Giving My Own Dream Priority

Youth nurtures nature; nature nurtures peace -- Be inspired with this story of an Indian woman who followed her heart and vision – uplifting the lives of thousands of young people and their communities.

By Linda Alipen and Barbara Key

 

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

In 2010, Diti Mookherjee became a Fulbright-Nehru scholar at Santa Clara University working with the environmental studies department. During the last months of her assignment, she heard about the Women Leaders for the World (WLW) program and applied. That was her first step toward becoming the leader of a youth movement.

From the day she stepped into the seminar; she was on a journey to becoming a different person—one who is using her life’s energy in new ways. Being raised as a woman in the Indian culture, Diti focused her early life on making others happy, supporting their visions, and being a good daughter, wife, and mother. Her father and husband encouraged her to be free, but social norms made sure that she was not totally independent, either. She was trained to listen for what others wanted, not to what she desired.

In a profound moment during the WLW seminar in 2011, she gave her own dream priority. She recalls that it was dark outside. She heard the workshop leader saying, “Let go of the person who came here. What do you connect with? What is your vision?” She chose to put herself first—to trust herself with a ferocity she had never used for her own ideas. She would work with youth and nature. She embraced her calling—something she could not ignore.

Embracing Her Own Dream

Diti became the leader who promoted “Youth nurtures nature; Nature nurtures peace.” She called the young people she worked with Green Rhinos. She spoke her dream of creating 10,000 of them. She would bring them together to discover their own dreams and to launch small scale projects to positively impact nature in their localities.

Today, Diti is on her way to that goal as CEO of Association for Social and Environmental Development. Thousands of youths have participated in projects such as planting trees in the delta along the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna Rivers in the Sundarbans. Along the way, amazing and unexpected transformations have occurred.

Green Rhinos are more confident. They trust themselves and their own vision of a better world. They feel the fire and power that is generated when they are working together toward a project that makes a difference. They have learned about collaboration by jointly digging holes for the plants. They enjoy being on teams instead of fiercely competing for individual recognition at school. They are entrepreneurial spirits who have overcome the fears of asking their principals and others in the community for support.  They are conscious of a world bigger than themselves.

Each time Diti meets with the youths, she feels joy. She knows that she is in the right place. She teaches and, in fact, embodies three principles:

1. There is no wrong vision; because it is yours, it is real and legitimate.
2. Everyone has a right to speak and has something to contribute.
3. When someone speaks to us, we listen.

The youths, mostly middle schoolers, are like sponges. They not only hear her words, but they also see that she lives them. She has become her three principles.

It Is No Use Going Back to Yesterday

Was it a smooth road from that California seminar to where Diti is today? No, far from it.

Diti says it was difficult to go back to the same situation she had left. She was not the same person who departed for California. Yes, her husband was there to support her, but he felt that there had been a significant shift. At first, he found it hard to understand her. One of her best friends admitted, “I am afraid to talk to her now.” Like Alice in Wonderland, however, she knew “It’s no use going back to yesterday; I was a different person then.”

Feelings of being lost and alone engulfed her. It was like she had nothing to hold on to in the world. She sought like-minded people. She searched for funding. She pursued every opportunity that presented itself. She launched a partnership with an organization that was giving solar lamps to youths in the Sundarbans. To get a lamp, they had to attend Diti’s seminar. Both physical and psychological light was brought into the young people’s lives.

Diti’s classical Indian music practice and yoga sustained and restored her. She says, “When my thoughts get stuck and my energy wanes, music and yoga help me to regain my equilibrium. I can then attain and maintain the ‘sweet space’ of quiet and peace. Into that space, energy and excitement move freely. I am ready to be myself again.”

A Life of Its Own

Diti gradually came to enjoy what she was doing, to be less serious, to play with the project. Soon, less effort was needed. With this ease came insights. She clearly saw what the program was creating in the students. She comprehended that this was not her program anymore. It now belonged to the Green Rhinos themselves. It had developed a life of its own. Diti let go of ownership. She says, “It is my sacred duty to be able to remain a channel for it and not let it get stuck.”

Diti plans to expand her focus on “Nature nurtures peace.” She ran a successful project in which nineteen Indian schools and ten American schools studied water. One team from India visited Kentucky, and another from the United States visited Kolkata. In Kolkata, the team from Kentucky shared their stories and proudly showed off their United States project. The Indian youths did the same during their American tour. With more exchanges like this, Diti believes peace will emerge. The young people will know each other as real people who are connected through understanding of and nurturing Mother Earth.  Green Rhinos as a train the trainer model is being designed to further an international focus.

So why is this a story of consciousness and embodiment? Diti’s embodiment of her vision is never more evident than when she coaxes the children to speak about their own visions. She is a quiet spirit who helps them find the passion within themselves. She uses her musical practice and spirituality to remain centered and congruent with her deep caring. Her actions, her words, and even her body motions are melded together, revealing her openness in an inviting way. When she speaks, she uses the youths’ own words—reflecting how carefully she listens and connects to them. She acknowledges each contribution as valuable.

Appreciative Inquiry Questions to Ponder

Discover

• What leadership values and principles are you consciously embodying?

Dream

• What is a personal dream you have where you will put yourself first?
• Let yourself go and dream about embracing this personal dream!

Design

• What has to change to make this dream a priority in your life?

Deliver

• Outline two to three steps you can take now towards that priority.

This article was adapted from the book, Shifting Context: Leadership Springs from Within, 2022