Promoting the culture of volunteering

After a master’s degree in international studies, a higher degree overseas seemed the obvious choice. Instead of all that, I headed off to work in Bikaner district with a voluntary agency. After two decades, except for the occasional twinge of regret for not having read further, largely in response to the pressures of what Ken Robinsonhas aptly described as “academic inflation”, I am delighted at my choice.

add_main_imageThis did not happen entirely by design. I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to go out and volunteer in rural areas in Barmer in 1988, Mirzapur in 1989, Udaipur in 1990 and Palamau and Saharsa districts in 1991. These trips were eye-openers. Two major factors contributed to these trips. An informal student’s group in university that I was a part of enabled us to explore issues pertaining to the environment and development and provided the platform for persons like me to volunteer during vacations. The friendship and conversations over innumerable cups of tea shaped us as individuals. The second was the willingness of “wise persons”, so to speak, in the sector to invest their time in making me and others understand the relevant issues.

Two decades later, I can recollect the hospitality, several conversations and faces of families I met during my trips—people who changed my life. NextMAds

On a bus back from a village in Chohtan block to Barmer, I was talking to a man about relief works in his village. They were receiving a pittance for the work that they undertook in harsh conditions.

I asked him why all of them simply decided not to work and protest. He responded patiently. First, the number of willing labourers in his village far exceeded the number who could receive employment in relief sites. If he refused work, there were others willing to take his place. Then, not every village was fortunate to have relief work. If his village refused, there were other villages willing to engage on those terms. Finally, he looked me in the eye and innocently asked, “When I go home empty-handed in the evening and my daughter cries because we cannot buy any milk, what will I tell her?”

I still remember walking into what was undoubtedly the home of one of the poorest in the remote village of Sundra, on the border of Barmer and Jaisalmer districts. There was just one cot and my hosts insisted I sit on it. I was suddenly surrounded by men and women from all the neighbouring houses, eager to participate in the conversation. I was offered a cup of tea made with goat’s milk; the only person in that gathering who was served. My hosts wouldn’t take no for an answer. I was overwhelmed by their hospitality and scared by their faith but it only got worse. When I was leaving, I discovered that my hosts had to borrow milk for my tea from a neighbour.

In the voluntary sector, as in most other professions, we have a tendency to romanticize our own past. To believe that idealism, values and commitment were unique to our generation and that the young, in particular of today, are different. This cannot be further from the truth.

The diversity of choices available to young people today far exceeds those that were available a few decades ago. We need to invest in young people and give them opportunities to experience life in areas that are unfamiliar to them. We need to support initiatives that promote volunteering among young people in India.

Even a month experiencing another reality can change our young people in ways that we cannot even predict. And who knows when and how it will find reflection in action. sixthMAds

V.K. Madhavan has worked in the not-for-profit sector for two decades and spent 15 years living and working in deserts and hills. He’s still on the fringe asking questions and looking for answers. He writes every fortnight.