Manohar, 58. Mano, dear friend, classmate, associate, co-life-worker. An unsung hero, who made a difference in the world he lived. Huge. We were classmates at IRMA. We joined Dairy Board together to work with Dr K, in Market Intervention Operation (MIO) in edible oilseeds/oils. We, five of us, stayed together in Anand before we shifted to Dairy Board quarters individually.
Then, as the inner need to be with the grassroots, we decided to move out of Dairy Board. Opted to work with tribal communities, and Girijan Cooperative Corporation offered the opportunity. This was reinforced by a fatal accident at Anand. In this accident, Manohar and my other associate, Rajan, slipped into a coma. Manohar could recover from coma in a couple of days but Rajan succumbed. Most of us, but Manohar in particular, took much longer to recover from the shock and grief. The incident had a metamorphic effect on him. Manohar joined in for a 3-year term. I had to wait another 9-10 months before the Dairy Board and IRMA let me go. Manohar completed 3-years with tribals of AP, and community at Boithili, Paderu, leaving an indelible mark in the lives of the tribals and associates. He nurtured/mentored 25 community coordinators recruited from premier institutes of the country to work in tribal pockets.
Manohar moved on to join his father’s business in organic fertilizers and pesticides but could not persist with it. He quickly moved out to join ACCORD and work with tribals in Gudalur, Nilgiris in 1995. He was with ACCORD for more than 16 years till his death in February 2012 due to liver cancer. He was leading ACCORD as its Director along with co-founders Stan and Marie. ACCORD works in Health, Education and Livelihoods areas. Their Ashwini Gudalur Adivasi Hospital, Adivasi Munnetra Sangham (Tribal Marketing Society) and Vidyodaya School have the stamp of Mano. Mano was silently setting up self-sustaining systems and mechanisms. He lived a simple life, on a mere living stipend, but touching the lives of various people in different ways very intensely. He married his colleague Durga and is survived by an adopted daughter Vennela. Known as Development Saint, the Monk Mano personified simplicity in all his walks of life. He enjoyed his focus limited to Gudalur, rejecting all offers for a larger canvas. When he was suffering with cancer, thousands in Gudalur and thousands outside Gudalur across the world prayed for him. While it was a mystery that he could get liver cancer although he was a teetotaller living in the lap of nature, he braved cancer with a smile and cheer with an unusual display of courage and boldness. When I asked him in December 2011, whether any task was left unfinished, his response was that everything that he wanted was completed and he had no task unfinished. He breathed his last on the lap of Durga with Vennela watching.
For me, he is an unsung hero, lived his life. He remains an inspiration to development workers whom he has touched in several ways. He remains Anna to his tribal communities. He remains an example of the rural management life-worker that Dr Kurien talked about – 2-3 out of a batch in IRMA.
Can we persist and persevere in whatever we are doing for NextGen systems, scaling? Collectively, individually. Can we produce 10,000 Manohars, one per block, 1,000, one per district, 100, 2-3 per state? Can we identify, train, mentor, and place them? We need to pay them well. Can we invest in an institution or two dedicated to this task? Can we rest happily, knowing everything is taken care of?
Yes, we can. If we coexist, keep flowing. Focused. In N? ekaagrayoga for 7L.
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