DIKSHA : THE GENESIS

The genesis of DIKSHA lies in an experiment that Paramita Banerjee had started with a MacArthur Fellowship for Leadership Development. Located in the Kalighat and Wattganj Red Light Areas of Kolkata, West Bengal, the initiative aimed at creating a non-intrusive and nonjudgmental space for 10-19 year old girls and boys to voice, debate, discuss, and resolve issues around gender and sexuality. This pilot programme of involving girls and boys together as equal partners in change proved to be a learning process for both the participants and the interveners. The wall between them broke down as the youth took leadership roles. DIKSHA was born as a concretisation of that learning.