Small Initiatives, Utmost Satisfaction!

It was the training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie our alma mater that introduced us to the idea of Shrama Dana as a tool of people’s participation in governance.

The idea saw fruition as a series of Sharma Dana events in the non-descript, historic city of Basavakalyan in Bidar district, around 800 kilometres from Bangalore the state capital.

It began as an attempt to clean up the historical monuments and their environs. But what it achieved was beyond credible – it helped the government in winning over the hearts of the youth, setting up communication channels and sweeping participation of the local people.

An action plan was put into place, after consulting citizens, about the way in which the Shrama Dana programme was to be implemented. When this initiative was discussed with the Deputy Commissioner Dr P. C. Jaffer IAS and Chief Executive Officer, ZP Mr.Ujjwal Ghosh, IAS, they instantly liked it. They supported the idea and gave important directions to make it a success.

Starting from 7th December, 2013 to 11th January 2014, Shrama Dana programme was implemented in Basavakalyan, Bidar in a phased manner over six Saturdays.

It went like this:

1. Every Saturday morning from 0700 hours to 1000 hours was scheduled for the cleanliness drive.
2. 15 Taluk-level officers were identified and assigned as Team leaders. Students of various colleges were to serve as team members.
3. Six different locations were identified for the cleanliness drive ranging from Public Parks, Memorial Sites, and Main Roads to the Old Fort. This was done to sustain the enthusiasm and urge to perform till the end.
4. Each team comprised of a Leader and 2 constant members (1 Revenue staff + 1 Municipal staff), 2 municipal workers, 1 garden labourer from BKDB office. These teams remained constant for all the six Saturdays.
5. Each team was given 10-12 students (students attending the schools/colleges near the identified place of work, from Standard IX to Graduation).
6. Six Chief Guests were invited to boost the morale of the team members and volunteers. These Guests showed great zeal and enthusiasm and contributed immensely by spending quality time. They also did manual work, distributed certificates to volunteers and gave pep-talks to students.
7. After all the work was over, all of us gathered to have delicious brunch while sharing the day’s key learning points.

Key Learning points:

Early morning walks have been solo brain storming sessions for me. These early morning soliloquies seemed to have changed my life. Shrama Dana was one of these early morning ideas that got translated into a successful programme. The key learning points from this Shrama Dana programme are here:

1. Co-ordination is certainly a huge takeaway after every Shrama Dana. Inter-departmental co-ordination beginning from ice-breaking (knowing each other) to discussing official matters was a welcomed consequence at the end of the day.
2. Performance is high when targets are clear, work is organized, and efforts are appreciated in a healthy competitive environment.
3. It felt easy to identify people who work beyond the call of duty. This was important because knowing what job an individual can do best and assigning them such jobs is the best way to do it.
4. Staying in headquarters contributes heavily to the performance at work. Since Shrama Dana is scheduled at early hours, officials and volunteers had no option but to stay in the headquarters. `I am in a meeting’ was often an alibi for officers and employees for not being present for meetings. Our programmes were scheduled at 0700 hours long before the office hours and 99 % attendance was achieved.
5. Integration is a key to success – integration of goals, resources, people and activities is quintessential to achieve success.
6. Cultivating team spirit by positive, goal-oriented activity is not merely in theory, but practically achievable. Generally, people want change and are open to new initiatives.
7. The response of general public was highly encouraging. The Chief Medical Officer of the General Hospital has got the hospital premises cleaned up without much economical costs.
8. When December 24, 2013 was suddenly declared a holiday, SDM office staff volunteered to clean up the office for the first time since the building was inaugurated. Our office personnel have coordinated the cleaning up operations most actively on the holiday.
9. Inspired by the success of the Shrama Dana programme, engineers, contractors and others in the entire construction industry offered a day’s work to beautify the city.

Duties of a Sub-Divisional Magistrate include co-ordination and integration. Having realistic goals and channelizing resources adds immensely to service delivery. One of the best lessons I learnt in my four months as SDM at Basavakalyan is this simple definition of work: “work is what you do and willingness makes all the difference”.

I am also reminded of my UPSC personality test. I told the board my priorities would be to enhance the service delivery mechanism and make it accessible and effective. I said I would provide basic services like sanitation, primary education and qualitative education that will contribute to the welfare of the society. Thankfully, I have this opportunity to do what I thought of and realize my childhood dreams - the dream of delivering social justice to the people at the grassroots level.

Far From Away Empowerment..

Celebrating Jayanthi is a part of official traditions observed in the state of Karnataka. With due respect to visionaries, missionaries, saints, sages and champions of social empowerment, we celebrate the birth anniversaries of great men with honour and consider it as an occasion to delve on the philosophies and contributions of great men. As part of discharge of official duties when we observed the Jayanthi of a 16^th century social reformer very recently, the following incident happened.

The events for the day began from 0900 hours IST. There was a procession, participated by the students representing various schools in the town. This was followed by a stage show to cast the artists of the day. The show began. A respected dignitary, invited as a guest for the occasion and seated on the dais pointed fingers to show a teacher (of course, a lady teacher) who seemed to doze off sitting in the chair (down the stage, monitoring the students) and remarked shamelessly in Kannada.. “looks like this female has worked hard last night..”

Taken by shock, calmed by sense of duty and controlled by self-discipline (I discover lately that there is some sense of discipline and decorum left within me latently), I prevented myself from beating this respectable dog on the dais. I wish SDMs under some section of Criminal Procedure Code enjoyed the power to order the doctor present at the spot to cut off tongues or castrate such dogs on the spot. Anything can happen in our country. And let me record in black and white, hopelessly, if You are a woman, You are certainly a subject of embarrassment, shame and violence.

Our country has innumerable dogs. Dogs are dogs whatever position they occupy. And dogs of the Indian breed are Ugly, Unfaithful and are of the worst order. Our great country is full of Dogs: dogs who seek ex-girlfriend’s time after a year’s wedded life, facebooking parenthood on having a kid;  to dogs who take gold biscuits for an act called marriage and preach on lofty ideals such as equality and justice; to dogs who get bailed for committing rape; to dogs who are protected by dog-like dads; to dogs who are assured of uncalled for wishes such as eliminating anyone to protect a son who is a DOG..

Empowerment in our country is a mere joke..

hours before i leave...

Itz over a year now. Memories are still afresh. The wounds are ripe too. The burden is still in my head. Seems therz no way to leave it behind in this place that gave me so much love, and really no way to let this unfathomable heaviness in my heart sink away.. This burden is just unbearable. I want to howl. Howl out loud. How do i help myself from howling? Emptiness. Loneliness. Stupidity. As it seems on the surface. And as many would want to call it...

This place gave me everything. The courage to live through times filled with strife. The courage to dispel all the temptations that allured me. The courage to cheer up and look closely at minute things that surrounded me in this little universe. This place is close to my heart. I want to howl loud and yet say aloud that i love this place. A place that had hope and that gave me hope as well.

Hard feelings though. Many emotions flow. Seek serenity and spirituality (spirited feeling and may be spirits too). Struck in a dilemma: to howl or not to howl...

Surely Mussoorie and LBSNAA will continue to live on,

And her lofty ideals shall continue to inspire me every morn!

On this place that I will fondly miss…

It’s time to wait and look back

Into the quick year that rolled by;

It’s time to await and look ahead

Into the brief time that is now nigh...

Certainly,

It’s time to remember and say thanks

To all those who stood by my side

With Empathy and Concern –

Empathy, which was genuine, deliberate,

True, without any attached ‘but or so’,

With Concern, that I so much sought,

Shown even if I did not deserve though.
 

And,

It’s a time to honor and give thanks

Unto Him who scripted these times

Of Courage and Conviction –

Yes, of huge Courage, which consciously

Comforted me as I drank the sorrows away;

Of Conviction, that assured me relentlessly

Echoing that 'goodness will make the way'.

Needless to say,

On this last day,

At an hour past two,

It’s hard to doze off to

Sleep in a place such as this,

A place that I will fondly miss…

Indonesia : A Celebration

             The Foreign Study Tour is the most pertinent and perhaps the most exciting opportunity for the I.A.S. Officer Trainees to explore the world outside, appreciate the cultures beyond the physical geographical boundaries, live the thought-provoking realities, whet their perspectives to diversities and understand the often-read nuances of general and practical administration through lived experiences.

           The tour will remain a fond memory for there were many firsts I’ve experienced being part of the Foreign Study Tour for IAS Officer Trainees – 2011. I got an opportunity to visit two diverse nations – Singapore and Indonesia, the first time I’ve flown to a foreign country, the first I saw the wonders of the physical world with bare eyes – had a bird’s eye view of an archipelago while aboard on the flight, a volcano namely Tangkuban Perahu (which erupted as recently as February 21st this year), the first time I was in a different time zone (and the unease with jetlags after travels to and fro), the first experience of using a different currency (certainly an opportunity to refresh one’s math abilities), authentic tastes of South-East Asian cuisines, exposure to the peoples and their cultures in foreign land, of course, many firsts for a student of social geography, undoubtedly!

              To be contemplative when on a tour is a biggest asset, to enjoy the tour impeccably. Melting one’s nurtured prejudices with regard to cultures, underplaying preconceived notions about places and having a reflective mind throughout the tour is truly a source of strength all along the arduous journey. In hindsight, I now realize that though unquantifiable, this is the biggest learning one can experience when on a Foreign Study Tour and this attitude is of a great help to exact the maximum from every place we visit, from every experience we go through and to live every moment to the fullest. 

              It has to be mentioned that the visit to the third largest city of Indonesia – Bandung has significant moments for the group as we happened to visit and be there where the Heads of Nations of the Non-Aligned Movement met and discussed the idea of Asia-Africa Solidarity in 2005.  The visit to Bandung has been a revisit to the evident legacy of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru undoubtedly a glance into the future too, for its promotion of South Peoples Solidarity and Social Development of the Asian-African nations. 

              Visiting different places and interacting with new people is in itself a tremendous learning experience. As we traversed across from Jakarta to Bandung, we had the firsthand opportunity to see lifestyles of different peoples and the different cultures that constitute this nation. We went to the old sectors of the country in Jakarta, treaded the highways of this island and became part of a beautiful country called Indonesia. There is ample probability to connect one’s self with this territory and consider it as a continuity of social cultural context of the Indian sub-continent owing to the path of development adopted by the Indonesian people. There is increasing impetus for fostering bilateral relations and promoting exchange of the best of both the nation-states. 

              The first day in Jakarta was an interesting one. We visited the National Museum (Museum Nasional) near the Merdeka Square. Popular as the Elephant Building, the museum is a treasure house of rich culture and history certainly defines the heritage of the Indonesian territory. Most impressive was the huge metal-cast Wheel of Life and Death in the front elevation of the Museum building describing the various cycles of human being in this life and impressing that the cycle of life and death is a continuum and it goes on (perhaps a huge influence of Hindu-Buddhist philosophies). Lines from the school history textbooks were literally standing as architectural monuments and world heritage sites in front of our eyes. We also visited the National Monument and past by the Arjuna Chariot while we traversed the many roads of the city on a Sunday. 

              To begin with the sessions at the Centre for Education and Training, initially we were briefed on the different aspects of the island administration, the scope and prospects of tourism as an industry, the reserve forests and the need to protect them, the indigenous tribes, their primitive lifestyles, life and the idea of BALI, and so on. The idea that Tourism is promotion of perception and the light manner of presentation by the speaker reflected the cool of the general populace in many ways. Yet, owing to a tight schedule and sessions lined up till late afternoon, the stay in Indonesia seemed to have happened in a fast-forward mode with hardly any time for our group to adventure into many other things that define Indonesia (the perils of traffic jams added misery to our wishes). 

              Yet, the island attachment was filled with fun and frolic mainly because of the striking similarity between our country and Indonesia. There is visible prosperity and its reflection in the numerous SUVs on road, the skyscrapers all along the main roads, and the infrastructural progress in the capital city. And there were beggars near the traffic signals, market places like the S.N.Market in Delhi (Taman Mini in Indonesia), similarity of the Jakarta airport to the one in Kochi in our God’s Own Country (in architecture, as pointed out by a fellow Officer Trainee) and huge malls signifying consumerism creeping into the lifestyles of the people, monkeys on the streets and so on. The currency (Rupiah) is definitely a Feel Good Factor for visitors to this island economy. 

              Food and clothing define cultures and geographies distinctly. This is revealed in the numerous varieties in food preparations (availability of spices and large diversity of tropical vegetation) and native Batik prints (very similar to block prints and kalamkaris of our country) which is a characteristic of fashion in Indonesia. I feel that one cannot be cold to the warmth of these countrymen or impassive to their idea of fashion. To admit, captured by the prettiness of the place, I did the cutest thing possible to pamper myself on the tour while at Bandung – I quietly purchased a Chiffon frock for myself, after being totally bowled over by the culture in Singapore and Indonesia where women seemed free to wear the clothes that suit them and are most comfortable to the climates there.

Key Learnings

              The visit to various sites did prove to be a first-hand experience for many of us who had very little practical knowledge of the issues in administration – value addition to the theoretical inputs collected over the years. While many things impressed me constantly, to mention five key learnings I am hopeful of implementation in the district or the field in the next couple of years, I list down the following observations:

1. Road Traffic Management:

              While on the way from Jakarta to Bandung, what impressed me the most was the cleanliness all along the Roads and the perfection with which there were Sign boards indicating the distance covered, distance remaining, and speed limits very precisely in terms of meters as units. This is definitely a huge takeaway and worth adopting as this step will bring in a scientific approach to maintain road safety and comfortable travel between places by means of controlling, regulating and facilitating the movement of the traffic. In coordination with the District Police and Regional Transport Authorities, this can be made a reality. Dustbins all along the way are also a key aspect in the management of roads and promotion of tourism as it reflects a sense of sanitation and has aesthetic value as well.

              To spend away a quarter of one's day in traffic, stranded on the roads is not a pleasant experience. Efforts should be made to regulate traffic and ensure smooth movement of vehicles by all practical means, be it, by widening roads, increasing awareness of commuters on road safety and traffic sense, by forming outer ring roads or flyovers or subways or pedestrian tracks or Dedicated Bus Road Transit system or by any other means to improve public transport. Cycling is a great idea for local movement. To avoid huge traffic jams (which may run for a long stretch of about 15 kms like the one we saw while we were on the way to Bandung - the way to Jakarta was literally motionless and thousands of vehicles moving towards the capital were caught in this jam) and bring ease in travel is a prime task in the initial years of service delivery.

2. Improve Public Hospitals and Public Health:

              The state of public hospitals in this developing country is of high standards and highly indicative of the concern of the nation-state’s commitment to Social Development by building Social Capital. Certainly a matter of reflection for us as the way in which our hospitals are run and administered is highly appalling. The freedom from fear of going to a hospital or many doubts that irk about the idea of recovery to good health on going to the hospital and being free to communicable viruses when in the hospital premises is probably the first sign of improvement in the management of health sector.

              The conditions in our hospitals can be improved by making the management/administration more efficient, staffing adequately and providing the basic infrastructural facilities required for running a moderately well-managed hospitals in the district. We, as partakers of roles and responsibilities in the government must support activities for securing the health of our population and promote good working environments in the hospitals and medical institutions at least in our jurisdiction. During the visit, issues related to health, medical education, livelihood and lifestyle of the local people, etc, were explained to us in detail.

3. Seamless Wi-Fi Connectivity:

              This is certainly the need of the hour in this virtual world to promote fast connectivity, movement of people and facilitate the local people as well as the tourists too. In my district assignments in the future, I shall try and improve the institutional arrangements to achieve the same at least in the main city or town. To travel with the GPS-on is certainly the easiest way to reach from one destination to another.

4. Development of transport towns

              While travelling from Jakarta to Bandung, I felt the need to develop small transport towns, satellite towns in our country and decentralize the process of urbanization owing to the large extent of our country. Consumer goods stores and accessibility to goods and services has to be improved to the possible extent.

5. A More Gender-Friendly Society:

              Any general observer or tourist may not disagree with me when I remark that Women in Indonesia seemed more independent and the idea of freedom and beauty in this part of the world seemed less hypocritical and literally more vibrant in character. This country has moved several leaps ahead compared to our own country in this crucial aspect. The women are way ahead of the times of a limited Islamic world. Highly striking in colour, they preserve the roots of tradition too. They adorn themselves in fashionable Burquas (of different styles and patterns) and the rich diversity of this place is manifested in the sense of dressing, style and etiquette. Hospitality and Courtesy are always at display and personally, I believe that this aspect of Social Character is desirable in our country too.

              The following activities can be taken up to achieve results in this direction: Effective programmes should be directed at strengthening the advocacy skills of women, engaging women in civic life, establishment of public relations, participation of women in public forums and neighbourhood action committees, educating them on laws related to women, training on media management techniques, workshops to improve negotiating skills, and so on.

Conclusion:

              I would like to place on record and express my sincere gratitude to the LBSNAA for the extensively planned tour, and our esteemed faculty who made us realize the essence of this phase of training through many inputs and insights when we were at academy. Without their efforts and guidance, this tour wouldn’t have been successful and outstanding for anyone of us. The continuous assistance and logistical support of Training –II section throughout the tour and round-the-clock deserves special mention here. The Air India also ended the quandary regarding the baggage left behind (by them, deliberately) when we were asked to collect our luggage (containing all the souvenirs and goodies) in the middle of the night at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi.

              Making this trip has been an experience unparalleled for all of us. To end with, “if to see is to believe, to record is to re-live!” And, to write a travelogue is to re-live a journey called Experience. The beauty, grandeur, diversity, tradition, history, heritage, culture, courtesy, hospitality and the people that define this nation-state have made this Foreign Study Tour a great experience for all of us. For me, Indonesia is a place where India, Asia and the entire world find representation in the real space. Certainly, this place is a Celebration of human emotions, values and ideals in day-to-day life more than anything else.

              A small verse to end this travelogue:

Everywhere I look, every time I look,

I see women.

Women walking without fear…

Yes, the head can be held high

But only

Where the mind is without fear!

 

 

Samsara... and the world goes on...!

This trip to Goa… OFFICIAL… yes, this time it is an official holiday – planned, declared, face booked, enjoyed and LIVED… and now on record here!

DIFFERENT… after having been to Goa every season this year (since the VERY first time that I have visited Goa in the first season this year) this trip was completely different from the first trip and the trips later, for many reasons… the purpose pronounces it all… in pursuit of a earnest purpose, a purpose called LIBERATION. Yes, Liberation – Liberation from Nostalgia J

Watched several movies – revealing and real reels, beginning with the premiere Life of Pi, dreams and aspirations in animated South Korean movie Green Days, the contentions, temptations and love of two adults with a family of four kids in Everyday, ecological lessons (more informing and little inspiring though) from Elemental, Beethoven and the mysterious testament in the Night Across The Street, Confucius to confuse (a Tibetan movie with profound philosophy, but sadly without subtitles) and a pint of beer to ease one from confusions when at Macquinez Palace.

Movies that I enjoyed totally included a contemporary drama about courage, forgiveness and love in the Samoan setting (with ‘products from China’ tags on all the boxes) in Orator, the battle that marked history, enjoyed every role, plot and dialogue in the documentary Fetih 1453 – The Battle of Two Empires, the depiction of cosmopolitan character of Turkey in six short narratives in Do Not Forget Me Istanbul – Half Moon Strangers, Mirko, Almost, Bolis, The Jewish Girl, Otel(lo) and an Epilogue, on recomposing corpses and other critical problems that plague the contemporary times in The Weight, Indignados by Tony Gatlif demonstrating the resistance against the existing systems and solidarity marches to express the feelings of the outraged.

The Cutoff Man, a short movie shot in Israel, definitely has huge lessons for me to take home – from the idea of being a bureaucrat, to an employer, to an employee, to a neighbor, to a civilian, to a wife, to a father, to being an UPRIGHT individual (like 'The Men Who Ruled India', recorded and described by Philip Mason as men who were 'minutely just and inflexibly upright'), et al, many ideas to carry in my head. Not surprising, there were less than hundred people in the huge auditorium of the Kala Academy to watch this movie. The reasons being too obvious – The Cutoff Man is a movie sans chicks J 

Samsara screened in the section Soul of Asia, is truly, a soul-searching drama of a Buddhist monk and his quest to find Enlightenment. Loaded with inner conflicts between flesh and spirit of the monk, and his struggle to find enlightenment by renouncing the world, and the struggle of his wife to keep the enlightened love and life within her own world, the film traverses through many inner journeys. The final questions raised by the monk’s wife highlight some fresh perspectives and address many critical (FEMINIST) issues most eloquently: quoting the story of Yashodhara when Buddha in search of Enlightenment has left Yashodhara who was still in her youth; reflecting if Yashodhara had been a sufferer of pain, anger, loneliness and disillusionment; whether her feelings, emotions and existence mattered to Buddha; and on parallel destinies – whether satisfying one thousand desires or conquering just one desire is more important? Loved this film – a portrayal of truth and human nature – the insanity of human stupidity and selfishness and the comfort to shelter one's own dirty self and polluted mind in the most convenient  space with an assertive stance – even if the choice is between infidelity and spirituality.

Having missed the mid-fest film, queued for the last one before leaving Goa on Sunday. This movie came as a direct hit on my face with some widely prevalent, harsh truths – revealing unto me as to why even highly educated mothers (for whom I had utmost respect and immense admiration {till lately}, after I was shell-shocked by her courage to elope and marry the man of her choice belonging to a lower caste, way back in early 80’s in a similar setting) advice their accomplished sons to marry a girl at a certain muhurth, only with a revealed plot-advice to divorce the girl a year later and engage most relaxedly in such lighter talks over phones, via messages and at homes. Shot in a typical village in Tamil Nadu, the movie, Lessons In Forgetting, exposes how deeply the Indian system has been structured around the MAN and the imprints of a sickening hierarchy. Latently present in every aspect of our lives and infused most inconspicuously into our psyche, this movie simply depicted everything that inflicts our society.

A week to liberate myself from nostalgia and garner greater happiness from most insignificant moments – a week in Goa spent hopping around and lazing by the Mandovi river and Kingfisher village, a week that past by while I was easy, shopping, eating, buying food (prawn pickles, bebinca cakes, cashew nuts) and Christmas goodies, a week when I watched four films everyday on big screens, waited in queues outside theatres and attended film premiere like never before, a week with biryanis and beers for breakfasts and tequila sunrises and B-52 shooters to call off the days, a week when I actually lived on more beer and less water, a week when Office was last thing to have appeared in mind even after I visited the Raj Bhavan, a week when I hopped onto islands while on a drive (San Jacinto island) and passed past scary memory lanes (which I hope and believe to have passed away – literally and metaphorically), a week to liberate me from Nostalgia and the FAIRYTALE, to liberate me from all that I believed was my everything in this life…

Cheers...!

True Lies...!!!

dis day last year...March 31st, 2011!

My Interview...

Thursday, The 31^st of March 2011, Afternoon, Dholpur House, UPSC Office… the spacious hall with a high dome… And comfortable teak chairs to recline back and look at the dome of the Dholpur House!!!

After sometime (just 3 hours later) an attendant came to call me to the interview room. I went and waited there with resilience and optimism. Finally, the Chairman called for the next candidate.

Just opened the door and a pleasant welcome from the Chairman Sir before I could wish him. Wished him, the members on the right and the Lady Member (Member 3). I was offered a seat and sat down quietly, relaxedly (I was the last one to be interviewed….. had to wait in the waiting hall for the hour I waited earnestly for years).

Chairman:

Chairman: I cannot pronounce your name….is it Hepshiba Rani Korrrrlaaaapathhhhi…..?

Me: Sir, Hephsiba Rani Korlapati

Chairman: Can I call you Rani

Me: Yes Sir

Chairman: So, you have finished Masters in Geography in last June. What are you doing these days? Are you sitting idle at home?

Me: Sir, actually after mains examination, I got a call from IIT-Delhi to join for research, for Ph.D. programme.

Chairman: You are a humanities student from Delhi University, how did you get a call from IIT?

Me: Sir, IIT-Delhi has Department of Humanities and Social Sciences and I applied for Policy Studies area. The topic I proposed to study was “The impact of urban policy and governance reforms”.

Chairman: Did you join there?

Me: Sir, I requested for some time.

Chairman: So, what are your priorities in an urban area?

Me: Sir, my priorities would be to enhance the service delivery mechanism and make services more accessible and effective.

Chairman: How can you make their more effective?

Me: Sir, we have institutions and infrastructure already in place in most of the cities. All we need to do is to make them more workable, more efficient and effective.

Chairman: List out the services you want to provide.

Me: Sir, I would work to provide the Basic Services for the Urban Poor. They include sanitation, education, especially school/primary education – and education not just for mere numbers but qualitative education which will be beneficial in the future development of our country.

Chairman: So, what will you do under sanitation, provide toilets?

Me: Yes Sir, providing toilets will be the first step. And separate toilets for men and women. And mostly women who suffer from this problem.

Chairman: I agree, women suffer the most. So, what should we do?

Me: Sir, we need to improve the accessibility in terms of spacing the toilets, spreading them across the cities. And we do have Nirmal Gram Puraskar awards to promote this idea of sanitation.

Chairman: Tell me one initiative in this regard.

Me: ______________

Chairman: What do you find when you move around?

Me:________________hmmmmmmm

Chairman: You are staying in Delhi. You should know this.

Me: __________ Sir, Sulabh complex.

Chairman: Yes, Yes. What do you know about this?

Me: Sir, they are well spread out throughout the city. They provide separate toilets for men and women.

Chairman: How are they maintained?

Me: Sir, I think they are maintained by the User Pays principle.

Chairman: What is your opinion? Should the users pay for this service?

Me: Yes Sir. But it should be a very minimal charge.

Chairman: What will you do if you don’t get into civil services this attempt? Will you go for research? What’s your priority?

Me: Sir, Civil Services is my priority. I would love to pursue higher studies too Sir.

Member 1

Member 1: You told you proposed to work on urban policy. What exactly is your emphasis?

Me: Sir, actually I proposed to assess the impact of urban policy and specifically JNNURM policy with Vijayawada city as the case-study, which I believe has transformed the city. JNNURM has been hailed as one of the biggest reforms-linked development programmes of our country. I have followed it closely as my father works in the Municipal Corporation. It is a successful programme in the city and proposed to assess the nature of policies – both in content and implementation and add a third dimension of impact assessment – wherein the physical and social impact would be assessed at multi-levels – at the level of individuals, communities, groups and the overall city. And it is a case-study of Vijayawada city. The city won the Best City Award under JNNUURM this year in December.

Member 1: You said that your father is in the Municipal Corporation. What are the problems there?

Me: Sir, there are several problems. Finances/lack of funds, personnel/inadequate staff, and the multiplication of tasks. I find multiplication is a severe problem because the same work is done again and again. There is separate department to build houses, another department to lay roads and a third one to dig the drains. It amounts to both time and economic cost overruns Sir.

Member 1: So, what is the major source of revenue in Municipal Corporations?

Me: Advertisements/hoardings form a large share, Sir.

Member 1: What about property tax?

Me: Sir, I am sorry. Property tax constitutes the major proportion as a source of revenue Sir.

Member 1: Do you know how it is levied?

Me: Sorry Sir, I don’t know.

Member 1: What should be the criteria according to you?

Me: Sir, it should be a multiple criteria. The very base or the space and location, the building materials used in construction and the level of income of the people.

Member 1: Income tax is already levied

Me: But income directly affects the kind of accommodation one owns Sir.

Member 1: Due to multiple criteria, there are several problems like false reporting and corruption.

Me: Sir, tax collection is one thing and to counter corruption is on a different front. Both have to be tackled Sir.

Member 1: Tell me one thing – even after a two-hour rain why does Vijayawada get flooded completely?

Me: Sir, Vijayawada is on the banks of river Krishna and the river is in its last reaches when it reaches Vijayawada.

Member 1: It is because of the drainage system.

Me: Yes Sir, specially the 1 Town area. Other factors include congestion, old buildings, unplanned layouts.

Member 2:

Member 2: So you are from Telangana.

Me: Sir, I have both identities – of Coastal Andhra and Telangana. My father belongs to Krishna district and my mother is from Khammam district. These districts are adjoining to each other.

Member 2: What is the third region?

Me: Sir, Rayalaseema.

Member 2: There is a very sensitive issue in one of the regions. What do you know of it?

Me: The demand for a separate Telangana state is the issue. And this demand is a reflection of a deep sense of deprivation of the Telangana people in Andhra Pradesh. The benefits of development have not percolated to the interior districts of Telangana region though the region is well ahead owing to the city of Hyderabad.

And Sir, Hyderabad exerts the maximum pull from all the three regions and there was continuous growth in investments and development due to high concentration of intelligentsia, industry, investments. And this development has been limited to the 3 districts which constitute Hyderabad – Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medak. While political leaders maneuver…

Member 2: Is there any background to these developments now?

Me: Yes Sir. The movement started in the very early phase after the state of Andhra Pradesh was created in 1956. It was created as a separate state in 1953 on the basis of language. In 1956, states were re-organized. (The member stops me abruptly)

Member 2: Andhra Pradesh had another capital earlier. What was it?

Me: Sir, Kurnool was the first capital of Andhra Pradesh.

And in the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was a huge agitation for a separate state of Telangana. Government employees and students, unemployed youth led the movement and the movement has crept to the grassroots level Sir.

Member 2: What do you know about Red Corridor?

Me: Sir, the naxal-affected districts in our country are referred to as the Red Corridor. It covers about 160 districts lying in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal – where the movement actually began, Bihar, Tamil Nadu.

Member 2: Not in Tamil Nadu. It ends with Bhadrachalam in Andhra Pradesh.

Me: Sir, 2 districts in the North West Tamil Nadu.

Member 2: What is the stand of Communists on Telangana?

Me: Sir, Communists support the formation of the Telangana state. In the 2004 elections, they joined with the Congress party which promised Telangana in its manifesto. But, they do switch sides, in support or against.

Member 2: Ok. Well! What do you think is the biggest contribution of the Nizam rule?

Me: Sir, it is the cultural integration. Hindu-Muslim Unity, Sir. The cultural heritage of the Nizams was the biggest contributions of the Nizam era Sir. Sir, the Nizam empire extended from Hyderabad to the Bay of Bengal, and there was remarkable unity among the people in the Nizam rule. For a fact, the cosmopolitan character of today’s Hyderabad can be seen as a legacy of the erstwhile Nizam rule Sir.

Member 2: Not your college?

Me: Sir, yes our college also. Popularly known as Women’s college, Koti, it was established in 1924. It caters to education of young women in Hyderabad.

Member 3:

Member 3: Hephsiba, you have a very unique name. What does it mean and how did you get this name?

Me: Ma’m, Hephsiba means My Delight In Her. It was my mother’s teacher’s name.

Member 3: Why is Japan in news these days?

Me: Japan experienced an earthquake which generated a tsunami, Ma’m. Japan lies in the Pacific Ring of Fire, Ring of Fire as we call it in geography. The earth is essentially made up of 12 plates which are in motion. And when the plates slide past one another, it leads to tectonic movements.

In the case of Japan, an earthquake occurred off the coast of Japan which generated a tsunami.

Member 3: What is the exact place where the earthquake took place?

Me: Ma’m it was underwater off the coast of a place called Tohoku. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 32kms and about 70 kms away from the coast. And waves rushed into the mainland, rising to a height of 10 metres. The intensity was 9 on Richter scale which caused great damage to the coastal regions.

Member 3: What is the impact of the disaster on the Japanese economy?

Me: Japan is completely devastated Ma’m. The physical and social infrastructure was completely damaged. In the case of Japan, the nuclear reactors are also affected. In a country which depends on nuclear and does not have access to alternatives like wind or solar energy, this is a direct hit on the power sector. A hit on the power sector is a hit on the entire economy as a whole.

Member 3: Do you think it has an effect on the world economy?

Me: Yes Ma’m. Japan is one of the three largest economies of the world and it has a direct impact on the world economy. For example, Japan will not be able to pay the same prices for imports like she could pay before. Therefore, even the world economy gets impacted.

Member 3: You have mentioned watching tennis, playing badminton and Photoshop as your hobbies. What is Photoshop?

Me: Photoshop is a new entry into the Oxford dictionary Ma’m. Photoshop refers to editing images on the computer Ma’m.

Member 3: What do you mean by home-making?

Chairman asks: Are you married?

Me: No Sir.

Chairman: You are into home-making without marriage. Explain.

Me: Ma’m refers to all activities one does at home. Ma’m, we are 5 siblings at home and I am the 2^nd daughter. Assisting my mother in domestic work at home has been my favourite past-time since childhood.

Member 3: Ok. That you call as home-making. In south India, people generally watch movies a lot.

Chairman interrupts: Not only in South, movie-watching is an all-India phenomenon. All of us watch movies. You people in South India are crazy. are you crazy?

Me: Yes Sir.
Chairman: Prove that you South Indians are crazy for movies.
Me: Sir, all Indians watch movies. In the case of south India, it is a bit more undoubtedly. In the south, almost every street is named after a theatre Sir. In Vijayawada, we have Apsara theatre sandhu. To prove our craziness, if there is no theatre in a street, we first build a theatre and then name our streets. Sir, 40% of the total theatres in our country are located in the four southern states Sir.

Member 3: In the southern states there is a trend of film stars entering politics – be it M.G.R., N.T.R, Jaya Lalitha...

Me: Chiranjeevi Ma’m.

Member 3: Yes. How can you explain this?

Me: Ma’m, I can give an insider’s viewpoint on this. Movies have a greater appeal on the largest population. People love watching movies, admire film stars and movies are into the lives of the people. And film stars generally have huge popularity. When a film star enters politics, the entire fandom gets transformed as voters and they become politicians.

Member 3: Is this trend effective?

Me: Ma’m. I can say this was effective in the case of Andhra Pradesh. When N.T.Rama Rao came to power, he stood for the Telugu people. He promoted the identity of the Telugu people beyond the Telugu land beyond too, for example TANA. TANA is the Telugu Association of North America. He also implemented the benefits he promised in the manifesto. In his case, I can say it was effective.

Member 3: You mean to say that film stars can be efficient politicians.

Me: I don’t agree Ma’m. Not in all cases.

Member 4:

Member 4: I don’t have many questions for you. Just one question. Recently the Ministry for Human Resources Development has released a working paper on “Sensitization of Working Women”. Are you aware of this?

Me: No Sir.

Member 4: Okay, can you explain me the difference between Sensitization and Empowerment in general.

Me: I can attempt to explain Sir. Sir, Sensitization refers to making one aware of one’s own space, their position in the society, to discover one’s own self. Empowerment refers to moving to a better level. Like, sensitization is the first step. One needs to be sensitized to move ahead. And Sir, women have to be sensitized. As a home-maker, not just working women but even homemakers have to be sensitized. They need to know their talents to break the barriers to come out of homes. And Sir, home is just a smaller version of an office administrative setting. An effective home-maker can be an efficient manager undoubtedly Sir.

Chairman: No, no… women at home are empowered. At my home, they are empowered. And laughs. All the members join the Chairman.

Chairman:

Chairman: I have one final question.

Me: Yes Sir.

Chairman: If you have to select a movie star as a politician, whom will you select?

Me: Sir, it will be a coalition of film stars Sir.

Chairman: Then, whom will you select as Prime Minister?

Me: Sir, I will shoot a movie with a Politician first and make him the Prime Minister Sir.

Chairman: Big laugh.

Everybody laughs.

I'm giving you the highest marks today. You may go now.

Thank You Sir. Thank You Sirs. Thank You Madam.