On Sunday, September 9th, I went to Muddapuram along with Dr. Prakash Vinjamuri of Life HRG as they started their "Village by Village" program. This is my view point of the situation.
Ok, I admit, I haven't been much of a village boy or been in villages much to realize what the life used to be. So when Dr. Prakash invited me for this trip, I accepted it, even though I was overwhelmed with last minute issues on my recent trip. I also wanted to take a few pictures of Indian Village lifestyle to post them on Flickr (my recent obsession). But what I experienced was something out of the ordinary.
On Sunday, September 9th, Dr. Prakash showed up at 6:15 a.m. at our house as he promised. I had my alarm set for 5:45 a.m., but since I didn't get to bed till 2 a.m., it didn't work. So, I had to do my quick 15 minute getting ready routine, during which I dropped my camera (yes, the same one I used here, I have to send it for repair now). Sorry Dr. Prakash, for being late, that is not my style to make people wait. Anyway, We left around 6:35, along with his wife Dr. Kameswari, a gynacologist. We stopped near LB Nagar, Hyderabad to pickup another social worker, Madhavi, who is from the village Muddapuram it seems. It was her request to Dr. Prakash, that made this village the first choice for the new program. She seemed quite energetic and enthusisastic, and started preparing us for the conditions that we may face once we get there. After a brief break for coffee and gas we continued on this 90 kilometer trip. Half way through, there was a discussion that one of the bridges connecting the village to the route we are taking collapsed recently and we may have to take a detour. We stopped and asked one of the traffic cops we found in a town, and he very confidently said "yes traffic is going through", so without hesitation, we reached the place where the bridge collapsed. Needless to say, it was a dead-end. We found out that we needed to take a detour of about 10 kms.
I am not complaining, but the condition of the detour road was terrible. With roads barely wide enough for one bus, pot holes big enough to bring you to complete halt to cross, the detour took a lot longer than expected. The lack of infrastructure support to village outside of the mainstream cities is quite obvious.
We reached Muddapuram, about an hour late and when we entered the village, there was only one man at the Community Hall, where we supposed to meet with the villagers. As we stopped at Ms. Madhavi's in-laws place in the middle of the village, you can see others started to notice our arrival and starting to gather around. The old man in this picture made his way also, and immediately started talking to Dr. Prakash about his condition. I guess, all villagers are looking forward to medical consultation rather than listening to what they have to offer to help bring the village up to a new level. Patiently both doctors started talking to the people and after a brief breakfast break and a kid announcing our arrival with a "dappu" (a open drum that makes enough noise to get your attention), the group grew to may be 30-40 people.
I took a few pictures of the elder and a couple of girls playing in the street, but somehow, my creative desire to take pictures got overwhelmed by the experience I started to feel with the gathering. I wanted to feel comfortable and come back to take pictures, instead of being selfish and do the pictures I wanted.
There was a glaring lack of young and capable men. The crowd was predominantly older people and almost everyone seem to have a health issue. The so-called medical help they are receiving is a retired compounder (nurse) that comes by and dispenses pain killers and performs injections. So they are all used to drugs that will make them feel instant relief, even though they may not cure the actual illness. That is what they were all expecting from the doctors too. One of the older women even asked in the open - "Are you going to give us any drugs or is this all just show and tell?" - that closed the loop on what Dr. Prakash was trying to convey, but he continued to enquire others, and finally a couple of them saw what he is trying to do and started going over the background of the village and its facilities.
Everybody is now drinking so called filtered water, which seems to come in big containers and as reported by one of the villagers tastes different in each village. Not sure what the "filtering" process is, it seems like a good business around the villages. The effects of Musi (the dirty water river from Hyderabad) seem to be everywhere.
While I was in India, I was working on the our new Online venture PlaygroundOnline. When I visited the village, I realized how we are catering to only the few people in the cities, and how many of the villages may never even hear of us. That is a harsh reality, but it is reality still. Cell phones and TVs invaded most of the villages, but that is where it seems to have stuck. Education is almost on the verge of collapse, with everyone looking to private schools and travelling to nearby towns. Once they finish education, the youth are leaving for cities and leaving the old and aged people to their own devices. People that should have retired or be spending time taking care of their health, are working in the fields and worrying about their future and managing marginal health.
Is giving drugs, throwing money and facilities at villages the right solution? I don't think so. I like the concept Life HRG is taking up, which is to start educating on fundamental changes that can improve the health and lifestyle of villages. Making them utilize the resources they have and make changes to their lifestyle for the longterm well being will be a great accomplishment. It may take time to see the results, but it has to be attempted. In the modern era of instant gratification, people may not be patient enough to take this on instantaneously. So it is going to take tenacity and persistence to make this work and this is the path Dr. Prakash and Life HRG seems to have taken.
I plan on visiting this village on every trip to India and see how it progresses over time with the intiatives being taken up. I wish Dr. Prakash and Life HRG best of luck and do whatever I can do to contibute to its success. I applaude the support Dr. Kameswari is providing in this project to her husband and his vision.
I wish there are more people like Madhavi that take intiative to make their village better instead of preaching them to leave for town. After all, the lifeblood of India is still in its villages and I hope to see it continue to exist and get better!
