i am a queer desi hindu&christian 26-year old woman from durham, north carolina. i love bees, frogs and elephants. i dream vividly. i cook, i read, and i pack a mean punch. i play capoeira. i work with ubuntu coalition (iambecauseweare.wordpress.com), future 5000 (future5000.com), & not your soldier (notyoursoldier.org). i have been doing movement work since i was 12. both my parents are visionaries and changemakers in their own way. i owe my political growth to the center for peace education, national teen AIDS hotline, haw river festival, youth voice radio, NC lambda youth network, school in the community, public allies, southerners on new ground, movement rising, the durham food co-op, buddy collective, house of mango collective, india’s national alliance of people’s movements (particularly the national fishworkers forum in thiruvananthapuram, kerala), south asians rise up and the people’s bhangra party, campaign to end the cycle of violence, highlands biological station, UNC’s biology department, NC peace and justice network, breaking the chains, hip hop against racist war, staying human artists, west end neighborhood association, duke biology greenhouse, the league of (pissed-off) young voters, the south carolina equality coalition and the fairness for all families campaign, evidence collective, my organizing coach russell herman, and many many teachers along the way (probably including you, gentle reader).

this blog will keep you abreast of the work i do as co-coordinator of the young and the restless youth program at highlander center in new market, tennessee. i am documenting this experience in this particular way because i have longed for this kind of chronicle from the folks who came before me. what does a life devoted to social change look like, lived not through ideology or gloriously noteable successes, but through daily humble minutiae? how does the story of a great place go when it is written by no hero, but simply through the lens of the experience of one member of a dedicated collective? 

i want more words in the world about supporting youth organizing. i want more transparency in social change work. i want to convey the irresistible pleasure of being part of this movement, in order to draw others to the kind of work i love. i want to process my experience here and write it down so i’ll remember; particularly in my experiences with youth voice radio, house of mango and school in the community, i wish i’d written down what happened along the way so i could share the mistakes we made and the victories we won. i have deep admiration, appreciation and respect for my cohorts here at the highlander center. i will try to represent them with integrity, and with respect for their right to confidentiality. i will attempt self-criticism, and i gratefully welcome your critique of my thoughts.