Rural reality will be the only reality for businesses of the future in India. Therefore, it seemed crucial to comprehend the reality that is life for the 65% of India’s population residing in rural villages across the country. It is a simple fact that, by nature, humans posses both capacities and constraints. However, these can be magnified with regards to the circumstances through which we experience and interact with the world. We must not allow the grandiose possibilities to shadow our concentration on the realities of those who exist in our same world, in very different natures.
As a part of our Indian Business Context course, in partnership with local NGO Gram Vikas, my university provided me with the opportunity to a visit rural village for two day. Gram Vikas is an organization that has dedicated its efforts to provide clean water and sanitation facilities as well as sustainable practices and education to rural villages throughout the State of Odisha. Throughout the weekend I was given the chance to observe and interact with individuals whose pursuit of survival is quite different from that of my own.
I was surprised to learn that the phenomenon of free times and weekends is non-existent in the village, something that is literally unheard of and frowned upon in my culture. Where I come from, people live for the weekends and holidays. However, in the village people work every single day except for one day a month that is given as a Hindu Festival for rest and prayer. Even the children go to school 6 days a week from 9:30 a.m. until 4 p.m., compared to the 5 days a week that the children do in the United States. Although the value of equality exists within the village, it was surprising to learn that women and men to do not earn equal wages. For the profession of laborer, men earn an average of 5000 INR per month while women earn 3000 INR per month. The average cost of living in the village is 2500 INR per household, per month. Another contradiction came out during our discussion of marriage, when we were told that villagers are free to marry whomever they wish, but if they choose to marry someone outside of the village, in a different caste, they will no longer be allowed to participate in village affairs. This allotted freedom comes at a very high price.
The most imprinting anomaly that I encountered during my visit was the overwhelming difference between the apparent needs of the village and its inhabitants and how they compared and differed, from my own and those of my community. It is incredible how people in the world actually live without wanting more; that there exists a place where there is such a thing as “good enough”. That is quite possibly the most rare idea in the world that I live in: to have enough. Even beyond that, the villagers posses a generosity out of poverty that is unmatched by people whom have more to give than these villagers could even fathom or dream of. They felt gratitude just to be recognized and to know that somewhere far away, someone in the world knows that they exist.
As a part of our Indian Business Context course, in partnership with local NGO Gram Vikas, my university provided me with the opportunity to a visit rural village for two day. Gram Vikas is an organization that has dedicated its efforts to provide clean water and sanitation facilities as well as sustainable practices and education to rural villages throughout the State of Odisha. Throughout the weekend I was given the chance to observe and interact with individuals whose pursuit of survival is quite different from that of my own.
I was surprised to learn that the phenomenon of free times and weekends is non-existent in the village, something that is literally unheard of and frowned upon in my culture. Where I come from, people live for the weekends and holidays. However, in the village people work every single day except for one day a month that is given as a Hindu Festival for rest and prayer. Even the children go to school 6 days a week from 9:30 a.m. until 4 p.m., compared to the 5 days a week that the children do in the United States. Although the value of equality exists within the village, it was surprising to learn that women and men to do not earn equal wages. For the profession of laborer, men earn an average of 5000 INR per month while women earn 3000 INR per month. The average cost of living in the village is 2500 INR per household, per month. Another contradiction came out during our discussion of marriage, when we were told that villagers are free to marry whomever they wish, but if they choose to marry someone outside of the village, in a different caste, they will no longer be allowed to participate in village affairs. This allotted freedom comes at a very high price.
The most imprinting anomaly that I encountered during my visit was the overwhelming difference between the apparent needs of the village and its inhabitants and how they compared and differed, from my own and those of my community. It is incredible how people in the world actually live without wanting more; that there exists a place where there is such a thing as “good enough”. That is quite possibly the most rare idea in the world that I live in: to have enough. Even beyond that, the villagers posses a generosity out of poverty that is unmatched by people whom have more to give than these villagers could even fathom or dream of. They felt gratitude just to be recognized and to know that somewhere far away, someone in the world knows that they exist.