In Conversation with Dr. Vandana Shiva
O concludes the first season of Verse Series with lessons from the Nature, in an interview with Dr. Vandana Shiva. Dr. Shiva is a quantum physicist, an environmental activist, an ecofeminist, President of Navdanya International
https://navdanyainternational.org/For Dr. Shiva understanding the interconnectedness of nature is the biggest life lesson and she along with her team strives to help the rest of us see and understand the concept of interconnectedness that Quantum Physics points to.
For the final episode of the first season of O's Verse Series, Dr. Shiva is being interviewed by Shivraj Parshad. Shivraj is a Communication Coach and Trainer, ICF Certified Executive and Life (Coming Out) Coach, Podcaster, Anchor and EMCEE, Certified International Trainer and Coach, D&I Advocate: a long list of profiles Shivraj juggles, effortlessly. While this is common knowledge, this list is not it. There’s more to his repertoire. Here's a link to Shivraj's profile, if you wish to know more about him:
https://in.linkedin.com/in/shivraj-pa...
With Earth as our Mother, there's much at stake if we do not treat her with respect and kindness. At the moment, this is not quite how we treat our Mother Earth. Her resources are being abused, looted and plundered in mankind's race for power and space. While we are running out of time but there still is hope, says Dr Shiva, if we come together and acknowledge the interconnectedness and vow to live sustainably.
This interview series is an effort at communicating to our viewers about the importance of art and sports disciplines in our life and of the need to challenge academic imperialism, especially for young learners' through meaningful and effective discussions and talks.
As a token of thanks to Dr. Vandana Shiva, for taking the time out to speak with us from her busy schedule, we chose Sooraj's work:
Here's a bit about the artist Sooraj:
https://www.o-o-o.org/craft-corner
O was set up a year ago to build bridges. It wasn’t a matter of identifying gaps for we know they are there and that the gaps are widening and so it is a matter of addressing these gaps and committing to work towards building bridges. The discussion of decolonising the curriculums isn’t new. In the precolonial India art and science subjects weren’t disconnected. In the post colonial India they are taught to students as two disconnected disciplines. That separation is an outcome of colonisation. Decolonising academia would in that case be the marrying of art and science subjects and not in the scant inclusion of English writers including William Shakespeare in English Language Teaching. West’s limited understanding of the East and the tendency to often assume a moral and academic high-ground to the point of academic imperialism is a definite cause of concern. It is in O’s interest to overcome these barriers in learning and to evolve a level-playing field for all. And at O we emphasise on verse and we begin with young learners.