In our hands....

                                                                                                                              - Suhas Tapaswi

More than ninety-five percent of us have nothing to do with the current Indian politics; in other words it does not affect our lives. Yet, all of us are blaming the politicians for the misery we are in. We forget that ninety-five percent of the events that make our life pleasant to live involve interdependence of us citizens; politicians have no influence on those aspects.

I once asked a gathering of senior citizens, "If there is any one present in the auditorium who can compare his present well being, as far as personal health, wealth and other strengths are concerned, with his childhood conditions and can claim whether his standard has gone down." No body, not even one person, women included, raised his or her hand. This goes to prove that the nation, as a whole, has made progress, each of us had opportunities and has made good use of those, and we are exposed to much better living conditions today. I will, in fact, give the credit for this progress to the politicians who ran the country in the last 60 years or so after independence.

We have sufficient wealth, either bestowed by nature or created by man, but do not know how to use it; no wonder there is the brain drain. If we, as citizens of India, realize the importance and respect individual responsibilities our lives will be far happier. Following four simple things, and they have nothing to do with politics, will revolutionize our life, as a society, and no one will want to go abroad and seek citizenship of that country for better living.  

• Punctuality
• Pride in the profession that has been selected or the person is engaged in - work is worship and duty is god 
• Public Hygiene; not personal, in that respect we are far better as a nation 
• Traffic rules

We should not respect these for the sake of obeying laws and fear of the fine, or to be good citizens, or for the sake of duty to others, but to improve our own lives, i.e. in the self interest.

(Mr Tapaswi is the originator of the Janasamwaad forum in Maharashtra.  After his retirement as CEO, Essar Projects, he has devoted himself to Social Research in Maharashtra and written two books on themes of development.  He lives in Pune.)

Rights you have....and Responsibilities too...

                                                                                                     - Odette Katrak, Gurgaon

If I had a magic wand to wave, I would definitely use it to transform the chaos on Gurgaon’s roads. What better example of the collapse of our democracy, where people who have rights as well as responsibilities, conveniently choose to forget the latter - resulting in traffic jams and mayhem.

We all want order and courtesy back on the roads. Everyone is complaining. Unfortunately, I have no magic wand but instead a burning desire to do my bit, however little. So i signed up as a traffic volunteer - one step better than just complaining, which I have done my share of, and far better than turning the other way, which most people do, sadly even when their drivers break traffic rules.

Citizen volunteers, from my exhausting-yet-fulfilling personal experience can have a huge impact in creating awareness that the responsibility for smoother traffic rests with each and every citizen. My first stint was at busy Iffco chowk. My brief was simple: 1) get people to stop at the red light 2) and to stop before the zebra crossing 3) prevent those ‘smart’ overtakers on the extreme right who dash through on the wrong side of the road. Every two hour stint is a real eye-opener. I meet bus drivers, tempo-drivers, cab-drivers, auto-drivers who don’t care that the light is red but keep going, or shamelessly drive on the wrong side. Not surprising at all. But the shocking statistic is that for every fifty who blatantly break the rules, over thirty are educated men/women in air-conditioned cars, wearing designer clothes, sunglasses, imported colognes, including some name-droppers declaring they are ‘retired senior government servants’! What an irony that the very segment which could make a difference by their example and be catalysts in a system crying out for change, instead choose to stoop to the lowest common denominator of rude behaviour on roads!

The fact that they are educated is why I think there is hope. I interact with no less than 50 offenders over every two hour stint. Instead of berating them, I smilingly remind them that if educated people show scant respect for discipline, there is no hope. Most nod apologetically in agreement. I remind them of their responsibilities on the road. I make them promise they will never break a traffic rule again. I tell them, again smilingly, their penalty is to get at least fifty others committed to following every traffic rule. I remind them that I am just a concerned citizen who believes that if we all strictly follow rules and spread the word among our circle, there is hope that things can change for the better – and my toil, sweat and inhaling the polluted air in temperatures above 40º would not have been in vain. I even went as far as joking with one man that if he ever broke a rule again, my face would haunt him. I got a smile and a wave from that particular offender as the light turned green and he drove past. I have no doubt that he will keep his promise and hopefully more than a few others. Because they are educated, they do realise that their compliance is critical. It can most definitely reverse the downward spiral into which Gurgaon’s traffic is descending, where the educated stoop to the level of uneducated drivers. I have myself progressed from just traffic duty, to in addition training other volunteers from schools, colleges, offices as well as coordinating awareness drives – each a very fulfilling activity in itself, for it has helped spread the fever of good road manners. Every extra hand on deck in this crusade is desperately needed.

You too can be a part of this change by committing to follow every traffic rule, even if those around you do not, and influencing drivers, family, friends to scrupulously follow traffic rules. We belong to that group that can actually make a difference. How nice it would be to have courtesy and discipline back on our roads. Where everyone understands the concept of a right of way and follows rules, where traffic flows smoothly and tempers flare rarely. If we are to ever get there, I must ask an urgent question first: can you make a positive difference on Gurgaon’s roads? Indeed, you most certainly can. The bigger question is: Will you?

                                                                                

(Odette is a soft-skills trainer and social change activist)

One Step at a Time

(This is the second piece by Ms Odette Katrak, HR Professional, Trainer and social activist, Gurgaon).

It all started when I came to live in Gurgaon almost two years ago. Having just moved from the UK, the chaos on the roads and the complete disregard for discipline here shocked me. People going the wrong way on roads (with headlights on as if that made it okay!), unauthorised U-turns before a roundabout (clearly they didn’t stop to think how the word ‘roundabout’ evolved!), stopping at a red light and getting honked at from behind as if I had done something wrong - assaulted with these daily scenarios, my little daughter innocently remarked: “Mamma, I wish they can get the Queen to come and rule India, and then people here will follow rules like they do in the UK”.

Such a remark from this eight year old was not surprising, not just because she had witnessed the most orderly traffic and courteous people on British soil – but also because since she was little, my husband and I have been particular to instil in our children a strong sense of right and wrong, of responsibilities and rights, of what is okay and what is not. When she was all of two years old, she’d scribbled on our marble floor with a red crayon. That was perhaps her first real lesson in boundaries and consequences, for I gave her a damp cloth and some vim powder and sat beside her on the floor and asked her to clean it. She struggled quite a bit, tears rolling down her cheeks (and it took nerves of steel not to pat her, say it was okay and do it myself). But she realised from this experience what a difficult task the cleaning was and why it was not okay to scribble. Needless to say, she never did it again. The lessons continued as and when required, always with a clear explanation. By age six, living in the UK, she understood the concept of shared responsibility – and ably managed the dusting, folding clothes, clearing the dinner table. The concept of responsibilities, boundaries, consequences for not maintaining them was therefore well-honed, and she simply could not understand this behaviour on the roads.

That pithy remark from my child perhaps planted in my mind the thought that if things could work elsewhere, (and how beautifully they did), surely there is scope here too. Besides the road indiscipline, what bothered me immensely was the littering, spitting, queue jumping, honking... Children from educated families happily toss empty chips packets on a spotless lawn or out of a fancy car. Recently, a person coming out of an expensive delicatessen threw a paper napkin on the road – and when I politely requested him to use the nearby bin, his response was ‘Why do we have cleaners?” Maids, drivers, cleaners do not hesitate to spit anywhere and everywhere they please, even on the lawns that our children play on. I could not stay silent and watch all this. I needed to do something.
Litter was the easiest to start with. I made some headway by conducting a workshop for about sixty children from our condominium, together with a few like-minded residents. We then got them involved in a litter drive and a turf competition to see whose patch was the cleanest. The children had fun, but more important, at the end of it, they all definitely have litter sense (sadly, such basic sense had not been inculcated either by parents or schools). Today I know none of them will litter – they all took a litter pledge, which also promises they will educate any other litterer they encounter. But if I do witness anyone littering here or elsewhere, I politely request them to use a bin, saying that we are all responsible to keep the surroundings clean.

Let me leave you with the thought that a very necessary first step for any concerned citizen hoping to make a difference is creating an awareness that something is not okay and that alternate action is called for. My first attempts at doing this never really had the impact I’d hoped, for I’d angrily pounce on the wrongdoer making him defensive or argue back. Having learnt the hard way, I realise my good intentions work only if i make a smiling request, while also stating the reason the action is not okay. Let me assure you that it works nine times out of ten. I hope you will be willing to take this first step and experience for yourself the satisfaction of being able to achieve a positive outcome – and start making a small difference, one step at a time. And don’t forget the smile 

You too can make a difference.

(This piece is the first of a series from Ms Odette Katrak, Gurgaon.  Odette is an HR professional, Soft Skill Trainer and a Social activist )

India is a democracy, a free country. You are free to exercise your choice on how you live as a citizen of this country. You have your right to education, your right to vote, your right to justice. Democracy also unfortunately has been interpreted as being free to break traffic rules, free to spit on the roads, free to litter, free to urinate in public – and sadly, these habits are what set India and other developing countries apart on the world map, as citizens conveniently choose to forget their responsibilities. Add to this mess, you have scams, corruption, etc. The irony is that the silent majority turns a blind eye; the rest make noises but do little to change things for the better.

In my twenties, I was too busy carving out personal success in my career and establishing a happy family to worry about much else. In my thirties, I achieved both of these and only then did the state of affairs everywhere begin to irk me - road indiscipline, poor roads, queue jumping, other examples of selfish behaviour - to touch but the tip of the iceberg. So I indulged in armchair criticizing, I raved and I ranted, I complained to everyone who cared to listen and even to those who did not – and I believed that in doing so, I was being an active citizen. On the rare occasion my complaining moved to any action, it was an angry outburst with only a negative impact. Then in my forties, it hit me. I could channel all that negative energy into positive suggestions. I could move out of the pit of complaining and rise to visible action.

A few years ago in Bangalore, I’d see the very same deep pothole day after day on my route (our roads were usually pothole-free). One fine day, it suddenly occurred to me that someone could have a nasty accident at night when the pothole was not visible. I emailed details of the pothole to the citizen’s grievance column of our newspaper. It was published the next day. The pothole was filled two days later. That was the first time I realised I could make a difference. The effect of having been able to influence something by just a little effort on my part was quite life-altering. For me, it was the start of a journey of trying to make a positive difference, wherever and whenever I can.

We recently had a new security agency in our building. The new guards were falling short of expectations. Everyone was grumbling. I completely understood where they were coming from. Remember, I had been there, done that! So what could I do that was different? I made a list of things they needed to do differently, and handed this over to the person in charge. As it happened, I ended up doing a soft-skills session with these guards, telling them ways in which they could do a better job than currently – in short, how to exceed expectations instead of falling short. Yes, concrete suggestions and some investment of time (half an hour was all it cost me) has resulted in a visible difference.

It gives me immense satisfaction today to know that I can make a difference in many such incidents every single day. Sometimes it is just a small difference, sometimes it is not so small. But I do regret that I let two whole decades go by – how much more I could have managed to change for the better, if I had my current mindset two decades earlier. Let me make amends by addressing you young adults of today – so you know now what I did not know then – and you do now, what I did not do then. Criticism or complaints will give only emotional release. (I’m hoping you have gone past the stage of inaction). Suggestions, on the other hand, will make a lasting difference. When something has gone wrong, your suggestions can prevent repeats and reduce inconvenience for others.

You, young ladies and gentlemen, are the change agents of a better tomorrow. You can sit back and ignore what is happening. Or you can be a part of a positive change. All you need to do is think positively and act.

Warm wishes as you embark on your journey to being responsible citizens,

The more the merrier...

After I wrote the last post, I got in touch with two interesting people, one of them an old friend and the other a new friend.  Both are doing interesting things in their own ways. Odette Katrak is now in Gurgaon, an HR pro and a Soft Skill trainer and now an activist of an original kind.  She is interested in Social Change and gets involved in instilling traffic sense, civic sense and good citizenship behaviour.  As part of this she is working with Gurgaon traffic Police to instil a sense of discipline in the hapless and clueless janata of this Millennium city.  I requested her to write about how she has managed to convey the ideas of traffic rules, norms and discipline to her two young daughters.  She writes very well of her experiences.  She has promised me that she will write not one but three pieces in the same vein.  So let us hope in these columns you will get to see her writing shortly.

The new friend I made recently is Mujeeb Khan, a tall, dark and handsome young man from Hyderabad.  He too is a father of two children and runs an organization called Bhumi in Hyderabad.  Mujeeb did his master's in Communication from Mudra, then worked in advertising and film direction.  But he wasn't satisfied with the limited and transitory impact of these media.  He was fired with the ideal of bringing about change and transformation.  So he moved out of Mumbai and into dairy farming in rural Andhra.  He met a number of people associated with the social/developmental sector.  Some advised him against the current run of developmental work and asked him to test himself for endurance.  Mujeeb and a few of his friends started Bhumi.www.bhumi.in  Mujeeb invested his own funds and started work in a slum area near Begumpet airport.  Rasoolpura has become his karmabhoomi.  Mujeeb wants to develop transformational leaders through Bhumi.  His idea is that we need these kind of leaders at all levels who will work with systems of governance to deliver the basic ingredients of well-being to the people.

I was impressed with his clear thinking and vision.  He said that our education had nothing to do with the problems which the country faced.  That is when I shared with him the idea of Janasamwaad.  If education has to address the problems that we face as a country, instilling the philosophy, the principles and the processes enshrined in our constitution must take the centre stage of such education.  Look at what Mujeeb and his band of workers have done in Rasoolpura.
"
"Freedom under Construction was born in 2006' as a small flame that was ignited at the stroke of the midnight hour on 14th August. Volunteers from all walks of life gathered at an un-likely place, Rasoolpura- one the biggest slums in Hyderabad. The mission was to re-construct a school building which had students studying in debris and filth for years together. After the area around the school was cleared of filth, the rubble from the part of the building that was brought down was used to level the ground. Meanwhile, volunteers painted the school and by the time the sun smiled on them, they had laid foundations and built walls for three new classrooms for that school. The community that we are working with woke up to a pleasant surprise, the garbage dump, the filth and stench was not there anymore, in that place of a dumping yard and half torn falling structure stood half walls of 3 new class rooms to be.

The largely indifferent, cynical and suspicious community now stands behind us in all our transformation initiatives. The flag hoisting in the school grounds by a famous freedom fighter, Keshav Rao Jadav, after having participated in nation building in a small but significant way remains etched in the memories of each individual who worked that night. In many ways we earned our right to salute our flag and no one can ever rob us of the pride we felt in ourselves and in our nation."

I am sure you will join me in wishing every success to Mujeeb and his team.  Do visit the Bhumi website and see what best you can contribute.

Does this happen in Pune alone?

I am sure it does happen in other places as well, but I picked up these two instances from two of my friends.  I hope others will write in their experiences as well.  After I wrote the last post, these two instances jumped up from some corner of memory and asked to be posted up here.

The first one pertains to the period after Pune was flooded with Panshet waters in 1961.  Bank of Maharashtra had a branch at Deccan Gymkhana.  It is still there standing proudly.  This branch was flooded completely and all the ledgers were washed out.  Those days there was no system of back up.  The branch accounts must have been consolidated and carried to the higher office, say, Regional office.  But these gave the overall picture of the branch as a whole.  After the cleaning up was over, branch operations had to restart for individual customers.  The Bank management issued an advertisement and invited account holders to submit an application stating the last known balance as per their passbooks and subsequent transactions if any.  If at all, discrepancies could arise with regard to the amount deposited by way of cash and where the counterfoil was not available with the customers.  Withdrawals could be checked from the passbook entries.  Of course, there were customers whose houses had been submerged and had lost their passbooks and other records to the fury of the floods.  At the end of a laborious compilation of individual records, the Bank found that the discrepancies were very marginal.  In other words, customers, by and large, had stated the balances with their honesty intact.  This happened almost fifty years ago and one can say that things have changed for the worse now.  This instance was told to me by my friend, Dileep S Kulkarni.

The Deccan Queen that runs between Pune and Mumbai is an institution and not a mere train.  Regular travellers have strong emotional attachment to the DQ and they have evolved a strong bonding among themselves.  The regulars are known as Season Ticket holders.  There is a first class and also a second class Season Ticket.  Both classes of regulars have their own codes and norms.  My friend Pushkaraj Apte tells me that the first class Season Ticket holders have a system of forming the queue on the platform.  They come before time and form a queue at the spot where the first class compartment is usually parked.  Once the train arrives from the yard into the station, they enter the compartment strictly according to the queue.

It so happened once that the Station Master had to change the platform from which the DQ was to depart.  Already the regulars had formed the queue on platform no.1.  There was an announcement that the DQ will now come on platform no.3.  It was open to the regulars to rush to the new platform and form a new queue or to grab the seat that they liked.  What happened was that the whole queue moved like an army column from platform no.1 on to the overbride and down to platform no.3.  No one left the queue and no one jumped it.  I think this happened about 10-15 years ago.  To me it shows that not only can we follow externally imposed discipline, like the one seen in Akshar Dham, but we are also capable of self-discipline.

And as they say, everything opposite is equally true in India.  So we are capable of stampedes, chaos and trampling, as well.  It is our choice, what we want to do.

Students speak....

Janasamwaad is about dialogue with people on the most vital issues.  Now who decides what is vital?  Each one of us feels strongly about some issues or the other.  We have conversations around those issues and if some of us want to do something about it and others join in, those issues are vital to us at that point of time.  There does not have to be a list of issues for all people for all times to be termed as vital.  That list would be listless.  We need to have issues which are full of life. 

The other day I was going with my nephew, Bhargav, to Akshar Dham temple complex.  Bhargav was visiting us during his vacation from the second year BE course in Pune.  He got used to the traffic here in the NCR region.  Yet he could not but comment on the highway driving habits of the people here.  On his own he said, " we need to have basic education of traffic rules and traffic sense in India."  I probed his opinion a little more.  He said that as a young driver, nobody anywhere taught him the basic discipline of traffic.  He had to think and pick it up himself.  This is the story with most of us.  So how do we learn?  We learn by observing others and picking up what suits us most.  The end result is that we get into each other's way and hair.  The road is the best exhibition ground of our civic sense.

I asked him,"But isn't this taught to you in the Civics section of social sciences?"  He replied in the negative.  What is taught under Civics is about the state and its organs down to local self government.  Well that is useful no doubt.  But could we not start with those every day experiences that children have?  One could start with traffic, then move on to police, courts and law.  We could have another strand starting with Water supply and drainage, taxes and municipal administration.  Then one could move on to elections and democracy and as students gain sufficient familiarity with public affairs, they could then be taught the basics of Indian constitution.

This is the way I have understood the basic thrust of Janasamwaad which Suhas Tapaswi and his colleagues are painstakingly trying to convey to the rest of us.  What was significant to me was the self-reflective comment of Bhargav that nobody had taken the trouble to explain the traffic discipline to him.  We then moved on to Akshar Dham, where hundreds of volunteers were organizing thousands of visitors through well defined channels.  There was wave after wave of crowd coming in but there was no chaos.  People were constantly guided and instructed till they entered the temple precincts.  After that they were free to move around as they pleased.  The boundary conditions were held tightly by the volunteer force.  But the discipline was not draconian at all.  We can do it in a disciplined way.  That was the confidence one could get from the Akshardham experience.