IAS Diaries Part 4 - Bharat Darshan || Reflections

Bharat Darshan or formally as it is called, the Winter Study Tour (WST) is perhaps the best part of the entire IAS training. WST essentially translates to two months of intensive travel throughout the length and breadth of the entire country. If you ask those at the apex, they would tell you that the best way to learn and grow is to travel. The journey itself teaches you everything you are supposed to know. Of course living out of a suitcase for that long is no kidding. And it is all the more difficult for the roommate as we hardly can small our own dirt. And there we were, on way to the first stop of learning, somewhere along the Line of Control (LoC), attachment with the Indian Army.

We reached Jammu in the wee hours of dawn and were warmly received by a huge contingent of the Army who came prepared with Trucks and Buses. Right from the first impression, you can see the difference, the discipline and the dedication. And also the fact that we are going to get grilled in the times to come. We were divided into smaller groups and escorted to respective formations. Over a period of nearly 10 days we lived the lives of Army personnel doing all the drills like the Road-opening Patrol (ROP), the Area Domination Patrol (ADP), Night Patrols etc. Many of us got the opportunity to spend some days at the Border Outposts situated at intimidating heights and at overwhelmingly close distances from the enemy posts.

We also got the opportunity to meet many senior officers from various formations of the Indian Army who shared with us great insights on the dynamics of the region and the numerous challenges they face. They also dealt with the quintessential dimension highlighting the coordination of the Army with the local civil administration where we would be playing a role in the times to come. During this time, we got to see the hardships faced by the troops especially those posted at difficult terrains. The sacrifice they make is unparallel and simply cannot be described in words. You have to go there and live with them to actually understand it. If you ask me what message the Army has for all of us, I would tell you this “When you go home, tell them of us. And say, for your tomorrow, we gave our today!”

For detailed post on Army attachment, Click HERE!

After our Army attachment at Poonch sector of Jammu, we waited for our train getting irritated by the dull passage of time. The train was rightly named "Jhelum". We descended down to the plains reaching Chandigarh, the well planned city. And indeed we did learn a lot about city planning not just from the presentations they had for us but by moving around and observing the city limits. Everything had been taken care in the design and architecture of the city and that too in those old days. It is astonishing to see the vision of the planners and Architects who could plan so well and foresee the nuances of the future generations. But in order to do that a lot of encroachments had to be taken off the government land and it was done so systematically that the description of it almost sounds like a Standard Operating Procedure (SoP). We all felt that it must be adopted by all other cities that plan encroachment eviction drives in the times to come.

Apart from that we also had an attachment with CSIR- CSIO in Chandigarh, Central Scientific Instruments Organization. It was so heartening to meet so many Senior and Junior scientists deeply engrossed in coming up with numerous innovations that have the potential to catapult the growth story of India. It is also shocking to an extent that most of us were unaware of the very many technological innovations done by Indian scientists working throughout the country in such CSIR facilities. The entire team at CSIO was very welcoming and they enthusiastically demonstrated their work and laboratories to us. Respect, to all those working for the service of the nation at such scientific institutions, the unsung heroes. Way to go!


From the planned landscapes of Chandigarh, we moved to the wilderness of the deserts, the ever so beautiful and culturally charged Rajasthan, where we stayed in Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Jodhpur spanning over twelve days. Here we got a glimpse of the challenges in managing huge districts like Jaisalmer, the functioning of Border Security Force (BSF) along the Indo-Pak borders, the fighter planes of the Indian Air Force stationed at Bikaner, the installments of Wind and Solar energy throughout the state, functioning of pivotal NGOs like the Urmul Trust who are doing wonderful works for promoting girl child education, research carried out by institutes like the National Research Centre on Camel, the pivotal role of the Indira Gandhi Canal in transforming the arid land into lush green forest and many more such educative exposures. We also were fortunate to spot a Great Indian Bustard in the Desert National Part near Jaisalmer which signifies the ruining of natural balance by the greedy homo sapiens. That's us, by the way.

Continuing our journey southwards, we reached Dahod, a small locality in Gujarat wherein we have the headquarters of the Satguru Foundation, an NGO which has done wonderful work in the area of check dams. In fact, the outcomes have been so phenomenal that they have totally changed the fate of the erstwhile arid lands of Dahod. There was no source of water for irrigation baring a few small streams. Satguru Foundation started creating small check dams with the help of locals which resulted in the increase in local groundwater levels and the excess water at the damn was lifted to the fields using powerful pumps operated by the local community. This has totally changed the fortunes of the local populace and checked the out-migration of the district and in fact more and more people are coming back now from the nearby urban settlements where they had fled in order to find employment. The Foundation has also taught them horticulture and floriculture so as to diversify their assets.

Post that, we reached Mumbai where we started the stint with the much awaited attachment with the Indian Navy. Over the span of two days, we were shown various vessels and frigates which sail over the Indian waters safeguarding our coastal frontiers. We got the opportunity to go on board INS Kochi and see the amazing architecture of the vessel from close quarters. We were also shown the various equipments they use for day to day operations in their museum. On the second day we even got the rare chance to see one of the Submarines from the inside which was stationed at the docks. And then to our misery someone asked inside the Submarine "यह डूबती तो नहीं है ना?" Personally witnessing such assets reassures the faith in the idea of becoming a Blue water Navy in the times to come. In Mumbai we also had a wonderful attachment with the Urban Local Body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Coorporation (BMC). We went on a field visit to one the newly installed water purification centers in Bhandup which was like a colossal water filter plant. We were also briefed about how Mumbai is administered and what is being done to rectify the congestion on the city roads. It was a wonderful learning experience given the magnanimity of this maximum City.

Then came the serene Coastal attachment where in we first went to Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra and then to the picturesque Goa. In Sindhudurg apart from witnessing the natural beauty of the numerous beaches we got a glimpse of the implementation of e-Office for which the district administration has received many accolades. In Goa, we observed an altogether different approach to administer the coastal areas. There we also had an attachment with the National Institute of Oceanography which essentially carries out research on the multi-faceted opportunities the ocean offers in terms of resources. They also do a lot of work on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which was a great learning for all of us. Apart from all this, i was fortunate that my Birthday fell during the Goa stint. No one can forget a birthday spent in Goa. Duh dude, the hyper hangover!

The next task marked out for us was to learn the unique features of Hill administration and for that we reached the beautiful destination Ooty via Coimbatore. There we had an attachment with the Tea Board of India which oversees the entire tea plantations of the country. At tea board, we had an awkward moment though when one of my colleagues asked for Coffee in lieu of the tea served. They familiarized us with the various aspects one has to look into when it comes to tea plantations and the exports of it. We also visited a small factory where they processed the tea leaves to final product. We were, I must say, fortunate that we were invited for a visit to the Defense Services Staff College at Wellington which was nearby. It is a unique place where senior officers from all the armed forced come together for their mid career training. There we got to interact with very senior officers from Armed forces which can be tagged as a once in a lifetime experience.

From there we marched ahead to reach Tirupati where we had an attachment with the Temple administration of the Tirumala hill which a like a little town in itself. We were explained the whole thought-process which went into designing the queue management and food distribution facilities that today can easily handle about one lakh visitors every single day. What’s more impressive is the amount of effort they put into managing and investing the money that comes in the form of huge donations to the temple. And with this huge corpus at hand, there are a number of schools and hospitals that they fund. Lot of learning to take home from this holy place.

And then it was Chennai. The city of posters. Over the time you would see so many of them that you would get a feeling that apart from you there is only one other person in Chennai. The metro city is unfortunately nowhere close to its counterparts across the country. The traffic congestion is painful but perhaps the upcoming metro project would prove to be a big relief. There we had our Private sector attachment with Ford India. It was perhaps a kind of nostalgia for me as I started my career in the private sector. The kind of sophistication in procedure, the clarity of process and the due diligence from all sides, something we desperately want to infuse today in the Public Sector. We also had an attachment with the Chennai Metro corporation and visited one the sites where the tunneling was in progress. It's a breathtaking sight to watch those giant machine dig into our mother Earth. But at the same time they scare us about the dawn of the machine world. Just hope there are more Optimus Prime than the bad bots.

We flew from there to Andaman for our Island attachment which was an altogether different universe.  And the feel of it, being on tiny Islands, the possibility of a Tsunami, proximity to Myanmar, it's just epic. We spent one day in Port Blair itself exploring the capital. The cellular jail is a must which always feels like you are in present day Guantanamo Bay. Even when you feel bad about the torturous visuals which come to you seeing the cells, you can not stop yourself from admiring the beauty of it's  architecture. Then we sailed to the nearby Ross Island which was at one time the administrative capital of the British. The sound and light show there is possibly one of the best in the world and entirely is like a time machine transporting you to those British times. The other day we went to Havelock Island for water sports and scuba diving. Like many I was hoping a ZNMD moment where our Scuba instructor would be a Katrina lookalike but of course that didn't happen. But then Scuba is like Nirvana. Oh, the mother earth is so beautiful under there. We have ruined it outside. 

And lastly we spent some considerable time in Gadchiroli near Nagpur which was severely hit by naxal cadres. There we went to many residential schools having tribal children, we observed the hugely successful Skill Development initiative and the heavy preparedness of the police anticipating even smallest of breaches of law and order. It was heartening to see that the place is on way to normalcy thanks to the wonderful work done by the local administration. There we possibly had the best learning in terms of managing serious challenges.

For a detailed post on Gadchiroli attachment, Click HERE!

14 States, more than 25 cities, more than 20,000 Kms in almost 2 months. This has been incredible. So much so that I would only be echoing the voice of all that the entire training should rather be in this form and not the passe classroom training. When Mahatma Gandhi came back to India, he decided to intensively travel the country so as to closely understand the dynamics. I believe that holds a lot of water. From my previous solo travels so some of the states, I can assert than I have learnt a lot in the field that by reading. Bharat Darshan is an enlightening journey. But sadly, like everything else, it had to end. 

 And thus it ended, the journey, but only to make way, for another!

Lastly would like to share these wonderful words by St. Augustine "The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page!"