The Festival of Alternatives is a first-of-its-kind gathering that converges the timeless ideals of India’s Independence movement with community-led development and environmental stewardship.
Our doors and hearts are wide open. The festival warmly invites people of all ages, backgrounds, castes, classes, genders, and sexual orientations, fostering a safe and inclusive environment for everyone.
You will meet:
Grassroots Farmers
Master Artisans
Young Changemakers & Social Entrepreneurs
Performers, Filmmakers & Visionaries
Immerse yourself in a curated mix of experiential, educational, and cultural programming:
The festival is being organized by the Yusuf Mehrally Centre, along with various other organizations, stakeholders and volunteers.
YMC was founded in 1962 by Dr. G. G. Parikh (Gunvantrai Ganpatlal Parikh), and other freedom fighters in memory of Freedom Fighter Yusuf Meherally, most famously known for coining the phrases, ‘Simon Go Back’ and ‘Quit India’. He was an outstanding freedom fighter, who sacrificed his law career and his health, to organize and lead various movements against the British, under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi. He passed away in 1952, and is fondly remembered even today for his contributions to the Independence Movement.
Dr G.G Parikh is sadly no longer with us and the festival is being organized on his first death anniversary as a celebration of his ideals of community building, justice for all and rural development, and the promise to adhere to them and pass them on to the coming generation. The YMC works extensively in education, health care, empowering women and Adivasis, organizing youth, employment generation, environmental protection, re-popularizing the values of the freedom movement. The Centre is one of the most active branches of the organization, with a school and a hospital run for the benefit of the local community. It also boasts of a skill training center, cattle rearing center, and various facilities for making of furniture, oil, soap and other items.
Today, even 78 years after his tragic death, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi remains a pivotal figure in not just Indian history, but world history, inspiring many leaders around the world to rise against the evil of colonization using the bloodless weapons of non-violence and truth. Mahatma Gandhi wrote extensively and thus we are blessed to have first hand exposure to his ideals. Gandhiji believed in Gram Swaraj, as an essential part of Independent India. He believed that rural India could be and should be prosperous and self-sustaining, without unchecked capitalism. He believed in rural economic development through sustainable agriculture and cottage industries, which is why he used the ‘charkha’ to spin his own clothes and encouraged his peers and followers to do the same. The Festival of Alternatives is a manifestation of these ideals.
