YASHVI JALAN

PGP 2 | Section A | Roll No 60

THINKING OUT
LOUD
Individual Assignment | Communication for Social
Impact I
“Society is like the air, necessary to breathe but insufficient to live on.”
~ George Santayana

We live in a society. The Oxford dictionary has multiple meanings for the word. One of them
is this - the aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community. Another
is - the community of people living in a particular country or region and having shared customs,
laws, and organizations. A particular society could be described as an organization or club
formed for a particular purpose or activity. Or, society could simply be considered as the
situation of being in the company of other people. There are a few words that pop out at us
from these definitions - community, shared values, togetherness, and purpose. I consider these
to be the pillars of what can be termed ‘modern society’.

“Society is indeed a contract. It is a partnership in all science; a partnership in all art; a

partnership in every virtue, and in all perfection. As the ends of such a partnership cannot be
obtained in many generations, it becomes a partnership not only between those who are living,
but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born.”
~ Edmund Burke

Modern society can only exist when people can co-exist in harmony with each other, living
together, sharing space, air, water, and other resources. Modern society can only function when
people have purpose in their lives, when they do things everyday, and in a manner that harms
no other in the process. There needs to be understanding amongst the people. This is only
possible when there is a shared sense of values among them. A group cannot have one voice if
their thoughts are not aligned. Thoughts can only be aligned when they have a deeper
understanding of each other’s value systems, organizations, and cultures.

Culture – a simple enough word that hides a world of meaning behind it. A man’s (or woman’s,
or neither’s) culture is a driving force in his or her life. It determines their reactions to their
environment, their responses to a situation and their understanding of other people. It is a
deeply ingrained truth of that person, one that could take a lifetime to unlearn. In my mind,
culture is simply the way of doing things. Nothing more, nothing less. It is something I imbibed
growing up, learning from my family, my environment, the media I was exposed to, and the
people I met along the way.

Culture forms a big part of a person’s identity. It is what binds people together in bonds of
social customs and traditions, rituals, affiliations, and turns certain mannerisms into habits.
Culture creates communities.

“Society is a republic. When an individual tries to lift themselves above others, they are
dragged down by the mass, either by ridicule or slander.”
~ Victor Hugo

Under the bright, shiny veneer of a value-based, communal happy co-existence hides a dark,
dingy, harsh truth; that, in reality, a society is good for some, but not for all. In order to maintain
“the way to do things”, people with differing ideas are oppressed. Paulo Freire has described
the difference between the oppressor and oppressed.

The oppressor is generally the one at the top of the so-called food chain. He, or she, is the
aspirational goal, the one with it all – the lifestyle, the personality, the socio-economic freedom
to do what they want, and how they want. The oppressor can voice their opinions and thoughts
out loud, without fear of retribution, discrimination, or hate, and has been actively doing so for
the longest time. He or she is that voice of the community, of society. He or she makes the
rules. He or she makes the laws. He or she decides the punishments for breaking these rules
and laws.

The oppressed, on the other hand, are the ones following these rules and laws, without regard
to their own thoughts, opinions, or even options. They are the ones who cannot even deign to
being a dialogue involving change in their society. In fact, more often than not, they don’t even
realize that they are the ones who are oppressed.

Even if they do arrive at this realization, alas, the end is not even on the horizon. The oppressed
then fall into a hellish cycle of oppression. Because there isn’t just one oppressor you have to
fight. There are a fiendish multiple. Like any video game worth its salt, the oppressor, or
“Boss”, gets bigger and ‘badder’ at every level. It’s like trying to climb an infinite ladder, but
you’re weighed down by a heavier rock at each and every step you take.

“Helping, fixing and serving represent three different ways of seeing life. When you help, you
see life as weak. When you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole.
Fixing and helping may be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul.”
~ Rachel Naomi Remen

Now, if someone wants to come along and “change the world”, they’ve got a few options
available. They could try to fix things. They could try to help out, to the best of their abilities.
Or, they could do something else altogether. They could serve. They could serve the people,
they could serve the community, they could serve society. This is where my story begins.

I grew up in a Marwaari family, with traditional Hindu values taught to me early on. What was
different with my education, and I am grateful for that everyday, is that my mother and father
believed in letting their children have and voice opinions. I was given the liberty and burden
of taking my own decisions very early on in life. It was a freedom, but as is the case with any
freedom given or occupied, it comes with its fair share of responsibilities. Choices need to be
made, and the options aren’t always black and white. You have to choose between what you
perceive to be right and wrong. You have to choose between something society wants and
something you want. You have to make hard choices, and soft choices. But every choice, every
decision made, determines the course you will navigate further down the road in life.

I have prayed furiously to my God. I have turned away and denied His existence, proclaiming
the same to the world loudly. I have turned around and then consciously chosen to believe
again. Each step of this journey has been eye-opening. Each new turn has led to a revelation.
And sometimes, I have been glad that I did things the way I did. There is a certain joy in
knowing that you love your God without fear being the primary driving force.

But loving God doesn’t equal to loving your religion. Religion, in my opinion, is one of the
biggest oppressors in the world today. Anything that uses fear as a crutch to mould people’s
actions and behaviour should not be put on a pedestal and admired.

Growing up, I have seen, heard and read of many instances of where so-called pious men have
swindled, duped, or simply been cruel degenerates to innocent victims. God does not
discriminate between His or Her subjects. Then, why does a caste system, based on hierarchy
even exist?
“It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.”
~ Ernest Hemingway

We do what we can to make things better. My mother was always one who believed in service
and the power of serving others. She encouraged me to serve people, any way I could. When I
was very young, our school would organize money collection drives in association with
Helpage India, a popular charity devoted to the welfare of old people, specially those who were
in need. I would always volunteer for the same and try my hardest to gather as much as I could.

I don’t know if I had any real understanding of what I was doing, or how it helped, or even if
it did, all I knew was that it felt good to be of service to others, in some form or the other.

When I was in class 5, I got accepted into Welham Girls School, a prestigious boarding school
for girls, founded over 175 years ago. It was probably my second brush with a distinct culture
and community, and in turn, a new form of society. But, I digress. We shall only talk about
service here, something that impacted me on a core level. We had a compulsory subject called
SUPW. I can’t recall the full form, I doubt I ever even bothered to find out, or even what it was
truly about. All I remember is going to an old age home, along with the other 60 odd girls in
my class, and meeting them. We were supposed to go interact with the residents there and put
up a little show for them, much in the flavour of a late night special on a Wednesday afternoon.
There was variety entertainment – singing, dancing, a play production. Some games were also
woven in, to involve the audience and keep them entertained. All was going well, and I wasn’t
a changed person, till it was time for the meet-and-greet.

There is something truly fragile about old people, especially the abandoned ones. They have
this vulnerability about them, this utter frailty that squeezes your heart and then crushes it into
a million little pieces. One gentleman requested us, with a nervous smile, to get him “paranthe”
the next time we drop by, another simply laughed and told us old jokes I’m sure he had been
saving for a while. But as I was leaving, a lady, the last resident I met there, grabbed my hand,
looked at me with scared, hopeful eyes and pleaded with me,”Agle hafte bhi aaogi na?”

And we never went back.

This is something that has haunted me for a very long time. Over the years, the face has blurred,
and the features are foggy, but what has remained is the bright hope that was alive in her eyes.

I soon left boarding school and moved back to Kolkata and continued my schooling. During
this time, my mother was actively involved in community service and soon became the
President of the Innerwheel Club of Central Calcutta. The Innerwheel organization is the
female counterpart, so to speak, of the Rotary. Her club started work on Apnalay, a home for
senior citizens. They laid the foundation, got a plan in place, and then went about the business
of collecting money to support this ambitious project.

I would like to deviate from this story for a bit and talk about communication and its importance
here. There is no denying the importance of communication being the driving force behind real
change. This could be in the form of a speech, a piece of writing, a slogan chanted by a crowd,
a song that stirs your soul, or a scientific discovery that changes your view of the universe.
Empires crumble, nations rise, revolutions come about. What we say, when we say it and how
we say it can make or break things.
Going back to the collection drive for the senior citizens’ home, there was a struggle going on.
These were funds the ladies had to gather over and above the funds used for other activities
throughout the year. And they could not stop any other initiative to give rise to this one. There
was a dire need to inspire and motivate people to help with the cause.

This is where I come in. Having never forgotten that old lady’s glimmer of hope, I jumped at
the chance to work on this challenge. We decided that we’d create a video and share it with
some old and potential sponsors, as well as, play it at multiple events and platforms, to
strengthen our messaging and reinforce it.

“I feel like it's actually everybody's responsibility to use whatever platform they have to do
good in the world, basically, and to try to make our society better, whether you're an
accountant or an activist or an athlete or whatever it is. I think it's everybody's responsibility.”
~ Megan Rapinoe

Video editing is something I had done on and off as a hobby. Given our lack of resources, I
took up the mantle and gave it my all. I studied content online and went through what should
have been a million advertisements related to this space. The 3 days before the first screening,
so to speak, were spent doing just this. Three long days, and three sleepless nights. The message
here had to be just right.

At long last, the work was finally over. The deed was done. The ladies had decided to host a
small event commemorating the laying of the first foundation stone of the senior citizens’
home. The video was to be screened as part of the presentation following the President’s
speech. With baited breath, I waited to see the reactions of all present.

Thankfully, it all went well. The video eventually garnered close to 14 lac rupees that year.
This has become an important personal milestone in my life. It keeps me motivated and inspires
me to try harder, everyday.

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into
the lives of others.”
~ Pericles

In this case, however, there is a literal monument standing as a testament of the impact we can
create. Apnalay is now a flourishing home to many in our community. When we come together
and raise our voices in unison to share a message that matters, it does create an impact.
Communication affects change. Communication creates impact. Communication can change
behaviour, a community, and society. This course has further strengthened my belief in this.

This course has been amazing. We were given a whole new perspective and learnt to look at
the world through this life-altering lens. It was also a far cry from other things I have studied
in the past during my years pursuing engineering and what we covered this past year at MICA.
We learnt about the lives people lead and how we can serve the community and create real
impact. This course is not what you expect in a traditional MBA. But this is MICA. We don’t
do traditional. Rather, ‘traditional’ has undergone a MICAn rebranding. Traditions for MICAns
are very different and somethings that only we, as a community know, value and understand.
This (MICA) is probably my umpteenth brush with a fresh culture, but I am most grateful for
this experience. I am certain this experience will change me as a person, and for the better. In
fact, I think it’s already happening.