The document verification.

One of the things I have always hated is repeated SMSes, conveying the same message. And TISS is guilty of the same!

They would send the same text message again and again, asking you to be present on 1st of May between 10 AM -3 PM for document verification. They said that if there were any issues with our documents, they would cancel our provisional selection in PMRDF. Well, this frightened me. I am quite careless with my documents, and I feared till the last minute that I would lose piece of laminated paper, and I would have to return back to Assam disappointed!

With an intention to be on time, I took a local train from Thane and then a rickshaw. They didn't know where TISS was. I was disappointed. Who in Assam didn't know where IIT-Guwahati was? But this wasn't Assam. Every alternate road had a landmark as important as the next, if not better!

And they were rather slow! My documents were verified at 3 pm. And in the meantime, I had interacted with a few persons. I don't usually remember names, but this gentleman was different. He was a doctor named Nikhil from Chitradurga in Karnataka. Oh yes, it has a reputation! We had lunch together. They have a good canteen (they call it Dinning Hall). It was quite hygienic, more so for a person who had come from XISS!

We were alloted rooms in a building about 1.4 kilometres away from the Main Campus. A bus took us there, with all our baggage. As the bus stopped, I took my bag and walked down to the building. There was this guy from Tripura who  was alloted to be in the same room as me. I got to know his name later. Sintu Chakma.

I had my document verification on 1st of May. So, I arrived on TISS campus at around 11 am.

Mumbai and Twin Hotels

For a boy born in a backward village inAssam, coming to Mumbai for the first time would have been a great adventure. Well yes, if only he travelled in a train! But here I was stuffing my ears with cotton to escape the noise and the subsequent ear pain. I seldom understood the science behind the air pressures that made me sick and suffer every time.

I arrived to the wonderful sounds of traffic of the never-sleeping city.  And as the taxi whizzed passed other taxis, I let my hand out of the window, as if to touch the tall buildings. I don't really remember the route but somewhere I felt I saw Antilla. One of the many buildings I abhor!

The good thing about being in touch with seniors and friends, is that a lot of money spent on accomodation are saved. I planned to stay with Shahbaz Sir, who was my senior at XISS. He lived in Thane East. However, providence had a great surprise for me. Just as I embarked on the pre-paid taxi, my phone died. Literally. I tried switching it on and it said "low battery shutdown". The taxi wala was generous to lend me his phone, and the voice at the other end asked me to come to Hotel Twins. After about half an hour, I was there at Twins Hotel. The taxi-wala tried calling Shahbaz Sir, but he didn't mind ignoring my call!

I disembarked and off I stood before the hotel. A long wait later, I thought I would search for a PCO. Well didn't find any. They had become extinct. Back in Assam, they are an endangered species, but Mumbai, obviously, didn't have good forest guards!

As my search took me to Thane railway station, I found a young boy and asked him directions to lead me to find a PCO. He offered me his phone instead! I called, but no one picked up the phone. In the meantime, another person came and asked about me. I told that I was from Assam, and then he remarked, "Kisiko bhi phone de dete ho...Assam mein bahut ugravandi log hote hai...!". Shocked and disappointed, I sent a msg to Shahbaz Sir from the same number, telling him that my phone was switched off, and that I couldn't contact him.

I waited and waited. People began to stare at me. The paan wala, peeped at me, again and again. Then the hotel wala began to make me conscious. I felt anxious. Then someone began to speak on the phone while staring at me. I looked around. I have heard a lot about how friendly MNS was to outsiders. I thought it was better to go to a hotel and spend the night rather than in  the interrrogation cell of Mumbai Police. Ab tak chappan, anyone?

A few yards away, I found a hotel offering lodging. Well, it was also named "Hotel Twins". So, here I was waiting infront of "Hotel Twins"...when Shahbaz Sir was waiting in front of the other "Hotel Twins"!

Oh! So, it was owned by the same person. And since he had two hotels nearby, they were twins. And so he named them "Twins Hotel". LOL.

A few laughs later, I was in his room sipping cold water. But the pain in my ears persisted!

My interview and essay experience!

I have had a few requests to pen down my essay and interview experience @ PMRDF.

I had appeared for my essay and interview at Guwahati.  I had attempted the essay on Food Security, and the various arguments for and against it. Also, the second section wanted some measures to ensure better reach of the same.

First, a basic introduction on the Food Security Act. Salient features of the Act. Biggest food security program in the world. NAC. Sonia Gandhi 90% of population. Criticism by Sharad Pawar and Chidu. Reduced to 67%. Distribution of urban and rural. How each state got their share, etc. Also a bit about AAY.

Gave a few stats about malnutrition in Jharkhand, Bihar and Gujarat. Nutrition versus food security. Argument of Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze. Reliance on grains and not pulses. Argument for protein. Also Jagdish Bhagawati. Argument of corporate sector. Why it is unjustified, etc. Comparison with economic stimulus.



Suggestions:
1. Transferability of Ration cards between FPS.
2. Packing of food grains in 5 kg. tamper-proof packets.
3. Better reporting system. MIS, etc. GPS and GIS.
4. No lapse of food grains, for 6 months.
5. Telephonic helpline. Action within 7 days.
6. In case of proved leakages, cancellation of FPS.
7. Involvement of persons nominated by GS in management of FPS.
8. Interlinking with other schemes, MGNREGA, etc.

Then a few sentences on how the corporate sector will be benefitted by the Food Security Act. People will divert the money they spent on food, to other consumer goods. Increase in markets for corporates. blah blah.

NB: And ya, within the word limit.

Interview: There were three gentleman in the penal. One was from TISS Guwahati , the other one was from IITG and the third one was from UNICEF.

1. Introduce yourself.
2. Why Rural Management after engineering?
3. What are the problems in your village?
4. What improvements have you seen in your village?
5. Is it affected by climate change? How?
6. How old are the embankments on River Nonoi and Barnadi.
7. How to handle drought like situation in Assam.
8. What are the difficulties in Panchayati Raj.
9. What livelihood options in my village.
10. A bit about my RTI activism. (it was a flag I planted..)
11. What was the outcome of it? (I got threatened, etc. PDS increased the monthly quota, etc).
12. How is a village in Arunachal different from Assam.
13. What are the major tribes in Arunachal.
14. Tell us something about Jharkhand. Major tribes.
15. Village of Jharkhand, political instability in Jharkhand.
16. What will be the first initiative if I got my district? (I said telephone helpline at the district level).
17. Wat if the DC didn't agree? I said I will give my number to the peoples. They smiles..:-)

And my final score was:
Essay: 40/40
Interview: 51.**/60

Why this blog?

Oh yes! This is a new blog. I already have one.: [manzilhussain.blogspot.in] where I document my experiences, feelings and other stuffs. It is more of personal stuffs that I had been planning to document since long. There I have refrained from posting anything related to my professional life. However, there is also a need to jot down my experiences and learnings as a developmental professional. That way my exploits can benefit many!

I understand that maintaining a regular blog would be like keeping a diary. I have done it at school and college, though I missed it on most of the days. I didn't find it interesting because seldom could I be honest, coz I was afraid it will fall into wrong hands. That was inspite of the fact that I had discovered that my average performances improved on the days when I resolved to pen down my daily happenings. That was one of my greatest learning.

So now, as I embark on a new journey, I believe maintaining a blog will force me to do something worthwhile. Moreover, I need not write anything personal, so there is no point of fearing that it would fall into wrong hands. In this there would be an 'exceptional' exception: I would be pleased if the wrong people read it!

I believe that my blog will not even be a drop in the ocean of churning that the developmental sector is witnessing everyday. However, in insignificant but important steps, we can spread the goodness. And the small actions of ours needs to be documented so that the mistakes, which will be are larger than the successes, are not repeated by some else. There is so much to do and so little time, that it would be unethical to allow everyone to learn from their mistakes. We need to learn from each other so that we take accelerate efforts to take poverty head on.

Hence, I will try to document my failures more objectively. That I can assure you. I will also try to present my experiences  with utmost honesty. However, I will refrain from 'exposing corruption' or the likes. That simply is not my mandate. And since in my new role of a PMRDF I will be an interface between the community and the government, I assure you that I will never be neutral. I will take sides - unashamedly. I will be with, for and of the people - always. I have always been a great believer in Gandhiji's talisman. That is my philosophy, and that is what I fall back upon when in confusion!

I would also try to maintain regularity. My friends will understand how tough it will be to keep my promise. I do not have a very good record on that. But yes, being regular would make me accountable to myself. I am the biggest critic of myself. So, don't be surprised if I edit and re-edit my posts!

However, there is a warning: I do am not very proficient in the Queen's language. So, do excuse my grammar, structure or spellings. I will however try to be as comprehensible as possible.

As of now, I have joined PMRDF at TISS, Mumbai undergoing an induction training. I'm also planning to jote down those experiences, for the future batches of PMRDFs, in particular, so that they can understand what they can expect.

I'm always available just a click away:

manzil.hussain-pmrdfs@tiss.edu

manzil.xiss@gmail.com

manzil.hussain@gmail.com

www.facebook.com/manzil.hussain

manzilhussain.blogspot.in