First Week at YIF: People

YIFP aims to groom a batch of 100 fellows each year. The batch of 2012-13 is an amalgamation of engineering with arts, finance and management. Not to forget that we have 3 lawyers too, out to which only one can defend us in court. Talking of defence, we have one guy with an Indian Air Force background too.

When I think of large groups of new people I've met, college comes to mind first. That was an enormous bunch with individual diversity but homogenity in academic choice. Next was Jagriti Yatra, which had 400 incredibly motivated development enthusiasts. The diversity there was amazing - people from all kinds of educational and professional backgrounds, rural and urban areas and also regional and international diversity. In contrast, YIFP has students from great educational institutions of India with hometowns ranging from Meghalaya to Kerala. Most, including me, are urban creatures though a few have strong ties to their rural backgrounds. The common thread here is that they are special. Whether a psychology graduate from Christ University or a mechanical engineer from an IIT, they stand apart from their peers in some way to "reach for the stars".

In the process of knowing who these people are, today was a milestone. We wrote a document called 'Initial Vision' for Dwight's Leadership class which was about our lives so far, what kind of leaders we want to be and strengths and weaknesses.

First Week at YIF: Schooling

First week at YIF was a hectic, breathless immersion into the routine of YIFP. Classes from 9 to 7, introductions to everyone around and settling in with new roommates.

News: Class only from 10-12 tomorrow. Result: A couple of girls dancing in the class and a few disbelieving faces. Though ultimately, they managed to have another class from 12 to 1. And for half the batch, i.e. Section B of Sociology, video lecture from 5 to 7 too. Did that give you a good picture of our lives?

Christmas Poem for Joshua

There’s a wreath of holly on my door

A big bright star and balloons galore;

There’s tinsel and glow-balls all around,

Streamers & flickering lights abound.

A decorated fir tree in the hall

Surrounded by gifts for one and all;

A crib on the teapoy tells the story

Of shepherds and wise-men meeting Joseph & Mary.

There’s a happy feeling in the air

And I smile as I close my eyes in prayer

I join my friends and family as they sing,

‘Happy Birthday dear Jesus, our Saviour, our King’.

Written by Saby John

Informative auto ride

Like a quintessential backpacker, I tend to talk to whoever seems responsive to learn more about the place I am in. Today's chat was with an autowallah in Ahmedabad. He's a 58 year old native resident of Ahmedabad. His Muslim identity could be seen in his beard and skull cap. I amn't being judgemental, just thankful that communal harmony prevails in Gujarat and people are free to follow their customs.
 Many autowallahs don't own their vehicles, they rent them on daily basis. So if they are not well, no costs and no income that day. I discovered that in Ahmedabad the daily rent for an auto is 150 while in Mumbai, it is 300 as Mumbai fares are higher. Mumbai certainly has higher costs of living.

This model is also followed by some cab companies where the cab driver can rent a car for the day. It appears quite a unique business model which works well in this particular service industry. Previously, I'd heard of this for cycle rickshaw pullers in Jabalpur. Though being a less vocal and mostly illiterate community, economic relations are hugely biased in favour of lenders in their case.

This was a short ramble on today's journey. I had this conversation while coming back from SEWA. The post about SEWA will go up under NGO section.

Shikshalaya and How Agrini Works?

Shikshalaya is the second project of Agrini. I had written about the aanganwadi project earlier. The video accurately captures how Shikshalaya started and its current functioning. Gourav is planning to implement the aaganwadi programme in Darasi Kala too, the village where Shikshalaya is operating. However, all extension plans and new programmes are dependent upon availability of manpower.

Agrini has only Gourav as a full time staff. All others are volunteers. He supports himself through Youth Collective Fellowship. Some of the volunteers are students while others are working professionals. An enthusiastic volunteer is a village health worker who likes his job even though he is qualified for much more with a Ph.D. in Social Work.

The materials required for Agrini's projects have been collected in the villages itself. The space is usually given by the gram panchayat. The way this collection happens is interesting. For example, there is no provision by the Govt. to install electricity in aanganwadi buildings. How they came up with such an atrocious plan while approving aanganwadi buildings is beyond me, but fact remains. Now how will the computer, needed for multimedia content, work? The power line was taken from a buffalo-shed (bhains ka tabela) next door and Agrini pays for this electricity. In Shikshalaya's resource centre, the books came from a discontinued community library. The 3 computers were contributed in a piecemeal fashion where somebody gave a CPU, another a monitor and so on. 

Agrini started in 2009 and is a good example of what the youth of this country are creating. Gourav Jaiswal is originally from Seoni. While the organisation is small, it is heartening to see that somebody returned to their town to help improve it. In terms of organisation structure, it matches Bakul Foundation of Bhubaneswar, which defines itself as a movement for volunteerism. Bakul's story will be up next on this blog. 

Related articles

• Importance of Social Work (jacobam.wordpress.com)
• Social Work and Irony (jacobam.wordpress.com)

Learning, not just education

On one wall, there is a crow putting stones in a water-pot. On another, there's a monkey sitting on a crocodile. Where have we reached? A play-school. A Govt. play-school in rural area is called aanganwadi. We are visiting an aanganwadi at Beenjawara village in Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh.

Dust and spice

Today I reached the southernmost tip of my journey - Chennai. In the bus from Hyderabad, I could literally feel moving closer to the equator because of the heat. As my third metropolitan city, Chennai stands out as being not cosmopolitan. It could be the areas I've seen are old Chennai because the dressing style of people is quite untouched by western fashion. And plus the crowd is primarily Tamilian, with no mix of races and cultures. It is a dusty city which seems to have clung to its ways.
As being a capital city, it does have its share of chain restaurants and retail outlets. On the ride from CMBT to T Nagar, I saw KFC, Big Bazaar, More, Reliance Fresh etc. Also found a BFC: Bigboy Fried Chicken. It feels good to see that Indian brands have grown as chains. Earlier chains were confined to McD and Dominos.
Since we are talking about food, lets talk about the rava dosai I ate in the evening which came with a daal like saambhar, coconut and green chutneys. The green chutney was tangy as if it had raw mango. It is the first speciality of Tamil Nadu for me. The red garlic chutney of Mysore was also a good experience. After eating versions of Mysore Masala Dosa in BITS and outside Samhita office, the authentic version near Mysore Bus Stand was revealing. In Bangalore and Hyderabad, the south Indian food came from UpSouth and Chutneys respectively. The highlight remains the AP food at a friend's house, home-cooked by her mother.
And lastly, speaking about food, lets talk about chaat. Sadly I missed it in Karnataka. In Hyderabad, the chaat isn't good at all. I ate panipuri in 4 different parts of the city and all of them had soft puris. Of course I am talking about their lack of crispiness before being dipped. Looks like the cooks who make them don't do it well. The chaat ka pani wasn't great either : poor show right from Bikanerwala to the street vendors. Hoping to try Chennai's versions tomorrow.

Review of 'A Calendar too Crowded'

Title: A Calendar too Crowded     Author: Sagarika Chakraborty

Publisher: Niyogi Books     Price: 295

This is the first book that Sagarika has published despite writing light fiction and poetry for various online and print media. The subject of the book is women and their plight in the contemporary society. This in a way matches my work closely as I am currently touring the country visiting organizations working for women development. However, while I know the grim reality, I am meeting people who are trying to better lives and have had excellent achievements too. On the other hand, many of Sagarika’s stories are grey with no silver lining.

The only wholly positive example is ‘Selling a Body to Gain a Mind’. Despite the negative title, it is about breaking the vicious cycle which sucks generations of women into prostitution. It talks about how the daughter of a commercial sex worker studies away from the environment and makes something of herself. It is written in the form of two letters and again stands solitary in this kind of style. While there are other stories that have a hopeful tenor, it is the only one that makes you feel good at the end of the story.

The book is an anthology of stories. Each unit is a month of the calendar and the special days for women are introduced at the beginning of every chapter. In a few cases, the stories have corresponded to the days mentioned. But mostly, it is just a reminder that while life goes on like a chore, there are conferences and discussions being organised on that plight. An example of synchronization is the above-mentioned story. ‘Selling a Body to Gain a Mind’ is featured in the month of April in which April 4 is Anti-Child Prostitution Day in Italy.

While reading the book, the first few stories appear a little unoriginal. While the words are hers, the style of capturing the well-known subjects like gender discrimination etc. isn’t new. The first story especially felt like the general literature on the topic. However, as you progress through the book, her stories get captivating. She has addressed a variety of important issues and seems to have covered an exhaustive list of them. The chauvinistic dictates of society in ‘Behind those Whispers’ (March) and ‘The Trials of a Nice Girl’ (August) culminate well in society’s astonishment in ‘The Last Flicker’ (October).

The life of a mother is viewed with a negative lens in ‘Finding an Ideal Mother for my Unborn Child’ (January). This clashes harmoniously with ‘Of Jatakarmas and their Stana Pradidhanas’ (August) which is about the expectations from expectant mothers and how the pressures of modern lives keep these expectations unmet. As a short story is usually an intrigue on its own, I am not commenting further on any story or mentioning the topics of other stories.

The book is a good read for both men and women. While it is feminist in its outlook, it will be a study in the more struggling circumstances that women face. As I read a lot of contemporary and older literature in Hindi, the topics of these short stories are not new to me. But if you have not read that kind of fiction, this one is a sound initiator.

A little about Sagarika:

This Kolkata-born studied law at National Law University in Jodhpur. She is currently enrolled in ISB, Hyderabad. She loves Salsa and as mentioned earlier has made a foray into fiction and poetry earlier. Her research projects have been on varied topics like corporate governance, monetary economics and religion. 


This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda. Participate now to get free books!

Mother earth, ICPL & ICF

Industree is a social enterprise which consists of two entities the for-profit Industree Crafts Pvt. Ltd. (ICPL) and the non-profit Industree Crafts Foundation (ICF). ICPL has a domestic brand called “Mother Earth” which has outlets in Bangalore, New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. The brand sells apparels, home furnishings and organic food under the lines Earth Fashion, Earth Home and Earth Food.  
The foundation engages in skill development programmes for the artisans. ICPL sources its products from rural artisans and SHGs. ICF has incubated and mentored four SHGs. A significant fact is that this mentoring is not aimed just at getting regular suppliers for ICPL. Along with supplying to ICPL, the SHGs are encouraged to get other buyers and establish themselves as a micro-enterprise. In some instances, ICF has helped them develop customer relationships with other organisations. For example, Industree transferred all assets as an advance to two SHGs, Ashraya and Samanvaya, and encouraged them to become independent enterprises. This enabled them to achieve orders from different companies such as Thunk, Volvo and Govt. of Karnataka, as well as supply regularly to Industree. The groups have constantly repaid all their loans.
Annual Reports and financial statements for the last three years are available on their website for both ICPL and ICF. A notable fact about ICF is that it takes no donations from external organisations or ICPL. Its inflow comes from Grant-in-aid project grants and consultancy fees from the Government.
Grant-in-aid projects
The Ministry of Labour has been financing, since 1981-82, voluntary organizations by way of grant-in-aid for taking up action-oriented projects for the benefit of child labour and women labour. The women’s cell in the Ministry of Labour, thus encourages voluntary agencies and non-governmental agencies to formulate income-generating schemes and other action projects for women labour and renders financial assistance to such agencies for executing these projects. The amount of assistance given by the Ministry of Labour will be restricted to 75% of the recurring cost of the project as per the approved budget. The remaining 25% of the cost including the non-recurring cost, if any, will have to be borne by the organization concerned.
Source: Ministry of Labour

Reviewing Conversations

Conversations are a part of our daily grind - the memorable moments and also the ones we'd rather forget. Some are stimulating, some are mundane. They capture thoughts of the speakers and the silence around them captures the unspoken expressions. One kind word can warm three winter months says a Japanese proverb. At the same time, the wounds by words are deeper than those by swords. It is this magic of words and situations that Rajeev Nanda has beautifully captured in his first fiction book "Conversations". 

The book is a collection of short stories. The setting is always urban and contemporary. The stories span from dreams to truths. It is a book that has benefited from crispy editing. While the first story ‘Splinters’ talks about dreams and how the protagonist has lost track of his own. The next one is still surreal with its conversations with God. There is a struggle with idealism in ‘Soldier’.  ‘The Taxi Ride’ is fiction within fiction while stories thereon have taken a touch of reality. The graduation from lofty heights to earthy depths is brilliantly assembled. Short pieces of poetry strewn amongst the stories add value to the book. At the same time, lines from these poems can be quoted by themselves:

E.g. from ‘I Have’

“I have a lifetime full of joy,

     But, all I need is a moment of ecstasy”.

The poet has penned universal experiences in ‘Darkness’:

“This one idea that was aborted,

Sits in my heart like a lump,

Like a still child in a womb.”

In the last poem, the ‘Misfit’ says:

“I kept quiet to contemplate,

Mirror and the reflection expectantly wait

I turned and walked away;

The mirror and reflection shattered lay.”

Coversations is a book that makes you think what would you have done in the protagonist’s place. It teaches without preaching. It is not a mystery thriller that binds yet it allures the reader with reality, which is a staggering feat to accomplish. The enigma in some of Rajeev Nanda’s stories reminds me of Anton Chekhov’s works - The questions hanging in the air after a story has ended. 

While the setting is urban, it is also very contemporary. Some of the stories are also based in the U.S. Rajeev has shown struggles within families when issues like adultery and extra-marital affairs arise. While the issues are not new, he has changed the angles. Whether his characters are fence sitters or on either sides of the line – there remains an element of unease and introspection. Incidentally, there is a poem called ‘Introspection’ :

“If I never talk to myself,

      Whom can I expect to speak to me?

If I fail to own myself,

      Whom can I expect to take charge of me?” 

                                                                                                           

In his stories, there is death but not grief. There is depression but not sorrow. There is envy but not jealousy. To experience these, read the book.

About the book:

Publisher: Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd

Price: India: ₹195              Elsewhere: US $14

ISBN: 978-93-81115-12-1

About the author:

Rajeev Nanda completed his graduation (B.Sc) in general sciences from D.A.V College in Jallandhar, Punjab (India) in 1984. He did post-graduate diploma in Computer Science and other professional certification courses in software & technology from various institutes in New Delhi while working for a startup.

After spending more than 10+ years in the US, he relocated to Bangalore to help Intel setup their IT group in India. His professional expertise lies in strategy, technology and management leadership.  More on his professional experience can be found on:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/rajeevnanda

He started writing at the age of 10. In his college years, he picked up controversial subjects, like atheism, to write for the college magazine. He published his first book (e-verything.com: How to map out a viable e-strategy) in 2001. His fiction writing was a private affair until 2005 when he uploaded sample stories on American Book Publishers’ (ABP) web-site. The editorial board of ABP extended the contract in Sep 2005 which resulted in the book ‘Conversations’ in 2009.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda. Participate now to get free books!