Sunday, December 31, 2017

Backward? Think again!


Some days ago over a friendly discussion revolving around the cliched theme of the developmental discourse, someone referred to most part of Meghalaya as being backward. Well, I don't blame that person for his ignorance which he almost flaunted as being elitist. For those who have never visited this place, it may seem so from what they get to read.
Yes, this place may not have turned itself into a concrete jungle but there are things which make it way forward and egalitarian than any place in the country. The gender equality is ubiquitous here and not just because they have a matrilineal system. All places are absolutely safe for women irrespective of the time. Cohabitation is a normal phenomenon among youngsters and totally accepted by the society. All professions are equally respected and feudalism is non-existent. From where I see, this place is light years ahead!

Let's be delusional


There are times in our lives when there comes a spark within us. It comes as a savior meanwhile we are muddled by mediocrity. It tells us of an idea which may seem preposterous by all proportions. You want to believe in that idea to live the impossible dream. But people around you shake you up telling how ridiculously impossible that would be. They surround you shouting in chorus, Reality Check, Reality Check!
But in that ephemeral moment when you want to believe that it's possible, that anything is , only if you can persist that fervor. Only if you can grab all the positivism to keep believing. Then gradually the dream starts getting plausible. Step by step. But the first battle is won only when we are confidant. So let's adopt that attitude of believing that anything is possible. Let's explore the extreme. Let's not get caught up in realism. Let's be delusional!
(Based on the inspiring Ted Talk by Mr. Ravi Dubey)

What was more beautiful?


Was it the golden expanse of Assam.
or, Was it the serenity of Meghalaya.
Was it the singularity of the plain.
or, Was it the illusion of the hills.
Was it the magnanimity of the Brahmaputra.
or, Was it the simplicity of Simsang.
Was it the mist over the river banks.
or, Was it the chilly breeze in the valley.
Was it the mirage over unidirectional roads.
or, Was it the melody of the serpentine paths.
What was more beautiful, thou ask?
Perhaps the journey. And the journey alone.
2000 Kms. 7 days. 

Saturday, December 9, 2017

IAS Diaries Part 22 - The Solar Project

It all started on the day of Diwali, the festival of lights. Hailing from the central part of India, Diwali was always about two things essentially- quality family time & lighting up the entire place. Having recently joined as SDM in Dadenggre Sub Division of West Garo Hills in Meghalaya, I had neither of these two. There I was, sitting alone, embraced by the dark woods in every possible direction. That is when it occurred to me possibly we could achieve one of these two things this Diwali. Let's light up the remote villages to start with.

In conversation with my batch-mate Shantanu Sharma, posted as SDM Sohra (popularly known as Cherapunjee) in Meghalaya, we pondered upon the possibility of a crowd funding model. There are certain advantages this model has. It's faster, gives you the flexibility and promotes community participation. I had previously used the model in Tezpur for couple of projects. The one very dear to me was when we used it for getting some computers for an orphanage. Details of that are available HERE. And since that moment when this idea clicked, we didn't even waste a second to look back. Fortunately, a lot of work on Solar Energy had been done in Dadenggre so I knew the right people who could supply quality material at reasonable cost and at the earliest.

Once we finalized the suppliers, we initiated a campaign on Milaap platfrom to crowdfund the project. We decided to go for these high power Solar Lanterns which even the students would be able to use in case they wish to study at night. And it would provide the much needed light especially during the monsoon season when the normal grid totally remains unavailable for months. We initially decided to go for 100 lights each costing 1500 INR only after successful negotiation with the suppliers. They also pledged to give 15 lights from their own side as this was being done for a good cause. I feel extremely happy to share that not only did we achieve that target amount, we exceeded it by almost 1,00,000 INR which enabled us to provide more number of lights. Once again, I thank all the donors without which this could not have been possible. We have had a range of donors from amounts varying from 10 INR to 37,000 INR. Needless to say that no contribution is small and all were as important to the completion of the project.

Bringing consignments to Dadenggre is another challenge in it's own. It's very difficult to find trucks and pickups heading this way. But here again due to the contribution of some generous transport establishments we were finally able to bring all the lamps to Dadenggre for distribution. We involved the BDO office to find out which were the remote villages in the subdivision where condition of grid was the worse or was non-existent. They did wonderful work and also provided us the list of households so that we could provide one solar lantern to each household. We are also thankful to Mr Pankaj Gupta and Akash Garg from JCI NGO Guwahati who also gave us 100 commercial saplings to be distributed to the villagers.

The first village which we had selected was Kosigre about 10 kms from Dadenggre. After the first 5 kms, the road was nowhere to be seen, It was a kuccha road partially dilapidated because of the rains. The slope at times were scary, more so for our guests from Guwahati as their vehicle was not 4x4. We had to pass through couple of streams as well and I was glad that the waters were running very low. We should have come here on our mountain bikes, I thought. An adventure of its own. Lush green jungle with hills, streams and nothing else. Suddenly we see a school where the entire village had gathered. After the warm reception, we started with explaining them the idea of the whole project and how these solar lanterns work. They were fascinated to know how this was funded and that it was not a government scheme. They were also very excited by the scope the commercial saplings had.

Everyone from Kosigre


In between we had this wonderful welcome song performed by the youth members of the village followed by some performances by the children. The entire distribution had the clapping sounds as the background. Smiles everywhere. We asked some of villagers to demonstrate to others how to use these lanterns. They proudly explained the entire process. We also gave lanterns as prizes to children who came forward to perform songs or poems. Lastly, as a wonderful gesture the Village Headman proposed a vote of thanks. It was in Garo but you need not understand the language of warmth and love. You just feel it anyway. And then, he asked one elderly person from the village to pray for all of us. They all closed their eyes, stood in silence. And we in awe.

Welcome Song


Amidst all the chatter here and there, I saw this kid running towards his house with the solar lantern. The house was dark from inside. He switched on the light and all the members kept looking at it. Perhaps wondering how could it work without electricity. There was light. There were smiles. And it wasn't dark anymore.

That smile, is priceless. 





While returning from the village, we stopped at this small check dam near which there are several scenic spots which totally remain isolated. This has lately become my favorite place. Looking back, I thought, it is only moments like these that stay with you. When you are able to bring smiles. When we try to channelize all the good energies. How people residing in different continents had played a part in lighting up a village so far away. Hoping for many more such moments in the times to come.

Once again, dear donors, long may you reign.


For list of all such posts of IAS Diaries, CLICK HERE.

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

The Indian Sprinter

Among the lush green Garo Hills, upon this beautiful road stretch from Jengjal towards Williamnagar, participants galloped towards the finish point of Tura Marathon. The embracing mist over the landscape was slowly getting pierced by the golden rays from the sky above.
A gentleman from Kenya had maintained an unassailable lead of 3 Kms till now. Not aware of what was in store. In those dying minutes, this local runner suddenly took off his shoes and he pounced forward like a Leopard with such bout of energy rarely seen. It was magical how he closed this insanely large distance and won the race.
At the podium, where usually you would see African runners crowding out others, there he stood with his head held high. And after stating his name he added elatedly, "I am Indian!".
More power to Indian runners. So proud

1:1

Amidst the winding travel to a Polling station today, I spotted a Upper Primary School disguised behind the woods. A small building with three rooms and minimal furniture. The absence of murmur was quite conspicuous. Upon visitation, I found there were 4 teachers and only 4 students. In one of the rooms was sitting this little girl trying to understand nuances of geometry all by herself. She hesitated to introduce herself courtesy the perpetual loneliness of the class room.
"Most of the students have joined this private school nearby", said one of the teachers. Saddened by the sight of this lone girl in the entire classroom, I remembered visiting schools where Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) went up to 70:1 because of vacant teacher positions. But I never thought I would come across something like this. It is high time that we rationalize all such schools integrating smaller ones into bigger ones. Clubbing such schools would save resources and give these children an environment where they can learn from peers and evolve socially as well.
A PTR of 1:1 is a distinction we must do away with!

Mother's Mercy

The homestay was rather short. I would miss my mother's love and father's care in the capital. My mother saddened at the thought of my departure attempts to disguise that as she prepares a meal for my train journey. Poori-Sabzi. My favorite.With a heavy heart, I wave at them from the car as my brother drives me to the station. At the station, while I take out my luggage from the car, this kid, barely dressed approaches me for some food. He was thin, partly covered in dust and hungry. His mother and siblings look from a distance.
He looked at the small packet in my hand. His eyes anticipating the possibility of some edible substance and that if I would give him some. When it comes to food exclusively cooked by mother for me, I am like Joey. And Joey, doesn't share food. But that day, I gave him that. And then the content on his face, after tasting those pooris, was the most beautiful expression I have ever seen. I am sure my mother would agree!

Roots

She stood up hesitating, afraid perhaps of the huge gathering. Accumulated some courage and then muttered innocently, "Why Garo people don't like to go outside for work? Here no work. Is it wrong if I want to go out for work?" It was during a seminar organized for sensitizing the youth on career opportunities, The question touched every soul perhaps, pin drop silence in the hall.
We all love the place where we are born. That is where we take our first steps. That is where we are molded going through frames after frames. That is where the primary socialization with kin happens. That is where the secondary socialization with friends happens. And such evolution will always be much more stronger in a place like this which is culturally vibrant and socially strong.
But in the absence of opportunities, it won't be a sacrilege to trans-locate. Perhaps for a while. Perhaps for education, perhaps for getting skilled. And then you can always come back empowered. To help thy brethren, to help thy folks. Because your place would always pull you back. Thou shall yearn for love. Thou shall yearn for warmth. Thou shall yearn for thy, roots!
And then that smile on her face, made my day

Friday, November 10, 2017

Ragnarok

Courtesy the Thor sequel, many would be now familiar with Ragnarok. For the uninitiated, it refers to the final battle among the supreme forces resulting in the destruction of the world as per Norse Mythology. Perhaps making way for resurrection. Perhaps, a new beginning. Perhaps.
Taking clue from several man-made disasters and especially the smog layered capitol right now, I ponder if we are moving towards that direction. We have become so thick-skinned that these little natural skirmishes aren't enough to remind us how human advancement is coming at the cost of nature. What would it take to stop this unbridled demolition of mother Earth? What would it take to restore the quintessential ecological balance?
Ragnarok?
I hope not.

Young and Restless

I still vividly remember my first day at Dadenggre. Tired from travelling miles of winding roads, I sat on the porch hoping to recuperate from the pristine landscape. "Where is the ATM?", I asked Maljing. His innocent smile conveyed that there wasn't any even before he hold me.
The very next day when I met the Manager of the only bank here, Mr. Daryl Marak he hold me that they have been planning to start one. He has been pushing hard for it. I also joined the bandwagon only to irritate him everyday morning asking for the predicaments if any to start the ATM. Finally today the first ATM became operational here today, much thanks to his industry.
Through his regional manager I came to know that he was given a choice to work at the City HQ given his excellent work record. But he chose to take a rural posting instead. On my applause, he smiled and remarked,"I am young no Sir, I must work for public at such places!". In a sea of lobbying for urban postings, it's a pleasure to see this gem wanting otherwise. Such people is what India needs. Hardworking and simplistic. Compassionate and caring. Young and Restless!

Touch me not

The water moved effortlessly without making any noise. Almost as if intentional on part of the river, perhaps to gel with the seemingly surreal landscape. Soaked into the sheer magnetism of nature, I stood still, only to be startled by this exotic species of flora.
Mimosa Pudica, commonly known as Touch me not, spread all along the fragile bank, folding themselves back vigorously. I felt I have seen them after ages. Even they have been running away from the mainstream. Away from noise, away from aggression. Into the wilderness. Into tranquility. Almost as if warning the rest, follow me not, bother me not, touch me note!

Meghalaya Coke Studios

It was a colossal hall inside a school premise deep in the interiors of Garo Hills. Anxious students from several schools nearby had gathered for a Career Counseling Workshop. At the end of our discussions on how to inculcate the thirst for awareness, there was a musical performance.
This kid was perhaps as tall as his guitar. Perhaps as young as those strings. But the moderation of voice, command over the beats and the confidence of a rockstar portrayed another tale. It has been just 5 days for me here and I have seen several such outstanding performances. Simply breathtaking talent.
Wish there was a separate Coke Studio for the countless rockstars of Meghalaya. The world needs to know!

A song of hope

Sitting across my predecessor Ramkumar Sathurappan Sir, I was deeply engrossed in listening to the briefs on what all initiatives he had taken for this sub-division. Tremendous energy level, unwavering commitment and unprecedented determination. His achievements make this ephemeral period look like an aeon.
Amidst, there came some locals who had worked with him on several issues and as a thank you, they sang this beautiful song they had composed. In that rhythm, I could feel the applause. In that melody, I could see the warmth. A song for his assiduity. A song for their endearment. A song for the eternal memories. For me, a song of hope. Hope, that I can follow his footsteps.

The wrong cape

We were sitting at this food court discussing our usual matrimonial discourse over some unusual sea food when my would be better half pointed out to a kid running around wearing a Superman cape.
She seemed concerned at the prospect and said,”Please tell me our kid will not be dressed like that. Like ever”. With assurance I told her, “Of course not, that’s stupid. Our kid will wear the black cape!”

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

IAS Diaries Part 21- National Achievement Survey (NAS)

It was our first day at MHRD filled with novelty and enthusiasm. We all were looking forward to our work allocation as that was to define the next three months in the capitol. I was made part of an on-going project pertaining to the National Achievement Survey (NAS) and Learning outcomes (LOs). As I sat on my desk looking at the order, few glimpses of district training surfaced when these terms were mentioned though only as a passing reference. Courtesy the ignorance, I immediately looked it up. And upon my readings what bothered me was the looming communication gap between the populace and the institutions.

Education is something which fascinates almost everyone of us. Give us any article, post, blog or journal on education and we would pounce wearing our reading hats. We talk about it all the time, we ponder upon it, all the time. And yet we, most of us, do not know what all goes on in the making of our young generations with education as the prime mover. Here at MHRD, the initial days were highly stimulating with visits to KVS, NVS, CBSE, NCTE, NIOS, NUEPA, NCERT and several other institutions doing work in education sector. With these comprehensive attachments, you find yourself on course to understand the nuances of this gigantic system of school education. 

As far as NAS is concerned, it is being executed by NCERT in coordination with Education Departments of the States and their respective SCERT. This is not the first edition of NAS though as earlier NCERT has done several iterations with these kind of surveys. But there are several improvements for the present version which makes it very unique and much more effective. Unlike before, this one will be on a single assessment day. For the first time, it goes a level down and allows reports to be drawn at the district level. Earlier it was only possible at the national or state level. And the most significant reform among all is the fact that the question items are mapped to the respective Learning Outcomes (LOs) of that particular grade whereas earlier they were based simply on the curriculum. 

The LOs were formulated not very long ago and represent what a child should know, possess and apply after the end of a particular grade. For example, a grade 5 student should be able to understand a bar chart and draw some basic inferences from it. These LOs were developed for all the grades and circulated across the country. Various training programs were organized to sensitize teachers and parents about the relevance of these LOs. Here is a link to download the LOs. At the time when I came on board, the test items were under review by the assessment experts. Having come from the other side where we only attempted questions, this science of developing questions was fascinating experience. The amount of thought process and energy which goes into developing the stem of the questions and the four possible options, is tremendous. There were days when we had day-long debates on particular questions and on specific options. But it is only when you analyze the data from these surveys that you realize every bit of that industry was worth. 

The Education Survey Division (ESD) at NCERT has been given the mandate to carry out all sorts of surveys and assessments. The faculties working in ESD are all experts in assessment, sampling techniques, data management and data analysis. Once they were done with the preliminary work for NAS, state representatives were trained and then the district representatives. Meanwhile travelling to all these regional NAS workshops across India, it was enthralling to see educationists from different region and how their capacity, grasp and grievance were unique in themselves. Given the diversity and colossal expanse, a national level survey in our country would always be a challenging task. The linguistic dimension, logistical complexity and state capacity resulted in different set of problems requiring innovation at every step. 

You might be aware about the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) Test conceptualized and executed by OECD. This test is for all the 15 year old students across the world as it is based on some mutually agreed global competencies and allows nations do assess the performance of their students on an international scale. India participated in PISA 2009 but the results were disappointing. There are several factors which help to understand why. The pedagogy required to inculcate that level of analysis is absent, the contextualization of the questions is inadequate and our national surveys are not aligned to this type of analysis. 

NAS is perhaps one step in that direction. We must assess whether our children are actually learning something or not. We must see if they are inculcating the necessary skills at the right time. We must bridge the gaps by way of linking teacher trainings to the results of these surveys. And also we must move towards achieving these global competencies. The forthcoming versions of NAS may be remodeled gradually to achieve that sort of level. But firstly, we must make such assessments a high-priority item because we would only know which direction we need to go after we find out where we stand right now!


To read more posts on IAS Diaries, CLICK HERE.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

IAS Diaries Part 20 - The Kendriya Vidyalaya Project

I still remember the first day when I joined this private school into the first grade. Just next to the assembly ground of the school, there stood a high rail bridge. It was fascinating to see trains come and go.  I had no idea that even my stint there was going to be only transactional, like those trains. I heard my parents talking about my admission to one of the KVs in the city. They were desparately hoping that it comes through. Not just because it was near and economic but because they like everyone else had heard so much praise for the KV teachers. Determined, passionate and a repository of knowledge.

I was very fortunate to make it to the list, something I feel strongly with the advantage of hindsight now. Although then, I liked the red colored uniform of that private school more than bleeding blue. The next 12 years were spent in the guidance of several amazing teachers who have shaped generations after generations. My father once told me,"Your teachers must have been real good, not once in these 12 years I had to bother". It was true. Every bit of it. The KV family was not just about education. It was much more, it was rather about growing up into a decent human being. Grounded, humble and simplistic socialisation into the world.



All these memories came gushing back to me when we were in the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan HQ as part of our work as Assistant Secretaries in Department of School Education and Literacy , MHRD. It was then that it occurred to me that the place provided an opportunity to give back to my alma mater. We were told that Delhi itself had more than 40 KVs. I thought we, as a batch are 180 officers, even if  20 per cent of us spare two hours on a weekend, we could cover all these schools by arranging an interactive session with the senior most classes. At this level, it may seem extremely ordinary a thought, but try to see it from the side of students.




We, in our schooldays never got such forums to interact with people from all walks of life. This is something which is paramount to have clarity in thought process and to generate adequate amount of confidence to achieve your ambitions. And hence, with the concurrence of Commissioner Sir, I floated this idea amoung my collegues. Education is that one domain that is perhaps close to everyone. It's quintessential nature is ubiquitously accpeted without opposition. We had several people who signed up for this initiative and it was decided that these special interactive sessions for the students would be kept on every Saturday. And so it began.



About Kendriya Vidyalayas, there is this one thing you will always notice, the warmth of welcome they offer to any guest coming into the premises. The preparedness of the scouts, the colorful paintings on the walls, inspirational words floating on the notice boards and the endless youthful outbursts in the air. As far as in the schools we went to, we never had a fixed framework in mind for the workshop. We just asked the dear students to fire their questions without hesitation. And one hour passed, then the second and then some more time passed. But the questions never ended. They had so much to ask, so much to discuss, to understand and extrapolate. If only we could have such sessions more often.

"Why don't they allow girls to join the Army? We are strong, just like the guys!"

"I want to became a scientist and help the poor with my innovation. But how?"

"I want to become a teacher. But my parent wants me to go for IAS. How can I convince them?"

"I only like Mathematics. Why do I have to study other subjects?"


I am not saying we could answer all questions perfectly and that we are the best people to at least attempt answering these questions. The whole point is to promote the idea of having this dialogue. At least begining to talk about it. There is no gurantee that we  would adequately answer all these questions but surely we would trigger a thirst for answers, which would suffice. Similar was the experience from everyone who had gone for these workshops. The students were elated and teachers happy for them. They desired that this forum be instituitionalised going forward. Something that we must do at the national level. We have willing people from all professions wanting to go to schools explaining their work to our future generations. We must make that connect.

This experiment went on for several weekends and we tried to cover as many schools as we can. We also got requests from several other school chains for conducting such workshops clearly indicating the vacuum of human resource when it comes to counseling and guidance. Unfortunately our tenure was pretty short but we all have resolved to continue the spirit in our subdivisions, in our districts and in our cadres. All of us, you and me,  have been fortunate enough to receive decent education which ensured that we stand on our feet. And ergo, we have a moral obligation towards the younger lot, to guide them, to help them and to enable them to fly.

At the end, I would like to sincerely thank all those from IAS 2015 batch who took out time for these students. I know you would continue doing that whereever you go. We all should, for a better tomorrow.


For reading more posts on IAS Diaries, CLICK HERE.


Thursday, September 21, 2017

Irremediable Damage

On the sidelines of an educational workshop held in Bengaluru, met this person who had returned from US after his entrepreneurial stint in financial transaction domain. What triggered this reversal was a deep rooted desire to use his expertise in technology to uplift people of his motherland.
Among the several inspirational anecdotes highlighting our rendezvous, one was truly fundamental. Commenting upon the several facets of education system which he perceived as wrong and which needed immediate amends, he said,"When I was working with transactions, errors could be corrected, it was only a matter of credit or debit. That could be dealt with later. When it comes to education, these problems impact the way an entire generation is learning. What goes wrong is irreversible. Irremediable damage!"

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Special Batch

My father was a Mathematics teacher. And although everyone got to learn much more than the subject from him, his teaching was truly remarkable. His love for the subject unparalleled, his zeal to pass on that love, discernible.
One day I accompanied him to the place where he gave tuition. The last time slot was earmarked for this "Special Batch" comprising of underprivileged children whose parents couldn't afford the fees. I asked one boy what he wanted to become, "Teacher", he responded without a thought. Surprised at the clarity, I asked him why, "I will also run a special batch", he said gleefully.
Happy Teachers' Day.

Thursday, August 17, 2017

The Right Questions

The other day we had this guest faculty who was talking about the correlation of physical activity and health, and how sports play a pivotal role in one's health prospects. To exemplify the dismal status and prejudiced mindsets in our country, he shared an interesting anecdote.
~In India, when parents meet, they ask,"What does your kid study? Where does he study? What percentage he got?". Once I was in Australia and talking to this friend of mine. He told me that when parents meet here, they ask,"What does your kid play?"

भारत का स्वर्णिम गौरव

आज हमें केंद्रीय विद्यालय संगठन के मुख्य कार्यालय में जाने का सौभाग्य प्राप्त हुआ और वहाँ दिए गए विवरण से ज्ञात हुआ की केंद्रीय विद्यालयों के छात्र किन किन उचाईयों को छू रहे है। उसके पश्चात् हम एक केंद्रीय विद्यालय में गए और वहाँ के छात्रों की प्रतिभा ने सभी का मन जीत लिया।
क्यूंकि मेरा पूरा शिक्षण केंद्रीय विद्यालय में ही हुआ है, मेरे लिए वो बहुत ही भावात्मक क्षण थे। आशा है की इसी तरह ये केंद्रीय विद्यालय आगे बढ़ते रहे। अंत में मैं वो खास शब्द आपके समक्ष रखना चाहूंगा जिन्होंने हमेशा ही मुझे सतत आगे बढ़ते रहने के लिए प्रेरित किया है....
भारत का स्वर्णिम गौरव, केंद्रीय विद्यालय लाएगा,
तक्षशिला नालंदा का, इतिहास लौट के आएगा।
तन अनेक पर एक प्राण, स्वर अनेक पर एक गान,
हम कण कण पर छा जायेंगे, बन कर भारत का स्वाभिमान।।

Innocence of antiquity

Often we come across these places which are the epicenters of nostalgia. Schools are one such exemplar. Today, we were among a talented bunch of 8 graders when they were being given some routine instructions for attempting a test and the sheer intensity of their attention struck a deep chord.
Children are such wonderful listeners with their unwavering gaze upon the speaker. With unprejudiced eyes and unblemished naivety, they convey their utterance. I wonder when do we lose it while growing up? What happened to that immutable smile, that enduring energy? That embracing of opinions, that affable guise. That innocence of antiquity!

Sunday, August 13, 2017

IAS Diaries Part 19- Toilet: Ek Prem Katha

Perhaps you all would remember having read about this unique newspaper item some years ago when a bride left her in-law's place just after marriage because there was no toilet in that house. Her name was Priyanka Bharti. One could only imagine how difficult it would have been for her to be the outcast, to defy the social compulsions in that overwhelmingly conservative set up and to stand up against the ubiquitous indifference to right to dignity. That one act of valor has inspired thousands of girls and women across the country to speak out loud against the prevailing beliefs supporting open defecation. Priyanka Bharti was later felicitated by Sulabh International which also helped in the construction of a toilet at her in-law's place.

Inspired by these events, we finally have a feature film "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (TEPK)" now showing across the country ensuring that the inspirational resolve of that iron lady in propagated to all the nook and corners of the nation. We, the IAS batch of 2015, were fortunate to be around in the capitol for the premier show of this movie also attended by the cast of the movie. In the inaugural comments, I really liked one thing that Akshay Kumar emphasized strongly. He said and I quote, "I do not care what money this film makes but I really want this movie to be seen by all the people in all the villages and other rural areas. It is only during the making that I came across the troubles of these women for a thing which is so trivial to us".



When I first saw the trailer of this movie, there were several pointers which had gushed in. It would certainly be an arduous task to pull in the urban audience for whom the availability of a toilet is sort of granted. They do not see it as something worth of debating leave aside making a movie out of it. Moreover, this section seemed much amused with the title of the film. The real impact of such a feature would only be in the rural areas which still is not that much into the institution of weekend movie outings fueled by popcorn and aerated artificially sweetened drinks. The other challenge perhaps would be screenplay as it would always revolve around that one watershed moment of truth.

But as it turns out, the movie is an all out entertainer and not simply a documentary depicting the rebellious acts of a women single-handedly taking on the archaic shackles of the society restricting one to construct toilets at home in the name of purity. Bhumi Pednekar's portrayal of Jaya, a spirited young girl from a village, is exceedingly real and persuasive. The resolve to continue her fight at the cost of jeopardizing her personal equations is evident in her body language. And, of course people are talking about the kind of weight she has lost, so much so that what is trending these days in diet circles is #LoseItLikeBhumi.

The bro-duo of Akshay Kumar and Divyendu Sharma is electrically comic at times. And that perhaps helps to make a case for an entertaining start as it is paramount that you win the hearts first in order to successfully pass on relevant gyan later. On that note, I must mention movies like 3 Idiots, Lage raho Munna Bhai etc who had a deep and ultra relevant social message to convey to the people but at the same time they ensured that the same is wrapped beautifully in a hilarious cover up. Same is the case with TEPK.

Another gem of a performance is by Sudhir Pandey who plays the deeply orthodox father who would not let his aging son marry for the want of a girl who must have two thumbs on one particular hand. The concreteness of ritualism and the undying faith in the customs is categorically evident in his protruding eyeballs. The enduring tussle between his ingrained belief and the prospective customary dereliction by his son is more than apparent in his evolving and frustratingly difficult demeanor. Through him, the director Shree Narayan Singh brings home an important point. He is unable to empathize with the predicament faced by his daughter-in-law and by women in general but when circumstances corner his mother, it hits him hard. One only realizes the immense power of gravity when one takes the free fall himself/herself. A very fundamental flaw with most of us.

Some people would surely feel that the lath-mar Holi sequences and the whole love establishment efforts were unnecessary and uncalled for. At this juncture, one must ponder upon the unyielding idea of monolithic story telling to find the obvious answers. Taking all that together, I feel it is a very balanced and entertaining approach to convey a quintessential point regarding sanitation. The movie takes into account the various stigmas pertaining to sanitation and takes them down head on.From my experiences in the field, I am sure it would act as that medium to quench the thirst of ritualistic sections opposing the idea of toilets at home. It would also motivate thousands of women and girls to raise their voices in unison who are forced to go out in those wee hours to relieve themselves. We must ensure that all those Baujis get a chance to watch this path-setting tale of a determined Bahu.

In times when the tide of Swacha Bharat Abhiyaan is making a great impact on the shore of our civilization, TEPK is an important wave we mustn't dodge.


For reading more on IAS Diaries, CLICK HERE.

Saturday, July 29, 2017

IAS Diaries Part 18 - Education Reforms in Rajasthan

Ever since we joined as Assistant Secretaries in the Department of School Education and Literacy, HRD Ministry, we had been showered with impelling tales and snippets about novel Education reforms underway in the state of Rajasthan. And recently we were fortunate to get this opportunity to travel to Jaipur and to see for ourselves, what these reforms actually were and what impact they were making on the ground. And as I sat pondering before embarking upon the return journey, I was more than sure that whatever had been said till now, was simply not ample. There was so much more to it that other states must know so that they create their own models to rekindle their education setups.

On our way to the Govt. Sr. Sec. School Nimodiya, Tonk Road, I was reminded of my travels during the district training in Sonitpur, Assam. Multitude of small Primary Schools mushroomed across the landscape of the Bramhaputra Valley with petty enrollments. There were even some single-teacher schools devoid of optimal functioning. But given the limitations of the central pool of resources, more outlets meant less for everybody. Few years ago even Rajasthan was grappling with similar issues where they had several such schools with single digit enrollment. And then came the idea of restructuring of schools eventually paving the way for a harmonious integration process.



Imagine Scenario A  where you have several Primary Schools in the vicinity with 02 teachers only and abysmally low enrollment. Apart from that you have a Secondary school with 4-6 teachers. The Primary Schools are structured in such a way that there would be no Head master/Principle to monitor and mentor the teachers. The monitoring is done by the Block level officer who sits far across and has too much on his plate to effectively deal with all these schools. The teachers of these Primary Schools have no one to look up too. Since the school base is low, so would be the resources at hand. The parents also would be constantly haunted by the apprehensions over migration to a Secondary school later as the kids progress in isolation.

Now Imagine Scenario B, where all such smaller Primary Schools in a Panchayat which are located nearby are merged together along with the one Secondary/ Sr Secondary school. Now you have the Head master/Principal of the Secondary School looking after all the teachers including those who were part of the stand alone Primary Schools. Now you have the common set of resources to be shared and utilized optimally by all these schools. Now you have junior and senior teachers interacting and facilitation of cross-learning happening across peer groups. Now you have the convergence of SSA and RMSA funds enabling them to innovate beyond. Moreover, it streamlines the migration of students from primary to secondary so that we minimize the dropouts. In a larger setup, the students also gain confidence to communicate better as it gives them the opportunity to interact with the senior classes. Restructuring process in Rajasthan is about moving from Scenario A to Scenario B. These integrated schools are envisioned in every Panchayat and they are being tagged as Adarsh Schools.

Along with the branding of these integrated schools, an array of other initiatives had also been undertaken. Now the Head Masters/Principals of these schools had suddenly the task of handling an enhanced number of students and teachers across platforms. For that, they were empowered with high level leadership modules conducted at the state level to ensure they have the necessary tools to administer this new role effectively. But there was a more fundamental predicament to effective monitoring that had been the major irritant in the past as well. The control of all these schools from the block office was a lost battle already. The sheer gigantic volume and the geographical spread made it almost a non performer.. Here came an important structural change which would decentralize monitoring to the Panchayat level. These Head Masters/Principals were also made the PEEO (Panchayat Elementary Education Officer). Now since they only had 4-5 other schools to look after and the fact that they were all close distance, monitoring process was revolutionized. The principals also felt empowered with these additional responsibilities which raised their morale to a new high.

In one of these Adarsh Schools, we sat listening to the Principal, Shri Om Prakash Vijay Ji,  who so proudly and enthusiastically enlisted the several other smaller steps which have supplemented this reform story. He insisted that we take a detailed look at this online portal "Shala Darpan" made by the state itself to facilitate data inputs for decision making. He swiftly takes out a Portable Wifi Device from his pocket, connects it to the desktop in his office and logs in into that portal. As he explained to us how he uses all these information tools, I was overwhelmed by the penetration of technology even in these rural interiors and how it is empowering people like him to be more effective in their pursuits. Shala Darpan portal has been slowly developed step by step and it is interesting to note that no formal training sessions were imparted. The principals and teachers have learnt it on their own as it is such an useful and user-friendly interface.

On one wall of his room, there was this large poster with photographs, educational qualifications and other details of all the teachers and staff in the school. This brings transparency and helps the parents to know who are the teachers nurturing their children. There were several other small posters on the other walls regarding the Parent-Teacher meetings where in you see large scale publicity of these meetings. Rajasthan has innovated this new model for these meetings wherein they make it a state level festival by scheduling these meets on the same day across the entire state. And therefore, riding on the colossal fervor of its grandeur, almost all parents attend these meetings. A great solution to ensure participation.

Outside his room, there was this box labelled Akshay Petika mounted on a little table securely locked over it's two tinny latches. It is meant to facilitate local level donations for the schools wherein the parents, visitors and simply anyone can go and put in any tiny amount for the development of the school. The locks are opened in the supervision of the School Management Committee (SMC) and thereafter they also decide how best they could utilize these funds for the betterment of the schools. There are several other Principals from across the state who are putting in special efforts to take their schools forward. They are creating alumni databases and are contacting them  with the issues faced by their Alma mater. Recently one such school got a donation of 5 lacs INR from one such alumnus.

Another wonderful reform is the conceptualization of SIQE (State Initiative for Quality Education) which is a state level modification over the several existing systems of evaluation and continuous learning prescribed at the national level. The fundamental idea behind is that a single framework of teaching does not fit all. All the students are different in terms of their capabilities and their strengths lie in varying domains as well. Ergo in this setup, an initial benchmarking of students is done and they are divided into several grades such as A, B, C and D etc. This classification is kept confidential as far as the students are concerned but of course the parents are made privy to it. The students from the lower grades are given extra support so that they can come onboard with the others. The number of students idling in the last grade is linked to the performance assessment of the teacher which in turn incentivizes him to do the needful.

On the note of integration of schools, one additional facet that needs to be highlighted is the inclusion of Anganwadi Centers (AWCs) in these schools. Often we come across isolated AWCs where the basic amenities are missing. Sometimes even the physical structures are absent and they are run in the houses of the caretakers.There was no way to ensure that they were functioning as per prescribed norms. Under this intervention, those AWCs which did not have the infrastructure and were within a certain distance from these schools, where hence given space inside the school campus itself. This is doing wonderfully well for several obvious reasons. The caretakers are feeling motivated to be part of a larger setup where they are getting all kind of support and guidance from the teachers and principals. The kids are motivated as their elder brothers and sisters are also around. Moreover, the facilities of the schools can also be shared with the AWC. The admission into the Primary school would become streamlined as the prospective kids are already in the loop. This structural innovation is also being replicated across India by taking inspiration from Rajasthan.

Apart from the regular schools, we have these Swami Vivekanand Model schools conceptualized for every block having the highest standards of teaching, infrastructure and opportunities. These are fully funded by the state itself in terms of the recurring expenditure and given the commendable performance in recent years, there has been a reverse migration of sorts from private schools. In one of the classes, when we asked them how many came from private schools, almost all of them raised their hands. They showcase the kind of magical results you can realize when you provide the best of facilities to these talented young guns of the rural localities. With shades of the JNV model, these schools come as boon to the low-icome group parents aspiring quality education. Similar role is being played by the KGBVs and the Sharda Girls Hostel scheme ensuring that the girls do not drop out because of household chores.

Towards the conclusion of our enlightening voyage, we also got the opportunity to interact and listen to Naresh Gangwar Sir (Education Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan) who is the man behind this revolution in school education Rajasthan is witnessing. To read more about his education initiatives, CLICK HERE. At the very outset, he shared this brilliant anecdote which perhaps relates not only to education but to everything in the government or otherwise. Every problem can be reduced to the Highway-Car-Driver analogy. We have a bad road in front of us, a worn-out vehicle and an unskilled driver. And most of the time, we try to solve the issue by replacing the car as that's the most convenient thing to do. But the road is still damaged and the driver hasn't gotten any better. We need to upgrade the highway and we need to skill the driver. Of course it would take many fold the effort that would go to replace the car but there is no other way. So let's get our acts together and let's mend our Highway.

Inspired by the positive winds of change Education is witnessing in Rajasthan, I quote John F. Kennedy...

“Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.” 

For reading more on IAS Diaries, CLICK HERE.

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Dunkirk * * *

We, the people, the people who love non-linear screenplay more than anything else, the people who were knocked down by the likes of Interstellar and Inception, the people who owe their allegiance to House Nolan and the people who would bend the knee to Sir Christopher Nolan, first of his name, had waited long, for more than 2 years. I will be pretty blunt here with Dunkirk, it does not give you the complexity of Mememto or Inception, it is devoid of the character building of the Batman Trilogy and in no way it can match the spectacular expanse of Interstellar. But, it does offer something entirely new. The perspective of war without the noisy gun shots, bloodshed and stereotype heroics.

His earlier creations were mostly complex temporal conundrums, heroic manifestations or superlunary voyages. And each of them, irrespective of the underlying theme, was resplendent in itself, in all possible echelons. These moments represented freakish quantum of creativity and imagination. They were so convincing that at times reality wasn't good enough for us. Ergo, the cult and hence the baggage of expectations. And when it was revealed that Sir Nolan is working on a World War project, we couldn't help but speculate, the possibilities. But it is far from what anyone could have imagined. And frankly wouldn't be fair to be prejudiced when you go in for this one. So it is important that first you initiate Operation Clean Slate.

Dunkirk perhaps, cannot be classified as anything. Not a movie, not a documentary nor any other cinematographic jargon you can think of.  Because he transports you to the place itself and you no more can feel the comfort of the recliner in the multiplex. You find yourself strangled on that beach, thirsty and anxious. And suddenly you are inside a boat waiting for the tide but what comes for you is a bullet from nowhere, poking a hole into the oblivion of hope. Water splashing in, the air gushing out and the inmates struggle for survival. Desperation, depredation and ostracism. And the next moment you are in the spitfire dog fighting the bombers and watching over your vulnerable requisitioned civilian flotilla.

All that pre-release murmur about how Sir Nolan would structure a war movie was a sham. It is not a war movie. There is no war anywhere to be seen. There aren't any Germans around. This is perhaps best described as that moment between battles where you simply survive. And the entire length of 106 minutes is a celebration of that epic survival. Nothing less than a miracle for those 300,000 souls. There is no buildup either. Right from the first screen till the last, it is all intense. There are variations in that intensity but never a dip.

And perhaps rightly so, there is no characterization, you don't get to know who they are, what their names are. You don't get to make that emotional connect with anyone. You are never sure if the person in the present frame was the one from the last sequence. Because perhaps Sir Nolan wanted this movie to be about the event. It does not matter who they were as individuals. It was that moment that was to be understood and experienced. It was about those fearful sorties of those hawkish bombers, those untraceable U-boats and their piercing torpedoes and the inexplicable savageries of violence.

On the world premier, when Sir Nolan was called on the stage to address the gathering, he showed everyone this button someone gave him while they were filming on the Dunkirk beach. They told him they keep getting such stuff from the sands. Perhaps from the tunics of those who were stranded and annihilated. He was carrying that as a remembrance to those who made the sacrifice. And then what he told the audience is exactly what I have in mind for you all, "I would not ask you to go and enjoy the movie but go and experience it".

The verdict over the internet seems to be unanimous in calling it remarkable work. But I would share my reservations at the cost of being tagged as a cynic. Given the magnanimity of his previous works, I expected it to be more intense, much more detailed and full of figures to inspire us. There was disappointment on all these fronts. And hence, towards the end, amidst the appreciation for taking us back to history, I felt this void. Perhaps I should not have imagined Dunkirk from the lens of Interstellar or Inception. Perhaps the heroics of the capped crusader weren't even needed. The soul of it had sufficed, the Dunkirk Spirit shall prevail above all. 

Saturday, July 1, 2017

IAS Diaries Part 17 - Singapore

It was perhaps the longest kept secret in the history of the academy. No Officer Trainee had the slightest of idea. Even Varys's little birds would have failed to fathom anything beneath the surface. The question haunted the Officer trainees for long. What was in store for them during the most awaited stint of training? Was it the glitter around Orchard Street or the party district of Itaewon?
Was it going the be the Merlion at Marina Bay or the skyscrapers at Yeouido? Was it the elegant serenity of Clarke Quay or the majestic Seongsan Bridge? Was is Singapore or South Korea?

Some even thought that they would only be told once they board the respective flight. Some even expected the possibility of half batch getting airdropped over Singapore enroute Korea. But it wasn't that bad. The pandora's box was opened a few days before departure and we all knew to which country's GDP we were to contribute soon in ways we could only fantasize. As yours truly was earmarked for Singapore, the rest of the story would be about the White Lion splashing. 

Everyone loves to exploit someone with a forthcoming foreign trip and given the size of our groups, the vultures drooled to inundation. The bank folks offered travel cards with stories of how earlier batches struggled with their domestic debit cards. They did not tell us how easy it was to enable international usage on our own cards. The telecom told us it is pertinent that we take a new sim card as if it was a matter of life and death. They simply ignored our idea of WhatsApp calls. And then there was the lie about the quintessential universal adopter. It was only when we were in the foreign soil that we realized, all this was a sham. 

The moment finally arrived when our Maharaja embraced the touchline. In spite of the drowsiness courtesy sleep deprivation, our eyes were wide open, our minds ready to grasp, the unknown. The airport seemed like our very own T3 and one could already feel the prejudices in some unfortunate souls. But their conjecture was soon banished as we boarded the bus. Were we in some kind of simulation depicting a near-perfect world,  I pondered in amazement. The road discipline exhibited by the vehicles was almost like a symphony, the artificially induced greenery in every nook possible was as natural as it can get and cleanliness was ubiquitous, unblemished and unsullied. And already, in this short span, we were head over heels.

Our sojourn was to be in Hotel Orchard, perfectly equipped with everything under the sun. They served pretty decent Indian food which was a relief for all the veggies. But it was only later that we realized the location was more of an asset than the hotel itself. In the late hours of the gloomy midnight, figures would masquerade in the vicinity apparently enticed by the voluptuous mannequins. The so called Tower was much more than a commercial edifice for the young and the restless- an enlightening and empowering trance of sorts. One shot of ale was never so rewarding before.

There is ample to learn from Singapore but if you ask me to choose one, I would say adherence to agreed order and beyond. One could actually feel the deterrents working when you see the drivers, shopkeepers and vendors reminding tourists of the austere enforcement of regulations. During our travels in the Metro or elsewhere, we observed on escalators people would always stick to the left side leaving the right side free. This voluntary alignment would allow those in hurry to rush from the right side. And amidst the oozing applause for their orderly behavior, I entertained the Utopian thought of seeing this in our country where apparently everyone's in a hurry.

Walking through the zillion hawker centers or basement Food Courts in several Shopping malls of Singapore, one would notice many old people working as cleaning staff or as helpers. Intrigued, I tried to get some answers from them on why they had to still work? For some it was to avoid boredom and for others it was the will to continue to contribute to the society. For very few, it was about the money. Whatever be the reason, you would surely be blown away by their energy. Overwhelmed by their perpetual industry, we slowly perhaps unfolded the prime mover of these Tiger Economies. Another intriguing observation was the silence on the roads. During the 8 days of our stay in Singapore where we traversed the length and breadth of the city-state, never did we hear a vehicle horn, the pedestrians were accorded the highest precedence and everyone exhibited exemplary road-discipline. That moment when the absence of entropy gives you goosebumps. 




As we stood on the 57th floor of Marina Bay Sands, we were dumbstruck at the engineering marvel that Singapore is. A country half the size of our capital with no natural resources at all has turned it around in style. Amidst people gyrating to the loud rock music, I couldn't help but notice the city-state moving ahead silently but swiftly. One would learn more about optimization and opportunity cost by taking a stroll here than pursuing a Masters Degree in it at some prestigious university. They have an education system wherein students are allowed to study what they like in depth and other things are kept at minimal. 

Their vocational training institutions are infra-structurally superior than many of our premier institutions. Their public housing is super impressive with 80% of population living in it and more than 90% owning their own spaces. Their water recycle facilities are something we need to learn from urgently.  To address the road congestion the certificate prices to buy vehicles are extremely expensive and the critical roads have executive road pricing discouraging people to use them. All their public transport can be availed by a single card and all of it is planned keeping in mind the probable movement of people from one place to another. 

So what would it take for us to reach where Singapore is? Perhaps some visionary like Lee Kuan Yew who could also enforce Rule of Law. Perhaps inculcation of voluntary compliance by the populace. Perhaps a more empowering and flexible education system. Perhaps a more cordial and cooperative relationship among communities. Perhaps the triumph of merit over bias, Or perhaps, all of these. Opportunity is slipping beneath our feet. We must get our act together now, its about time.

Researching over how Singapore achieved so much in such little time starting from scratch, I came across these words by Lee Kuan Yew which I feel suffice to quench my thirst, "I always tried to be correct, not politically correct".


For reading more on IAS Diaries, CLICK HERE.

Sunday, June 25, 2017

IAS Diaries Part 16 - Queen Interrupted

I still remember the first time when I came to Mussoorie and I was shit scared like a kid. Not that I was scared of height or anything but it was the forthcoming military training at the ITBP academy that was giving me the goosebumps. It was almost four years ago. Not that long right, but so much seems to have changed in Mussoorie that it almost feels like a different eon now.  In those days, the hill town was still okay in terms of vehicular pollution and density. One could still manage to breathe inviolate air and absorb the fragrance of virgin nature. There was space for foot soldiers to goof around, there were some parts of the hill still untouched and there was a bit of Mussoorie still left among all the clutter.

The recent walkathons through the hills have unfortunately been encounters devoid of serendipity. Whenever we have walked out of the campus during these weekends, we have only found boundless queues of vehicles with their engulfing auras of emissions. And with these vomiting chimneys coming from both sides, there would hardly be any space for the lesser mortals called pedestrians. From what I recall, this place used to be a heaven for walkers irrespective of the time and place. From what I see today, the word hell  would not be an exaggeration.

The other day we walked all the way to Landour Cantt from the academy. Being acclimatized to the traffic till library point, we hoped for a better half on the Mall road. But only to our despair. The entire stretch till Picture Palace was full of vehicles driven by horn-y individuals trying to pierce the flood of people walking along the road. There are several other hill stations in India where the "Mall roads" have been made prohibited for vehicles to ensure that tourists get what they came for~ a peaceful walk overlooking a picturesque valley meanwhile you enjoy the local street cuisines. Perhaps it's time for Mussoorie to come on-board.

As you make the climb to Landour moving away from the plethora of hotels, you get to see what the place was originally like. Landour has the shades of old Mussoorie, the vintage stuff that perhaps attracted the British at the first place. But the plague of concrete looms large posing as a catastrophic contagion which soon might eclipse the serenity left in this part of the hill. At this moment, I recall the words of Agent Smith from the movie Matrix which sum up my feeling - " I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus."

Today we trekked to George Everest House from the Academy. The entire route is so scenic and the weather complimented it magically but all this is ruined to the core when you have a zillion honking vehicles speeding through showering packets of fast food and leaving behind dust storms with no regards to people walking. Sitting at the top of George Everest trail, I could see the clouds gushing past us, making us shiver in this summer, but on the other side we could also see the landfill like litter left behind by the tourists. On the way back, the traffic jam was so severe and mindless, that pedestrians had to climb the terrain besides to get past, there was literally no space on the road. Chaos in heaven, for crying out loud.

Unbridled tourism is almost devilish. We are ruining the landscape, screwing up the environment and the tourists are also not able to enjoy Mussoorie the way one should. Why not put a filter to regulate all this. The hills are a limited place with narrow roads having a certain capacity. We can have a check at the foothills of how many vehicles have entered and not allow further post a limit. A Green Tax can be imposed and the corpus raised can be used to keep Mussoorie pristine. We can promote on-foot tourism in terms of trails and treks which would minimize traffic congestion. Heavy fines on littering and unauthorized parking is something we urgently need here on the hills. Solutions are out there in front of us, it's time we buckle up and implement them. The Queen of Hills, Mussoorie, is perhaps choking. It's about time we act, to rescue and comfort, the Queen interrupted.


For reading more on IAS Diaries, CLICK HERE

Friday, June 16, 2017

ITBP reloaded

He was simply perfect as a Commandant of the ITBP Academy in Mussoorie. Tall, patrician and breathtakingly elegant. When he spoke, everything else froze. When he wore the uniform, everyone else looked diminished. When he walked around, he owned the locale.
Today during our morning run, I came across him near the ITBP premises. And what he said is perhaps the best compliment for me ever~"O, You are fitter than before boy!". When such words come from someone you have always looked up to, it means so much to us. After that, the rest of the run was effortless as if I was flying. ITBP, reloaded!

Rage, rage

If you have traveled through the zillion hawker centers or basement Food Courts in several Shopping malls of Singapore, you would have noticed many old people working as cleaning staff or as helpers. Intrigued, I tried to get some answers from them on why they had to still work?
For some it was to avoid boredom and for others it was the will to continue to contribute to the society. For very few, it was about the money. Whatever be the reason, you would surely be blown away by their energy. Overwhelmed by their perpetual industry, I remembered those wonderful lines by Dylan Thomas celebrating the undying spirit....
"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Adieu, Tezpur

That walk around Cole Park,
That drive through to Nameri,
Serenity of Brahmaputra,
Maaculanity of Kolia Bhomora,
I shall miss.
Those cycle rides amidst thy pastures,
That ubiquitous calmness,
Thy variety, thy richness,
I shall miss.
Those strides in the deep,
The treks in the woods,
Thy fullness, thy antiquity,
I shall miss.
That melodious Axomiya,
And it's endless linguistic nuances,
That novelty of culture,
Thy magnanimity of Bihu,
Thy affinity, thy love,
I shall miss.
Thou shall go on,
Thou shall conquer,
Horizons, old and new,
Adieu Tezpur, my love.

P.S. THIS could have not been possible without you all, god bless.

Convertibles

While reading about the high Maternal Mortality Rates in the Tea Gardens of our country, I came across this statement by Rev. Charles Dowding which perhaps encapsulates much more wisdom than the obvious context of it. In 1894, he had remarked ,"Low wage-rate and High death-rate are convertible terms".
The statement hits you beyond the realms of MMR and you suddenly find yourself amidst the dichotomies of Pessimism-Optimism, of Cynicism-Constructive Criticism, of Devilish-Godlike and of Ugliness-Beauty. And that moving from former to latter is simply a choice. And that they too are, convertibles.

To Football

Last night I was watching Francesco Totti's farewell. He has been with his football club for so long, so much so that he perhaps has become a part of its DNA. Now I am neither a Totti fan nor a Roma fan. But it so happened that the eyes swelled up with tears. Why?
Perhaps it was a celebration of loyalty. Perhaps it were the contagious tears in the eyes of thousands of Roma fans. Perhaps it was the industry of this man in question. Perhaps it was the loss to the game of football. Let's raise a toast, to Totti, and more aptly, to Football!

The Horn-y Indian

During the last 8 days of our stay in Singapore where we traversed the length and breadth of the city-state, never did we hear a vehicle horn, the pedestrians were accorded the highest precedence and everyone exhibited exemplary road-discipline.
One minute onto the Indian road and you get to see all the violations possible coupled with a deafening destructive interference created by the entropic entourage of eternally honking vehicles. Let's learn a thing or two, let's keep our roads ordered and calm, O' Thou Horn-y Indian!

When left, is RIGHT

In Singapore while our travels in the Metro (aka MRT~Mass Rapid Transit) or elsewhere, we observed this interesting phenomenon. Where ever we came across escalators, people using them would always stick to the left side leaving the right side free.
While I stood pondering over this voluntary alignment, it soon occurred to me that they do it so that those in hurry can rush from the right. And amidst the oozing applause for their orderly behavior, I entertained the Utopian thought of seeing this in our country where apparently everyone's in a hurry!

Saturday, May 13, 2017

IAS Diaries Part 15 - Namami Brahmaputra

I still remember those days of UPSC preparation when I had just started up with my Geography portion for General Studies. We were doing rivers and when we came to the eastern frontiers, we encountered the mighty Brahmaputra. Merely reading the facts and figures detailing its gigantic spread gave me goose bump. How could a river be so broad? Why not call it a sea then, like the Caspian one? May be they are simply exaggerating. As I write this blog from my room in Circuit House Tezpur, I can see that vast expanse from where I am sitting, endless and eternal. They weren’t exaggerating, not at all.

After spending considerable time in the state you are bound to realize the immense River Tourism potential the place has which unfortunately remains untapped. We must build world-class River Cruise circuits, take up River front beautification projects in various districts and initiate steps to conserve our River Dolphins. It’s good to see that at least we are now talking about all these and the ideas are being deliberated in various circles. One such step in this direction was Namami Brahmaputra.

The conceptualization of Namami Brahmaputra is based on the idea of Namami Gange, an initiative widely known across the country. It was pertinent that a similar initiative must be taken up for celebrating the spirit of our lifeline Brahmaputra. Thus was conceived the idea of this river festival. It was then decided that the same would be celebrated in all the 21 districts through which the river Brahmaputra flows and the celebrations would be at the same time. And thereafter started a string of activities culminating to the festival which was celebrated from 31st March’17 to 4th April’17.



The planning of this event started several months ago at the time of our joining the districts. At that time it occurred to us why these deliberations are being made so early on as the event was scheduled only in March end. But after the organization of the event, everyone is on the same page that such mammoth events do require immense planning which must start way before the event. The entire event in all the districts was to be organized and planned by the respective Deputy Commissioner's Office. What followed was a marathon of Video Conferences, Committee meetings and Brain-storming sessions culminating to this grand event.

This river festival was to celebrate the spirit of Brahmaputra in various ways – cultural events, ethnic food, beach sports etc – basically everything somehow related to this lifeline of Assam. And ergo, it was an excellent opportunity to promote local tourism. We came up with a small booklet on Tezpur Tourism which had everything one would want to know and since distributing these booklets here in Tezpur would not have made any difference we decided to send and distribute all such materials to the tour operators in Guwahati. As when people plan to tour Assam, their entire itinerary revolves around the capital.



Tezpur lies on a tourist circuit which is very famous and includes places like Tawang and Bomdilla. But it is mostly used as a Transit location where people put camp to rest because the tourism potential of Tezpur is unexposed. There are several places in Tezpur itself to engage the tourist for two full days. On this note, we roped in some local entrepreneurs to arrange for one-day “Tezpur Tours”, something which is still continuing even after the festival. We all knew that we won’t be getting many tourists from outside in this first edition of this festival as it takes time for a new concept to evolve and spread its wings. Perhaps down the line we would see this river festival strengthen and become a rage like the Horn Bill festival.

One of the events on our list for the festival was the Marathon, well it was not the usual full length one, more of a fun-run thing. And I was glad that the entire responsibility was given to me courtesy my history. We decided to make it a grand event with cash prizes and to conduct it in a professional manner. The district sports office and all their staff played a vital role for the organization and successful culmination of the event. The endpoint of the race was decided as Jahaj Ghat which is the most famous ghat in Tezpur. The race started from the exterior of the city, breaching the interiors and finished in the heart of Brahmaputra thus paying a symbolic tribute



Due to the immense response received by the people of Tezpur, we had to restrict the entries to a certain number as we did not have the finances to handle such a large request. For the safe conduct of the race, a traffic plan was prepared in coordination with the traffic police personnel. To ensure proper medical aid, a team was identified to be stationed at the race locations in coordination with the Joint Director, Medical Services in the district. For the first time perhaps, I felt more joy in promoting the idea of running as I watched participants reach the finish line all proud and drained. And at the end, I realized that even organizing a marathon is as tiring and challenging as running one. Perhaps we burn even more calories in the former.



Another part where I was deeply involved was the overall organization of sports event during the festival. We thought that since it was a river festival it would make more sense to have beach football, beach vollyball and beach kabbaddi. And this eventually became the highlight of our festival. We received tremendous response and participation from several institutions which includes schools, colleges, Armed forces etc. And here also we had to restrict the number of entries as we neither had the time nor the resources to manage such large number of teams. The audience was also huge in number and all the games attracted huge crowds. We also played an exhibition football match- District Administration Vs Sports Association – wherein I tried to defend to my last breath but only to end up in a humiliating defeat. A great game it was.




And then there were the culturals every evening. One is amazed to see the cultural variety and talent that this place has. And more than that it is ingrained in all the people here. It is rather a inseparable part of their lives. The performance arenas were circled with stalls of ethnic food. It is in those times, when you are among people, music and good food, that you wonder, this is enough. We do not need anything more to be happy. Do hell with the rat race. This was only the first edition of the river festival and I hope that it evolves even stronger every coming year. And if you happen to plan a trip to Assam someday, just check when is the next edition of Namami Brahmaputra!