Why We Gathered
This book is a labour of love, resistance, and hope that was made possible from an intimate gathering that we called Alternative Identity Project. Over 4 rainy afternoons in July 2019, we had invited 8 young people with diverse identities to come together and engage in conversations that reject the idea of personal failure and instead place the idea of failure in the unequal systems and unjust structures around us.
This was not a space for teaching people how to overcome failure or learning how to “fit in”. This was a space for questioning what failure means and who gets to decide that. It was a space to collectively take a second look at norms of how we should and should not be in this world, instead of accepting them as the truth. To identify the cracks in them where their voices of resistance can seep in, and to shine a light on their alternative knowledges and ways of living, bringing them out of the shadows of failure.
Holding a Collective Stance
In order to call out problems that are as big as systems of power, I imagine it takes a clear and firm belief in and commitment to the stance that the problem lies in these systems and not inside people. With this in mind, we decided to invite young people who experience marginalization related to their identities of gender, sexuality, religion, caste, and disability, and who hold some belief in the idea of rejecting personal failure and questioning systems of power. It was this collective stance of protesting dominant discourses of failure and the personal histories of resistance that each of us carried into the room, that I believe made this experience possible.
How We Worked Together
We used mediums such as small group discussions, large group conversations to encourage critical thinking, art, games, and letter writing to bring these ideas to life.
What This Story Holds
This is the story of these 8 young people, their journey of finding each other, making visible their acts of refusal and resistance against failure, and reimagining a preferred world that places failure in systems, not in people. A world that invites inclusion of all identities, respect for contexts, agency for people, and community care.
Dear Reader,
A Letter to Our Readers
If our lives were a landscape, what would be the same and what would be different?
Would you and I share the same mountains?
Would our rivers flow differently?
Would we look up to see the same sky?
Would we witness the clouds differently?
Would the air smell the same?
Would our feet feel the earth differently?
If our lives were a landscape, what would be the same and what would be different?
As you delve into the stories within these pages, consider this an invitation to explore the diversity of human experiences. This book brings multiple voices together, each with its own unique tale to tell. As you read, I encourage you to sit with any emotions that come up and approach these stories with an open heart and mind.
You may find that the characters you meet are grappling with challenges in a world that might be different from yours. Alternatively, you may find parts of yourself reflected in these stories, feeling a connection to the character. It is important to recognize that not everyone shares the same experiences, and at the same time, many of the emotions reflected in these stories can be universal.
Acknowledging my own identity as a Hindu, cisgender, heterosexual woman belonging to a Savarna caste, I am aware of the privilege and power that my gaze carries. My experiences are not the same as those of the 8 young people whose story you are about to embark upon.
The stories of their lives and experiences are theirs to tell, not mine. What I am hoping to do with this book is to only tell the tale of how these 8 young people met each other, how they connected through their hopes and dreams, how they challenge the dominant discourse around failure every day, and what keeps them going.
The characters you will encounter are individuals navigating complex intersections of identity, pushing back against norms in our society that often misjudge or belittle them. Anger, resistance, tears, are a natural response here. They are not signs of defeat but expressions of strength and a sign of protest against unjust norms.
As you engage with these stories, know that they are windows into a broader dialogue about inclusion, identity, and systemic challenges. Allow yourself to sit with the comfort, the tension and everything in between. Allow yourself to find the shared human threads, and to explore what the message being conveyed means for you.
In excitement and hope,
Shweta
Continue the journey