Rahul's journey from dispair to hope
interviewed by Aruna Saikia for WAY
Maturity is not by age, but the acceptance of your “Responsibilities”, the inspiring story of a young pioneer
“Learn to take responsibilities and not to get tired”- was Rahul's
message for today’s youth.
Most of us prefer to do a Government Job for the safety and security of the future. It may be due to one’s own wish or the pressure of the parents and the society. Very few aim at living life at their own risks. It needs great courage and zeal to be among the few people who wish to be different. Such a courageous person is Mr. Rahul Bora, a young pioneer who leads the extremely energetic youth of the society.
He is a resident of Jorhat, Assam. He believs that the problems of the society and the inequalities can be reduced when we empower young people and things can be solved by just looking into oneself and talking to our conscience. So, overcoming
all the hardships and sterotypes of the society, he decided to work with the youth for the betterment of the society.
This insightful man has completed his Masters in Social Work from a prestigious Institute, Bosco Institute, Jorhat, under Dibrugarh Universiy. His Institution was a unique one. The onset of the course is somewhat distinctive. Communication
Workshops, Theatre workshops, PRA, field works and other techniques to mix up with the community were held during the initial two/three months in order to study each other’s points of view. After two or three months in the institute, they sit to discuss the pros and cons. This follows “learn from one’s mistakes” concept.
After pursuing his Master degree in Social Work, he applied for a fellowship offered by the same for 2 years. This fellowship helped him to support himself while working for the society. He realized his potential and the fire for establishing his own initiative. Firstly, he was confident enough when he thought of taking this big step but somewhat unconfident of how further he could continue it. Also, he was quite reliable to the fact that people’s networks will work at the time of need. The circle of friends or the friends of friends may help him. And the more one does, he/she increases the circle gradually.
He was pretty sure that he will not be living his life doing a government or any 9 to 5 job. It may be because he didn’t like to follow the same sedentary routine all throughout his life. Then the question came, if not this, then what should be done?
He started working on to realizing his potentials, did some internships, volunteering for 9 months and was hoping for more, but could not continue as he was engaged with another Organization where they saw some real potential in him
and asked him whether he wanted to continue working for them. He continued to work with the organization as well as work on his initiative simultaneously. He asked them for half of his time to work for his own initiative.
The initiative he runs is named as “Thoughts to Action”. Through this, he provides a platform to the young people where they can share and listen to each others experiences and raise their voices. The way by which this is done is through Experiential Learning where they do camps, share their happenings, etc. Even during the lockdown, he is working on the initiative for the good of the society.
" Today’s youth needs to realize the inner voice they have. Put yourself into situations which are quite out of your comfort zones. Most of the time, we feel comfortable where we do not need much to think of. But those things will not let you grow. And when you are not growing, you are also not learning to take responsibility.”