Recent times have witnessed women coming to the forefront taking on the might of the repressive regimes in their respective countries and not caring for the dangers inherent in taking such bold action. Interestingly, monks have also captured popular attention by stepping out from their monasteries to protest in public the excesses committed by their rulers.
It seems that men in such countries have left the task of opposing brutal actions of their governments to their womenfolk and monks!!!
It is not just in Myanmar that Buddhist monks have been causing trouble for a repressive regime. According to reports from human-rights groups and in the Hong Kong press, monks in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, have clashed with the Chinese police over the past month. Read on…
One of the major demonstration of international support to the “moral and spiritual” fight against repressive regimes came in the form of US Congressional Gold Medal for the Dalai Lama. Click here…
Meanwhile Australia slapped financial sanctions on Burma’s generals and their families as supporters of the opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, marked her 12 years in captivity with protests in 12 cities across the world. More here…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.