Meet the young changemakers transforming North Chennai through sports, education and environmental action
Grassroots organizations like Vyasai Thozhargal and the Young Challenge Sports Club are empowering youth in North Chennai through a combination of sports, free education, and social activism. These groups focus on fostering rational thinking, combating caste-based discrimination, and providing essential community support during crises like floods and the pandemic.
Why it matters
These initiatives demonstrate the power of community-led social movements in addressing systemic inequality and providing critical infrastructure in marginalized urban neighborhoods.
What began as an informal gathering of a group of friends who played cricket together, has now grown into a voluntary movement with purpose in Vyasarpadi. N Sakthivel, a documentary photographer who is the coordinator of Vyasai Thozhargal, recalls how all of them would talk about the caste-based discrimination they faced in school when they met. “I did my higher secondary in a school in Besant Nagar,” says Sakthivel: “Some students there would not call me by my name and would address me as ‘Vyasarpadi’ instead.”
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