If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time; but if you are here because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together
Official Connect India Blog
“Indicorps in 60 seconds” by Pramal Lad & Laxmi Chhaya
We are both from the UK and are currently in the middle of our Indicorps Fellowships in India.
Pramal is serving with Vidya Poshak, an NGO in Karnataka, empowering rural graduates to secure well-paid employment.
Laxmi, on the other hand is looking at how to strengthen communication tools and promote healthy living at a health organisation called SEARCH in rural Maharashtra. We interviewed each other (Jonathan Ross was too busy) and this is what we got…
Laxmi Chhaya, at SEARCH (Health Communication) and from Coventry
Laxmi, you’ve spent some time in India volunteering before, why then did you decide to go for the Indicorps Fellowship?
The decision to choose the Fellowship was (and still is) more than taking one year out of my life, but a process that I believe will shape who I am (wherever I am) for the rest of my life. For some years I have been feeling restless and fed up of being on the side that simply talked about changing things. The Fellowship has given me the opportunity to actually do something in a way that allows me to use my initiative, but that is also supported.
So, you have to speak in Marathi - a language you didn’t know at all! How is that going?
Well luckily, we were given some basic language lessons in our orientation. Although it’s not always easy, it’s been a good challenge and has pushed me to think about the different ways in which we can communicate to others that go beyond language. Of course, practising daily and a willingness to sound silly has also helped!
My family were a little worried about me being alone in a strange place with very different people - being in the middle of Maharashtra, living in a tribal forest, do you feel it is lonely or scary?
My family were worried at the start too, but I shared as much information as I could about where I was going, the organisation and somehow even managed to find photos online! Although it can be lonely at times, this has been part of getting to know me. Fortunately, we have regular ‘check-in’ calls with our Indicorps Support team to talk through our ideas, grumblings and overall wellbeing.
Pramal Lad, at Vidya Poshak (Education and Employment) and from Walsall
So Pramal, you chose to leave the corporate world and commit yourself for a whole year in India, why?
A combination of two things: (1) I was lucky to get a taste of ‘seva’ or voluntary work in India and have been involved actively in the UK, so I knew how rewarding this can be, (2) I was feeling unsatisfied with how I was spending my time in the corporate world, I was yearning for more meaning, more purpose, more passion.
Your project is with an education NGO in Karnataka. Has it been going as you expected?
Working in India will throw your expectations out of the window. My project, involving training unemployed rural graduates, requires more than just my effort – it requires the whole team. Working in this environment then becomes challenging as you need to develop the ability to function with people accustomed to working (and being motivated) very differently.
We heard something about Indicorps workshops, what’s that all about?
Yes, a unique feature of the Fellowship is the regular workshops every few months where we come together at inspirational locations, with passionate leaders, such as our latest workshop, held at Ralegan Siddhi, the model village created by Anna Hazare. It was energising to utilise our entire group as a support structure in addition to being a platform for sharing common experiences and frustrations. Also, there are always previous fellows who come back, saying that there is something very special and inspirational about an Indicorps workshop that you can’t find anywhere else. Oh, and you also get to practice simple living together which is fun – waking up at 6am to clean toilets and sweep the grounds!
For more information please see apply.indicorps.org or www.indicorps.org
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
8 Plays
“Escape” by Amal Lad
I took part in Connect India’s Learning Journey trip to Gujarat, India, in 2007. Whilst on this journey, we were introduced to a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) known as KMVS, which focused on women’s empowerment. Here I was told a true story of a woman from an “untouchable caste”. The story really made a lasting impression in my thoughts.
There is great pressure for women from the “untouchable caste” in India to give birth to boys and this particular mother gave birth to 5 daughters consecutively. The baby girls were killed by the in-laws as soon as they were born by a method known as “doodh pitthi”, where the baby is dipped in boiling hot milk. The mother had been getting abuse from her husband and his family and was unable to return back to her own village.
One day it got too much for her and she walked to a dry well and flung herself in…However, she was still alive. Her husband dragged her out, with many broken bones, and dumped her at the doorstep of her father in her home village, a shameful rejection and a reminder of her failure as a wife. KMVS has been working with similar cases and communities to improve mentality and education so that women can be treated better.
This story really stuck with me and I tried to imagine what made her want to end her life. I imagined the feeling of maternal satisfaction that she would gain by being re-united with her lost daughters and I imagined her doing her motherly duties with her babies. The music “Escape” is an interpretation of this hopeful feeling of being re-united as well as the sadness of leaving the world behind.
The track features the voice of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India in 1947 in which he announces the freedom of India from the British rule. The nation is free yet so many women and poor villagers are very far from free.
An Unforgettable Journey by Nishma Jethwa
On 13 September 2008, I, along with 10 others, embarked on a transformational voyage to experience a different side of India. A journey to open my eyes, ears, hands and heart to what it means to be a human being. To understand the challenges facing developing India and see how individuals had decided to stop simply talking and start acting.
Although the vision of the Learning Journey is straightforward – to combine travel with social learning – it ultimately strives to create tomorrow’s change-makers by encouraging individuals to realise their potential and ability to make positive changes in the world. Learning Journey strives to achieve this through a wide range of activities, from workshops at Non-Governmental Organisations to slum visits, from reflection sessions to hands-on volunteer work.
We were told to “let all that you see, touch the way that you think”. The truly exciting thing is that Learning Journey went above and beyond those words; for seeing was only the beginning. It was in the doing that the real learning experience began to occur as we engaged in a whole series of local projects. This ranged from making nutritious food for over 5000 slum children, teaching at the slum community centre to fundraising with local teenagers for Blind People’s Day. Each activity pushed us far beyond our comfort zones and allowed us to connect with the spirit of the people.
Introspection occurred throughout the day but it culminated at group reflection sessions where we shared differing perspectives and started to ask some fundamental questions about our connection and responsibility to people outside of our world. In a challenging environment that is so far from our reality, I learnt that on a basic level we are all connected – whether it’s with my neighbour in London, an Indian girl living in the slums or the rich businessman that I work for – and this means that, no matter where I am, I can make an impact on the world. I can be the change.
India is once again in the limelight of the global stage. Challenges exist within this roaring super-power, a country which gave British Indians so many of the values and traditions practiced by them today. How can we learn to ensure our connection to India is not lost whilst maintaining our values in a rapidly globalising society? Connect India Learning Journey enables individuals to connect with themselves, connect with others and connect with the world around them. India is home to more than a quarter of the world’s poorest people, and yet it is the world’s 11th largest economy. This contradiction is made apparent in every state, every city and every street. Learning Journey enables participants to engage with those who are trying to close this gap and gives them the opportunity to understand more about themselves in the process.
This year Connect India Learning Journey will take a group of 12 British Indians on a 10 day trip to Gujarat, India from 4th to 13th September 2009. From NGO workshops to village stays, from slum visits to talks and reflection sessions, this is a journey with a social twist that will open a new window to a rapidly evolving India!
Random Acts of Kindness by Laxmi Chhaya and Sonali Makanji
It was an early Sunday morning when a young group of people descended upon Ealing Road in Wembley to launch the Free Chai initiative in London. Why? Simply to encourage the act of giving.
After a recent trip to Ahmedabad in India, many of these individuals were taken away by a non-profit organization, Seva café. This experiment relies upon humble giving and runs upon a volunteer system. Through acting as a volunteer and cooking wholesome meals with true love and care, we realised the power and joy that comes from ‘doing’. Seva café hopes to promote the message that every meal is a gift, which has been paid for by a previous guest. Ultimately your meal is free. If you donate any money to the cause you are in effect paying for a stranger’s meal. Seva Café allowed us to develop the idea of doing a selfless action for a stranger out of love, rather than necessity.
In an attempt to spread our message we decided to lovingly serve free chai in Wembley to strangers on the street. The aim of the event was to see the different reactions we invited and hopefully to encourage our society to be more selfless. The reactions of people were varied. While many were surprised at this delightful offer, most people were gracious to have a warm drink in the cold. One couple were so inspired that they bought some food for the volunteers to give out along with the chai.
Through more people participating in the joy of a selfless action, we hope to create a chain reaction by which every good act given is received, multiplied and ultimately nourished throughout the greater community.
More information at www.connectindia.org
