TOWARDS AN IDEAL WORLD

Scholar and peace activist Kirthi Jayakumar is using stories, advocacy and technology to nudge India towards gender equality and social justice

- Smitha Murthy

I don’t lose faith or hope in life or in anyone. I think the day I do either, I will flatline, says Kirthi Jayakumar whose sense of faith and idealism took root early in life. The award-winning peace educator, lawyer and author used these very qualities as the force to launch the Red Elephant Foundation, which uses storytelling to promote gender equality and civilian peacebuilding, and the Gender Security Project, a think tank working at the intersection of gender, security, justice and peace. She is also the creator of Saahas, an app offering support for survivors of gender-based violence in 196 countries.

Kirthi was in the first grade when her mother tried to get her daughter to understand the rules of subtraction. “If I have five apples, and you take away two, how many do you have?” her mother asked her. Little Kirthi responded with, “Zero.” Perplexed, her mother asked again. But Kirthi only repeated the same thing. Frustrated, her mother gave up and asked, “How is it zero, Kirthi? You took two.” Kirthi’s logic was simple and telling. “But you’ll start crying if I take away two from you. You will be sad, then I’ll be sad, and that’s not good, so I will give them back to you.”

For Kirthi, that moment is symbolic of her approach to life. She imported what she terms that ‘idealistic’ mindset into adulthood. “I was an idealist as a child, dreaming of a world where we would all sing songs, eat muffins and be together without fighting. I try to hold onto that little girl’s ideas even today,” says Kirthi.