Ep. 268 - Design of Peace with Rajni Bakshi

Audiogyan

Rajni Bakshi joins us on Audiogyan. She is an Indian author, researcher, and activist. Her work primarily focuses on issues related to non-violence, economics, ecology, and peace. Rajni is the founder and curator of Ahimsa Conversations, an online platform for exploring the possibilities of nonviolence. More about her in the show notes. I have been to Vipassana a couple of times and found that peace is an outcome of a war. This made me curious to have a conversation with Rajni on understanding the design of Peace. A small note before we start. These are complex subjects of a lifetime. As I and Rajni spoke about this before the recording, we are all exploring the right questions for the given answers.

Questions

1. What does nonviolence (Ahimsa) mean to you? Tell us a little bit about “Ahimsa Conversations”. How and where did all of it begin?
2. Isn’t violence part of nature - “survival of the fittest”? Also one fights with oneself to perform better (an athlete for eg.) How do you see violence with this lens?
3. How do you respond to criticism that non-violence is ineffective or idealistic in the face of oppression and violence?
4. How do you see using non-violence as a means of social change? In your view, what are some of the key challenges to promoting and practicing non-violence in our communities and societies? Gandhi is the biggest example of changing the power structure through non-violence. Do you think it’s possible today?
5. What is the long-term future of violence as a concept?

Reference Reading

1. https://www.crackerandrush.com/case_studies/ahimsa/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajni_Bakshi
3. https://www.rfp.org/leadership_member/ms-rajni-bakshi/
4. https://www.awakin.org/v2/calls/308/rajni-bakshi/
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHzMW9biiFM
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wI2D243IsQ
7. https://indianexpress.com/profile/columnist/rajni-bakshi/
8. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajni-bakshi-29ba0a2/?originalSubdomain=in
9. https://www.youtube.com/@AhimsaConversations/featured