Meet Govind Ramakrishnan - The 17-year-old NRI poet who writes to create awareness on gender equality.
17-year-old NRI, Govind Ramakrishnan is a senior at the Trinity School in New York who loves to study the Classics and Humanities – particularly Latin and History. He aspires to study Sanskrit and Greek in college, but poetry continues to be his first love.
Govind says “I have always loved reading poetry. Towards the end of my 8th grade, I started penning poems and soon enough, it became an obsession. I found most of the poetry I read to be unduly long and often needlessly complex. I then came across the works of Basho, the master Japanese haiku poet and was amazed at his ability to express the world as he saw it, in seventeen syllables or less. This was when I had a light-bulb moment and resolved to write a book of poems with not more than fifty words each. I call it “twitter poetry”.
About the book and the cause it supports.
Govind recently launched his book in New York titled “My World in Fifty Words” where all the proceeds from the sale will go to a charity that he started called YASA -Youth Against Sexual Assault . YASA fights for gender equality and plans to support “Breakthrough”, a human rights organization which fights for gender equality in India.
Breakthrough is one of the partners that has been shortlisted by YASA. Govind elaborates “Breakthrough’s goal is to create a world in which gender related violence and discrimination of any kind is deemed culturally intolerable. They use multimedia campaigns, community mobilization, and leadership training to equip both men and women to challenge the status quo and take action for the dignity, equality, and justice of every human”.
Govind took two years to write his book which is a compilation of some of his favorite poems. It includes a new collection of over a hundred poems which have been written specially for this purpose. Govind says “For the last two years, I have been writing poems and publishing them on a popular poetry website called poemhunter.com . Poetry by far is my favorite and most time-consuming hobby. I hope I can put my poetic skills to good use through the sale of my book”. “My World in Fifty Words” is being published by Opus Media- one of UK’s leading publishing companies.
About YASA.
Youth Against Sexual Assault is an organization founded to raise awareness regarding issues surrounding gender violence. Govind says “We hope to inspire a youth-led revolution which will accord women in our society, the respect and protection that they deserve.” The thought behind setting up this Foundation was kindled when I went to India about three years ago and read several articles in the media about women being sexually assaulted, or women dropping court cases because of backlash against them. I was horrified to learn that 90% of Indian women experience gender-based violence during their lifetime. That vacation, I decided to fight for this important cause in any way that I could and YASA was born as a result. Since YASA’s formation, we have had over 240k visitors to our website.
Soon after returning to New York, a close friend of mine told me that she had been sexually assaulted by someone she knew fairly well. I saw a sense of hopelessness in her eyes as she explained the circumstances to me and the fact that there was nothing that she could do to bring justice. I had trouble sleeping that night, and I realized that the problems surrounding gender equality were not solely an Indian issue and should be worked on globally”.
YASA’s goal is to help prevent sexual assault and to transform the youth into aware and responsible adults. Apart from working to disseminate information to create awareness on the importance of mutual respect for both sexes, YASA also aims to help in the formation of teenager volunteer groups which will advocate prevention of sexual assault to their peers. Teaching girls to recognize and avoid risky situations and to equip them with simple techniques of self- defense is also a very high priority.
Other interests.
In addition to poetry, Govind spends his free time playing ping-pong, learning kickboxing and Shaolin kung fu. He loves singing Carnatic music, and reading fantasy novels -” A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin”, being amongst his favorites. He is also an avid supporter of the New York Knicks and FC Barcelona.
Inspirations.
Govind’s brother Mahesh is his biggest inspiration for now. “He is four years older than me and has paved the way for me and made my journey through high school that much smoother. A few years ago, before I started high school, I found him to be bossy and annoying. But as I get older and face the things he has already conquered, I realize how dedicated and hardworking he has been. I have a new found respect for the way he faces whatever comes his way. I often find myself wondering ” what would my brother do? ”.
Dreams and aspirations.
Govind has traveled all over the world. He says “In my travels around the world, I have seen rampant inequality and poverty all over the world. Education and literacy seem to be the most sensible way to fight this problem. My dream is to be an agent of change wherever possible and be in a position to influence those around me with my writing. I also hope to pursue a Ph.D. in development economics and wish to teach some day. Also, in order to have a direct impact on the people and the communities that I end up being a part of, I eventually hope to be running for office some day.”
