Afterall its governor's oath ceremony.

Dehradun-Solar City Master Plan- This is the first full fledged assignment now about to complete in my first 4 month stint at Winrock.
Project as regards to its goals is very ambitious and aims at meeting 10% electricity demand through renewables and energy conservation measures. In almost all cities specially in northern India average power cut is around 2-3 hours which is bound to increase unless some measures are taken up and when this is the condition of cities, villages are even worse.

We were given a task to prepare a master plan which will incorporate energy planning and implementation mechanism. The whole process of preparing this plan revealed several dynamics which prevail across. Most important among these is the removal of bias against government servants. To my surprise i found few people in nagar nigam dehradun who are pushing things and intend to do a good job. Infact city engineer used to sit late till 7:30.
I was wondering if there are good change makers (even though few) why the process is slow. Possibly the last day of the visit, today, gave the answer. Municipal Commissioner and City Engineer had been trying for arranging a meeting with some other departments from where we can get more inputs for energy planning. Initially the date for the said meeting was 3rd, then got shifted to 4th and finally to 6th..thereby extending my stay here. About today they were pretty sure, but out of the blow came another hammer which struck everyone.
My Goodness "His Majesty, Governor had to take oath today", so all government officials had to make arrangements for the ceremony and therefore our meeting with those government officials never happened. I also couldn't;t afford to extend the trip beyond today due to my other assignments.
I dont intend to say that oath ceremony should not be there, infact Governor is the constitutional head of the state. My only contention is, in a country where have so many things in line to bring about improvement and where there are just few committed people to bring those changes, can we afford such pomp and show. Since I was privileged enough to have direct access to higher officials my problem was possibly minuscule, but i wonder there may be many people whose most urgent task's would have got stuck up and they cannot raise a voice also because "

Afterall its governor's oath ceremony.

Was That Really Bad?

Preface

What is a weed? Waldo said “It's the plant whose virtues are not been identified yet”. With a belief that same holds true for we, human beings we present this book. All of us are created unique and have some or other qualities often hidden and unknown to self. When we read through history books we find some individuals who have left an indelible mark on the pages of time. Were they different?, Yes they were, infact as all of us are, only thing they did was they identified this difference, this uniqueness and excelled in it. Most importantly they used their so-seeming failures as stepping stones for success. We analyzed lives of such people and found that most often than not they all hold some common life philosophies which strengthened them when they appeared in the midst of losing everything. Assuming ourselves like weeds whose qualities are yet to be deciphered, we thought of creating a “life-lesson book” which can serve as both as a fertilizer and pesticide for revealing the wonders this weed can do for the world. Someone said “The opposite of talking isn't listening; the opposite of talking is waiting”. Therefore we decided to create a script which interacts with you while you read, which gives you chance to analyze your own life incidents with the illustrative stories and keeps you as close to reality as possible. Hence we present before you not just a “Self-Help Book” but a “Self-Help Workbook”.

If you have seen the movie “Forest-Gump” you would easily recall “My Momma always said life was like a box of chocolates… you never know what you are gonna get.” We at times label certain events as “bad” as they didn't happen, the way we wanted them. We cry, shout back and mourn over such “bad” incidents. The failure in an exam, defeat in a game, losing an election, spoiling of business, death of a dear-one, missing of an important appointment or could be anything “bad” we can think of.

Life moves ahead and we find that so seeming bad incident shapes some important incident in later part of our life. The learning, the experience, the frustration of the “bad” moment somewhere down the line becomes a source of moving ahead. This book is all about connecting these so-seeming bad incidents and facilitating you understand that these all were actually blessing in disguise.

Before we begin our journey, let us set the platform for you. The two anchors “Chirag” & “Rachana” bring about life stories of six old friends who meet each other in an alumni reunion and share their life experiences. These friends in a subtle sense had been following what they call as “WHHR” “Whatever Happens, happens for reason”. The two anchors Chirag and Rachana will gradually compare, analyze and help you evolve the principles of life in the chapter-series called “Manthan” interwoven across the life stories of these friends. The flow of chapters is very scientifically designed. First two chapters share life stories where we will see how belief in WHHR led two of these friends come out of tragic situations and transform their lives. Third chapter analyzes life stories of these two friends from psychological point of view. It shows how our thought constructs restrict us from acting upto full potential and lead to frustration and despair. We will see how WHHR physiologically helps us recognize these hindering thought constructs and pushes us ahead with a rejuvenated energy. Fourth chapter shares life story of another key member of the group. The role of WHHR in his life is analyzed through basic concepts of life energy philosophy and this lets us understand how WHHR is scientifically true. Fifth & Sixth chapter present the life stories of the remaining two members and reflect how WHHR connects for progress of our lives in spiritual sense.

Just try to reflect some (so-seeming) bad incident in your life and for a moment assume it didn't happen, do you find some of your great achievement or happiness obtained at later phase of life being obliterated. Life and all incidents, people whom we meet, problems we face & opportunities we receive all have some forbearing on our future course of action. At times the forbearing turns the entire course of life. Let's jot down those incidents in this workbook and “Try to join dots of life working backwards”.

May be next time when you feel like mourning over some incident you may like to recall “Was that really bad?” and you will shout at Murphy who said “If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something”.

Happy Reading Ahead !!!!

Arun Pandey & Sharda Gautam

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We are looking publishers for this book whose preface u read just now, would be grateful if you can give co-ordinates of anyone whom you know or aware of

Dr. Kurien and Mr. Jyoti Basu

Mr. Jyoti Basu (Long term Chief Minister of West Bengal) and Dr. Kurien (Father of Indian White Revolution) both have been suffering from illness since long time. I was just swapping over the news channels. “When Mr. Jyoti Basu was taken to hospital, when he was sent back to home, which all doctors are taking care of him at home…….and what not was shown in detail. On the other hand Dr. Kurien (88) little younger than Mr. Basu (96) was admitted in critical condition in Bombay and now at his daughter’s home in Chennai didn’t find a few seconds spot on any of the news channels.

I don’t know what contribution Mr. Basu has made to the country or to West Bengal as the longest serving chief minister of West Bengal (people from this state might be able to tell) for making it developed (either in industrial or in social terms) that his illness deserved so much attention of media but I do know and I am sure people who have even a bit of awareness about “Bharat” (different from India) know that Dr, Kurien had been instrumental in making the country which earlier imported milk as self reliant and one of his dream organization Amul is rated among top 21 milk producer’s organization in the world. He has spent his whole life creating farmer’s organizations so that MNC’s are not able to rob rural populace of their due share.

I don’t intend to compare the two people (nor I deem myself capable of) nor I intend to criticize the media (afterall it’s a reflection of viewers choice !! ) but I do sincerely feel that if someone from media group (tv or newspaper) reads blog this do try to give a little space to the living Crusader of India’s post freedom development.

today

Yesterday I completed my first 3 months in the development sector and tomorrow will be completing the quarter century of life.

Was just looking back in an attempt to join the dots.

Life till now had been very comforting with if's and buts of health problems. With whatever dreams i took the voyage in the ocean of social work i feel if not good but atleast it has got a decent start. Recently had a talk with one of my colleague at NIT-Surat Subodh Tyagi, he remarked that -sharda i don;t know much about the things but atleast u have been able to pursue wat u dreamt while many had to leave on the way. I think Almighty has been gracious enough to support me with people whom i call as "Architects of my life" to enable me in this "experiment with reforms".

Future is uncertain- i still don;t know what good i will be rendering to the society at large and specially the sub-saharan africans, but as of now trying to evolve mechanisms for making rural community based organizations sustainable. Gradually more things will unfold specially with the rural electrification assignment in jharkhand and while doing socio-economic life cycle assesment of different alternate interventions across 6 states.

Lets keep the fingers crossed.......

Moving on with mission and as we say in IRMA.... if we won't ............. who will..

I hope, one day, I too have a chance

Suvendu Roy of Titan Industries shares his inspirational encounter with a rickshaw driver in Mumbai: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Last Sunday, my wife, kid, and I had to travel to Andheri from Bandra. When I waved at a passing auto rickshaw, little did I expect that this ride would be any different. As we set off, my eyes fell on a few magazines (kept in an aircraft style pouch) behind the driver's back rest. I looked in front and there was a small TV. The driver had put on the Doordarshan channel. My wife and I looked at each other with disbelief and amusement. In front of me was a small first-aid box with cotton, dettol and some medicines. This was enough for me to realise that I was in a special vehicle. Then I looked round again, and discovered more - there was a radio, fire extinguisher, wall clock, calendar, and pictures and symbols of all faiths - from Islam and C hr istianity to Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism. There were also pictures of the heroes of 26/11- Kamte, Salaskar, Karkare and Unnikrishnan. I realised that not only my vehicle, but also my driver was special. I started chatting with him and the initial sense of ridicule and disbelief gradually diminished. I gathered that he had been driving an auto rickshaw for the past 8-9 years; he had lost his job when his employer's plastic company was shut down. He had two school-going children, and he drove from 8 in the morning till 10 at night. No break unless he was unwell. "Sahab, ghar mein baith ke TV dekh kar kya faida? Do paisa income karega toh future mein kaam aayega." We realised that we had come across a man who represents Mumbai – the spirit of work, the spirit of travel and the spirit of excelling in life. I asked him whether he does anything else as I figured that he did not have too much spare time. He said that he goes to an old age home for women in Andheri once a week or whenever he has some extra income, where he donates tooth brushes, toothpastes, soap, hair oil, and other items of daily use. He pointed out to a painted message below the meter that read: "25 per cent discount on metered fare for the handicapped. Free rides for blind passengers up to Rs. 50.” My wife and I were struck with awe. The man was a HERO! A hero who deserves all our respect. Our journey came to an end; 45 minutes of a lesson in humility, selflessness, and of a hero-worshipping Mumbai, my temporary home. We disembarked, and all I could do was to pay him a tip that would hardly cover a free ride for a blind man. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope, one day, I too have a chance to meet Mr Sandeep Bachhe in his auto rickshaw: MH-02-Z-8508.

Why do we do so?

Scene:1

Mohan along with his colleague was returning back from office. Suddenly the cellphone of his colleague's rang and on the other side was his son who requested him to bring a set of color pencils. His colleague requested Mohan to get a set of color pencils from the nearby shop. Mohan bought the pencils and gave back to his colleague. His colleague took out wallet and was about to give him money to which Mohan politely refused saying its just 30 rupees, no issues.

Scene:2

Next day, Mohan had to go to a nearby water park for outing, since his bike had some trouble, so he thought to hire a rickshaw. One rickshaw fellow was going to the same side, Mohan stopped him and asked "Bhaiyya kitna paisa logo water park chalne ka". "40 rupayee de dena sahab" replied the rikshawala. "Aree 40 rupee bahut jyada bol rahe ho, wahan toh bas 20 rupaye me jaate hain" answered back Mohan. The conversation contiued for a while and finally they settled for a fare of 30 rupees.

Comment:

In the first scene Mohan let go Rs.30 very politely even when he knew that his colleague can afford to give the money but possibly because of etiquette he denied taking the money and in the scene 2 we find that. He argued with the rickshaw for a sum of Rs. 10, which possibly for richshaw fello would have been atleast 10% of the day's earning.

Whether we notice it or not we all replace Mohan in  the two scenes but never wonder why we do so when we take a richshaw we argue for 10-15 rupees, when we buy vegetables we try to get the price reduced by 4-5 rupees whereas with our colleagues and friends on the name of socialism we spend 500-1000 odd rupees without giving a second thought. 

WHY can't we be more generous with these people for whoom the small amount of money matters more ?

BAD News

In the morning, i switched on the TV for hearing  news, by chance my room partner here at gurgaon, woke up early morning and and while he was lying down on the bed heard the news for a while and then said "ye subah subah kya marne-maarne wali kahani laga rakhi, put some song channel", i was about to respond to him but then resisted from saying anything. I realized he was not wrong in his instantaneous remark. Everyday what NEWS everyone of us get whether we pick up a newspaper or listen to a news channel is full of all negative news.

I was just wondering if we can start publishing a  monthly newspaper or a newsletter atleast at the beginning and publish the good work which is being done across the country by individuals, organizations and government officials so that an option of "positive news only" can be created.

Those of you, who had been following this blog might recall an earlier attempt of e-newsletter "Samaaj" which was unfortunately discontinued due bit hectic schedule of studies at IRMA.

Now when we propose to restart ... I think this should  not only limited as e-newsletter but also as a monthly regular published newsletter. This obviously will have to be a "Not- for Profit" newsletter and would need dedicated volunteers

Team which at this moment which I can think of would be needed is

1) 4 Volunteers for news collection

2) 2 Volunteers for Editing

3) 2 Volunteers for spreading the E-newsletter across the avaialble blogs/ or other public discussion platforms

Later on when we are able to develop resources, we can begin up the monthly Published newsletter for which someone can volunteer to prepare a proposal "How we can go about it- legalities invloved in it, What kind of resources both financial and human we will need.. etc"

If u feel interested do drop in ur response

 

And I take reins from here

And I take reins from here

Before coming IRMA I was a real fighter

In quest of selfish pursuits a true warrior

But now the fighter, the warrior is lost somewhere

And I take reins from here

IRMA taught me its not necessary to fight

But its necessary to strive

Strive not for self only

Because Almighty didn’t me make me lonely

The question still fresh “Why we are here and why they are there”

And I take reins from here

IRMA sent me closer to the root to make me grounded

And the realities which I saw made me astounded

The quest still remains but not for money or fame

The quest still remains but not limited to selfish aim

The fighter has gone and the striver came

The striver has a rejuvenated soul and a new name

Let time take its own toll and unfold pages of future

And I take reins from here 

A feeble man like me has nothing more to offer

But the promise to strive for “cause” IRMA ingrained in me to work for

Everything else atleast at this moment remains dizzier

So accept Good-Bye from this “Barefoot Manger”

And I take reins from here. 

Just Think !!!

Merry Christmas

When I hear one of the most fondly quoted statement "Hate sin, not the sinner", I feel  we do have hypocrcy when there comes a similar ground for "Love good acts, not only the good doer". We as a society across the world get swayed away by hero worshipping and most of the times it happens that while we worship the hero, we forget the ethics, the prophecies, the actions that hero spoke about.

Yes !!, This is more special on this Christmas morning. Lord sent his only son Jesus, to spread the message of peace and love for everyone and its just 2000 years back & If one considers sentiments of all communities across the world, this message in one way or other was propogated by Lord Rama, Holy Paigambar, Guru Nanak, Lord Buddha & Mahavira and many other's unnamed who spread the message of humanity.

But when we look around incidents around us it makes our heart sad, the violence, the hatred of one  community against another, fight among nations and within nation........... I feel like questionining "Do we as humanity are actually  worshipping & in a way practicing those noble ideas of love & peace or  are we simply satisfying the formality of worshipping the preachers of these noble ideas and  in real sense have forgotten the cause for which they were here on earth at different point of times and in differen parts of the world".

I still dont have a answer but Every celebration be it Diwali, Id, Christmas, Holi, Gurunanak Jayanti must be making Almighty sad, not becauseGod.Ishwar/Allah doesnt like celebration and worshipping but because the real essence of peace & leave supposed to be propogated by these celebrations is somewhere getting lost. Somewhere we the God's children are at one end respecting our creator but at other end are missing the respect for peace & love he stands for !!!!

Lets along with loving the good doer, love & practice their good acts 

The Journey till now- Life Ahead

Subconsciously, its all like dots of life are joining by themselves.

I had at some corner of my heart feeling to contribute my little efforts for the marginalized & as anyone slightly interested in this would do, I wanted to enter to the civil service.

But as they as "Man proposes God disposes". ALmighty possibly had somethign else in mind. I still remember Prof. (___) came to my hostel room early morning of 18th dec, 2005 and we had a good discussion for about 2 hours. At the end he told me to stop preparing for UPSC, i was bit stunned as i had invested 3 years to this and he was asking me to leave even without giving a single trial of exam. In any case he was among most revered Prof's I had at NIT-Surat. So i told him "Sir I am ready to follow your advice but still I am curious to know why you dont want me to give even a try." His reply was possibly true to a greater extent as he understood " Sharda, i dont doubt your efforts or capability of clearing or not clearing the exam, only issue is whatever you intend to do as civil servant u can do by voluntarily. You r softhearted and you wont be able to fight crime and corruption and I fear you might not do what all u dream now". Innocently i asked him do these Voluntary organizations come for placements. He said here they don't , u take placements in any organization from here and then shift to this field in a year or two.

With this, another dimension got added up. Since the feel was soemwhere true to heart, possibly that's why my steps couldn't restrain myself from teaching kids at the Orphanage in baroda on weekends while continuing my Job at GM. As the days passed i realized, i am possibly getting the inner satisfaction of doing something beyond self, but still i was unable to contibute significantly to life of tose kids. Possibly it needs a full time devotion rather than week-end  task.

 This led me to apply for different ngo's so that i can take social work as a profession, unfortunately none of them called me up even for interview, bit tensed with this i took courage and asked the HR person of one NGO "Why r u not giving a chance for interview-afterwards you can reject me". Their reply was that my socalled profile didnt match with their requirement and i need to change it by going for masters and suggsted IRMA/TISS. Tiss dates were already over by then, fortunately i could apply for IRMA and by God's grace i got admission at this wonderful place (http://shardagautam.blogspot.com/2008/12/why-do-i-love-irma.html)

IRMA had its own deep influence & parents on the other hand didn't want me to join the developemnt world at the cost of socalled career,. Moreso my health trouble also was bothering me at some corner whether i would be able physically able to put some contribution or not.

It seems, this was the first time i got broken down completely and was on the verge of leaving the development thoughts seeign parents firm opposition and my health, But Almighty as always had far better solution which human mind can think of.

The MTS organization, where i m doing MTS, they offered me to join on a project which was a mix of field work & policy development which will not cause much strain to health and on the other hand will enable me to remain in development world. To my utter surprise, parents also don't have any objection (possibly bocz the field rural electrification matches somewhat to my fathers' field of renewable energy :) & to them name winrock doesn't sound like that of NGO for which they don't have high regards :)]

Lets see what future has in store from here. But i am happy that by grace of god, i am still with my dreams of contributing my little efforts to the marginalized & weaker section of the society.

I get reminded of Letter to elder brother Sarat Chandra Bose on September 22, 1920 by Subash Chandra Bose

"You will readily understand my mental condition as I stand on the threshold of what the man-in-the-street would call a promising career.There is much to be said favour of such a service. It solves once for all what is paramount problem for each of us -- the problem of bread and butter.One has not to go face life with risk or uncertainty as to success or failure. But for a man of my temperament who has been feeding on ideas which might be called eccentric -- the line of least resistance is not the best to follow .Life loses half its interest if there is no struggle -- if there are no risks to be taken.The uncertainties of life are not appalling to one who has not , at heart , worldly ambitions. Moreover , it is not possible to serve one's country in the best and fullest manner if one is chained to the Civil Service . In short , national and spiritual aspirations are not compatible with obedience to Civil Service Examinations."

रोटी कपड़ा और मकान बनाम Pizza Suitings and Duplex

भारत बनाम India saga

There used to be a time when India could be easily subsituted with "Bharat". So-called economic reforms began in disguise of Opening the economy under influence of Brettwood institutions and we saw India growing at an unprecedented pace which we never witnessed earlier. The quest for economic prosperity, mechanization and above all urbanization became a centre point. I cant say it was bad, but then there was happening a subtle change. India was going away from Bharat. This progress appeared to cause a drift. On one hand Bharat was moving at 2-3% growth rate and on other India was heading at 8-9% growth rate.

One insane guy who was neither in Bharat nor India (a middle class which constitutes a major chunk), intended to explore this nation (nations ?).

भारत (Bharat what he saw)

In some remote village not to far from state capital of a state, he found that electricity poles have not reached and to talk about electricity is a good joke, where parents feed their kids with "Madh"(its simply rice with about 3 times more of water not bcoz it tasted good but bcoz they didnt had enough to feed if their child asked another time for food.), where after 6 o clock in the evening, they want to remain in their home (just to ensure any naxal doesnt kill them), where if they fall ill, they can't take their dearone to hospital (not bocz they dont want but bocz nearest hospital is some 60 odd km's and they dont have money to arrange a vehicle) and so on......................... रोटी कपड़ा और मकान is still a big dream

India (India which he saw)

It was some IT-city near the capital of the nation (nations?) where let the sunset and innumerable buildings were lit with extravagent lighting, where escalators were running on some power source for the people who could easily climb up 12-15 stairs, where having food was no longer to satisy hunger but to have a change in flavor form xyz dish to abc dish, where for moving a distance of say 500 m people put fuel in their luxury cars, where for a simple cold or cough there exists a hospital (or a five star hotel) with best doctors and so on.........Pizza, suitings and duplex are in line

He got puzzled ánd asked his colleagues some of whom who have move to India and some still in Bharat (by choice or by compulsion is a different issue), none had an exact answer but inspite of all love/hate one has/had about Mr. M.K. Gandhi they admitted "Nature has produced enough to fullfill everyone's NEED but nor GREED". India's fast track growth is fully supported but lets not forget their exists a भारत in some greater parts of the nation/s, so lets take out some time/effort/resources to ensure that Bharat doesn't ask for becoming a different nation seperated out of India like we saw CG got seperated of MP or Jharkhand from Bihar on grounds of some differences.

The saga of भारत बनाम India goes on from रोटी कपड़ा और मकान to Pizza, suitings and duplex

Why Do I Love IRMA ?

“Why do I love IRMA”

The memoirs of a Participant

 

“Why do I love IRMA” is possibly a succeeding question to the most truthfully questioned and most flowerily answered J question “Why IRMA?” I am not sure how genuinely it was answered in past interviews of IRMA or will be answered in future but one thing remains precise that somewhere in the corner of our heart we have an unadulterated answer. I too had my own insane reasons which my diary quotes as

 

“I am not sure whether I would be able to contribute to underprivileged section after passing out from IRMA. I am also not sure whether this institute will be able to mould me into a capable rural manager, but I am happy that next 21 months of my life would be spent in an environment where tea-time gossips wont remain restricted to film and sports stars but will include talks about the marginalized and weaker sections , where class room discussions won’t  restrict to just increasing profits for organizations but will include humane aspect too, where exams wont test your capability of simply managing monetary aspects but will test how delicately you can integrate development (not sure what it meant then) in it.”

 With all these whims and fancies I entered into this wonderful campus. The very entry left an unforgettable mark in my memory. As per my earlier dispositions, guard at the gate was at maximum supposed to let me know the direction of hostel block, but to my utter surprise he took me to the hostel, put of my luggage from the auto rickshaw, took & filled up the empty water bottle, asked for my bed-sheet and set the things comfortable for stay of any new comer like me. I was dumb struck at the thought that if non teaching staff is so supportive then I am definitely going to have a homely stay here.

 

The Unlearning

I still remember during induction field work when we reached the GVT (Dahod) office Prof. Arvind Gupta called all of us together and told us  “Forget what you are, forget what your qualifications are.You all are simply learners and therefore spend next one week as a true learner from the so seeming illiterate inhabitants of the village.” I possibly didn’t realize it then. “The Barefoot Managers” as IRMAN’s are supposed to have humility at heart and this necessitates that the baggage of past whether its educational background or work experience must be dropped down. And this was the first and fundamental lesson for me possibly one of the most striking facet of IRMA.

 The Learning

Possibly none of the so-called management institutes would be teaching about rural livelihood systems and as obvious to most of us, things taught in this course were going above head, specially the way poor & poverty was defined with the six aspects which didn’t restrict to financial poverty. The village stay at Jharkhand possibly was waiting for another starking revelation. The discussion which  left me spell bound

We: “Whom do you rate as most poor person in Supa?”

Replies” Jharia who lives toward field is poorest person here”

We (the most obvious question): “How much land he owes”

Replies “About 6 acres”

We: “And you”

Replies: “2 acres, 1.5 acres…….”

Stunned by the reply we asked him: “Still you call him poorest in the village”

Replies: “Sahab, you won’t understand, poverty is not simply related to land size, its something more than that”

We curiously continued the discussion and got to know that Mr. Jharia Uraon had big sized land but didn’t have ox and plough, therefore during cropping season he used to work in other’s field and during non cropping season along with his wife & children used to migrate to Bengal for working in Brick making foundries. He was somehow able to save 2000-3000 a year and was planning to purchase a pair of ox and plough when he is able to collect 10000 rupees. But then came the disaster. While he was in Bengal, his wife expired and left a one week child. Somehow he took back his children and this newly born baby. In tribal community, bridegroom moves to the village of his bride and same was the case with Mr. Jharia and therefore all social contacts in the village were of his wife who was no more alive. Now with three small children, his movement for work got restricted. He now cuts and sells log of wood locally in the village when his children are  asleep. He us waiting for them to grow up and take care of themselves so that he can move out and plan for ox and plough to earn from his large farm land ( Tribal’s cant sell their land to non-tribal’s as per law).

                                                          This is what possibly Prof. Hiremath wanted to teach in RLS- a lifelong learning.

 

The unanswered question

During PRA class room sessions Prof. Arunathan (who happens to be IRMA alumnus) showed us a video in which few poor families whose daily life, their sufferings etc. was depicted. I guess more then the video Arunathan Sir’s question “Why we are here and why they are there?” moved us. Our exploration for the question is still on but in very simple terms he gave a great lesson that since we are blessed up with certain richness and ability of good education &decent salary, it’s our duty to sincerely put efforts to pull up life of fellow beings who are not equally blessed with this.

This answered question will keep on haunting me lifelong!!!!

 The IRMAN way

When I told my friends that in IRMA, if someone breaks the rule, he puts a fine himself, none of them believed.  Possibly I also wouldn’t have known the tradition of integrity which IRMA values if had not overheard talk of two kids who came with their parents during Milaap08 (Alumni Meet). The conversation of two kids was over an incident in one of the fun-stalls during Milaap.

It was an event in which glasses were kept in pyramidal form and objective was to hit them with ball and scatter all the glass tumblers. Younger Kid [about 7-8 years] tried two or three time but couldn't dismantle the lower layer and same thing happened with the elder one [i guess around 12 years], both of them sat disappointed after this.

 

Younger one told "Bhaiya u know they stick the lower layer with glue, so it never falls". Elder one thought for a while and replied him back "Yaar it might be true but my father told that in IRMA people never cheat, IRMAN's are very responsible".

 

Awesome!!! Statement touched me- If an elderly person says one may presume he may be pretending but when a child says such words--they are from the innocent Heart.

 

The Glorious Past

 During MTS at Gurgaon, one conversation left me with mixed feelings. I was new to Gurgaon and therefore with my room-mate (was staying there as PG)  at Gurgaon , I went to a restaurant and was waiting for food. Our conversation somehow took turn towards IRMA. My Room-mate co-incidentally happened to be a relative of Prof. Vishwa Vallabh (earlier Prof. at IRMA) and told me that IRMA is virtually IIM of Rural management.

 

 Before I could react, another person (he must be in his early sixties) interrupted in between and said ‘Don’t degrade IRMA by comparing with IIM. IIM’s are nothing but a drain on tax payers money. IRMA used to be ‘Harvard of Rural Management”, & I hope IRMA will keep its glory.’ With moist eyes he left the restaurant, I couldn’t even ask him his name.

 

But who-so-ever he was, his statement left me in dilemma. I should feel happy or sad about this. Happy because the roots of the institute are among the best in the world and sad because I was born too late witness the glory which he was talking about.

 

In any case, if there has crept some adulteration in the founding principles which are putting a blot on IRMA, it calls upon every one involved with IRMA be it , the Board, Alumni,  Professors, Non teaching staff & obviously the Participants to set ourselves for regaining the glorious past of IRMA “The Harvard of Rural Management”

 

And as we fondly say at IRMA

 

        “If we wont ………………..........................................

                                                                                                               who will?”

 

PS: Answer to the question “Why do I love IRMA?” possibly subtly lies somewhere in these lines which I my naïve English knowledge is unable to specify in one word.

Was that Really Bad?

Was that really bad? He wasn’t sure.

 

He had dropped out of college. He didn’t have a dorm room, so he slept on the floor in the rooms of kind friends. He sold used Coca-Cola bottles for the five-cent deposit per

 

bottle to buy food. He walked seven miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. But he didn’t abandon his passion. He was determined to learn calligraphy at the same.institute (Reed’s College)  He learned about serif and sans-serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful and artistically subtle in a way that science couldn’t capture, and he found it fascinating.

 

Some years later, he wrote:

 

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me, and we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts, and since Windows just copied (?) the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on that calligraphy class and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do.

 

He asked himself, “Was dropping out of college really that bad?” The answer was a firm no.

 

Life went on. In only ten years he established a great organization, characterized by an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit, in the computing field. As the organization grew, he hired someone whom he thought was very talented to run the company with him. For the first couple of years, things went well. But then the two men’s visions of the future began to diverge, and eventually he had a falling out with his colleague. At the age of thirty, he was fired from his own organization because of collusion in the boardroom. The incident appeared devastating. But he didn’t stop. He discovered new ways of moving ahead.

 

Life went on, and again things turned around. Five years later, he said with joy:

 

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods in my life. During the next five years I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the world’s first computer-animated feature film, “Toy Story,” and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT and I returned to Apple and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance, and Lorene and I have a wonderful family together. I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful-tasting medicine but I guess the patient needed it

 

He again asked himself, “Was that firing really bad?” The answer was a firm no.

 

By now, you might have guessed that this is not a fantasy or fable. What you have just read describes two real incidents from Steve Jobs’s life.

 

As it is with Steve Jobs, so it is with everyone on this earth. We at times label certain events as “bad” because they didn’t happen in the way that we wanted them to unfold. This could be failure in an exam, defeat in a game, loss in an election, setback in business, disappointment in love, death of a loved one, missing an important appointment, being turned down for a promotion. We cry and mourn over such “bad” incidents. We shout and scream in anger and rage.

 

But life goes on (unless we wish to end it). With the passage of time, we find that even incidents that seemed bad or tragic or upsetting have shaped our life in ways that we can only understand and appreciate much later when we look back. The learning, the experience, and the frustration of dealing with the “bad” moments in our life somewhere down the line become sources of inspiration, which help us to keep moving ahead with determination and fortitude.

 

“In the darkness of uncertainty, we see with a torchlight a limited view. But the Almighty sees in sunlight. Have faith and patience.”

 

Reflect on an apparently bad incident in your life, something that seemed most unfortunate, something that appeared to be a huge setback. For a moment, assume that it didn’t happen. Do you find that the pride and joy associated with some of your greatest achievements—or the happiness that you found at a later phase of your life—has been diminished? Do you find that you now have a different perspective when you look back at your past? All the events in our life, all the people we meet, all the problems that we face, and all the opportunities that come our way shape our future course of action. At times, one crucial event or one important individual can determine the entire course of our life. Let’s take a few pages from our notebook and “try to join the dots of life working backwards”.

 

The next time you feel like mourning over some unfortunate incident or brooding about a disappointment, stop and ask yourself, “Was that really bad?” You might be surprised at the answer to your own question. Then you will want to shout at Murphy who said, “If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something”

 

P.S. Article doesn’t intend to portray good/bad, it’s simply an attempt towards creating positive thinking in life. Article is a part of book under composition “Was that really bad”. Pl. mail your suggestions/critic at sharda.gautam@gmail.com/ sharma.pkk@gmail.com , it may helps us in improving the content of the book !!.

 

 

बस फर्क सिर्फ़ इतना सा था

जीने के लिए काम तो सभी को करना   पड़ता है

मैंने भी शुरू किया और उसे भी शुरू करना पड़ा है

बस फर्क सिर्फ़ इतना सा था

मुझ पर जिंदगी  का बोझ २३-२४ की उम्र में आया

जबकि उसपर ८ वर्ष  में पड़ा  जिंदगी के बोझ का  साया

कडकडाती ठण्ड में मै काम के लिए सुबह निकला

रास्ते में उसे भी काम पर जाते देखा

बस फर्क सिर्फ़ इतना सा था

मै स्वेटर मफलर लगाए गाड़ी में जा रहा था

वो नंगे पैर अपना कचरे का बोरा उठाये ठंडी सड़क पर दौड़ा चला जा रहा था

खैर मै अपने कार्य स्थल यथा समय पहुँचा

वो  भी अपने आफिस  पहुँच गया

बस फर्क सिफ इतना सा था

मेरा कार्यास्थल वातानुकूलित आरामदायक कुर्सी वाला था

और उसका आफिस  कचरे के ढेर पर बना था

दोपहर का वक्त हुआ और मै खाने के लिए भोजनालय पहुँचा

भूक से व्यथित वो भी भोजनालय पहुँचा

बस फर्क सिर्फ़ इतना सा था

मै भोजनालय के अन्दर आराम से खाने का आर्डर दे रहा था

और वो भोजानालय के बाहर  आतुर आँखों से जूठी थालिओं में खाने के टुकड़े खोज रहा था

खैर आफिस का काम ख़त्म कर मै खुशी खुशी निकला

वीकएंड के दो दिनों में क्या क्या करूँ सोचते हुए घर के लिए चला

राह में देखा तो वो भी अपना कचरे का बोरा उठाये चला आ रहा था

क्या करोगे तुम वीकएंड पर, उसे देखा तो ऐसा पूछ बैठा

उसने मुस्कुराते हुए कहा “साहब हमारा वीकएंड तोह लाइफ एंड होने पर ही अता है”

उसका जवाब मुझे एक बड़े सवाल की प्रति ध्वनि लगा

खैर बिना कुछ कहे मै अपने आंसू रोक कर वापस मुड़ने लगा

बस फर्क सिर्फ़ इतना सा था

इस बार वह सवाल पूछ बैठा “साहब ये इतना सा फर्क मेरी जिंदगी में क्यों था”

मेरे पास इस सवाल का कोई उत्तर नहीं था

World bank's former Country Director's view-India

Michael Carter, who was the World Bank’s Country Director for India from September 2002, retired in July 2006. He looks back at the four years he spent in India.

I came to India four years ago at an exciting time in India’s recent history. Change was palpable and a new sense of confidence was in the air. India’s extraordinarily energetic private sector was propelling the country to new heights of growth, and the nation was beginning to emerge as an economic powerhouse, a strong player in the increasingly knowledge-driven world of the new millennium. Although India was still home to the largest number of the world’s poor, it seemed that poverty’s worst features could be vanquished in the coming generation.
Shortly after our arrival in India, my wife Jenny and I went to stay with a low income family in the Kolar district of Karnataka. Mahatma Gandhi said that India lives in its villages, and in that one week in rural Karnataka I glimpsed what life was like for the common people of the country. As we ate with the family and slept like them on straw mats, I began to understand the magnitude of India’s rural development challenge. The village had no health centre, a school that barely functioned, and a road that was more of a dilapidated track. This is not to say that no public resources were being provided. The government was, for example, subsidizing power for agriculture – although this was fostering a fall in the water table that deeply worried the farmers.
Those early days vividly impressed upon me the huge gaps in the government’s delivery of basic services; yet, the people worked so hard to secure a better future for themselves and their families. That image, which I was to see repeatedly across the country, has remained with me ever since, underpinning my work here these past few years in many ways.
I saw the extraordinary spirit of India’s people again in the aftermath of the tsunami. As the survivors picked up the pieces of their lives, they were helped by an administration whose competence in handling the disaster has been recognized world-wide. Though I have seen many examples of the failure of governance and service delivery by governments across the country, I have also come across many public servants of immense ability and commitment, often unrecognized, battling against all odds to get their jobs done. My experience has left me in no doubt of the enduring strength of India’s people.
It looks increasingly likely that the global economic environment will be less favorable for India than it has been in the past few years. While some resulting slowdown in India’s growth over the next few years would not be a surprise, I believe that the country can continue to be one of the world’s fastest growing economies. But the sustainability of that growth over the longer-term will depend on a number of factors which require urgent thinking and action now.
To name a few: Adapting to increasing water scarcity in a way that meets the reasonable needs of all; ensuring adequate energy supplies, especially through the difficult reforms that are needed to improve energy efficiency; adapting to climate change, which could impact India more than most countries; coping with accelerating urbanization, for which strengthened urban governance is surely essential; creating high quality job opportunities; protecting India’s fragile environment in the face of the ever increasing pressures created by economic success; and making India a driving force in technical innovation. My hope is that the World Bank will be able to contribute to ways forward in all these areas, especially by bringing to the table the lessons of experience from around the world.
My experience has also convinced me of the importance of a second and, perhaps even more difficult agenda: Finding ways to make growth more inclusive, so that India’s recent successes improve the lives of all its people. There are no easy solutions, but there are promising experiences to build on. All have the common theme of empowerment – if people are given the opportunity and confidence to develop new avenues for improving their livelihoods, and a role in the governance of the services they receive, the face of poor communities across the country can be changed.
This is certainly a tough challenge. For empowerment, by its very nature, implies a shift in the balance of power. It means a change from the topdown ways of centralized governance to a more participatory, grassroots-led system of decision-making. It means a greater responsiveness on the part of the country’s political system to the needs of its common citizens. It means an emphasis in policymaking on strengthening competition, so that poor producers get a fair reward. And it means transparency in public dealings, an openness to scrutiny, and an unequivocal right to information – all crucial to fighting the scourge of corruption.
But I am convinced that it is eminently doable. The women’s self help groups in Andhra Pradesh, for example, have shown that if poor and marginalized people are given the confidence to improve their lives, they can increase their families’ incomes within months and perhaps even give rise to a quiet social revolution in the process. In Uttaranchal and Kerala I have seen how giving poor rural communities a role in overseeing the construction of their drinking water schemes, as well as the responsibility to operate and maintain them, reduces construction costs, improves construction quality and greatly strengthens the prospects for sustainability.
Given India’s complexity and diversity, scaling up these local successes is a formidable challenge. Efforts to empower local governance institutions right down to the village level, which the government is rightly emphasizing, will surely help. But it will also be crucial to monitor developments on the ground, ensure that government programs are really designed to foster empowerment rather than respond to vested interests, and to constantly learn as reform proceeds. The World Bank will need to keep these challenges in mind for its work in India, all the time looking for ways to strengthen its contribution to India’s own development efforts.
I will certainly be watching, with respect and affection.

(This article was originally published in the New Delhi edition of The Economic Times on 7 August 2006)

My Experiments with Reforms: Dilemma

My Experiments with Reforms: Dilemma

Dilemma

Life for most of us takes sharp 'u' turns at one point or the other which is often professed as "Man proposes God disposes". All development interventions are principally aimed at serving weakest of the weak in the system, but somehow our attempts touch only the layer which is more visible and more easily accessible and we feel successful when we find better results coming out for this layer. BUT DOES THAT NOT MEAN THE DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTION DIDN'T MEET ITS BASIC OBJECTIVE OF ASSISTING THE WEAKEST. I was reviewing the objective with which my naive experiments with reforms started and course they followed while being established.

Drishti-"My first experiment with reforms" was pioneered as an organization which will support all the students at SVNIT and promote their technical endeavours. More so it was an attempt to specifically guide and nurture students with low inclination towards tech things because fundamentally students who were already motivated for tech endeavours could attain good results even in absence of Drishti. In nutshell Drishti's existence was with a mandate that it will prove prowess of SVNITians in technical arena by ensuring that everyone in the institute is involved in some way or the other. We got best results in almost all tech competitions and there is no doubt about it but if give a micro look did Drishti really create platform for "so called less technically inclined students" I personally don't get a satisfactory yes. All the people involved in the noble endeavour of transforming NIT-Surat to a technical hobby centre of excellence did best job and year after year results are shining like anything. BUT IS THIS THE REAL CHANGE WHICH WE FROM DRISHTI WANTED? DO THESE RESULTS REPRESENT THE WORK OF THOSE WHO REALLY NEEDED DRISHTI?

This is not to judge past but to join it with the next experiment "Disha". Our team dreamt of serving the weakest, through a model of organization which is not dependent on charity for doing development interventions. Therefore after much deliberation we undertook a midway path and attempted to keep in virtues of market driven organizations (for profit), NGO's( not-for profit) and Co-ops (sharing of profit/surplus with original producers i.e. poor).

We started our journey 8th august 2007 and explored all possible options to set in this model. As a mode we principally agreed to create what Mahatma Gandhi calls "production by masses" and that too in sync with not disturbing environment ( any intervention which disturbs ecology will not be sustainable). We decided to begin our work from one of the poorest state Jharkhand (known as sudan of India). As a part of curriculum of IRMA, we stayed their for two months in a tribal village "Supa" and tried to asses how people there can be involved by building upon their strengths. As area is not getting investment (possibly bcoz of naxal problem) and there are no alternatives other than to migrate during non-farming season, we thought we should start some productive work in which every one in the village can be involved, so first option before us was to give training to people (alike NGO's work) for very basic handwork (what we popularly call as handicraft) and then provide market linkage (alike for-profit organizations )so that they can earn a decent livelihood by remaining in the village itself. Our objective was to share back the profits with the original producersi.e. rural poor (alike Co-ops but not democratically as naxal problem is hindrance to democratic process) and our team serving as employees of the organization with producers as owners of Disha. Along with this we attempted to take up rural innovations with support of NIF, Ahemdabad so that innovation at the grass root can be brought forward.

But as its said "Man proposes God disposes" today i see things not going the way we thought of. Bcoz we couldnt convince venture capitalists to support us (as equity & not grant) our attempts have stuck up. The cause for which our team is moving is what we never want to leave in between, so an alternative way we are planning- we are now thinking ( not sure yet ur valuable views will help us decide) to begin with a for-profit venture on e-waste recycling (which fulfills only one social objective of caring for environment) which will make organization financially sound and then will carry forward the mission of serving the weakest.

But as it happened with the first experiment "Drishti" i sometimes apprehend will WE BE ABLE TO FULFILL THE BASIC OBJECTIVE OF SUPPORTING THE REAL NEEDY. This drift is bit more sharp WILL WE BE ABLE TO JOIN BACK THE STREAMS?. Only one answer i find coming from the heart "If the feeling for the cause is true this drift will not hinder the mission and we will be able to contribute our best for the REAL needy"........

The quest is on.... with all actions being filtered on Gandhiji's talisman

"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."

Disha Moves Ahead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!