with youth. Many have been developed by others. Many more will undoubtedly be developed in the future. There may be ways you are already nurturing some, or all, of these qualities and strengths with the children in your lives.
Here are a pair of simple yet powerful practices you can easily share with the children in your lives. Notice how they reinforce each other, and how they each nurture several of these four qualities and strengths.
Wandering
Wandering is spending unstructured time in nature, with no plan or agenda, following what draws one’s attention. This common childhood experience not so long ago has become a rarity in today’s urban and suburban environments.
Wandering offers children the gift of falling in love with the world. It builds a connection with nature, opening children (and adults) to feeling themselves as part of the web of life and knowing nature as their home. It also develops the relationship between nature and inner self, cultivates intuition and deepens trust in one’s inner voice.
Adults can create opportunities for children to wander in nature. We can support them in deepening their experience by asking them questions about their adventures and the things they are drawn to. For example: Tell me about what makes that rock (or flower or lizard or weed) special to you? How do you think it feels to be a bird (or the wind, or a caterpillar)? If the tree could talk with the stream what do you think they would say? Children can be encouraged to keep a journal where they write or draw about their experiences, their feelings and responses to the things they encounter.
Freeplay and Free Art – Imagination Running Wild
Just as adults can make space for and encourage external wandering, it is vital that we open space for and encourage exploring internal landscapes. Free play and daydreaming are natural childhood activities that, like wandering, are increasingly rare in today’s overscheduled lives. They foster the development of interior structures and grow the capacity for vision.
Free art is the natural companion to free play. This innate flowing of experiences, feelings, imagination through any art form is very different from “how to” art lessons. Adults can encourage youth to draw, paint, sculpt (with clay, mud or any other substance) sing, dance, write, tell a story about their imaginary experiences. We can ask to be invited into children’s imaginary world and pose questions to extend and deepen their experiences, taking care not to direct or impose. We can also ask questions that encourage the use of imagination. For example: How many things could this stick be? (Hints: a magic wand, an antenna, an insect, Pinocchio’s nose.) Children can be encouraged to use journals or folders to gather their free art, and to return to these creations for further exploration and elaboration.
Through free play, daydreaming and free art, children explore and expand their understanding of their inner selves and discover their unique relationship with the world around them. These activities offer a safe structure for them to explore their emotions, including their fears, and to seek solutions for imaginary-world problems that can carry over into “real world” problem-solving skills. Most importantly, they cultivate the capacity for vision – that necessary quality for discovering and sharing one’s gifts, for finding their place and making their contributions to the future world in which they will live.
Writing Our Horizon
We are entering, perhaps have already entered, a new paradigm, an unknown that has not existed on this scale since perhaps the dawn of what we call civilization. And with this, a possibly unprecedented opportunity to reach out and touch the future. We can see the outline dimly on the horizon, yet the flow of history always evolves a bit differently from what anyone envisioned.
We live at a conjuncture when seemingly small actions can reverberate through time, like widening circles around a pebble tossed into a still pond. The story of this time has not yet been written. Daily, in ways large and small, we are writing the opening lines of that story. Perhaps our most important work will be the developing and passing on of writing tools for these times. The tools, gifts, resources we offer the next generation, the children in our lives today, will ripple outward throughout the length of this journey.
Dianne Monroe is an Expressive Arts Facilitator, mentor, writer and photographer with over 20 years experience creating and leading experiential learning and arts-based programs. She offers workshops, presentations, and individual mentoring on various themes, including Raising Children in Changing Times. Her focus is blending Expressive Arts and creativity with nature for personal, social and planetary transformation. Visit her (www.diannemonroe.com) or contact her (dianne@diannemonroe.com) to learn more.
Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh meets Minister for Development of North East Region
PR, KalimNews, 29th July, New Delhi: A delegation of Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh comprising Parisangh Secretary General Sukman Moktan, Gen Sec CPC Munish Tamang, National Co-ordinator of Gorkhaland Task Force R. Moktan , Central Office Incharge B. M. Pradhan and National Executive Member Navin Subba met the Minister for Development of North East Region (DONEAR) Shri Pawan Singh Ghatowar at his office today at Vigyan Bhawan Annexe in New Delhi.The Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh believes that only full statehood will resolve the problem of identity faced by Gorkhas across India. It is currently meeting ministers and MPs in New Delhi to create awareness about the various dilemmas confronting the Gorkhas of India and to press for the creation of a separate state.
The delegation held detailed discussions with Shri PawanSingh Ghatowar on various issues concerning the Gorkhas in the North East including the problems concerning D-voters in Assam, Displacement of Gorkhas in states such as Manipur and Meghalaya, Land registration, and lack of opportunities in employment and business. The Minister assured that he would look into all of the issues and activate all agencies for the redress of these problems. He also promised to be in constant touch with Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh for inputs on these issues. “My office is open 24 hours to you,” he promised the BGP delegation.
Earlier, a special meeting of the National Federation for New States (NFNS) was held at Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. The meeting was chaired by the NFNS Convener P. Niroop. Raja Bundela was also present in the meeting. The meeting analysed the present political situation in Gorkhaland, Telangana, Bundelkhand and Vidharbha and discussed various constitutional aspects of these movements. Convener of Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh’s Gorkhaland Task Force R. Moktan made a detailed presentation of the various Constitutional approaches to the question of Gorkhaland.
Mamata announces sops for minorities
ENS, Kolkata, July 31:In her first meeting with minorities after she became the Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee on Saturday announced a host of schemes and sops for them and also promised to table a revised draft bill at the Assembly in the next three months for 10 per cent minorities reservation in Government jobs.
The Chief Minister was present at an event held by The West Bengal Minorities Development and Finance Corporation(WBMDFC) under the Minority Affairs Department of the state government at the Netaji Indoor Stadium. Scholarships, stipends and loans worth Rs 21.37 crore were distributed at the event among 54,166 persons while the Corporation also announced distribution of Rs 145 crore under self employment schemes. In the evening, the chief Minister also held consultations with Justice (retd) Rajinder Sachar to implement the recommendations of the Sachar Committee for making special provisions for minorities.
Earlier in the day, addressing a huge gathering, she thanked the minorities for voting her to power and promised to do the maximum for their overall social development.
She announced a special grant of Rs 122 crore for scholarships and stipends and Rs 82 crore as loans to meritorious minority students in the next one year. She also announced a new housing policy for building 37,300 houses under the Indira Abas Yojana for minorities. Another 5,000 shelters for minorities will be built by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. Banerjee also announced official recognition to 10000 madrasas and recruitment of 700 teachers for them.
She said the state government is scouting for land and has already identified 9 acres at Sonarpur and Champahati for this housing scheme.
In addition, she also announced 7200 Anganwadis, 39 Urdu medium schools, 717 health centres, 6750 tube-wells, 5000 solar lights and 3 government poly-technic colleges in minority-dominated areas.
The Chief Minister also announced the government plan to set up an expert committee to check legal implications and issues related to minorities reservation in the state. She criticised the earlier Left Front government for a ‘hurried and erroneous ‘ notification regarding 10 per cent reservation for minorities in government jobs and termed it as a ‘politically motivated move’.
In February last year, the left government had announced 10 per cent reservation in government jobs for the 53 backward classes among Muslims. “As far as I know the Governor has not signed it and we would fix it soon for delivering the necessary benefits,” added Banerjee.
She also announced setting up of an employment bank for minorities, Scheduled Castes , Scheduled Tribes and OBC’s in the state.
Later in the day, Banerjee discussed several issues related to minority development with (retd) Justice Rajendra Sachar, who was in the town. “We shared our plans and also took his opinion regarding the overall development of minority communities in the state,” she said.
Raising Children In Changing Times
Dianne Monroe, 29 July, 2011, Carolynbaker.net, KalimNews:
We have received a tremendous gift – to be alive at the edge of these changing times. It’s not an easy gift, if we look open-eyed into possible futures. Yet within this gift lies the tremendous opportunity (and yes, responsibility) of crafting tools to place in the hands of those who come after, to enable them to shape the world in which they live through their own vision.
If you have children in your lives – as parents, grandparents, educators or in any other way – there’s a particular magnitude to this. You have no doubt asked yourself what you can do to enable them to navigate the turbulent times ahead, to build meaningful lives in the midst of crisis and decline, to greet the future with creativity, resilience and joy.
“How can we nurture and raise children so they can grow into adults who are able to survive, thrive and contribute to new ways of being with the Earth and each other? ” This how I pose this question to myself as I look into the hopeful eyes of the children whose lives I have the opportunity to touch through my work. It is perhaps this sense of contributing to new ways of being with the Earth and each other that will make it possible for the youth of today to survive and thrive in a challenging and rapidly changing world.
Carolyn Baker writes in Navigating the Coming Chaos about the upcoming collapse (Great Turning, Great Unraveling, Transition, or by any other name) as “humanity’s next rite of passage, our imminent initiation into adulthood as a species.” In Sacred Demise, she writes of an “odyssey” that “is about the transformation of human consciousness and the emergence of a new paradigm as a result of discovering our purpose in the collapse process and thereby coming home to our ultimate place in the universe.”
Bill Plotkin, in Nature and the Human Soul, writes that, “we must mature into people who are, first and foremost, citizens of Earth and residents of the universe, and our identity and core values must be recast accordingly. This kind of maturation entails a quantum leap beyond the stage of development in which the majority of people live today. And yet we must begin now to engender the future human.”
So how do we prepare our children to take their place in this multi-generational species initiation, to find their way to joyful, meaningful lives in the midst of crisis and difficulties we can only imagine? How can we cultivate the growth of interior structures that can enable the youth of today, the adults of tomorrow, to make their contribution to a transformation perhaps as huge as re-visioning what it means to be human?
This wide-vision of humanity’s future, not turning away from the difficulties and hardships, yet recognizing the potentials that grow within this crisis, has everything to do with an approach I have developed through my work with youth, that I now share with you.
Tools for Shaping Their Future
For over 20 years, part of my work has been with children in difficult circumstances (children in Child Protective Services care, children who have experienced abuse, immigrant and refugee youth and others). Daily I asked myself what I could give them that would really last, that they could hold on to and use as they charted their uncertain futures.
As I considered the future of all children and the juncture we are headed into, I realized that the things I developed for children in difficult circumstances were exactly what all youth needed to find their own way through the difficult times people and our planet are facing, to help shape a new and different future.
I saw that the ways I developed to build internal structures with children who life had dealt a difficult hand also builds those internal structures with all children facing challenging situations. This nurturing of interior structures is perhaps the most important gift we can offer youth today, to enable them to play their full role in these times of human initiation and transformation.
My approach revolves around four qualities and strengths adults can cultivate with the children in their lives, and a wide variety of practices, activities and experiences that can nurture them. They can be brought into a broad range of situations, are adaptable for youth of any age, and can be shaped to fit differing interests and inclinations.
These four qualities and strengths are:
Inner Self
For youth to survive, thrive and make their contribution to this time of transformation, it is essential that they that they learn to know, value, and trust their inner voice, that they become deeply rooted in a sense of self. Beyond this, it is crucial for children (and adults) to understand that they have gifts to bring to this world, something valuable to offer to the times in which they live. I tell children that this is true even if they do not yet know what it is because they are still growing, and it is yet to be discovered – and that discovery can be as joyful as unwrapping a birthday present. This sense of purpose, the soil from which their life’s meaning will take root and flower, is one of the most valuable things we can offer those who are youth today.
Creativity and Imagination
“A healthy imagination is essential to growing up, becoming fully human, encountering our souls, and offering our unique and necessary gifts to the world,” writes Bill Plotkin in Nature and the Human Soul.
Creativity and Imagination are an integral part of what it means to be human, a vital resource we each carry within. By nurturing these qualities with the children in our lives we offer them ways of knowing and growing their inner selves, finding personal meaning and enjoyment in life, and as a way of seeking solutions to, or ways of being with, life’s challenges and difficulties. Through cultivating creativity and imagination, we offer children resources for growing into and through the coming times, and for making their contribution to re-visioning humanity’s future.
Connection with Nature
We are part of the natural world and evolved within its embrace. This understanding is perhaps as ancient as humanity itself. Giving children the gift of knowing nature as their home, feeling themselves as part of the web of life is an invaluable life resource for exploring their inner self and developing their ability to act in this world and on its behalf.
It is perhaps our culture’s break with nature, the viewing of our planet as nothing more than a collection of things to be exploited and discarded, that has brought us to this time of crisis. And perhaps more than anything else, this time of turmoil and transformation calls for a rediscovery of humanity’s place within the earth community. This re-visioning of our relationship with life on earth, rooted in indigenous wisdom and shaped for contemporary times, is perhaps the cornerstone of the human initiation and evolution being called for today.
For youth to discover their place within the natural world, to grow their connection with it, has everything to do with their ability to remain grounded in turbulent times, everything to do with them being able to grow their vision and play their part in this upcoming transition.
Joy, Gratitude, Wonder
We live in a magnificent world. Children express joy and wonder naturally and beautifully. It can be a delightful experience for adults to help children cultivate and deepen this natural way of being with the world. Knowing what brings you joy strengthens sense of self and connection with the world. The ability to find joy, gratitude and wonder in difficult circumstances, in places where it may not be obvious or easy to see can make a big difference in how people experience and respond to times of crisis and change. This capacity is a vital part of finding and making meaning in life, in the fundamental redefining of “a good life” that our times are calling for.
A Note About Resilience
It almost goes without saying that children (and adults) need resilience to meet the future. Resilience is a complex interweaving of many qualities. Core resilience is rooted in two things, the ability to be grounded in self and the ability to respond creatively and flexibly to change. This is fundamentally the same as the qualities of Inner Self, Creativity, and Imagination. By nurturing these qualities you are actually growing resilience.
Knowing one’s place as part of the natural world, feeling this connection, brings a groundedness and flexibility in times of challenge and change. The capacity for joy, gratitude and wonder offers a source connection and replenishment, especially valuable in difficult times. Perhaps the most powerful component of resilience is the deeply rooted knowing that you have something valuable to bring and a part to play in the unfolding drama of these times, an opportunity to touch and shape the unfolding of the future, and something important to pass on to those who come after.
Through Their Own Vision
There are countless activities, practices and experiences that can nurture these qualities and strengths. Many I have developed during my years of working with youth. Many have been developed by others. Many more will undoubtedly be developed in the future. There may be ways you are already nurturing some, or all, of these qualities and strengths with the children in your lives.
Here are a pair of simple yet powerful practices you can easily share with the children in your lives. Notice how they reinforce each other, and how they each nurture several of these four qualities and strengths.
Wandering
Wandering is spending unstructured time in nature, with no plan or agenda, following what draws one’s attention. This common childhood experience not so long ago has become a rarity in today’s urban and suburban environments.
Wandering offers children the gift of falling in love with the world. It builds a connection with nature, opening children (and adults) to feeling themselves as part of the web of life and knowing nature as their home. It also develops the relationship between nature and inner self, cultivates intuition and deepens trust in one’s inner voice.
Adults can create opportunities for children to wander in nature. We can support them in deepening their experience by asking them questions about their adventures and the things they are drawn to. For example: Tell me about what makes that rock (or flower or lizard or weed) special to you? How do you think it feels to be a bird (or the wind, or a caterpillar)? If the tree could talk with the stream what do you think they would say? Children can be encouraged to keep a journal where they write or draw about their experiences, their feelings and responses to the things they encounter.
Freeplay and Free Art – Imagination Running Wild
Just as adults can make space for and encourage external wandering, it is vital that we open space for and encourage exploring internal landscapes. Free play and daydreaming are natural childhood activities that, like wandering, are increasingly rare in today’s overscheduled lives. They foster the development of interior structures and grow the capacity for vision.
Free art is the natural companion to free play. This innate flowing of experiences, feelings, imagination through any art form is very different from “how to” art lessons. Adults can encourage youth to draw, paint, sculpt (with clay, mud or any other substance) sing, dance, write, tell a story about their imaginary experiences. We can ask to be invited into children’s imaginary world and pose questions to extend and deepen their experiences, taking care not to direct or impose. We can also ask questions that encourage the use of imagination. For example: How many things could this stick be? (Hints: a magic wand, an antenna, an insect, Pinocchio’s nose.) Children can be encouraged to use journals or folders to gather their free art, and to return to these creations for further exploration and elaboration.
Through free play, daydreaming and free art, children explore and expand their understanding of their inner selves and discover their unique relationship with the world around them. These activities offer a safe structure for them to explore their emotions, including their fears, and to seek solutions for imaginary-world problems that can carry over into “real world” problem-solving skills. Most importantly, they cultivate the capacity for vision – that necessary quality for discovering and sharing one’s gifts, for finding their place and making their contributions to the future world in which they will live.
Writing Our Horizon
We are entering, perhaps have already entered, a new paradigm, an unknown that has not existed on this scale since perhaps the dawn of what we call civilization. And with this, a possibly unprecedented opportunity to reach out and touch the future. We can see the outline dimly on the horizon, yet the flow of history always evolves a bit differently from what anyone envisioned.
We live at a conjuncture when seemingly small actions can reverberate through time, like widening circles around a pebble tossed into a still pond. The story of this time has not yet been written. Daily, in ways large and small, we are writing the opening lines of that story. Perhaps our most important work will be the developing and passing on of writing tools for these times. The tools, gifts, resources we offer the next generation, the children in our lives today, will ripple outward throughout the length of this journey.
Dianne Monroe is an Expressive Arts Facilitator, mentor, writer and photographer with over 20 years experience creating and leading experiential learning and arts-based programs. She offers workshops, presentations, and individual mentoring on various themes, including Raising Children in Changing Times. Her focus is blending Expressive Arts and creativity with nature for personal, social and planetary transformation. Visit her (www.diannemonroe.com) or contact her (dianne@diannemonroe.com) to learn more.
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