(ENG) Nora Bossuyt from Belgium and Maitreyi Pandey from India exchange thought-provoking letters discussing their perspectives on various global issues. Through their correspondence, they explore topics related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being, including mental health, agriculture, and the impact of modern society on well-being. Their exchange provides a unique look at how young people from different cultures perceive and tackle these challenges.
Letter 1
Dear Maitreyi,
I was very excited when I found out that my Global Pen friend is from India. I have an online friend from the same country and find it fascinating when we compare our habits and lifestyles. It’s so strange that because of geography and cultures, people can be so different, but still we all have some character traits in common.
I’m Nora, a student from the University of Antwerp. In two weeks I’ll be 19, I think that’s a very pretty number and it’s a great age. You’re not young and naive like an 18 year old but also not really feeling the responsibilities when the 2 comes around the corner. It’s also a Prime number, which is also great (I study math). I have a lot of interests and hobbies, because I’m creative and want to try out all different kinds of things.
I like reading, playing the piano, doing yoga, running, crocheting (and lately I’ve also started knitting), playing electric guitar and writing. That last bit is the reason for why I applied. In my education there is little room for writing and it’s more on numbers and writing things down in the shortest and most global way possible. In this way I can still write a little bit, even if it is about my ideas of these world problems and see what others’ perspectives are. Seeing different kinds of perspectives is something I’m obsessed with in books. That and the Fourth Wall breaking in movies where the character talks to the camera. There are a lot of terrible executions but when done right.
I also like walking in the park and love gardening. I live in the big city in Antwerp and here it’s rare to have a big garden. Luckily I have one, but in my eyes it can never be big enough. I would love to have a little farm on which I can work all day. That’s why I’m also of the opinion that every person should do some labor on a farm, once a year. Not only is it a good way to feel at peace with themselves, it’s also great for the economics of the country, because the hours worked will be free, or little of wage. When you think about it, so many people feel overpressured in today’s society and a couple of days away from that busy life, out on the field, that’s a great solution to help people with their mental health. So many people pay lots of amounts of money for some spa or likewise activities, but this way all the people in the country could provide help, and in these days, away from your busy life, you could reflect on where you stand and what you want to accomplish when you get back, all for free!
This service would be like a yearly checkup at the dentist, which everyone has to do (hopefully, or the dentist would be very disappointed :0).
I’m very curious to know more about you and how you feel about my idea. Here there is an interest in gardening and farming among the population, is that also the case in India? How do you feel about the mental health system and in which ways do you think that we would be able to improve it? If you want to exchange thoughts about another subject that’s also great for me!
Kind regards, Nora
Letter 2
Namaste Nora,
Hope you are having a wonderful day.
(Sending you virtual birthday wishes and cheers!!)
How’s the weather there? Over here it’s the time of hot and long summer days with occasional pleasant evening rain showers.
I’m quite excited about this pen pal programme, it has the feels of the old time communication by letter exchange.
Let me introduce myself, I’m Maitreyi , a chemistry student at St. Xavier’s College. I am from a small hill town of Ranchi, And, well I’m 19 years old, and I agree with you that this is the age without those bulky responsibilities of the 20’s.
You know how to knit and crochet!? That’s so great, I was trying to learn to knit but my attempt was a failure.
My hobbies vary from one to another. I like to sing. Sometimes I sketch and draw. But I love to read and sometimes write. And , I totally get that how your field has little scope for writing, well the case is almost the same for me, with just chemical equations instead of numbers.My favorite genre would be sci-fi and suspense thrillers. I loved reading the dune series and am so glad that the movies are out. I do share your sentiment over change of perspective. It really intrigues me to know the different ideas and thought processes of different people over similar situations.
I think your idea about the annual farming trip is phenomenal. It would be like a compulsory family and friends trip to the field where you get to relax and slow down and process while also being productive.
India is majorly an agriculture state. Our economy is dominated by agriculture. So it’s like everyone has at least once worked or visited the farms or knows someone who regularly does. Our people are quite sentimentally connected to the land and plants. So when these people come to live in metro cities, they bring a small part of their home with them, such as small balcony gardens , terrace gardens , kitchen gardens and many such variations as per their need.
But these last few years are quite rough for the farms , because of the unpredictable natural changes. You know, as kids reading about global warming and annual temperature rises didn’t really seem serious enough or even real enough. But, now it’s here , the calamities are staring right at our faces. I really want to put my input for the betterment but sometimes all of these seem to make me quite hopeless, and also quite angry.
Please share your thoughts about these . I am looking forward to your letter.
Warm regards,
Maitreyi
Letter 3
Dear Maitreyi,
It’s weird how time flies by so fast! I read your mail a day after you sent it and already wanted to write back but didn’t and before I knew it the deadline was tomorrow!
Here in Belgium, May is a month with rainy and sunny days. Luckily, it’s pleasantly hot and cycling with a summer jacket is possible! Concerning my teenage years I’ve also been kind off reckless and I’ve experienced all different things. It’s weird that it feels like leaving parts of myself behind and having long distance friendships with people I used to see every day in high school. But on the other hand, always being stuck in one place is not enjoyable so it’s only natural that life goes on. Would you want to be immortal? I think that I would become bored of everything,but I just want to stay young far longer and maybe be able to choose new paths in life. But on the other hand, if you can always redo parts of your life, then it’s not that unique anymore and some people may become less ambitious or driven.
It’s beautiful to hear that your people are connected to the land! Here, people make fun of farmers. Last month the farmers held some protests and they parked their tractors in the middle of highways, in the sense of not earning enough.
I share your hopelessness (damn there are a lot of s’s in that word!) to counter climate change. I follow a philosophy class (it’s my favorite class, really) and in our last lesson we talked about Modernism and how the big mass has changed everything. When cities were smaller, it was easier for people to find their purpose in life and make things of their own, but with these modernisation and with the community becoming a Gesellschaft (German for society), the given tasks of the population changed. Every one got smaller tasks, a little box they had to tick daily, like it’s a factory where all employees do their part of work.
The reason why I’m saying this is because all these factories combined gives us the society we have today, where you can’t really tell what the problem is with something because so many people have just these little inputs in things and you can’t blame them.
The system has become so complicated? A couple centuries ago, when you would get bread from the bakery and you would notice it has become bad, you would go to the baker and complain to him. Now, most bakeries near me don’t bake their own goods, so if the bread has gone bad it could be from the storing in the bakery, maybe something happened during delivery, maybe it happened in the factory were it got made, maybe it’s because of some bad grain on the field (it’s just an example, I don’t know if it’s possible for grain to become bad…)
Anyhow, it has become so much more complicated, and now with globalization it’s even harder because products are flying from everywhere (the expression and also the explicit transport of flying, yes).
There are so many different factors that one needs to think of when you try to stop something because of an error and now you can’t even really point your finger in a direction anymore. Who’s to blame? Who should act and do the right thing? What is our role in this?
As a child I thought that all my questions would be answered when I was older and wise, but now as someone older (not sure about the wise part yet, 19 years of living on this ellipsoid is little) I realize that the list of questions as only grown, not only in length but also in difficulty and complexity. Life is always evolving, moving forward, ‘Il faut absoluté modern’ is what one used to say in the 18th century in Paris when it was the city of novelty, modern life, grandiosity. It feels like nothing has changed since then with how one looks at life. New things must always happen. Most people feed on the rush of something new, they lust for the newest gadgets and want sensation. This consumption culture is terrible for the environment and for our mental health!
Ofcourse I know not everyone thinks like that. I know it would be weird to live without the internet and technology, but I would gladly make that offer because life would feel much more at peace. That would also help with the yearly waste of these thrown away items and the problem with supplies.
But I know that it’s not easy and that technology has also helped us a lot! I just hope that it would only be used for medical purposes and not be used by a 7 year old that is on his or her phone for 12 hours a day. (The fact that some 7 year olds already have a phone…)
Anyhow,
I hope you are doing well!
Yours truly,
Nora
Letter 4
Namaste Nora,
(Apologies for the late reply)
How are you doing? Hope all is well.
I think the summers that you described in the letter sounds quite pleasant. Summers over here are intense, to put simply.
I really love reading your thought provoking letters. While some of your ideas totally resonate with mine ,there are some others which give me some new perspectives .
I’m sorry for the late reply, I got caught up with my semester exams.
I sometimes think, whether withholding information is as bad as lying. Like omitting ideas, data, facts rather than just conveying them to the people concerned. I believe it’s as bad as lying or maybe worse. Like can you imagine you are buying stuff from the market whether it be for food, sanitation or any other purpose and the labels never mention how that product came to its existence .
They omit the ingredients ,the procedure, the illegal labor and what not. And as consumers, we don’t have that much of time or energy to go on checking and researching the background of everything we buy. And as you said, things are flying all around the globe now , so it decreases the probability of knowing its origin even further and just promotes the blame game.
This concealed data can literally build or destroy the multinational companies who are multi-faceted. In some countries they are this big successful brand , lovely and what not but then you know the truth behind them , how they promote child labour, promote none of the healthy working environment they often advocate about.
Ohhh, yeah seeing children with smartphones is easily the most absurd and wild thing of my day. Like kids who haven’t yet learned to tie their shoe laces and go so swiftly through the phones. That speed. It’s crazy.
I believe that change is the only constant. And although sometimes I fiercely want for a moment to last a lifetime and others to end in an instant, we can’t possibly get that. I think that it is a good thing, ’cause we shouldn’t be skipping only to the good parts, cause we wouldn’t be ready to live that good part if we haven’t gone through those rough edges of the harsh times. They force us to grow. And , also like you said, makes us treasure and live life in moments.
Take care :-)
Yours faithfully,
Maitreyi