Y3K: Building New Earth

presented by Dysco with and at IF.BE Mumbai

Community film screening: The Seeds of Vandana Shiva followed by a live conversation with Dr Vandana Shiva, hosted by Khrisha Ambani, creator of Dysco

Event Schedule

5:00-5:30 PM: Registration + seating

5:30-6:45 PM: Documentary film screening

6:45-7:00 PM: Break

7:00-8:30 PM: Live conversation with Dr Vandana Shiva

ABOUT THE FILM (https://vandanashivamovie.com/)

How did the willful daughter of a Himalayan forest conservator become Monsanto’s worst nightmare? The Seeds of Vandana Shiva tells the remarkable life story of Gandhian eco-activist Dr. Vandana Shiva, how she stood up to the corporate Goliaths of industrial agriculture, rose to prominence in the seed saving and organic food movements, and is inspiring an international crusade for change. In her colourful sari and large scarlet bindi, Dr. Vandana Shiva is an arresting presence: She galvanises crowds, advises government leaders, fields constant calls from the media—then retreats from big-city buzz to work alongside small farmers across the developing world. Who is she? What is her mission? How did this woman from an obscure town in India become Monsanto’s worst nightmare, a rebellious rock star in the global debate about who feeds the world? Among those engaged with organic food and farming, climate change, biodiversity, seed sovereignty, globalisation, and social justice, Vandana Shiva is an icon of a global movement.

But even among those who pride themselves on being well-informed, she’s relatively unknown. Few are aware of how this daughter of a Himalayan forest conservator rose from obscurity to become a world leader of Gandhian stature. Hers is the remarkable and unlikely story of a girl who trekked from highland cabin to cabin alongside her father, tended a garden alongside her mother, and passionately pursued an education that freed her from the caste and gender constraints of traditional Indian society that culminated in a degree in Nuclear Physics, and then a Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Quantum Theory. But those achievements were merely a prelude to her awakening as a fully-committed activist. Vandana Shiva brought her scientific expertise and Gandhian principles of nonviolent resistance to the struggles of Indian villagers whose livelihoods were being crushed by corporate capitalism. She has become a formidable opponent to those corporations whose drive for privatisation and profit are destroying the environment and changing the climate. Their predations in the name of a ‘green revolution’ with its promises of wealth and freedom and ‘feeding the world’ through patented and chemically-dependent GMO seeds are reducing traditional farmers and entire communities to inescapable servitude.

In India, the fruits of the Green Revolution have been an epidemic of rural suicides. The Seeds of Vandana Shiva focuses on the people, circumstances and seminal events in Vandana’s life—what shaped her thinking and defined her purpose. It also shows how the battle against multinational agribusiness has become an international struggle between two visions for feeding the world: The first, a multinational corporate model of chemically dependent monoculture that rewards a capitalist imperative of extraction for profit. And the other, ‘Earth Democracy, that honours ecology, biodiversity, sustainability and community— what Dr. Shiva demonstrates is the only way forward for the future of food.

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ABOUT DYSCO (https://dysco.in/)

Dysco is an independent social network and platform built to help people connect, co-create, collaborate and work together. Designed for human-connection with plenty of heart. Y3K: Building New Earth is a continuation of the efforts behind Y3K: Planet Lost & Found. Y3K is a call to renew, regenerate and regrow what we have lost. We are envisioning a vibrant future: one where humans, technology and nature live in symbiotic harmony. This is a celebration of the deep passion, commitment and innovation exhibited by diverse and determined people, to protect and preserve the wonder and biodiversity of our planet. We are moving from identifying and understanding the problems facing us, to simultaneously experimenting with and building solutions for our collective good.

ABOUT IFBE (https://www.instagram.com/ifbe.space/)

IFBE is a laboratory for exploration; for transdisciplinary work across the enduring and the upcoming in architecture, design and the arts. A place to pause and reflect, this is a space where different minds come together to engage with challenges and chances, to work with advocacy and alternatives; where creativity combines with concern. IFBE aims to bring the community together to unwire and rewire our responses and contributions to ever-evolving cultural narratives, local and global.

ABOUT JNANGANJ

Jñānganj is a window to a more beautiful and harmonious world. Jñānganj aims to imagine, envision and build a New Earth, based on principles of kindness, compassion, harmony, regeneration and oneness. Through the elevation of collective consciousness, we aspire to create new communal systems and initiatives, drawing on ancient wisdom, radical thinking, honest intentions and powerful tools and technologies. Our mission is to stimulate and cultivate curiosity and spread awareness; offer education and opportunities; connect people and communities; and to facilitate the healing of all living beings for our shared growth and development.