Reflections from Suyash about Gramya Manthan

Contributor: Suyash Agrawal

Before jumping directly to my reflections from the 10-day Rural Immersion Program, I prefer to introduce myself briefly.

I, Suyash Agrawal, hail from Korba district of Chhattisgarh. Currently, I am pursuing my graduation from St.Stephen’s College in Delhi. My life took a radical shift in 2013, when I was diagnosed with an eyesight disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa, the simple symptom of which is that the blood supply to my retina decreases with my age and the entire retina becomes dark at some point in life. Presently, I am left with less than 10 % of my vision.

Taking part in a program like Gramya Manthan, which is physically intensive and that too on a village land, was not at all easy given my condition. However, through the long and productive engagement process ahead of the actual program, I was assured of my complete safety and convenience by the team members. Moreover, they were willing to cooperate in whatever way possible to make the journey as smooth as it can become. After such an assurance, I found no reason to refuse to take part in the program.

The journey began on Day-1 with very mixed kind of feelings. I was wondering what had pushed me to land in between an entirely new set of people in a new place and I was trying to figure out the reason or motivation for my decision. I had a college friend of mine with me over there who was aware of my condition, with whom I had planned to manage all the activities. However as the days progressed, I chose to leave that person aside and interact with new people. Eventually, I was able to make new friends on whom I could impose my faith and confidence. Activities like trust fall, blind walk and so on facilitated the process of trust building, by the help of which I was able to see a friend in each and everyone of them. The time when we penned down our life story in whatever form we feel and shared it with a group of people, it played the role of catalyst in the process of deepening my relations with my co-participants and team members.

After that particular circle, I became more vocal in sharing my views and perspectives. Another thought provoking activity transformed my mentality and I understood the relevance and importance of empathy over sympathy. The more challenging and exciting time was very near to us when we drove to villages. The trust that I had built in the initial couple of days proved very instrumental in making my village journey a productive and memorable one. The proximity to nature, the feeling of togetherness and the love for their guests are few of the very long list of qualities and strengths of the villagers. Allowing a stranger to spend night at home is not an easy decision but the villagers were more than happy to host us and who would know this fact better than me as 3 people had extended their offers to me and I eventually spent night in the 4th home due to some reasons. My interaction with Kakas over there further enhanced my knowledge and improved my understanding of what a life in village means.

Experiencing the interconnections of different elements in the ecosystem tempted me to think of the consequences of my individual actions on the environment and how can we as a community work in the direction of protecting our mother earth from further deterioration and degradation.

I was able to relate the lessons of empathy in another experiment around food which added to my learning.

The service learning process brought a lot of new experiences and lessons in my life; be it the art of presenting the best out of the limited resources or working in a team to deliver the best possible result. Each of my group members had different things to offer and each of us were welcoming all sort of ideas and opinions. It was due to our collective efforts that we were able to pull off several wonderful activities involving all the villagers from all the age groups. I would like to point out our skit specifically here as I found that it just made our visit successful. Our message was well received and the feedback was really very heartening and encouraging. Overall, it was an experience of a life time and I shall carry the New Self inside me for the rest of my life.

Towards the last phase of the program, when we were acknowledging and appreciating each other for the time and presence, I got to know myself even more deeply. The space was one of its kind wherein I learnt the art of appreciation and the art of receiving. It was heart touching for me to know that I have become a source of inspiration for many of my friends. The messages that I got to hear melted me and I got the answer of the question “Who am I”?

For a person like me with a very uncertain future, a ray of hope is always needed to boost self confidence and self esteem and that’s exactly what I received from the 10 day program. Sitting in a circle and listening to so many voices led to the transfer of energy which is truly very impactful. I have got a new family consisting of 34 members with different stories and bringing unique qualities into the circles. I am grateful to Youth Alliance team for being committed to their assurance and organizing such a transformative and life changing journey.