“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