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.
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"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.