Touched. When I got to ICRISAT on Thursday, June 18th, I had no expectations. I made sure to go in with an open mind and positivity. I promised myself to make the most of the internship.
Now, I am approaching the peak of my life-changing trip. Looking back to my experience, I have gone out of my comfort zone multiple times: 1) I learned how to ride a bike, 2) I am in the process of learning how to swim, 3) I am convincing myself to eat spicy food, and the list goes on. Since I came to ICRISAT with a hustler mentality, I have definitely gone a long way regarding my research but also my relationships with the other interns and my mentors.
In the morning, I got so much love from everyone. Honestly, I am not great with good-byes and it makes me sad when people say that they would miss me. There is no good-bye, but a see-you later. Before I got into the car, Dr. Bantilan, Padmimi, Padmaja, Deepthi and Kavitha bid me goodbye. I might be overthinking this a little bit, but I can tell that they felt sad that I was leaving. And, seeing that made me melt. If saying good-bye for just four days is hard, imagine how difficult it would be to say "see-you" later on August.
After a very long car ride (3 hours), we finally got out of the car. We went straight to our room, and ate our continental lunch.
I was actually disappointed to eat packed lunch because I love village food so much (spicy or not). By the way, ICRISAT packed me so much water bottles, muffins and cookies and sandwiches. They really don't want me to starve even though I brought a bag of food! The love and care for me are so real that I can't fully fathom them!
During lunch, I met some of our neighbors that are great friends with Pallavi and Swathi. One of them explained to me how she goes to school and studies at almost every hour of every day. I just could not grasp how she survived in school. Although culture is a huge part of that work ethic, I feel like rigorous academics can drive someone mad. I just have mad respect for the motivation and drive that people from the East coast have. Most of us see education as the most reasonable investment to uplift ourselves and families from poverty. And, I see those results up front here in India.
While walking around the village, I couldn't help but notice how happy and content people felt. Many people stereotypically think that rural villages are poor and under-developed. Many people think that rural people live horrible lives because of the lack of available resources. Well, these people are breaking all of those stereotypes. In actuality, they make the most of their resources. More importantly, Dokur is a community. People can have their doors open, and anyone can come and visit. If you need something, almost anyone can try to provide what they have for you. Sure some other people have better houses than others, but all of them just want the best for each other. Yes, I am generalizing, but every word is truth. Rural villages are very special. People are focused on their families and they are invested in their kids. There was this 10-month baby that just brought joy to the entire community! I think that the children are the main driving force for every adult in Dokur. And, they make that quite clear through their love and affection for them.
When I conducted my interviews, I was very surprised to see random people sit/stand to watch/listen.
First of all, I don't like having a big crowd of people, but I just got to roll with it. Second, I actually liked seeing other people come in and spectate (although that contradicts my previous sentence). People's doors are just open to everyone, and they even make their houses open to all. Whenever I got to someone's household, all of them offered to give me their comfortable seats. Hospitality is such a strong force in the village.
On my first interview with the Gram Sangham leader, I learned too much information to the point that my brain wanted to explode.
Photo with Sugnmma
Our interview lasted for an hour and a half, but I was so fascinated and intrigued the entire time. She was so intelligent and so poised! Now, I understood how she became such an important person in her village. She creates better policies for SHGs and everyone listens! Power is important, but respect is much greater. If you are respected, then power comes along.
Then, I interviewed an inactive SHG leader and she was also very interested in sharing her experiences.
Photo with Sundhya
As of now, I do not have any major findings since I only interviewed two people. But, the puzzle of my project is slowly coming together through my various questions.
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