"Be the River" - a local event organized by our Chapter in Kolkata, India
The day following Peace Day, Chapter Leader, Sohini Jana, launched the new format of the Euphrates-Kolkata Chapter. This event served to inform, inspire and transform by sharing stories from the Euphrates community, hosting a Q&A with peace-expert, Nilanjana Sanyal, and leading a Superhero Workshop that brought the participants into the conversation and helped empower them as agents of change.Akanksha Tiwari, an 11th grade student, was a part of the organizing committee for this event and an active participant at the workshop. Enjoy reading what she wrote about the event!
Not very long ago, my mentor, also our Chapter Leader in Kolkata, India, introduced me to The Euphrates Institute. I had the honour and privilege to contribute to her first successful workshop based on superheroes. Through creative problem solving by role playing, we tested how we would utilise our superpowers to serve the world. Superpowers are traits that help us connect with the world around us and allow us to be more mindful individuals. Each of us was provided with two notes, one with our superpower and the other with the problem we had to fix. We were then asked to form a group of four, the main objectives being to enhance and test our thinking abilities and make us interact with new people.
It was indeed a very different experience for all of us present there. People of all age groups voluntarily participated in this workshop and enjoyed themselves. It was a very interactive session where everyone expressed what they felt about the social evils and what peace meant to them. Besides the role play, we had an interactive question and answer session with our respected guest, a renowned peace activist and author, Nilanjana Sanyal.
Lastly, our committee had the pleasure to interact with We Are One, a global youth peace group and network spanning across ten countries. As part of our Chapter’s new mentorship model, we launched We Are One’s emerging network and promoted their first event, which occurred on September 30th. The founders of We Are One, Kanishk Saraogi from India and Rida Khalid from Pakistan, are engineering brilliant ideas to bring the world closer every day. Their first event, which the Euphrates Institute promoted, was a tree planting initiative across 23 countries in the name of international friendships. The Euphrates Institute-Kolkata Chapter looks forward to collaborating with them on further events which align with “turning the 'Other' into a brother.”
This day was indeed a very transformative experience and an extremely enlightening and thoughtful initiative taken up by Sohini Jana and her team to promote peace and love and provide help and support to everyone who thinks they are alone. Gandhi had once said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I can already see the millennials contributing to something bigger. It’s time we become more agile and aware and indulge ourselves in activities like this one to make the world a better place.