Empowering the youth is Gaur’s special passion
Empowering the youth is Gaur’s special passion By JYOTI SHANKAR
Nolan Bushnell once said, “Everyone who’s ever taken a shower has an idea. It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes a difference”.
Speaking to Lalitagauri Nadkarni, winner of the 2011 Australia Day Young Citizen of the Year award from Ashfield Council, one gets the impression of such a person who is out to make all her ideas a reality, and in the process, make a difference to her community.
Lalitagauri’s involvement in the Ashfield Youth Committee, though since less than a year, has been impressive enough to bring her this honour. This young achiever has been instrumental in petitioning the Council to have a youth representative on each of its Standing/Advisory Committees like the Library, Environment and Community Services committees. “If the youth are not part of the process of policy-making but are only involved in giving feedback after the policy has been implemented, it is a bit harder to implement any change,” says Lalitagauri. “After attending the Shift This 2010 Youth Leadership Conference, it occurred to me that it was important for local government to consider the youth perspective early on. That way, we can provide input while policies are being formed instead of afterwards, and I suggested that we should be given voting power so our opinion has a definitive impact.”
Lalitagauri or Gauri as she is popularly called, was born in Mumbai, India and moved to Sydney with her family when she was 2. Her mother is a microbiologist and her father is an architect. Her older brother is doing a degree in Commerce, but this Year 12 student of Sydney Girls High School wishes to be a psychiatrist. She says, “I really like to keep up my activities even when doing my HSC. So I am continuing to learn the clarinet, play basketball and work on the youth committee. It is a productive way to have down time!”
Over the past year the Ashfield Youth Committee (AYC) has been involved in many activities. “The AYC organised a How to Land Your First Job workshop to teach young people CV writing and interview skills, provided input to the Greenway team on how to engage young people in their great environmental initiative, and advised the council on its Street Entertainment Policy and Reconciliation Action Plan,” revealed Lalitagauri. She cited an example of the Council Graffiti Committee, where the Youth Committee tried to not just prevent graffiti, but aimed at finding ways to engage the youth creatively. “I love the idea of having murals and street art, and getting young people involved in them is a good way to express themselves creatively in a legal way,” she said.
Lalitagauri’s inspiration has been the people she met while volunteering as part of the community service segment of completing the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze and Silver awards. She volunteered at Anglicare Burwood, the Ashfield library and has been a netball umpire. “People who volunteer showed me how rewarding the experience can be. It is also incredibly enjoyable. My supervisor at Anglicare was amazing in the way she dealt with people. She was so incredibly warm with even total strangers and that was very inspiring,” said the young woman.
Lalitagauri’s family visits India often, and on being asked what she perceives to be the difference in growing up in India and here, she replied, “Each lifestyle has its merits and its demerits. I wouldn’t have the opportunity to engage in so many activities while growing up there as I do here, but at the same time there is so much life and buzz in Mumbai, people are well connected to family and culturally. I feel at home in India, but Sydney is also my home. My cousins wouldn’t swap their life for anything, and neither would I!” A very balanced and responsible head on young shoulders indeed!
