Krsna is facilitating learning. Unlearning, learning and re-learning on our own. Krsna is challenging us to learn on our own. Krsna is helping us to build our own unlearning-learning ecosystem. Krsna’s flute is playing the notes on its own. Krsna’s universe rejoices. With joy from deep within.
Discussions during the last two weeks forced me to reflect on Mathematics-logical reasoning; and Reading-Writing-Numbers. We need to have students’ clubs for the same. We need tests. We need competitions. We need ecosystems. We will begin with 1-2 gurukulams and see how we take this forward on scale.
Other insight from Scandinavian countries, can we truly treat our people as our assets. We need to invest in them. We need to catch them young. Catch them in the womb. We need to offer nutrition to the mothers. We need to care the adolescent girls. We need to care 1000 days of the child. Then, we need to ensure free and quality education till they peak to realize their potential. We need ensure their good health, including free medicare. Offer stipends. Incentivize, and offer highest pedestal to the people who actualize our investment in people – carers, teachers, doctors ….
LPRD-PVM Professionals
It is about a pushkarakaalam, 12 years, since my association with NIRD’s unique one-year Post-graduate Programme in Rural Development Management. 17 Batches and some 800 participants are in the LPRD-PVM (Tribal-Rural-Urban-Emerging TRUE Livelihoods – Poverty Reduction – Development of Poor-Vulnerable-Marginalized) market. 2 batches of two-year programme have also come in. First Alumni Meet was during 22-23 February 2020. This has helped me to reflect on young professionals into LPRD-PVM domain.
It was a long emotional deeper and lasting association with the participants. Joyous. Learning.
The Young Professional who passes out is expected to play four roles combined – leader, manager, entrepreneur (or an intrapreneur) and gradually a mentor. To become employers. To provide and/or augment employment to PVM families. To be their loving servant leader. With understanding and experiencing Poverty-Vulnerability-Marginalization as closely as possible. Fieldwork is the spine and job readiness to smoothly slide into the work on the day 1 is the focus. S/he needs to appreciate and have the ability to bring in – Participation (true, for ownership and commitment), Inclusion (the poorest), Collectivization and Collective action for identity, solidarity, capacity, rights-entitlements, wellbeing and freedom-choices. S/he internalizes 3 Fs – Fish, Fishing and Meta-fishing. With intense focus on Meta-fishing – realizing what needs to be learnt on her own and learning to be useful to PVM universe. S/he needs to acquire the context specific knowledge-skills-tools-competencies-resources for the movement(s) of PVM for PVM for their LPRD, on her own. Yet s/he should not fall into Dunner-Kruger effect of thinking that s/he knows all and therefore, the false confidence. S/he needs to practice Humility. S/he needs to live the values – Hope, Faith, Promise and Love. S/he needs to practice and live. Practice for 10,000 hours.
S/he needs to live 7R – Read, wRite, aRithmetic, Reflect, unleaRn, pRactice, puRsue. Continues to write field diary. Uses Planners/Organizers. Reads Books. Continues to be aware of self, to manage self, to VISION, and go towards it. Continue to spread micro-learning. Continue to remain current. S/he needs to appreciate – feeling of empathy is not enough – experience matters; relevance matters; what is right today may not be right tomorrow; security is not real; sustainability means some extra time; pace is increasing; everyone is a born leader; all organizations are not similar; when crunch comes – air, water, food … matters; LPRD-PVM requires investing in people; 1000 days, self-help, self-employment-enterprises, natural farming-living, integration areas require her; this is a VUCA world; and Servant leadership works.
Many of the participants (alumni) have lived upto the expectations of their mentors. Some of them excelled beyond. They make an institution great. Course great. They remain permanent associates. There is no choice for alumni or for the institution. They payback by doing good. Good to the LPRD-PVM Universe. Good to the Institution. Good to their Mentors. Mentors’ blessings remain with them forever. For serving the challenge of serving their world, as long as they can. Alumni Associations go long way in this development journey. They become a single family. They become friends for life. They adopt geographies. They adopt themes. They adopt enterprises and efforts. They adopt younger alumni. They adopt younger new participants. They help courses to improve. They help mentors to do better. They become mentors. They help their alma maters to become institutions of excellence. They add model foundations. They add credible consulting groups.
Another insight and another commitment.
We must be at it, nurturing young professionals – loving servant leaders-management workers-entrepreneurs- mentors for our Universe.
Join us in the world of yoga – navayoga for 7L. 10,000 hours are still with us.
G Muralidhar