Saturday, December 31, 2016

2016 Seasons ends, 2017 planning begins!

At the beginning of the campaign season, when we hadn't managed to find a Campaign Assistant, Dr Swarna Rajagopalan joked that I got my wish, just 3 years late. But better late than never! The 2016 campaign has been exciting, educative and full of surprises. We were worried about rains and floods before we started, and by the time the official campaign season came to a close, we had to contend with a cyclone, the death of a sitting Chief Minister, and a whole lot of rescheduling. But despite all of that, this campaign, in my opinion, was amazingly successful.

Thank you's have to go out to a whole bunch of people for making this possible - partners, volunteers, participants, friends... But there are a few I would like to send out special thanks to.

First, to the people who partnered with us to provide us with mannequins for the Dummies' Guide to Sexual Harassment. The idea was attractive to a whole lot of people, and got many people talking about the campaign and about Prajnya - and it wouldn't have been possible without Sundari Silks and Tranz Mannequins.

Then, to the poets who brought us their words and their energy at short notice for the Poetic Companion to Dummies' Guide - it was a fitting end to the campaign, and you were the only ones who could have done it.

Thirdly, to the volunteers who helped with the planning and the programmes - thank you for being there year after year, and for cheering the core team on in many ways.

I had two partners in crime for this campaign - Dr Swarna Rajagopalan, who spent countless hours planning and guiding us through the many events this campaign, and Santha N, our administrator, who tirelessly ensured that the campaign ran smoothly and all the logistics were in place.

The day before the campaign started, Santha and I were at Sundari silks, trying to wrap our mannequins in gauze bandage and ensure that their saris were tied properly enough - something we estimated would take a maximum of 45 minutes. Well, we were very wrong, and by the time the wrapping, tucking and pinning was done, Santha was calmly fielding a hundred calls from people who were waiting to settle the mannequins in at their temporary homes. Through the campaign, she's helped me stay calm and ensured that all last minute panic situations are smoothed over. Thank you, Santha!

Dr Swarna and I have a history of giggling our way through tricky programming and scheduling and (sometimes) difficult people - and planning this campaign was no different. Our calendar changed not just 2 days before the start of the campaign, it had to be modified and adapted halfway through as well. But through the ups and downs, she helped us all stay calm with our eyes on the prize - Thank you, mam, for never letting anything feel like a catastrophe, and pulling us through aaram se!

Considering this was my first and last campaign as Programme Officer for Prajnya, the 2016 campaign will always remain very special to me.

The campaign season has officially closed - but as I've learnt in my years of volunteering and working with Prajnya - we're always, in our heads, planning for the next campaign!

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Raga

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