‘And to tomorrow they shall call you – the girls who shook the nation’

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 14

Coming back to her school after a long time, and after having gone through hell, Gurmehar Kaur today upheld ideas of peace and celebration of the secular India of her dreams to the youths of the city.

“You are living and studying in a wonderful girls’ school, where no one asks you to stick to a certain standard of society. They don’t ask you to behave according to what’s acceptable. You can be whoever you want to be. No one will ask you to lower your voice or to be silenced if they don’t agree with your opinion. And most importantly, no one will threaten to rip you off, just because they don’t agree with what you have to say. It’s a free world, an ideal space. It laid the foundation to who I am today and who you will be tomorrow.”

As she stepped into Cambridge International School for girls in Jalandhar today to deliver her Ted Talk, (its Punjab’s first Ted Talk in a city except Chandigarh), this was what Gurmehar Kaur, who has recently been named the Free Speech Warrior by the Times magazine, had to say to students.

She further added, “But outside the walls of the school, the world isn’t so kind – they are cruel, they are ruthless and they are very unforgiving. The older you, Gurmehar, has gone to hell and has been back. And despite that I will still not change a thing about your journey. You are an idealist. You are dreamer, you are somebody who is extremely emotional and feels too much. You are someone who cannot bear a speck of injustice. And keep these ideas close to you and keep your identity close to you and never lose it. Because these qualities will give you the strength in future, to take an army of hateful bulls by their thorns. And shake some sense into them. Stick to your ideals and stick to the idea of a perfect world your school has shown you. And to tomorrow they shall call you – the girls who shook the nation.”

The speech was actually addressed to students in the form of an open letter to her 16-year-old self, as she said, I thought if I had to address my 16-year-old self who’s be sitting in the audience this is what I would have told them.

While she has her hands full with various projects – these include a humanitarian volunteer project regarding the Rohingya refugee crisis at the end of this month, her book, which she plans to launch at the Jaipur Literature Festival in January and a non-profit fellowship – Citizens for Public Leadership - which shall see leaders and journalists like Nidhi Razdan, Shashi Tharoor, Rajdeep Sardesai as guest speakers and mentors for 22 graduates.

However, a revival of the language of kindness, forgiveness and secularity, which India stands for and which people are fast forgetting reigns as priority on her mind.

Speaking on how to establish a connect between the present generation and the values we are forgetting, she said, “Love and forgiveness need to prevail. There is so much hate and intolerance towards the existence of the other. It’s very prominent, even in America - its always black vs white, originals vs immigrants. And in India it is - again a communal and religious atmosphere of Us vs Them, Hindus vs Muslims, Minorities vs Majorities. When that happens there is a divide within us, people, between neighbours between humans. On a very emotional basis, I think it is very important to start talking about love again. It’s important to start taking about acceptance and living in harmony. Because we can’t live in a world with borders. It is not just impossible – it’s also irrational.”

Viewing her own value system vis-a-vis youths today, she said, “I was interested in general knowledge and every day events. I see a lot of people who are 16, who are growing up. I saw a picture of India that is secular, when I was 16. That was the atmosphere. It’s important for us especially media – to go back to secular views, liberal views. To go back and start talking about what India really stands for. It’s an amalgamation of so many cultures. We have to keep talking. To keep the conversation going.”