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Happiness worked practically. I went back to “in a nutshell, Bhutan had advanced
the same villages I had visited earlier with the many of the un’s millennium
King, high in the mountains of central Bhutan.
Children, who earlier shepherded sheep and Development Goals long before they
cattle in torn clothes in the cold, now wore smart had even been considered or globally
blue uniforms to school, there was a primary adopted.”
health centre and access to clean drinking water.
The widespread deforestation recommended by
World Bank experts to fuel economic growth in It was the era of Jim Grant at the helm, an
the 1980s had stopped; it hadn’t contributed to inspiration to all. Nothing mattered more than the
social harmony and gross national happiness. children of the world, no matter where they were.
It was an awesome period to be associated with the
In a nutshell, Bhutan had advanced many of the UN: we joined hands to strive to make the world a
UN’s Millennium Development Goals long before better place.
they had even been considered or globally adopted.
In 1984, I went to Bangkok to work at UN
In 1982, on my return to New Delhi from Bhutan, ESCAP to produce audiovisual documentaries on
I was selected by the UN Department of Public environmental concerns in the Asian and Pacific
Information in New York to participate in a region. Over the next decade, we focused on a
fellowship programme for young broadcasters and number of issues, ranging from desertification,
journalists from developing countries to cover the forest and soil conservation to the coastal and
UN General Assembly. During that time, I was marine environment and their sustainable
invited by the University of Iowa to speak on issues management. I had a wide canvas before me: from
related developmental communication. A TV Iran to the Pacific Ocean, from the Soviet Union
reporter’s first question to me was to ask if I was a (now the Russian Federation), China and the
communist. Puzzled, I wondered what he meant Indian subcontinent across to the Indian Ocean.
by it. He said I was from a third world country, I travelled across the region, covering cold arid
and third world countries ganged up against deserts in northern China and the hot deserts of
the United States, so they must be communists. Iran and India, to mangrove forests in Bangladesh,
Logically, I was one too! mountain ecosystems in Nepal and the coastal
regions of Pakistan and Indonesia. I worked with
It struck me for the first time that while we looked soil scientists, marine biologists, foresters and
upon the UN as a body committed to making the agriculturists to illustrate the intricacies of the
world a better, safer place, not everyone viewed various fragile ecosystems that make the earth a
it with the same eyes. liveable space for all living species. The director of
the division, Kazi F. Jalal, brilliantly brought vision
I was fortunate, indeed privileged, to have and commitment to the task. He understood the
worked with and associated with UN staff who importance of communication as a key component
had the vision and the motivation to carry in the process and we ensured those goals would
forward the goals of the United Nations to be realized even though there was little funding to
make the world a better place. It didn’t matter back it up.
how difficult or arduous the conditions were,
they remained steadfast in their resolve to carry Over the next decade, we collaborated with
forward the aims to promote social progress and governments and policy makers to help improve
better standards of life for all. the environment while promoting sustainable
development. The documentaries and the visuals
I worked on several assignments for UNICEF I produced helped bring life to the complicated
in South Asia through the ‘90s, producing technical reports, introducing a level of awareness
audiovisual documentaries on community health, that would not have been otherwise possible.
child welfare, promoting immunization, caring for Images are often worth a thousand words. My
leprosy patients, advocating the use of iodized salt photographs illustrated the 1990 State of the
for iodine deficiency disorders (IDD), promoting Environment Report for Asia and the Pacific and
the benefits of breastfeeding in early childhood I helped write, edit and publish other documents
development among others. presented at the landmark Earth Summit in Rio

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