I am in Jamshedpur these days, working on a social project as part of the first year requirements of my job. The project is intended to provide us with a feeling of social commitment and an opportunity to see the "real" India, as different from the glitzy view that we get as blue-eyed MBAs working in the big cities.
The "real" India - it has become fashionable to dwell upon the dichotomy of India's progress - commentators have increasingly brought to the fore the "Bharat" that lies in the rural areas as starkly different from the "India" that we educated, urbanites see around ourselves.
We are hardly bothered - too safely ensconced in our smug cocoons to worry about tribals starving to death in Kalahandi or farmers contemplating suicide in the ravaged fields of Telengana. The notion of distance is a huge comforter; we convince ourselves that all such ills are confined to the peripheries, someplace outside our domain of interest. The India that we see, and are comfortable seeing, is the India of brash, confident, educated, youngsters; of fat pay checks and swanky cars; newer and newer multiplexes and foreign brands.
And thus, interaction with the community stakeholders here in Jamshedpur has been so much of an eye-opener. I have been working in the domain of Family Planning and Reproductive Health and it is a vital aspect of health, so often ignored, especially amongst the economically less fortunate groups.
Jharkhand remains a backward state and most of the tribals here, wallow in ignorance and a plethora of vices, that have gripped them in a fatal embrace. HIV-AIDS is spreading and the numbers lie, because most of the cases go unreported or unaccounted for. Female mortality is high; Sexually Transmitted Infections and Diseases are rampant. The moral fabric of the indigenous society is fast crumbling - men are chronic alcoholics and drug users and mistreat their wives; female foeticide is common and the girl child is discriminated against; the average age of marriage settles in the range of 14 for girls and 16 for boys; family planning remains an anathema to most, incest lurks in the shadows amongst most communities, especially those masquerading as conservative on the outside - none of these are unknown to us; as conscientous Indians who read newspapers, we are aware of all of these. Yet, individual stories of pain and suffering hit you hard, when you hear them from the protagonists themselves.
And it is therefore, all the more surprising that individual stories of bravery and defiance rise from these very depths of despair. Of people who are willing to risk the wrath of the majority to stand by certain values that they believe to be true and want to propagate amongst their brethren.
A 22 year old tribal girl from the Tiu community addresses a crowd of 500 people, men and women, from far-flung villages, advocating the cause of contraceptives and condoms, and explaining the advantages of family planning and safe sex.
A young Muslim girl takes up the challenge of making the young girls in her community aware of reproductive health, sexuality and health, HIV-AIDS etc.
Young boys in a community of slag pickers take up cudgels on behalf of their siblings and hapless mothers and decide to rid their fathers of the vices of chronic alcoholism -- and succeed.
They stand up to their community elders and become the voice of their generation. They fights against all odds to strive for their own education, to take major decisions about their own lives in their own hands, to change the mindset of everybody around them.
They are the heroes of our nation - anonymously fighting against all odds and keeping the faith that they will succeed despite frequent setbacks.
The "real" India - it has become fashionable to dwell upon the dichotomy of India's progress - commentators have increasingly brought to the fore the "Bharat" that lies in the rural areas as starkly different from the "India" that we educated, urbanites see around ourselves.
We are hardly bothered - too safely ensconced in our smug cocoons to worry about tribals starving to death in Kalahandi or farmers contemplating suicide in the ravaged fields of Telengana. The notion of distance is a huge comforter; we convince ourselves that all such ills are confined to the peripheries, someplace outside our domain of interest. The India that we see, and are comfortable seeing, is the India of brash, confident, educated, youngsters; of fat pay checks and swanky cars; newer and newer multiplexes and foreign brands.
And thus, interaction with the community stakeholders here in Jamshedpur has been so much of an eye-opener. I have been working in the domain of Family Planning and Reproductive Health and it is a vital aspect of health, so often ignored, especially amongst the economically less fortunate groups.
Jharkhand remains a backward state and most of the tribals here, wallow in ignorance and a plethora of vices, that have gripped them in a fatal embrace. HIV-AIDS is spreading and the numbers lie, because most of the cases go unreported or unaccounted for. Female mortality is high; Sexually Transmitted Infections and Diseases are rampant. The moral fabric of the indigenous society is fast crumbling - men are chronic alcoholics and drug users and mistreat their wives; female foeticide is common and the girl child is discriminated against; the average age of marriage settles in the range of 14 for girls and 16 for boys; family planning remains an anathema to most, incest lurks in the shadows amongst most communities, especially those masquerading as conservative on the outside - none of these are unknown to us; as conscientous Indians who read newspapers, we are aware of all of these. Yet, individual stories of pain and suffering hit you hard, when you hear them from the protagonists themselves.
And it is therefore, all the more surprising that individual stories of bravery and defiance rise from these very depths of despair. Of people who are willing to risk the wrath of the majority to stand by certain values that they believe to be true and want to propagate amongst their brethren.
A 22 year old tribal girl from the Tiu community addresses a crowd of 500 people, men and women, from far-flung villages, advocating the cause of contraceptives and condoms, and explaining the advantages of family planning and safe sex.
A young Muslim girl takes up the challenge of making the young girls in her community aware of reproductive health, sexuality and health, HIV-AIDS etc.
Young boys in a community of slag pickers take up cudgels on behalf of their siblings and hapless mothers and decide to rid their fathers of the vices of chronic alcoholism -- and succeed.
They stand up to their community elders and become the voice of their generation. They fights against all odds to strive for their own education, to take major decisions about their own lives in their own hands, to change the mindset of everybody around them.
They are the heroes of our nation - anonymously fighting against all odds and keeping the faith that they will succeed despite frequent setbacks.
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