I should have written about this long before but work kept me busy or rather say, i didn't take out time for this.
Though it is better to be late than never!!
Sanchore is the place where i was working for 3 months. A semi-arid region, Sanchore falls in Western Rajasthan and touches the Gujarat border. The place has Gujarati touch- in terms of culture. My 3 months stay in this place not just made me dark but i never imagined that 3 months in this place will make me miss it so much.. I never liked the place earlier but when i shifted back to Delhi, i realised that i miss the place as much as people, there..
Living in Sanchore made me change a lot. This is here i learnt to be totally self dependent.. This self dependency was learnt by, as small thing as traveling to remote villages and larger cities alone..I learnt here that people in rural areas don't have material pleasures to give you but they have a big heart and will love an outsider and will even not let that outsider know when s/he became an insider. My short stay in the place made me soo close to people that it is hard to not be in touch with them.. Living alone was another learning for me and i used to talk to my silence. Though this loneliness drived me away from the place yet that loneliness, i miss now.
Travelling to villages on bike - sharing the small seat with Mahendra and Bharat and sometimes even Prateek, trusting these strangers, who no more are strangers, heated discussions with Bharat at Amar Parantha house over our working strategies and meanwhile silence of Mahendra, struggling for food, eating eggs and eating non veg in a Jain family, counting coins of bharat which amounted to almost 500 Rs- Chilladbaaz, Mahendra calling me Paula, irritating my team when i fell asleep and didn't wake for complete 3 hours and they kept banging on my door for dinner, eating Bajre ki roti, ghee and Chanch at Viya Ram's house, giggles and laughter with women SHG members of Devasiyon ki Dhaani,helping them write their names and they helping in turn each other, struggling with MPOWER.. All these memories make me nostalgic of the place...
Though i am away now, yet i want say to my team members that memories can never fade away. They are much a part of me and have changed my personality and outlook a lot- for good..
Missing people and the place..
Monday, January 10, 2011
Participatory attitude!!
Here comes my blog after a very long gap!!
My work life had kept me too busy to update my blogs and now this professional life has given me food for thought and has helped me write on this particular theme of participation..
I am working in an organization where participatory approaches and participation is the key buzz word..Thanks to PRIA (Society for Participatory research in Asia), my outlook of life has changed. Yesterday i went to train social work students of Jamia Millia University on PRA techniques in their rural camp.. And i realized the change within me. From speaking to listening, from lecturing to discussing, from judging to suggesting, from criticizing to understanding- my whole personality seemed to have undergone a conscious change, which i am enjoying.. Earlier i read of all this in class room lectures but now that i see the change in me and see how this change is helping me develop not just professionally but personally, i feel how important participation can be.. I am on way to develop the participative attitude in me..It helps a person change his entire perspective and one's attitude and behaviour.. And i feel, these skills are not just significant for professionals working on human behaviour but also in other sectors.
Participation here i refer not just one participating in any activity but also giving space to others to help them participate. My attitude helped students to come up with their frank opinions and innovative ideas during the camp. It was thus a two way learning process. Mostly teachers don't listen to their students and they feel they have given in-depth knowledge to students but ask any student what s/he has learnt and the answer would be: Silence.. What is the purpose of such teaching?
Head of a company feels that s/he knows it all and may not give enough scope to his/her subordinates or listen to them. And s/he is losing out on many innovative suggestions and ideas. It might not be true for all but this is seen very often, though system is changing. Same goes for other professions..
How can participation be ensured in our democratic set-up? How can we stop criticizing and start understanding one's situation from their perspective?
It is not an easy job, for it needs change in attitude, reversal of power-letting dominating attitude go off, offsetting biases and so on..
Think over it!!
My work life had kept me too busy to update my blogs and now this professional life has given me food for thought and has helped me write on this particular theme of participation..
I am working in an organization where participatory approaches and participation is the key buzz word..Thanks to PRIA (Society for Participatory research in Asia), my outlook of life has changed. Yesterday i went to train social work students of Jamia Millia University on PRA techniques in their rural camp.. And i realized the change within me. From speaking to listening, from lecturing to discussing, from judging to suggesting, from criticizing to understanding- my whole personality seemed to have undergone a conscious change, which i am enjoying.. Earlier i read of all this in class room lectures but now that i see the change in me and see how this change is helping me develop not just professionally but personally, i feel how important participation can be.. I am on way to develop the participative attitude in me..It helps a person change his entire perspective and one's attitude and behaviour.. And i feel, these skills are not just significant for professionals working on human behaviour but also in other sectors.
Participation here i refer not just one participating in any activity but also giving space to others to help them participate. My attitude helped students to come up with their frank opinions and innovative ideas during the camp. It was thus a two way learning process. Mostly teachers don't listen to their students and they feel they have given in-depth knowledge to students but ask any student what s/he has learnt and the answer would be: Silence.. What is the purpose of such teaching?
Head of a company feels that s/he knows it all and may not give enough scope to his/her subordinates or listen to them. And s/he is losing out on many innovative suggestions and ideas. It might not be true for all but this is seen very often, though system is changing. Same goes for other professions..
How can participation be ensured in our democratic set-up? How can we stop criticizing and start understanding one's situation from their perspective?
It is not an easy job, for it needs change in attitude, reversal of power-letting dominating attitude go off, offsetting biases and so on..
Think over it!!
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