On
the evening of the inauguration ceremony of Gramya Manthan, while on our way to
the campus we were told about the cause and the village on which we will be
working on for the next few days and perhaps years. I was being allotted the
Village Paliya and a cause of agriculture. Both at that time fairly unknown to
me and hence I was doubly excited about it!
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| Paliya - Bilhaur, Uttar Pradesh |
Next
day morning was to be a big one; as it was the first time we were to visit the
villages. Initial motivational talks by Elango Sir and Sanjiv Bhaiya followed
by brief pep talks in the teams and we finally entered the village! We entered
the Choti Paliya, started a conversation with a Potter and few kids around him.
We also visited few other houses in Choti Paliya. But
I think it wasn’t till I
entered the Badi Paliya that I was truly experiencing the moment. I think my
mind was too clouded on how to talk, what to ask, what not to while I was in
Choti Paliya but that small road leading to Badi Paliya cleared all these inhibitions!
The
first person I saw when I entered Badi Paliya was a young girl, about 8-9yrs
old. A girl with round face and big eyes and a smile to die for - Anshu!! She
became my first friend in the village. And from that moment, everything became
very natural. My interactions, my emotions, my smiles and even my concerns.
There is something about that girl. In here I
saw hope and faith. For next 3 days, she followed me almost like a shadow,
everywhere I would go. From the following day, even other children from the
village joined her and me. You know it may sound and seem that walking in the
village along with children is for fun or to spend time with them but to me it
was much more than that!! With every step we took together, my belief in them,
in me and in goodness was getting reinforced.
The
first day of our visit was very general and we interacted with many families to
gauge the situation. The second day was when we had to spend a day with a
family and I spent the day with Harishchandra Bhaiya’s family. If
there is one thing I did the most that day, it was to laugh!! The family had three
girls and I was amazed at how they managed to laugh at everything…they even
laughed out the electricity problem the village is facing.
Well,
although I appreciated their spirit because only with that spirit can you walk
upto the hand pump 300mts away from your house 30-40 times a day to fetch water
but somewhere I could see there was so much potential that was getting wasted. It
was the story of so many young girls in the village, all educated but lack of
proper guidance and opportunities makes them spend every afternoon in sleeping
or in spending time gossiping.
I
must say while in the city, I did not expect the education level of girls to be
so high in the village. In this case I was really happy that my belief was
shaken and reformed J
I
was also not happy seeing how the Bhabhi (Harishchandraji’s wife) was treated.
There was absolutely no time when she left her kitchen and a small room. Yet,
the smile on her face was so warm J And she cooked the best food, specially the mango daal :-)
After
spending 3.5-4 days in the village
- - I saw how the cycle of oppression and exploitation
percolates. The Land owners get exploited by the middlemen and landless gets
exploited by the landowners.
I also realized that the subjectivity of the problem changes as you see
it from different stakeholder’s perspective. For E.g – Every person we spoke to
in the village said water is a big problem. When I stayed at Harishchandraji’s
house, I saw how due to the fact that they had the hand pump in their front
yard they were using water so liberally that I was surprised. But against that,
for a population of almost 500 people on the harijan’s side, there are only two
hand pumps!
The cycle of lack of equal opportunities also continues!
More and more of rural India which is created due to inequality, is
breeding inequality within itself!
- - I did not see any visible poverty in the village. You
don’t really see children dying out of hunger but you do see children walking,
running bare feet under the scorching sun….walking more than 2kms in between
fields to reach the school, the building which only has bricks which are not
even cemented and a school which is run by only one Master. Forget about the
library, the extracurricular activities, and the sports! I think that was one
of the reason why when I opened the story books and coloring books, all of them
were engrossed in the world of colors and fantasies and when we used to play
games in the evening, the entire village celebrated with the children.
- - The men really work hard on the fields but I could see
how they were trapped in the cycle of ignorance and exploitation. In spite of
Agriculture being the primary livelihood, I realized how there is so little of
creativity or innovation left in it. After speaking to few of the farmers, I
saw how they see Agriculture, for them it’s a struggle, an everyday battle.
Something that they are doing due to lack of choice. I spoke to an old man who
has lived all his life in that village; he must be in his late 60s. He said he
is seeing the plight of farmers and agriculture worsening, year after year! I
did not meet even a single farmer who was happy doing what he is doing! I fear
if it continues like this, we will soon be an agrarian economy with no farmers!
- - Although the men work really hard on fields, there is
still a huge potential to work on them to make their minds open, to new things,
to change. Currently I see resignation and acceptance in their attitude.
- -I realized that we cannot really work on Agriculture,
leaving aside Energy or water or Education. They are so deeply connected. I
also realized importance of breaking down the problem to understand the root of
the problem which needs to be addressed.
- - Also, bringing in the change in the attitude, mindset
will take time but it’s what is sustainable and hence just getting technology
will not answer the problem.
- - We need to be patient and humble. It is going to take
time and we need to be okay with it. Our ambition of creating change should not
overpower our sensitivity.
- - I see the community unity as both the potential as
well as a challenge.
- - Children and youth can really lead the change wagon.
There is hope and potential.
In all this, I see the biggest challenge lies within me. Over next few
years as I commit myself for the development of the village, I tread a path of
inner transformation. At every moment I get an opportunity to be more alert and
aware of my biases, my beliefs, by values as they define my actions…actions
that will have direct implication on people there. There is a fear of getting
carried away, fear of forming notions, assumptions.
But with all this, I do see myself ready for this journey!
