Two months nearly since the elections got over. Back to regular work. Time just flies. What have I been upto for two months now? If I look at it backwards, there has been 1 ill-timed and serious issue with bus burning and lathi charges. A very strange and inexplicable case indeed.. but one that cannot be discussed on a public forum.
There was one trip to study the different kinds of models of implementing a particular scheme. That was interesting in so many ways. Firstly, to get to step outside of one's own pond and see how the rest of the world approaches the same problem in many different ways was really refreshing and educational. In fact, this should be made a standard practice. Secondly, the visit gave a shocking revelation into the ways things can be manipulated to serve vested interests.. or at least that's what it seemed like to me!
Thirdly, it was great to meet some people I hadn't met in decades! Age is a uniformly cruel thing.. but spirit is one's own. And it was inspiring, to say the least, to see how old friends and elders have kept up their spirits against all the odds that age and time throws at you.. and heartening to see how some relationships still haven't changed, because of the beautiful people in it.
Another dear-to-my-heart project on menstrual hygiene has been started. The planning for it nearly made me pop a nerve, but now that its underway, I am amazed myself at how smoothly its going despite the fact that the 4 odd departments/organisations involved were at loggerheads almost a week before its start! The response of the girls, their mothers is tremendous compared to what I expected.. The follow up mechanisms are also working, though a bit more tweaking is required and underway. The way the usually cynical media has appreciated and covered it has also surprised me. And now UNICEF wants to document it as a best practice.
A part of this time also went in visiting and commissioning works in an old and ignored library. This deserves a separate post, which I will write next. Another part of it went in a few field visits (not as many as I would like to) which were a great exposure for me. This place post rains is beautiful in a way that no one can imagine in this State. People are so diverse.. differences in dialects, customs, practices, expectations from the powers that be.. all of them are so varied within the boundaries of this 12000 sq kms.
It is also an eye opener into the cutting edge level service delivery issues.. which this place has plenty of. I have realised that just like Parkinson's Law, (Work expands to fill the time available for its completion), standards of service delivery tunes itself to the expectations and awareness of the people seeking those services, making sure that it is always at least one notch lower. So, in places where the latter is almost negligible, the standards of service delivery are.. well.. to put it mildly.. pathetic. Sometimes it all feels hopeless. But then, as a friend counselled, dont lose hope and keep at it. Sometimes the results will surprise you..
Last notable thing would be, as a broad category, to figure out gaps where ongoing schemes have not been reaching the intended beneficiary for a while and plug them. That part has been satisfying in the sense that things which got lost, somewhere in the maze of processes, could be salvaged and brought home, where it belongs. Compensation to more than 100 victims of certain crimes, scholarships to certain category of students (including 3700 orphans), sick patients on their death beds, incentives for immunising baby girls, certificates for a special category of people - these are done or nearly done. But what I am more excited about is that we are trying to build a way to figure out 100% reach in future. I am 'this' close to testing it.. If that succeeds, it will be really something!
Ideally, each of these should have gotten a separate entry.. but I haven't been able to write much the last two months and I am just compensating right now.
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