Dear Friend:

Walking out from an institution, societal norm or dysfunctional mindset usually isn’t easy. Sometimes we find the courage to walk-out because the dysfunction is so great, or because we’re passionate about being the change we want to see in the world. This strength isn’t always there, however; sometimes the desire to walk out exists, but not the confidence and courage to make it happen. A little help is needed, a little encouragement for those of us generating new ways of living.

Help with the walk-out/walk-on process is what Walkout Challenge Day is all about.

Basically, Walkout Challenge Day is a day when walkouts help each other overcome the fear and/or inertia that’s limited their walk-out/walk-on journey. On April 6, 2006, 76 years to the day since M. K. Gandhi defied the British by making his own salt, walkouts in several sites throughout the world will host a walkout celebration. At each celebration, a handful of people who have declared in advance will embrace a new path and officially ‘walk out’ from something they’ve thus far not had the courage or confidence to reject.

We envision these celebrations as walkout parties, but what format such celebrations should take can vary from place to place. Perhaps a potluck lunch, perhaps public commitments/speeches by those who are walking-out/walking-on, perhaps presentations from those in the community who help and strongly support walkouts, perhaps a buddy system to encourage walkouts after the event, perhaps all or none of the above. Your help brainstorming ideas would be greatly appreciated. One format we’re not excited about is the awards format, though, as awards and honors implicitly promote competition.

Last year, here in Udaipur, we had a combination of experiences for Walkout Challenge Day. We held the event in Suchna Kendra (information center) and began with a press conference and small mela, where a few different walkouts hosted spaces sharing their work. They included Sandeep Bordia (city organic farmer who left a finance career); Rajaram Sharma (a traditional artist who left school in sixth grade to pursue his art); Jayshankar Dhaybai (a herbal healer and member of Jan Jagran Vikas Samiti, who left school in tenth to pursue his interests), and Panna Lal Patel (a farmer and Mewari writer/editor, who walked out of a master’s in Rajasthani literature and also stopped the use of chemical fertilizers/pesticides in his family farm). We honored their contributions to the community. Then we screened the film ‘Walkout’, which we had co-produced with Abhivyakti (Nashik, India) and Multiversity (Goa, India). Following some brief discussion on the film, people were then invited to share their own walkout commitments. These ‘declarations’ covered a broad range, from completely turning off the television, to saying no to multinational products, to no longer eating white sugar. The excitement at this point was contagious, and many people arose to share their new commitments. With some food and snacks, the event was then continued and concluded informally. All in all, it was a three hour affair.

We feel the Walkout Challenge Day celebration serves several functions. It encourages and supports those who are walking-out, and provide an opportunity to publicly commit to change. It creates an excuse to get a bunch of really cool people together. Also, the celebration spreads awareness that walking out is viable, and that a network exists for people who want to take a path less taken.

Walkout Challenge Day only works if people in various sites help make it happen, though. We at Shikshantar are hosting a walkout celebration in Udaipur again in Udaipur, and we were wondering if you’d be interested in hosting an event in your neck of the woods, too. Last year, we had put together a simple press note that organizers could use for the event. We can make that available again, or people could write their own and then share them with the larger network. Peter is also putting up a website to support those interested in and organizing the event.

Let us know what you think, and please pass along suggestions. If you’re interested, please get back to us as soon as possible so we can support you and together co-create this event.

We look forward to hearing from you.

With love,

Peter Kowalke, Shilpa Jain and the Shikshantar family peter@kowalke.info, shilpa@swaraj.org