I watch 77-year-old Akhila Sivadas standing at the front of the crowd gathered outside a faecal sludge treatment plant just outside Bhubaneswar, Odisha. She is doing what I have often seen her do during field visits, conferences, and panels: asking questions. Even when her questions appear difficult, her presence is easy and gentle. She always makes time for conversation, always remaining rooted in hope when I approach her between conference sessions or during Zoom calls that spill over.

Akhila Sivadas is a founding member of the Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR), a civil society organisation headquartered in New Delhi that focuses on greater inclusion and advocacy for marginalised communities and is remaining rooted in hope despite challenges.

As a twenty-something working in the development sector, I have often grappled with remaining rooted in hope despite despair. While trying to make sense of my role and purpose, I turn to Akhila, who always appears steadfast in her willingness to hope. In conversation, she traces the evolution of civil society and its role, the challenges that have arisen in recent times, and the importance of practicing care, connection, and resolution every day.

What were the challenges you faced as a young person, and how are they different from the kind of challenges young people face today?

Akhila: Back —in the late 1960s and early ’70s— when I was in my early 20s, there was a worldwide churning, not all that different from what we are witnessing today. Students filled the streets of Paris and young people protested the Vietnam War and US imperialism. Students across India, including those at Delhi University, were clamouring for a greater say in academic curricula. I, too, was witness to the hurly-burly of students’ movements. As President of Miranda House’s Student Union, I worked to affiliate it to the larger Delhi University Union, remaining rooted in hope.

The development sector, too, was just beginning to take shape and did not yet need to remain rooted in hope. I realise now that at times I had dismissed it as ‘chiffon sari social work’, but the truth is far from it. The work was anything but superficial. There were some wonderful thinkers and institution-builders: Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, who was deeply committed to artisans and their craft; Durgabai Deshmukh, who was fiercely passionate about women’s education; and Rukmini Arundale, who built the beautiful institution of Kalakshetra in Chennai. Thousands of professional women—working as teachers, social workers, trade unionists, doctors, lawyers, engineers—were shaping India’s social imagination.

Read the full article about maintaining hope amidst the uncertainty of the social sector by Stuti Gupta at India Development Review.