IMPRESSIONS - K. Eshwar

A perfect eye opener !!!

We generally often consider that majority of the rural people are ignorant and adamant to change for their betterment . But this preconceived notion against them has been removed once I came to know about the willingness and passion of Surendra garu of Pesar Lanka. He has commendable knowledge over various fields. He  evinced great interest to adopt any new technology and innovation to improve the lives of his villagers.

Considering  views of such progressive villagers in designing welfare measures and seeking their support in implementation of the measures would be a win win situation for the government and the beneficiaries.

 

Winning hearts for opening minds :
Sometimes we might encounter a few individuals who would be unwilling to share their knowledge and expertise in their respective fields. In such situations, by appreciating their efforts ( that were done till now )in presence of public and showering a few words of praise with good intentions , would eventually win their hearts. This ultimately results in sharing their knowledge at later stages. 

In this CSY, I learnt this very important lesson which significantly enhanced my interpersonal skills.

 

" A good teacher teaches..a great teacher inspires " - Confucius 

This was the first thing that came into my mind when we have met Pothuraju Sir, a high school teacher at Pesar Lanka High school. A highly committed teacher with extreme levels of humbleness are the key aspects that won my heart. His students won numerous science fair awards which even includes a couple of President of India awards at national level. We got an opportunity to interact with him . It was a really great and highly enriching experience to meet " ANDHRA PRADESH 'S STATE BEST SCHOOL TEACHER" awardee. 

 

3 D's of Chinna Shodh Yatra : Debates, Discussions and Deliberations 

CSY offered me a unique opportunity to ponder deeply and widely about various issues that confront our society,country. A few notable aspects among them include the definition of development including the concept of sustainable development;nature and necessity of introducing technologies like drip,sprinkler irrigation; corruption,declining morals of the society and others.

My understanding towards these aspects have further refined and improved my clarity of thought.

 

Learning from fellow yatris :

We are a group with huge diversity in terms of educational background, profession, ideology,regions etc..This in fact made me to have different perspectives on many issues. As a result I could develop a holistic approach towards them. For instance, when I asked top 3 challenges that India is currently facing, I have got various responses which included corruption , declining farm productivity and societal barriers like caste system etc..

 

Barring this , I was immensely benefitted from the cross functional learning from my fellow yatris. I was enlightened about the organic farming by Vijay,an MSc graduate in Agriculture by profession and  a budding organic farming entrepreneur by passion.

And I was equally benefitted from words of wisdom by Satya Prakash Sir,an MBA Professor who patiently answered my questions on management which included ways to improve the current MBA educational institutions and a few managerial practices that can be imparted to governance mechanisms. Akitha, has helped me to understand the basics of Bio medicines and made me to realise the importance of having engineering knowledge in the field of medicine.

 

Farmer is GOD !!

This is the single aspect that we often conveniently ignore. Without their enormous toil in the sun we cannot survive . I was really moved by the observations made by Prabhakar garu, a farmer , who said that urbanites treat farmers as second rate citizens. Are we doing injustice to our farmers ? Is it the real growth and development that we want to attain by not giving prime importance to our farmers ? 

These are a few intriguing questions that we need to honestly answer and respond accordingly in a time bound manner. 

Why can't we have a farmer's day in a year when we celebrate many days like valentine's day, mother's day ? Think over it my dear friends!!

 

FLEXIBILITY + CREATIVITY + SIMPLICITY= PROSPERITY 

This is what I felt when I heard about the wonderful real time anecdotes about the  grassroots innovators who address the problems that a common man would face which would eventually make him/her prosper . They are highly flexible ( in including various aspects of design considerations ) about the product they develop/ already developed. Apart from this ,their solutions are highly creative with great simplicity in their understanding and approach to the problem. The story of Narasimham made me to derive the above formula i.e flexibility + creativity +simplicity =prosperity.

 

ITI education / vocational education - can it be the next big thing for India ?

Before the CSY yatra, I had a false notion that ITI graduates are meant for smooth operations on the shop floor in any manufacturing firm and others.

But the interaction with a few co yatris who are from ITI background made me to revisit and broaden my perception.

 

They are involved in identifying the problems that a common man faces and also offering their expertise in solving them.

 

There are many challenges that can be effectively and efficiently addressed by the help of ITI education. It would be worth remembering that countries like Japan , South Korea could progress so rapidly,as they emphasised on the vocational training. 

 

ZINDAGI NA MILE DOOBARA !!

I daily have tea twice in the morning and evening. But it was a completely unique feeling in having tea during CSY. We drank tea along farm lands with a cool breeze, and the awesome moment of our tea break was along a water canal in moonlight !! Catching fishes in ponds, walking in fields,having our food under cool shade of trees are a few other highlights. All these are priceless moments that have made the yatra an enriching experience.

 

INNER PEACE : 

Apart from these moments,our frugal way of live in these few days, made me to gain a new perception about our lives. For a couple of days we were away from our so called busy urban life and deeply engaged in village way of life that really made me to stay away from worries or stress related to our daily activities.

 

In the end, I want to thank Brigadier sir and his CSY team members who were responsible for conducting this yatra. I want to also express my gratitude towards my fellow yatris who made me a much better person . I take this opportunity to extend my best  wishes to all the yatris to realise their dreams and aspirations. I sincerely wish from bottom of my heart that Palle Srujana continue this silent revolution for a sustainable,prosperous, inclusive INDIA.

 

Awaiting eagerly for another Chinna Shodh Yatra .

 

JAI HIND !! 

Warm Regards,
K. Eshwar