Its been quite some time since i was wanting to write this post. Got time today, and i feel i should not let the time go wasted. Being a part of Navjyoti India foundation for some time at Karala, inspired this post to come up.
Karala is a village in north Delhi, near Rohini. Its an urbanized rural area and possesses the characteristics of fringe i.e. it has the characteristics of rural area as well urban area.. The occupation of people include agriculture, production and services. There are various factories in that region.
I happened to work with Navjyoti organization for sometime and got to understand the works of social organization and community work and development. The experience was good.
During my stay there I enjoyed different types of tasks and works. Being a graphic designer, my skills were utilized as well. Again the my social skills helped me in linking people and organization to each other. Learning under the supervision of Ms. Chandni Bedi helped me a great deal. She surely is a good teacher and motivator.
Visiting slums and Majri village in Karala, helped me in developing an understanding of people there and their lives. For some time i took beginner level computer classes for children of 11th, 12th and graduation. Just a few weeks ago i got a mail from a fellow colleague that my students were missing me also a few days before that, my supervisor, during one of our interactions on phone said the same thing. I want to tell them that I miss them too. Being their teacher i tried to teach them in the most interesting way i could. I feel worth, when my success pays and hear they still think about me.
Meeting Dr. Kiran Bedi and watching her closely during her interaction with staff and audience was a great experience. I also happened to work at Family counseling center there,
During my stay there i experienced:
1. people were not gender-biased and were keen to educate their daughters with the same zeal with which they wanted to educate their sons.
2. The most common attire among the students there were western outfits as well that shows the village doesn't have sticky mind and girls enjoy freedom and their personal choice.
3. Some of the people came up with inhibitions and fear at NCC and talked in a very rigid and rude manner initially, but soon after practicing some patience before them and further talk a trust was formed.
I understood that people in villages have a great fear inside them that they will lose their identity by the third party intervention and hence show a rigid and rude body language to hide their fear.
4. The married girls also had supportive husbands who encouraged them to learn computers etc.
5. Majority of youth coming there were of girls.
6. The problems at Family counseling center were of very different nature.
7. Being an urbanized rural, the place had
pakka Makan and the homes of residents were big.
8. The roads were not built properly but neither were they in too bad condition.
9. I learned when you work in a village and work with a community, they judge you on attire you wear, hence to avoid any misunderstanding and pre-judgemental attitude, one should be in proper dress.
10. Working with people and for people gives a great sense of satisfaction. understanding their problem and socio-psychological issues with them provides a further understanding of life.
