On November 18, 2021, Bharat Soka Gakkai (BSG), an organisation led by the concept of ‘humanistic philosophy,’ hosted its first-ever webinar titled “The Power of One- the Solidarity of Youth,” online.
The idea of the webinar was to harness the power of youth and unleash the power of knowledge for its participants. While the webinar was interspersed with various cultural and other recitals, all leveraging the concept of peace and harmony, speeches by eminent personalities gave the programme a fitting look. Participants spoke at length on the extent that youth can harness their power to get mighty movements going.
Devika Chaturvedi, the moderator of the event, began the show by introducing the concept as well as the panelists. Quite at the start, an inspiring fact shared by Ms. Shruti Nangia, leaders of the All India Young Women’s Division, BSG, moved everyone.
“Today’s webinar is significant for two reasons. It was this day 91 years ago, November 18, 1930, that the Soka Gakkai was founded by Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and his closest disciple, Jōsei Toda. There could be no other befitting day for us to hold this youth webinar than this day as we embark on a fresh journey today to live even a more youthful life," she said.
Another panelist, Minal Karanwal, a Sub Divisional Officer, and a Project Officer at BSG, shared her ideology, one that got her in good stead. “I would share my secret formula the way master Oogway showed to Po, with the secret scroll. When he opened the secret scroll, he found nobody but himself. So my secret formula was me, myself.”
Hemakshi Meghani, Co-founder, Indian School of Democracy, remarked that in the years gone by she did not have role models to look up to. “I remember that I did not have role models around me. We had to look back at history to find a role model. But, I felt like I could connect to women in politics; those around me, and they did not have to be grand figures in history. As we grow, we need role models and relatable role models. I think that stored a drive into me, and my life choices aligned.”
Karan Jerath from United Nations Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals shared his journey. “A lot of my stories start around the time when my family and I lived in Koala Lumpur, Malaysia. Just living in that marine environment made me gain interest in what now is SDG 14 (Sustainable Development Goals)”.
Panelist, Sumanth Mishra, Chief at All India Young Men’s group, BSG, was poetic when he got his message across. “I think with a strong sail and a good compass, we can embark into the oceans out there, really explore this depth of our life and discover true happiness upon reaching the shore of our own chosen ambitions.”
Poetry and philosophy packed with unique webinars which went on for more than an hour and left its listeners in deep thought for hours later.
