History

Early beginnings of NVC in India…
In the late 90’s, Hema Pokharna (USA/India) and Nada Ignjatovic (Serbia) were the first trainers to share NVC in India. Hema offered NVC to a small group of people in and around Pune, while Nada’s focus was in Auroville.

Aniruddha and Kumarjeev get trained in the UK…
In 2002, UK trainer Bridget Belgrave came to India to offer a training to the Buddhist organization, Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO / TBMSG). After the first session, they decided to send two Indian nationals to the UK for further NVC training. Aniruddha (from Pune) and Kumarjeev (from Nagpur) attended the year-long KLT (Knowing, Learning and Teaching) program with Bridget Belgrave and Gina Lawrie, and upon completion were certified trainers.

Once home, Aniruddha and Kumarjeev started offering NVC trainings as a means of bringing about social change in India. They offered workshops to the underprivileged, dalits, women and children. Bridget returned on several occasions to support them, and she also offered advance trainings for the more serious NVC practitioners. This is where the real momentum for NVC started in India.

Marshall Rosenberg comes to India…
Dr. Marshall Rosenberg has offered three trainings in India. In 2006, he offered a training to nearly 4,500 people from deprived and underprivileged backgrounds. He also offered two IITs (International Intensive Training), one in Bangalore, and one near Pune.

Saleem’s contribution…
Saleem Ebrahim, a trainer from Paris, attended the Pune IIT. He was moved by the work Aniruddha and Kumarjeev were doing, and decided to support NVC in India. He created a link between India and the French NVC Association. Saleem has since been visiting India twice a year and has contributed to the lives of many local Indians.

The formation of INVCI…
With Saleem’s support, the structure of “NVC-India” started to emerge. In November 2008, Saleem invited Gilles Charest, a Sociocracy trainer and consultant, to offer a training and create a structure for NVC-India. During this training, the group INVCI (Institute of Nonviolent Communication – India) came into existence.

With support and guidance from Saleem and our temporary Advisors, Aniruddha was appointed General Manager. He in turn appointed 3 Regional Managers, Chitra Panchkaran in the North, Vijay Adsule in the Centre, and L’aura Joy in the South. Ayesha Sinha was invited to join almost a year later, as Regional Manager in the East, followed by Mili Raj in Delhi.

Our temporary Advisors consisted of three international friends, and their commitment was to provide support and guidance as we established ourselves and learned to work together. Béatrix Piedtenu, who lives in Paris, was previously the President of the French NVC Association and the Director of their Institute. Gilles Charest and his wife Ghislaine are from Canada. They are experts in Sociocracy and have helped many organizations implement the Sociocratic process, including the French NVC Association.

Spreading NVC throughout the country…
In January 2009, we held our first seminar, “Nonviolent Communication and Social Change in India,” in beautiful Rishikesh on the banks of the Ganges River. Fifteen NGOs and individuals from different parts of India joined us, as well as international participants from France, Switzerland, USA and Canada. We shared ideas on how to make a difference in the fields of women‘s empowerment, children‘s rights and gender discrimination.

With Aniruddha’s support and on-going training offers, Bhaje, a Buddhist retreat centre near Pune, became a central point for NVC gatherings. As a follow-up to this support, we started up Bhaje’s first practice group in March 2009, in hopes of deepening NVC consciousness in that region.

Auroville, an international community in the South, also quickly became a hub for NVC gatherings, with many international trainers, supporters and participants coming to share and learn together.

In August 2009, we held our first trainings in Kolkata. Aniruddha and Saleem shared NVC and Aikido with a small group of enthusiasts, activists and trainers. We also organised a training in a shelter home for adolescent girls from difficult backgrounds – orphaned, sexually abused, or economically-marginalised.

Now a Registered Trust…
With INVCI’s evolution over the past 2 years, our structure has changed to better suit our more organic growth pattern. The “Institute for Nonviolent Communication” has finally become legally recognized as an NGO-Trust, with Mili and Saleem as official Trustees. We are currently in the process of registering our other members as well…