Undercurrents

“Just when hope was fading, they came. Young roaches riding in on the rain” - Arundhati Roy

India’s political establishment is being challenged from the ground up by millions of Generation Z.  What stands out in this large-scale, non-violent resistance movement is that it cuts across many of the sub-divisions within Indian society that the current regime has sought to widen: ethno-religious groups, caste, class, gender. Led by youth, including many women, the Cockroach Movement represents a groundswell demanding accountability and justice from those in power.

3rd-Space speaks with Abhishek Thakore, author, speaker, and founder of the Blue Ribbon Movement, a youth leadership organisation in Mumbai, about the significance of this movement in terms of India’s trajectory.

Avi Ben-Zeev, a London-based gay trans man and author, reflects on his journey from being assigned female at birth to transitioning, and the profound impact it has had on his life. Avi explores with Mary Adams the intersection of biological, psychosocial, and spiritual aspects of gender identity, emphasising the importance of the need for societal inclusivity. They highlight the significance of shared human experiences and of fostering a deeper understanding of gender beyond binary constructs. The conversation explores the complexities of identity, particularly around gender, emphasising the importance of recognising and respecting differences while avoiding essentialism, and understanding our essential unity, beyond gender. Avi’s book, Calling My Dead Name Home: The Trans Bear Diaries, is available here.

In September, while in Frankfurt I happened to meet RufusPollock, the founder of Open Knowledge and co-founder of Life Itself, an organisation based in France. We entered into a deep discussion about the significance and challenges of new cultural prototypes and ways of living that offer potential viable alternatives to the problems of modernity.

I was delighted when three months later I was able to speakwith Rufus about his project's vision of creating conscious co-living hubs and fostering a radically wiser world. Referring to himself and the team behind Life Itself as “utopian pragmatists”, Rufus described to us how Life Itself aims to integrate inner and outer change, focusing on practical action and experimental learning. We discussed the importance of spiritual practice,shadow work and the challenges of hyper-individualism amidst the need for collective fields in fostering cultural evolution.

An interview with Faye Mingyi on Chinese Wisdom, Modernity and the language of interconnectivity. Faye is the partner and Chief Impact officer of Wildbound International CIC.
She has extensive experience working on environmental issues in China and Southeast Asia, from a conservation, art, and youth activism perspective. Her personal experience of travelling the early human migration route has also connected her with many vulnerable communities globally and her expression through artistic projects has highlighted the impact of climate change. Having learned from the elders and indigenous tribes globally, she brings the indigenous ancestral wisdom in her work at WildBound and beyond, rebuilding bridges and connections across cultures and generations. 

A year on from the brutal attack by Hamas on Israel and with escalating violence in the region, Mary Adams speaks with Yael Treidel and Moshe Haas from Hadera, Israel. Yael, an author, translator, social and political activist, has been involved with Women Wage Peace since 2014. She works for a medical NGO responsible for driving hundreds of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza for medical treatment in Israel. Working closely with Palestinian women, Yael and others in WWP have long pushed for a just, political settlement between Israel and Palestine. Her debut novel, When the Water Rises, was published in 2022.

Moshe Haas is married to Yael. He’s Israeli born to a Polish and Hungarian Jewish Holocaust survivors/refugees. A professional Violinist and Singer, Moshe has lived for most of his life in Israel, but also lived, studied, worked for many years outside of Israel. He is currently working as a regular member of the Israeli Opera Chorus in Tel-Aviv. Moshe has been an active supporter of the peace movement in Israel for decades, especially for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

3rd Space sits down with innovative educator and long-term dharma practitioner, Amy Edelstein, to discuss her solo journey through the remote Himalayan valley of Zanskar in the 1980’s. We discuss the connection between an ancient culture steeped in Buddhist principles and the application of AI in education today, as a tool for transforming culture. Amy wrote about her journey in Adventure in Zanskar: A young woman’s solitary journey to reach physical and metaphysical heights.

We were fortunate to meet Kübra Gümüşay at the Realisation Festival in the UK in 2023, as one of the Festival's keynote speakers. We loved her presentation and managed to catch up with her in April 2024 to interview her for 3rd Space. Kübra is an award-winning author, journalist, and activist. She studied political science in Hamburg and at the London School of Oriental and African Studies. She has won awards for her writing and campaigns against racism and sexualised violence. She speaks on issues of social justice around the world and is involved in advocacy and feminist research for 'utopian' and 'desirable futures'. Her book Speaking and Being was one of the most successful non-fiction books in Germany in 2020. She is also a Mercator Senior Fellow at Cambridge University.

Too often seen as mere statistics, the historical context for the dislocation and extreme trauma of young refugees, as well as their necessity for sanctuary and a liveable future, is often forgotten or ignored. Yet, we are the world, and it is a world where more and more refugees will be fleeing the results of war, climate change, and oppressive regimes. Based on her own work and life experience, Renate Keller brings a creative dimensionality and depth to teaching young refugees in Switzerland, and finds in their receptivity and desire to connect, a sensibility for the Heart. This is a rare and insightful glimpse into the challenges and inspiration of working intimately with refugees searching for a life in the West.

We interviewed Manish Jain at Shikshantar, The People's Institute for Re-thinking Education and Development in the ancient city of Udaipur in India. Although born and brought up in India, Manish worked in the US for Morgan Stanley, received a Master's at Harvard University, and worked for UNESCO. He returned to India twenty-five years ago to look after his illiterate grandmother, which began a deep process of Un-learning. In the interview we talk about his discovery of the gift culture in India, its abundance versus scarcity culture, forgiveness, how working with your hands is not extracurricular, and the significance of cow dung.

In the wake of the brutal attack by Hamas and the escalating violence in Gaza by Israeli forces, Mary Adams of 3rd-Space speaks with Yael Treidel from Hadera in Israel. Yael, an activist involved with Women Wage Peace since 2014, currently works for a medical charity, Road for Recovery, responsible for driving hundreds of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza for medical treatment in Israel on a daily basis. Working closely with Palestinian women, Yael and others in WWP, have long pushed for a just political settlement between the two nations.