Ranbhoomi—the annual sports fest of IIM Indore in association with Radio France and Alliance Francaise, Bhopal organized ‘Bonjour India’, an experience sharing session with the French journalists on December 5, 2017. We all have been hearing about devastated war-torn countries but we are never in a position to make objective judgements about their situations. The closest we can get, is to interact with those who have seen them with their own eyes. The objective of Bonjour India was to interact with the same persons who have actually witnessed such incidences, lived and survived in various circumstances which we have just read about. Bonjour India is a new generation on stage event for sharing stories covered by French journalist. After successful shows in Moscow, Tehran, Istanbul, Alger and more, they today discussed the nature of democracy, civil rights, and what it means to be young in a country that is collapsing.
The event started with a message from Antasia who belongs to Moscow. She talked about her experiences of being a journalist in Russia and the contemporary media scenario there. The three Indian guests from Koraput, Chandigarh and Indore also shared a lot of interesting and motivational experiences. Sumeet, one of the Indian guests, shared his life story of how he covered the journey from being a slum boy to being a student of JNU. Sumeet now dreams of becoming a politician in future to change the lives of many other people who are facing the societal evils.
A speaker from Syria also shared a lot of engaging and thought provoking stories about her life and the adverse situations that she has to go through being a citizen of Syria and the media restrictions there. All the speakers shared incidences which we could usually just read in the newspapers, but they have lived through them. The event was a huge success, with participants from the entire IIM Indore community.
Ranbhoomi, which is planned to be organised from 19-21 January, has planned many such events for the youth to inspire them to do better in life.