The Rising: The Reel and The Reality

Year 2007 – a century and a half after the revolt that started over animal fat covered cartridges in India. A movement that immortalised a common soldier named Mangal Pandey.
So how do I see an event that took place 150 years ago in my country? The British called it ‘The Mutiny of 1857’. If you refer to a dictionary or just look at the synonyms the Microsoft thesaurus gives you, the equivalent of ‘mutiny’ is ‘rebellion’ or ‘an act of defiance’. It refers to a man who dares to look beyond a fixed norm or ritual and stands up for what he believes right. Rebellion is undoubtedly a sign of sheer arrogance, but isn’t the base of arrogance an unmistakable belief in oneself – belief in the cause that you take up and the outcome that you aim for? It took one man to spark off this mutiny – an event that sent ripples across an Empire that had sunk its roots into our soil and had begun to call it their own.

A famous Indian actor starred in a film on this subject. The film may not have been successful but it did get Mangal Pandey out of those history textbooks and back into our Top of mind recall. Films if you observe follow a certain trend, and evolve over the years as the audiences do. Years ago, the ‘ghunghat’ and the self sacrificing ‘sati-savitri’ were the definition of the Indian woman so films on that subject sold like hot cakes. Today films like ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’ (2003) and ‘Namesake’ (2007) start with a woman’s perspective and ends with the same – diametrically opposite to the former if you ask me. Such films are accepted only because of a changing society that does not suppress a woman any longer. As cities rise from level B to A, so are their women breaking those barriers of gender and making their foray into every field possible.

Speaking of films, a piece of art like Rang de Basanti (2006) comes only once in a century. The film’s moral thread is unquestionable and awakens even the most passive soul. It seemed to have brought to life those 200 million Indians that lie between the ages of 15 to 25 years – the ripe, fiery age where aspirations fly high with the zest for change. Several movements like the Anti-Reservation Rally or the Jessica Lal story showed not only unity across states but also the power of young minds. A film like Yuva (2004) truly captured the young and restless spirit that we speak of today. A story of 6 individuals wrapped up around one incident. Each character broke out of their circumstance, and molded the future lying ahead. It was a pleasant surprise to see a character speak out at last – that if politics is dirty, if politics is loaded with corruption, why can’t we (as the youth of today) enter it and clean it?

I was fortunate enough to be selected by my Institute for one of its pioneering initiatives – Project Netrutva. In this initiative, 2 individuals were brought in to our Institute and we (12 student mentors) guided them through the very same curriculum that we had. The difference was one had left education at the age of 15 due to economic constraints, and other was a bit luckier – he had finished his in a night college. They both worked as office boys in Mahindra and Mahindra and were selected for this project after passing through the sharp eye of the Head of Mahindra Special Services Capt. Raghu Raman. No entrance exams, no GDs, PIs, the works – their work and their dedication spoke volumes about what they were capable of. They were born with the acumen; all they needed was an opportunity.

For us 12 mentors, this began as a complete shot in the dark. We were given no details about the students or the project. Capt. Raghu Raman stood in front of an Auditorium full of first year students and said that these boys may not even know how to speak English, they may come from any background and they may never have sat in a classroom. He said to us, “Can you take a leap and give whatever it takes there on? Can you commit to change one individual’s life, while you make yours?”

This may not necessarily be seen as a revolt against our education pattern – there were no complaints against the system. But is this the only way doing it? Is MBA education rightfully for those fortunate few 2.1 million graduates (a measly 0.2% of our country) who sat on the benches of a graduation college (or atleast pretended to have attended one)? Isn’t it possible that one true gem can be spotted amongst us and can be made an exception to that 99.98 percentile rule? Is it that only an engineering or BMS degree can certify you as a value-adding asset to an organisation later? All I know is that today after two years, Jitendra and Prathamesh graduated with me from Welingkar Institute of Management. In a month’s time they will join ICICI Bank and sit on the chair they served tea and lunch to. It was not a matter of luck – this project had turned their lives a full 180 degrees and they had now walked into a world they had never seen before. It was grueling for them and for us, every step along the way. But today they live a dream that seemed so remote to them just 24 months back.
I volunteered for this initiative not for the glamour it would add to my CV or as CSR. It was a simple logic that guided my decision – it always begins with one. On a larger perspective, we intend to take this project to other MBA institutes, draw aid from various organisations so as to subsist it further – so that 2 in our batch became 5 in the next year and then 10, 50 and so on. What we aimed at was the eventual upliftment of that Bottom of the Pyramid – where the largest chunk of India’s richest human resources lies.

I may not have achieved something ground-breaking – I haven’t changed the economy or dropped the oil prices. But 2 individuals, 2 families and many more people linked with these 2 men will live happily for this little push I could give. I draw this example for just one reason. On that day of reckoning when you have to take a stand – whether to follow the crowd and go with that nasty flow, or break that rule and stand up for what you believe – will you do it? Some of biggest issues that infect our country at grassroot levels like illiteracy, poverty cannot be cured in a day. 26% of the Indian population lives below the poverty line making less than $2 a day. They not only need Government policies and an Education cess – they need people like you and me to get involved and pull them out of the soils of this country. It may start with one person, but if each one us takes up a cause, there would be 200 million brains and 400 million hands working in one streamlined direction. I fail to see why this is impossible, for somewhere down in that list of synonyms for mutiny I also saw the word ‘revolution’.

My question here is, will you lie back on your couch when you watch the news each night and say – this country has no future, or get down to business and give a hand in fixing it?

By Namrata Kale