- 6 hours ago
The blueprint for a sustainable future already exists. Watch climate activist Melati Wijsen explain why we must stop searching for global heroes and start looking at the changemakers next to us. At the India Today Conclave 2026, she reveals her roadmap for turning climate anxiety into specific, local action.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Milati was very worried. What are the graphics that we're going to have right behind us?
00:03Because they've been standing all last two days she's been here.
00:07So Milati, I hope you're making you happy with all the graphics at the back.
00:09It's wonderful. And also what a beautiful stage and what a beautiful room.
00:13I've learned so much being with you yesterday and in the room today.
00:16It's not your first time in India.
00:17No, it's not my first time, but it's my first time with India today.
00:20So I'm very excited.
00:21Well, we are very, very glad to have you.
00:23I am personally very, very happy.
00:25You know, I was given two sessions for the India Today conclave, both very exciting.
00:30But as diverse as they come.
00:31And if you are here in our other session, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
00:34So Milati, thank you.
00:36So Milati is a young powerhouse.
00:38I'll have to tell you, she's been in boardrooms on the policy board as an advisor to what?
00:44Barack Obama, if I'm not wrong.
00:45She's spoken at the UN.
00:47She's been at the World Economic Forum.
00:49But I would think the quality that we all really need to admire where Milati is concerned
00:54is what she really is doing for our planet.
00:57Because most of us, all we are doing is talk.
01:00And very few of us are actually really doing something about it.
01:03So Milati, thank you for joining us.
01:06What Milati has done was, when she was 12 years old, and I'm going to give it to her
01:10so she can tell her story better.
01:1212-year-old Milati and her sister launched a campaign called Bye Bye Plastic when she was in Bali.
01:19She hails from Bali.
01:20She's in Netherlands now.
01:22She's moving back to Bali.
01:24But bye-bye Plastic.
01:27And literally, Bali bid bye-bye to Plastic with the voice of a 12-year-old and her younger sister.
01:34Tell us about it.
01:35Yes, where to begin?
01:37It's more than half of my life.
01:38I've been involved on the front lines of creating change.
01:42And a big inspiration is, well, people who throughout history had created change.
01:48And growing up with me and my sister, we saw the problem of plastic pollution
01:52and refused to wait until we were older or graduated high school to start taking action.
01:58I mean, think back to when you were 12-year-old.
02:00Or when, in your childhood, what was something that really frustrated you?
02:03Or that you were really passionate about?
02:07Life back then seemed somehow so much simpler.
02:10And with the power of that mindset, we thought enough is enough.
02:14Bali was drowning in plastic pollution.
02:17So we said if 40 countries, which we learned at the time, 40 countries around the world
02:22had banned single-use plastic bags, come on, Bali.
02:25Come on, Indonesia.
02:26We can do it too.
02:27And as they say, the rest is history.
02:30How instrumental were your parents in doing this?
02:32Or a 12-year-old Malati herself figured out that we have a plastic problem.
02:36We've got to get rid of it.
02:37Well, I think I always share that without the support of our parents, we would be nowhere.
02:42It's our parents that I have to be grateful for, the school and the educational environment
02:46that I have to be grateful for, and then the island that I grew up in.
02:50And I think growing up at 10 and 12 years old when we first started, the superpower was
02:54that naivety, that innocence almost, but it was also the support in fostering that curiosity
03:03to grow.
03:05Instead of an educational system or a home system that says, don't ask such silly questions.
03:11Instead, our parents asked us to stand for what we believe in and to try again, even if
03:17we failed.
03:17How can we do it better?
03:18And I think that environment from our parents really allowed us to become the best potential
03:24of who we are, not after graduating, not as we become older, but really as we were growing
03:30up.
03:30Well, that's a great subtext for a lot of parents who have young kids.
03:34Yeah.
03:34And, you know, I'd say that, and it's a conversation we'll visit later, because I think in India,
03:40a lot of our activism is actually rooted in youth, especially climate activism.
03:45And, you know, we'll talk about that.
03:47But, Milati, from there on, I'm sure it's a process.
03:50It was a 12-year-old Milati which started that campaign, which got, you know, the ban
03:55passed in Bali.
03:56But there's also policy.
03:58There is also implementation.
03:59A decade has gone by over that since the ban came in place.
04:03Is Bali really free of plastic?
04:05What's your approach in terms of constantly hammering it in?
04:10Well, you know, when I started, I thought we would achieve our goal of banning plastic
04:14bags before summer break was over and before the school year started.
04:17Wow.
04:18Little did we know the lifetime of activism we would get ourselves into.
04:23It took many years and a lot of collaborations with many other organizations and like-minded
04:28people before, in 2019, we finally passed the law on plastic bags, straws, and styrofoam.
04:33So it shows that people power can create policy change, but when you go down the street to
04:38a store in Bali at the moment, or what we see in the latest Sungai Watch reports, plastic
04:44bags are actually still the number one item that is found in our environment.
04:49So something's not working.
04:50We're seeing a lack of a bridge being built between policy and implementation, and that's
04:56not new or special to only Bali.
04:59It's something many countries around the world on many different topics, not only plastic
05:04pollution experience.
05:05This big goal and this big promise of a systems change, and then lacking the implementation
05:10on the ground to really change everyday life.
05:13And that's, I think, where I've shifted also my activism from the naive 12-year-old to how
05:19I introduce myself today as a 25-year-old full-time changemaker.
05:24And I really focus a lot on the power of mindset and behavior change next to the policy change
05:30that has to happen.
05:31So it's not giving up, it's the persistence, it's focusing on education, not only in the
05:36classrooms, but also in the boardrooms, and also in the decision-making power rooms.
05:41So a lot of the behavior change and education that Milati speaks of, she's put it all down
05:46in her books, and she has one with her.
05:49At the end of 20 minutes, or rather 18 minutes, we're going to throw some questions out from
05:54you.
05:55And how many books do you have, Milati?
05:57Well, there's five books.
05:59Five books.
05:59We'll try and take five questions, and those lucky five can get a signed copy of the book
06:06that Milati's carried with her all the way from Denmark.
06:09So if you have a sharp question, keep that in mind, and we'll come to you later.
06:12But, Milati, you know, it's so important that somebody as young as you realizes that, you
06:18know, there's a method to activism.
06:20And you've done your bit as an activist, and you speak of policy, and you speak of politics.
06:25Do you think that is at least your approach to activism?
06:29Because from 12 to 25, Milati was a young activist child who grew up into this brilliant,
06:35beautiful woman who is now going to be looking at policy and politics.
06:40Is that what you're looking at?
06:41Is that the way to go?
06:42I think there's an interconnectedness, and that is a missing narrative at the moment.
06:47Far too often, I'm seeing a lot of rooms thinking very much in silos and in the separate
06:54trajectories.
06:54And I really think that now, more than ever, we have to understand that change has to come
06:59from all of us.
07:00And I really mean all of us.
07:02People on the ground, grassroots organizations, the companies in the private sector working
07:07with and from the public sector.
07:09So I think this collaboration is something I recognized very early on because at 12 years
07:14old, I knew that I couldn't achieve or work towards this goal by ourselves as a group of young
07:20people.
07:21We knew we had to work with those CEOs.
07:23We had to work with those governors and the mayors.
07:25But how are we going to get there?
07:29In Indonesia, perhaps similar here, protesting is very challenging and isn't always achieving
07:36what we want to see.
07:38So we tried many different ways, not just protesting on the street, but writing letters, trying
07:44to find a phone number, sending emails, and also sitting on the table with a lot of these
07:51different players and trying to see, okay, how can we bring that youth perspective with
07:57motivation?
07:57Yes, we have a lot.
07:59With vision.
08:00Yes, we have a lot.
08:01But then also listening to what the challenges are.
08:04Why can we not create change?
08:06What is preventing us?
08:08What are those barriers?
08:09And when we listen, because they say we have two ears and one mouth for a reason, I think
08:14then we can strategize and come up with a solution.
08:17And that's been really important for us, especially as youth activism.
08:21We know that we cannot solve the problem with the same thinking that created it.
08:26So how do we get those rooms of decision-making power to have a different voice from the young
08:31generation that is maybe more naive, that maybe sees things a little more simply.
08:35But just to get that intergenerational collaboration happening is where we see a lot of momentum
08:40start to pick up.
08:42And it's something we're trying to replicate not only in Indonesia, but all around the world
08:46in all sorts of different rooms.
08:48You know, let me draw from what you said.
08:50That's a very mature statement for as old that you are.
08:53And I'm not trying to make an aegis jibe or anything.
08:56I'm not being patronizing.
08:57And why I say it's very mature, Malati, is because a lot of activists today, some of
09:01them very young as well.
09:02And I know you don't really want me to get into names of certain activists or groups,
09:08but they have a very different approach to activism.
09:11There are some very popular climate activists in the world today that will block out the very
09:17policy makers that you speak to engage with.
09:20And for them, that's their form of registering protest.
09:23You know, I'm not saying it's right or wrong.
09:25There are certain groups across who'd rather throw a tub of paint at a museum artwork.
09:32And that's their form of registering protest.
09:35I'm curious to know what your view on that is.
09:37Look, I think there are so many ways to create change, and that's also a good thing, because
09:42imagine there was only one way to create change, then many of us would feel left out.
09:46When in fact, this movement of working towards a world that we can be really proud of, of working
09:52towards a world that is fair and equal and sustainable, requires all of us.
09:58So instead of focusing only on one way or the bad ways of creating change, it's about changing
10:03and shifting that narrative to focus on solutions.
10:06Because did you ever think about how much time we as a global society spend on thinking why
10:12everything is going wrong?
10:14Why we cannot change all the negative?
10:16Now imagine we use the same time and the same energy to focus on all the good that is already
10:22here at our fingertips with things and tools like technology and the networks that we all
10:27have around the world.
10:28Imagine what we could achieve if we just focused and amplified solutions instead of always focusing
10:35on only the negative.
10:36And that's where I think understanding that there are different ways to create change, and everybody
10:41has their own strengths, their own unique ways of contributing, can actually be a
10:45celebration to look at how diverse the whole movement is.
10:49Well, I hear you.
10:50I agree.
10:50I think it needs to be, you know, everyone coming in together, and it's noteworthy, the
10:55route that you've chosen, because usually there is an alienation of a certain set, the policy
11:01makers, where activists are concerned, and that's where, you know, something's lost in
11:05translation.
11:06Definitely.
11:07And, you know, and for you to work on that is great, and, you know, proving to be a bridge,
11:12to bridge two generations of young activism and old policy makers, if I can actually say
11:17it, and to play that part.
11:19I think that's brilliant.
11:20You know, let's move on, because we've spoken about Bi-Bi Plastic, but you're also looking
11:24at utopia.
11:25You want to talk a little about that?
11:26What really is utopia?
11:27Definitely.
11:28So when I was growing up, building the movement of Bi-Bi Plastic Bags, I found myself in other
11:33classrooms more often than in my own classroom.
11:36My teachers and my parents were not the happiest, but I loved it, because I got to spend time
11:40with students my age, all around the world, sharing the story of how we were creating change.
11:45And the number one question we always got after sharing our Bi-Bi Plastic Bag story was,
11:50how can I do what you do?
11:53And think now, maybe to your children or young people in your community, there's this extreme
11:57passion, maybe even sometimes the opposite of hopelessness, of looking at the world and
12:02wanting to create change, but not knowing where and how to start.
12:07So that started a new idea and a new passion growing inside of me of thinking, how can I
12:12create a platform where young people can learn from each other how to create change?
12:17So, utopia is a learning platform online, we have about 10,000 students from all around
12:22the world between ages 12 and 25 years old, and we have over 300 programs that we've curated
12:27with frontline young change makers who share their how.
12:31And it's all for free on our learning platform.
12:34It's a tool that we really strongly believe if you can see a role model, if you can see the
12:39blueprint of how someone else is creating change in their own way, suddenly, one, you create
12:44a community of role models, which in today's climate with leaders of today, we need more
12:50now than ever of role models we can look up to.
12:53But then also coupling that with our peers.
12:58If a 12-year-old sees another 12-year-old who creates massive change, there's this example
13:03that you're setting of, if they can do it, I can do it too.
13:06And so that's really the formula of utopia that has worked beautifully working with schools
13:11all around the world.
13:12We were speaking backstage, and you know, when she was talking about her approach to activism,
13:16she spoke very passionately about the art of storytelling, and in the age of AI, there
13:21is so much, you know, attached to the art of storytelling, because I think that is the
13:26only true essence of human spirit that we really will have left, is the art of storytelling.
13:31And in your space, how do you wish to use that?
13:34Oh, okay.
13:36Well, for starters, this book is a great example.
13:38There's a story.
13:39I went to a fourth-grade classroom recently, and I told them one of my biggest achievements
13:44was I wrote a book, and one of these fourth graders said, yeah, but did you really write
13:50a book, or did AI write the book for you?
13:54And I really thought, oh my goodness, this is a generation that is also being raised in
13:58a world...
13:59They are correct, although, you know, when I was in fourth grade, a book was like this
14:04unimaginable, massive achievement, and still feels like that for me today as an author.
14:09But it really shifted the way that I looked at how we use tools like AI and how to hold
14:15on to the human storytelling aspects, because stories are what shaped cultures, right?
14:20Throughout time, stories have always been the guiding light of the vision and the world
14:24we want to create.
14:25But how do we utilize tools like AI without getting rid of the process of creativity?
14:32And my fear with tools like AI is that we jump straight to the final answer without allowing
14:40the space for things like failure.
14:42Now if we talk about changemaking, and we talk about entrepreneurism, or we talk about becoming
14:47a leader, that process of failure is so vital.
14:52Because only when we fail, we understand who we can become, and how our ideas can become
14:59invited into different spaces around the world.
15:02And so I think almost where schools should use tools like AI, because yes, it is a powerful
15:10tool and we can accelerate always.
15:11It's also important to create spaces of failure.
15:15And while that might sound a bit counterintuitive, it's something that on the dinner table conversation
15:20with my parents, you know, next to the question of how was your day at school, they would ask
15:25what did you fail at today?
15:27And that simple question allowed me to build the resilience that made me who I am today.
15:32Because I told them proudly what I failed at, and reflected how that could maybe be different
15:40in my next strategy.
15:41You see, so it builds this necessary resilience for a world that is fast, that is distracting,
15:48but not always so focused.
15:51And that's where, yeah, a little bit of a long story in itself, but the power of storytelling
15:57is our guiding anchor, and I hope we don't lose it.
15:59And you do think that it is going to be the power of storytelling that will, you know,
16:06take us forward where activism in the space of climate change is concerned?
16:11Stories, yes.
16:12And it also depends on what type of stories, right?
16:15And that's also maybe the role of media that it plays today of which stories we have access
16:20to and what energy or which feeling and emotion does it ignite in people.
16:26A lot of the times when young people are following stories of politics or the climate of today,
16:32there's this growing sense of eco-anxiety or overwhelm, right?
16:36More than half of the generation I'm a part of experiences this before they graduate high
16:41school, this paralysis.
16:43And impatience.
16:44Yeah, and I think this is where that frustration of only choosing to have access to stories
16:50of the doom and the gloom.
16:52Again, that powerful narrative shift of focusing on the solutions because there are so many already.
16:59Here in India, I think later this year, the Earthshot Prize is coming to host their annual event.
17:04It's a beautiful celebration of all the solutions within technology, within innovation, within agriculture,
17:10all these different spaces where solutions already are happening.
17:14At the end of the book, I have a hundred lessons of everything that I learned, but then there's
17:18a list of a hundred changemakers who are actively involved in all sorts of different spaces of
17:26creating change.
17:26And here in India, three young changemakers that I want to put on everybody's radars that
17:31really inspire me.
17:33Aishwarya Sridhar is a photographer and captures beautiful wildlife here in India and in a way
17:40also bringing that nature into any room wherever you are in the world.
17:48Oh, now I'm blanking.
17:51Prasidi Singh, she has planted more than hundreds and hundreds of trees all around India and is
17:58an incredible spokesperson.
17:59She also started when she was 12 years old or even younger.
18:03And I told you a lot of Indians, like young Indians are rooted in activism today.
18:08Very few want anything to do with politics or policy, but you'll find a lot of kids being
18:12young activists, which is great.
18:13Yeah.
18:13And maybe they can move on to where you are.
18:15Exactly.
18:16And I work with all of these changemakers within Youthtopia because it's that global
18:20perspective, but also showing that there's an entire generation of changemakers that approach
18:24this at a completely different angle, whether they're a writer, a photographer, a researcher.
18:31There are so many different ways and it's about creating that invitation for everybody
18:34to be a part of change.
18:36You know, we have a lot of, because you talk of who impresses you in the climate change
18:43space and activism where India is concerned.
18:45We have to be very thankful for a lot of young activists in India.
18:51I'll give you an example.
18:52We live in Delhi, and Delhi has a huge problem with pollution.
18:56And if it wasn't for the young kids who protested with big placards at India Gate, it's one of
19:01our monuments here, a lot of decisions would not have been taken by the government at the
19:07time.
19:07So, I want to ask you, if you were, because you're familiar with India, you're familiar
19:13with Indian cities, if you were a young kid in Delhi, if there was, or you were a 25-year
19:18-old
19:18girl right now in Delhi, and you were looking at pollution in the national capital, what would
19:25be your approach to it as an activist?
19:27So, my approach and my advice, I think, is similar to many young people who ask this question
19:32as well.
19:33And I think everywhere around the world, no matter if we're in Indonesia or in India,
19:38the problem can always feel really overwhelming.
19:41That exists.
19:41That reality is there.
19:43So, the first step is to identify and become as specific of the type of change you want to
19:48create.
19:49Think about it.
19:50Plastic pollution.
19:51We were 10 and 12 years old.
19:52We could have said we want all plastic to be banned.
19:56Yes.
19:57A goal, a dream, one day.
19:59But we knew already then that if we couldn't implement the change ourselves, we wouldn't
20:06be able to mobilize the people around us.
20:07So, plastic bags was one single-use item that we decided to approach and to tackle and convince
20:13others to join us.
20:14And I think that's really the first step in tackling any big challenge, being as specific.
20:20Because you cannot be everything to everyone.
20:22We cannot change the world overnight.
20:24So, being as grounded in your big visions, but also in the reality of practical steps,
20:32clear action, and perhaps also a timeline to it.
20:36By when would you like to achieve it?
20:38You know, with that advice, it's not a whisper, but from the stage, for all young activists
20:44in Delhi, I'd say if you have to get behind one thing, the coal power plants across the NCR.
20:49That one thing where pollution is concerned.
20:52Right?
20:52So, Milati, watch here from now.
20:56Because, you know, in the current geopolitical context that we are in right now, over the
21:02last fortnight, the U.S.-Iran have together dropped three times the explosive yield of the
21:07atomic bombs of Hiroshima and West Asia.
21:09You know, we speak of genocide at one angle, which is taking place, but there's a kind
21:13of ecocide, which is also taking place right now in West Asia.
21:17So, for activism and, you know, people like you in this space, there needs to be, or do
21:26you think there should be a pivot as well when you're looking at something like this?
21:31I mean, I think that it brings to light a lot of the interconnectedness that I was talking
21:35about earlier, and also showing how, with the world and with the progress in technology,
21:42how the world feels so big but also so small.
21:44Because with one click of a button, we can connect with change makers all around the world
21:48and learn from each other all the different experiences that they're having on the ground.
21:52I think the shift is definitely one that I hope where people choose to focus on hope.
21:59But that's an active word.
22:02It's an action word because hope isn't this far away, dreamy thing that we have to have
22:08one day.
22:09It's something that we have to actively seek out for amidst all of the crises that are
22:14happening.
22:14To not let go of hope is one of the most important things because then we stay stuck in the
22:19paralysis
22:20of there's too much going on.
22:22So I think really just choosing actively every day to look at the positives and to find the
22:30change makers within your local community who, no matter what, keep on going and connect
22:35environmental and human crises together.
22:38All right, at the last like, what, six minutes?
22:40Does anybody have a question?
22:41Does anybody want a book?
22:42Okay, I can only take five.
22:44So, and it's worth it.
22:46I've just gone through that book.
22:47It's fabulous.
22:48Can we get a mic to an individual there and get a book to the individual as well?
22:54Yeah, yeah, sure.
22:55Milati, you pick because I'm not going to pick in the sea of hands.
22:59So the one has happened but the other four she'll pick.
23:02So I'm Dr. Jignesh Pandya and my daughter turned 13 this year and you started this when
23:08you were 12.
23:09And let me tell you, it's a very socially and environmentally conscious generation that
23:13we have.
23:14So to her and her friends, what would be that power mantra that you would like to give so
23:18that they can think differently like you and make a change in the world?
23:21Ooh.
23:22I mean, the list is long and there's, I mean, there's a hundred lessons here.
23:26So I hope that gets her nice started in her change making journey.
23:31But I guess something that I also always want to part to the younger generation is not
23:37to forget to have fun.
23:39Because as serious as we are about change, I wouldn't be doing this work today if I wasn't
23:45feeling how hopeful and how energetic the generation is.
23:49We do this work because we believe in change, but we also have so much joy in the community
23:54that it's creating.
23:55I can go here to India and meet with the change makers who are doing incredible work here
24:00or back home in Indonesia or in Amsterdam.
24:03There's a global community of young people who are not giving up.
24:06So you are not alone.
24:08Please share that message.
24:10That's important.
24:10Tell your kid to have fun.
24:11But let's get a book to him.
24:14You're picking next because you're going to leave.
24:16I'm going to be here.
24:17Priyanka, you can pass the mic over there.
24:19Yes.
24:20Yes.
24:23Hi, Milati.
24:24If you could change one thing which would make a difference to all of our individual
24:29carbon footprints, whether it was diet or transportation and energy use, what would you say was the
24:35one thing each of us could do and make a significant impact?
24:42One thing.
24:44Off the top of my head, I would say diet because I've been a vegetarian for the last more than
24:51a decade by choice.
24:53And that is also showing how animal agriculture has such a heavy input into the climate.
25:00Could we get a book to the lady who asked the question?
25:03You got one.
25:03Great.
25:04The lady right in front of you.
25:05Priyanka.
25:06Yes.
25:07Hi, ma'am.
25:08I'm Aditi.
25:08And I just turned 18 last month.
25:10So, I just want to ask, what was the first small step that you take that made you what you
25:17are today?
25:18Great question.
25:20Oh, yes.
25:22Okay.
25:22Great question.
25:23I think, so aside from what I shared of becoming very specific, the next step is really building your team.
25:29You cannot create change on your own, no matter how good of a leader you are, no matter how good
25:34of an idea you have.
25:36Build that team around you and also create a strong team.
25:39So, don't only choose people that agree with you constantly.
25:42Choose a diverse set of people that contribute and complement the skills you have as a leader.
25:49And then the next tip that I would create or give is coming up with a timeline.
25:55So, being very specific as to what you want to achieve by when and revising if it doesn't happen in
26:03that moment.
26:03And I have something to say about that because I've been 10 years doing this work before the ban came
26:07into place.
26:08So, we can dive deeper into that when you're around.
26:11I'll be here.
26:12Yeah?
26:13You have the last two questions.
26:14Shall we do some on this side?
26:15I think there, this gentleman here in the front maybe.
26:22So, good afternoon, ma'am.
26:23Arun Gupta from Delhi.
26:25As you mentioned that this is your first visit in our country, India.
26:29Not first.
26:30Not first.
26:30No.
26:31But first work with India today.
26:33Oh, first with India today.
26:35So, my just question to you that how was your impression so far with India and overall Delhi?
26:41What are we doing on the great side and what we can do better?
26:44Yeah.
26:46Thank you for your question.
26:48Well, India has a very special space in my heart because growing up we learned about significant people who in
26:55history made a difference.
26:56And, of course, on that list next to Lady Diana, Martin Luther King was Mahatma Gandhi.
27:02And, when we were here for our first, very first international talk, it was here in India.
27:09We gave an ink talk and I was about 14 years old.
27:12We went to go visit a museum about Mahatma Gandhi's work.
27:15And, at the end of that visit, we decided that we too would go on a hunger strike to get
27:21the attention of our governor.
27:22So, in 2014, that's exactly what me and my sister did.
27:25And, within 48 hours, it was how we actually met with the governor of Bali for the first time.
27:31So, in that respect, India has a beautiful, rich history and, I think, with the young changemakers I work with,
27:38a beautiful, rich future.
27:40My hope is that more political systems and political leaders give space and recognition to so many of the bright
27:47ideas that are already happening on the ground to help scale them.
27:51And, that's really what is the power of young people.
27:54It's not that we have a lack of ideas or motivation or passion.
27:59But, it's how do we build bridges to connect them to a system that empowers that forward, that doesn't kill
28:05their curiosity but lifts their creativity as well.
28:09We're going to have time for one last question because we only have one book left.
28:12So, who's that?
28:13There's one gentleman there that's been holding his hand up. Yes.
28:21Hi, this is Harsh this side. Wonderful session.
28:24So, one question you spoke about failures, right?
28:26But, you could understand about the importance of failure at this age.
28:30But, when you started at age of 12, how did you handle failure then?
28:36Well, many, many times, there have been so many highs in my activism and so many lows.
28:41And, I think how I handled it, yeah, the frustration of a kid, you know?
28:47I mean, I didn't understand.
28:49And, where my frustration really came from and really started was in government rooms.
28:53You know, we would, my sister and I would prepare the speech.
28:56I was once at the United Nations General Assembly Hall and my sister and I had to deliver a 20
29:01-minute speech at the General Assembly.
29:03And, we thought, this is it. If we can nail our message, the world is going to change.
29:08And, so, the night before we could barely sleep, rewriting and crumpling up the paper, throwing it away, trying again
29:13and again.
29:14And, then we delivered the speech and we got all the way to the very end.
29:18We said, thank you. And, then life just went on.
29:21So, I think this frustration of mine was really at understanding where I also viewed leadership coming from.
29:29And, the frustration of change not happening in a lot of the ways that I had wanted.
29:34But, then restoring my confidence and my belief that change is actually happening all around the world.
29:40Maybe sometimes in the places we least expect it, but it is happening.
29:45All right, ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately, that's all the time we have for now.
29:49Milati, thank you for joining us.
29:51Thank you. Thank you so much.
29:52I really appreciate it.
Comments