Marching hand in hand, solidarity in mind

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM-2004

The gathering at World Social Forum seems to be the best manifestation of grassroots globalisation, in a manner of speaking "" for there walked farmers from Betul, Madhya Pradesh, arm in arm with Palestenian peace activists.

Over a hundred thousand people have trotted the globe in their quest for another world. Armed with diverse agendas, the peaceniks were united under the world peace and Down-With-Bush banners.

A Palestenian peace march saw whole-hearted participation from Lebanese and French delegates. As the members of a Dalit organisation broke into a song and dance performance American students joined in their celebration, matching them step for step.

The various seminars, workshops, panels and other interactive sessions turned into excellent opportunities for cultural exchanges.

Similarities were the order of the day as farmers from Madhya Pradesh who compared notes with their Pakistani counterparts discovered that they shared the same concerns of 'bijli,sadak aur pani'.

The agendas ranged from Gandhianism to sexuality debates and participants varied from the renowned to the obscure.

The atmosphere was electrifying as activists broke into spontaneous jigs. Some chose to beat the drums to town with their issues.

Dance and drama were the preferred form of dialogue as people opted to drift along and soak in the revelries.

The World Social Forum was not bereft of its share of commercialism as food and drink stalls and book stalls spilled on to the roads. Some stalls chose clever ways to strike a chord with the activists like a board that announced "No Coke, only Kokam".

Organisations for the disabled united in protest against the lack of handicap-friendly arrangements at the venue despite disability being included for the first time in the agenda.

Surprisingly the many environmental organisations present did not seem alarmed at the sheer wastage of paper. Pathways were strewn with the vestiges of the fifty page agenda sheet and various pamphlets.

So who says that the world is not enough? Hope remains for yet another chaotic world.