Vignesh shares his Journey: GM Reflections
Contributor: Vignesh
The journey began with me wanting to explore rural India; it indeed took a lot of convincing to embark on this 10 day immersion. I started the day in Kanpur with normal expectations, a few questions and a want to go to the village. But, Gramya Manthan and Youth Alliance had other plans; they were raining surprises from the word 'GO'. Traditional welcome, activities to break ice and build trust and opportunities to express myself and be myself. My first doubt of how am I going to get to know 34 people in just 10 days was broken in the very first day with the group activities. I should say I have never been so comfortable making friends in so few days.
The interpersonal relationship building every day, made it really comfortable and it's astonishing how we shared our dark and deep secrets with each other. The trust I was able to place on others and the same others placed on me has opened a new window through which I don't just look at people but try to understand them.
I frankly expected a few lecture type sessions and a tour of village, but was taken aback by the conceptual activities and the family like environment, I understood how much of difference the feeling of acceptance can bring about. I miss those circles where I had no inhibition about asking or putting forth my thoughts. There was peace of mind and attentiveness for the whole day, though I would wake-up at 5:30 after having gone to sleep at 12 PM. It still surprises me as to how I remained physically and mentally active despite the activities stretching through the day.
Starting off the village immersion by hosting a dinner for about 100 villagers and kids gave a lot of satisfaction and also a first time insight into the caste differences prevalent in the village. I was shocked to see 3 small kids differentiate each other based on their caste but also surprised that those 3 were friends and sitting together. The fact that the village houses had their doors open to us and in all of the houses we went to, the first statement was "ave some water and sit down”, the love and warmth of the people helped me break my inhibitions and barriers of my language constraints and talk to them freely.
"Being with the kids, plucking mangoes and Jamuns from the trees, bathing in the river, eating and sleeping at a farmer's house and sleeping under the stars, what an experience it was! Waking up in the morning to the sounds of peacocks and walking through the fields in the fresh air, it was bliss."
All these beautiful experiences were accompanied by numerous questions and difficult lifestyle adjustments. It indeed wasn't easy to be without electricity and was certainly not comfortable to defecate and bathe in the open but one thing I understood was that luxury and materials can provide little happiness, it’s the nature and people around us who matter. The pond cleaning and the effort to understand the ecosystem of the small village made me realize what I miss in the city even with so many luxuries. The 10 days has left me with many more questions, wanting to be more understanding and considerate and an urge to move closer to nature.
"The last few days, back in city after Gramya Manthan, the outlook has definitely changed and made it easier for me to meet eye to eye with people because it’s no more the face that I am speaking to but a human with a story, a human who wants to speak and wants to be listened to. Now with all that said and done, I have lot more questions to ponder on, I do feel guilty with each plastic bottle I throw off and for every moment I am in an AC room, I miss the cool fresh air of the village."
I did go into this program with the skepticism "what could happen in 10 days?" , a lot has happened since and it needs to be experienced to be understood.
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