Friday, September 03, 2010

Be the change that you want to see in the world

Most of us feel extremely bad when we hear time and again of stories depicting how bruthlessly our politicians have let our country go to dogs. Ask even an illiterate person about the problems of our country and he/she'll immediately bounce back saying, "Our politicians are corrupt. They make a lot of promises before the election and once they are elected, they are busy making money." But, is putting the entire blame on the government for all the problems of the country justified? Is government responsible for the casualties caused due to unavailability of blood in the hospital? Is government responsible for the hardships faced by a large number of patients who are waiting for a donated kidney/lung/eye? There are a number of issues where it is not the government but individual action matters. Infact, merely blaming everything on the government is brushing away our responsibility towards our country and the world. Sure, an individual can't go and announce a scheme like MNREGA for the emancipation of the rural poor from the vicious circle of poverty. It is because legislation is the exclusive domain of the politicians. However, there are many things which an individual can do and should do to make this world a better place to live in.

So, what change I alone can bring about? Will my donating blood ensure that others also come and donate so that the blood bank will always an adequate stock of blood? Will my throwing the garbage in the dustbin ensure that the roads are clean, because anyways, whether I do it or not, others would still throw the garbage on the road? Will my using public transport ensure that others will not use their private vehicles indiscriminately? Will I be able to change the system? These are extremely valid questions and more often than not, are responsible for people turning a blind eye towards the problems of the country. A feeling of helplessness creeps in, leading to total loss of faith in the current system. This is one of the reasons for extremely low voter turnout in elections since people think they don't have a choice – whoever is elected, he/she'll be corrupt. In addition, the question of "How does this matter to me" also is a powerful deterrent from taking an initiative to bring about a positive change in the society.

Let me first try and list those tasks that can be done readily, without facing much inconvenience or investing too much time and energy.
Donate blood
Pledge your bodyparts to be donated after your death
Plant atleast 5 trees
Dispose your garbage judiciously
Follow traffic rules
Waste food minimally
Conserve electricity and water
Shun plastic bags and try to be eco-friendly
Sign online petitions if they reach your inbox
Never give bribes
Keep public places (e.g. Public toilets) clean
Use public transport. Give seats to the aged, women and children.
Don't smoke and don't allow others to smoke in public
Be a genuinely good person

There are many who might not be satisfied by the above list arguing that most of these are merely good manners and are things that need to be done on a personal level. For those enterprising people, I wish to present a list of tasks which would require more time, energy and resources but would be able to bring about a change on a bigger level.
Associate with a local NGO
Contribute by using your skills – if you are a website designer, you can design websites for some NGOs in your locality. You can teach children/adults what you are good at. Help them in learning computers/English/vocational skills so that they become employable and can earn a living. The best example that comes to my mind is Google. Although Google doesn't do charity, Google has made an enormous impact in our lives by asking its employees to go into villages and make maps; which led to the launch of Google Maps. Google Books, Google Earth, Google Docs and Google Translator are other extremely powerful and noble initiatives of Google.
Use RTI – RTI is immensely powerful. If you think that there is anything wrong going around in your society or you need to get information about the roads/pipelines constructed in your area, you can file an RTI. Don't be a silent observer, try to bring about a change.
Take up the cause of marginalized or less empowered people around you. Be accessible to everybody around your locality and at your work. Listen to their grievances and if you feel they are genuine and you can do something about it, do it.
Online Activism – There are lot of things that the Internet has made very easy. If there is anything that you feel is unreasonable, try to spread the message around. Use twitter, facebook, your gtalk status messages, write blogs, network with other like-minded motivated individuals, create online petitions, write letters.
Online volunteering – Go to www.onlinevolunteering.org and find out about this extremely powerful idea of making a meaningful contribution sitting in your home.
Take initiatives to conduct health camps, blood donation drives, tree plantation drives,
Have the guts to challenge archiac social norms (e.g. Dowry, same caste marriages). You don't always have to follow the crowd. One needs to win over the myth that an ordinary person can't bring about a change and you got to be Bill Gates/Narayana Murthy/an IAS officer/politician to bring about a change. Baba Amte, Mother Teresa, Anna Hazare were all very ordinary people to start with. If everybody thought that I can't change the system, will there ever had been wikipedia, a completely philanthropic effort. Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Don't try to become a part of the problem, try to think of meaningful ways to solve them. Actively spread the message around and try to do something about it, however small it is.

We must realise that we are living in a democracy and democracy is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. The onus of 'by the people' part is on us and we got to play this part in order for smooth functioning of the world's largest democracy. It is not that all of us need to become revolutionaries or become social activists; if all of us can manage to contribute a drop in the ocean, it is commendable. We sometimes feel extremely charged and motivated when we see movies like "Rang De Basanti" or when something bad happens to our near and dear ones. But, these thoughts must be supplemented with action. We need to keep ourselves motivated, be patient and continuously try to bring about a change. It will take time but it surely will come. We don't need to lose our heart. Sometimes, we take a bold initiative and we feel that it was not worth it and it didn't bring about the required change. I think we must reward ourselves in those situations by realising that atleast we did something about it. If we didn't have done something about it, the problem would have stayed as is but atleast a honest try to do something about it was made. Atleast, we tried to come out of the comfort zone. Atleast, you acted and as Gandhiji said, "Almost anything that you do is insignificant, but it is very important that you do it."
My first day at RCVPNAA, Bhopal


Today is the 29th of August, the day which I was looking forward to since the last 3 months.

We arrived in Bhopal at around 10 am. The autorickshaw, although cunning enough to charge us 130 Rupees (and we gullible enough to be trapped into his trap) was effortlessly telling us about the situation of Bhopal - the nice places here, the weather here, that the rains were not good this time, that the CM is discriminating between Old Bhopal and New Bhopal, as a result of which old Bhopal's development has been compromised.

We reached the academy and the two ladies at the reception were kind enough to check the file and told me that my room number will be 217. The keys were handed over to me and there was an attendant who helped us (Papa and me) to get the luggage upstairs.

The room was out of bounds of my expectations. It looked like a 3-star hotel room - with 2 ACs (it is a double-occupancy room and my roomie is yet to arrive), neatly arranged beds, a small sofa, a study table, two wardrobes, a tea-table and a clean bathroom. There was a strange feeling of pride saying, "Hey, you deserve it." But, I know that I am not here for luxury. Papa was taking bath and I was putting my clothes into the wardrobe when some of the other trainees came into the room. They were around 5-6 of them and I already knew one of them (I met him at CMC Vellore before). We introduced ourselves (most of them spoke about the states where they were from and the service they were allotted). I deliberately asked them when they had come and the room number they are staying so as to prorogue the formal talk and to talk something which is not a matter of personal pride (like what rank did you get, whether it was your first attempt and other things which might be linked to one's ego).

We then headed for lunch. We met some more trainees there. A guy from Indian Corporate Law Service, who hailed from Bangalore, was giving some fundaes in a typical accent. He seemed to be boastful and to know a lot of things. I was a bit critical because I made these conclusions merely due to his extrovert nature. But, sometimes among strangers, one person should be an extrovert, I thought because it becomes easy for the group to come together and talk. There was another person (he was incidentally from Jammu and was a Sardar) - I am not able to recollect his name. He said that he was 29 years old and was very happy that he had got into IRTS. He said that he had talked to rank-21 person (who is currently an IAS at Uttarakhand) who was very unhappy with his life as an IAS officer. He seemed to be a knowledgeable person and what I liked in him was his sympathetic attitude. This was reinforced when we later had a session on abusing the UPSC and its various ways of not changing with time, delaying the results, asking the preferences before the mains exam, lack of information about the various services. It was a good discussion and I think that there are a lot of people who think and want to change/improve the system - something that I was desperately hoping for, since the last couple of months.

We then headed for a walk towards the Shahpura lake (thanks to the initiative taken by that Bangalorean ICLS guy). We were around 14-15. Naturally, there were around 5-6 groups of 2-3 people each. I was in a 3-member group along with that Bangalorean and my CMC Vellore friend, Dhruva. They were doing most of the talking and I was just listening. Then, the Jammu Sardar also joined our group and a discussion on the Kashmir problem started. I was doing most of the listening since I really wanted to hear something from a localite. But, he couldn't tell something new, most of it was the stuff which I had already listened on the news channels. I caught up with Papa, who was walking alone towards the lake. We walked around 200 m, saw the lake, it was fenced all around and also, it was dirty. We headed back towards the academy.

Now, that we are back to the room and he is sleeping, I am on the sofa with an edition of "The Week" on the tea-table along with a book on Physical Geography. When I was reading about the earthquakes, there were a lot of thoughts going on in my mind and hence I thought that let me pen them down. So, I have started writing this column.

This day, is many days, similar to the first day at college. There is a strange feeling of inferiority complex, the fact that I am not very vocal and do not have much to say. The photo of Mother Teresa on "The Week" reminds me again that anybody can bring about a change, if one desires to. She was not even a university graduate and she started at the age of 40, yet she brought about a change. Here, I am sitting and wondering whether it is worthwhile to join IRS (IT) and bring about improvements in the system or I should study for the next exam and become an IAS officer. This constant dilemma is not leaving me. Let me read for the next 2 months and then see if I can get selected. Otherwise, I have IRS in my hand, I will try my heart out. Salute to you, Mother Teresa...hats off to you.