“Our generation has the privilege and the burden of so many choices. Follow your gut and trust yourself. Once you make a choice, follow it through. Take time to find your niche. If there is a point where both your head and your heart can meet, seize it and live on it. Dream but do not forget the reality.”
Speaking from her experience, these were the lines with which Trishya had ended when I asked her if she had any messages to share with the youngsters who are at the juncture of making decisions for career and for self.
With a degree in film production from the University of Southern California, supported by a strong family background in the film industry, Trishya Screwvala, daughter of the famous Bollywood producer Ronnie Screwvala, had the experience of working with big production houses like Fox, Fox Searchlight etc and producing independent documentaries too. With the market for documentaries on the rise, Trishya believed that they are a very strong and significant form of communication and she wanted to use them as a medium to spread and generate awareness on issues of concern. She wanted to create documentaries on relevant social issues.
No, she did not become a full time documentary – filmmaker though she enjoys making documentaries and does so when she gets time.
Instead she went ahead to found the Lighthouse Project (http://www.lighthouseproject.in/), an initiative to create a socially concerned India through sustained volunteerism.
Growing up to parents who formed strong role models of value, ambition and independence, drawing inspiration from her ballet teacher who taught her to believe in herself and her philosophy classes which she attends to bridge the gap between theory and practice, Trishya realized the role of mentoring that different people played at different stages of her life.
After her return to India, she was looking for opportunities to volunteer in the social sector when it struck her that there was very little scope for flexible volunteering in the domain of social sector. There were organizations that were working on social issues at a large scale but they did not have the necessary resources to tap the energy the volunteers were ready to give. It made her restless to understand why had there not been enough initiatives to channelize the enthusiasm and the energy of the volunteers. The idea of creating a platform for volunteering was rare and hardly tried before. Despite coming from a background which was rooted in the film industry, Trishya decided to take the plunge to build a not for profit organization that would be based on the model of volunteering.
“A lot of NGOs are doing great work in the field of education; however they do not have enough resources to give personal attention that a growing child needs which is often overlooked at school or at home.” The idea of having someone to be there for every child forms the crux of her organization. The children come from under resourced communities that have very less aspirations. They do not have somebody to look up to or somebody who would be supporting or guiding them through.
It is the Lighthouse Project which has created a window for the children of these communities to have that one “didi” and “bhaiya” to guide them through their journey.
The volunteers who mentor, help the children to develop life and social skills, the ability to manage their emotions and to deal with conflicts. It becomes a transformative process for both the mentor and the mentee as they happen to expose each other to a world outside their own.
Despite being challenged with the idea of trying to structure something as inconsistent as volunteerism, Trishya decided move ahead to create the structure that has been questioned about. Her constant efforts with her team have led to the reinforcement of the culture of mentoring in India.
Based in Mumbai, today the Lighthouse Project has a volunteer base of 230, who are mentors to children coming from different communities. It collaborates with different organizations working with children in need and provides them one on one mentoring. It is gradually working towards creating an environment that would foster the culture of mentoring in India thereby sensitizing people about the issues that are deep rooted in the society.
“The society is progressing and we are changing internally. Even if it takes time, the choices we make we should follow it through”, says Trishya.
Trishya made her choice. A choice that has been empowering individuals at different capacities. As she moves further in her journey, she urges people to follow the calling of both their heart and their mind.
This post is a part of our awareness campaign #MyCareerMyChoice. To read more posts from this campaign, please click here.
