JOIN USKanthari Talks looks to create changemakers in society
The tenth anniversary of ‘Kanthari Talks’, a platform to create changes in the society, will be held in Bengaluru on November 24 and 25 at St John’s Auditorium, Koramangala.
The theme this year is ‘Change from Within’, which aims to encourage people who want to make a change.
‘Kanthari Talks’ is the culmination of a seven-month leadership course, which has people sharing their life story as well as solutions for issues they have been facing, which they will implement in their own societies.
‘Kanthari’, the organisation which presents these talks, is based in Trivandrum. It helps people, who have overcome adversity or who were affected by social ill, start social projects.
“For example, a visually handicapped person might want to start an initiative for other blind people, or a woman who underwent domestic violence would like to conduct vocational training in skills for other women to enable them to become financially independent,” says Paul Kronenberg, co-founder of Kanthari.
Paul says that the change in the larger society has to start from individual level.
He cites an example, “When people watch disturbing news on channels, do we find them protesting right after that? No, because they are distracted by titbits from Hollywood, Bollywood and the many commercials that flood their channels. We want to create platforms to initiate talks and conversations about things that matter.”
People are responsible for what they choose to do and also for what they choose not to do, he adds.
Speaking about their event in Bengaluru, Paul says, “We are excited to
hold the programme in Bengaluru this year as it is a bigger city. People here understand what is going in the world.”
Kanthari has trained 183 people from 41 countries across the world in the last nine years.
“This has resulted in 130 projects worldwide which have reached out to thousands of people. When people say that one person cannot make a difference, we always tell them that ‘kanthari’ (a particular type of chilli) is very tiny yet can be really spicy. We aim to spread this spice,” he says.
Paul ensures to point out that Kanthari’s centre is a leadership training centre and not a healing centre.
“We make sure that the person has come out of the adversity they were
in and will be able to champion the cause. Once they are done with the training, we help them set up their startup or initiative,” he says.
The topics of discussions will include environmental protection, alternative
education, women empowerment and building an equal and an inclusive society.
“People from different countries approach us with their ideas and we provide them with leadership skills after they are chosen for our programme. Most of the times, all these candidates are missing is training,” he says.