VoicesA Buddha Fellowship newsletter

January2019

Enterprising beyond Charity: Custard Apple Value Chain in Damargidda

Beyond Bloodlines – Discovering known beyond unknowns

A Clinic for Entrepreneurs

Beyond the Horizon

Man Social Animal

Enterprising beyond Charity: Custard Apple Value Chain in Damargidda

Custard Apple - Bounty from the Forest

While travelling to Pali District in Udaipur it was certainly a common sight greeting travelers along the highways having women and children from villages sitting on either side of the highways with baskets of Custard Apple. The delicious and sweet

When we want to help the poor, we usually offer them charity. Most often we use charity to avoid recognizing the problem and finding the solution for it. Charity becomes a way to shrug off our responsibility. But charity is no solution to poverty. Charity only perpetuates poverty by taking the initiative away from the poor. Charity allows us to go ahead with our own lives without worrying about the lives of the poor. Charity appeases our consciences.

Muhammad Yunus

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Y Prathyusha

Custard Apple in India is commonly called Sitaphal, and due to its high perishability, the negotiating powers of those tribal families decreases in front of the customers. Though Custard Apple originated from South America, but it grows abundantly in the wild forests of 13 states in India including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana to name a few.

Enterprising beyond Charity: Custard Apple Value Chain in Damargidda

When I joined the Buddha Fellowship Program after completion of my Management Degree from IIM Udaipur, I came across the Custard Apple Value Chain in both Pali District in Rajasthan along with Chhindwara District in Madhya Pradesh. During my rural immersion I had the opportunity to witness the lives and livelihoods of these villagers. I lived with them and experienced their lives by being one of the members within the community. It was an eye opener for me as I realized that these women who labor at collecting the Sitaphal from the forests are forced for distress selling their produce to middlemen traders at throwaway prices, because they don’t have access to the marketplace or storage and processing units to manage the entire value chain of this produce.

Replicating the Custard Apple Value Chain in Damargidda

Self-Reliant Initiatives for Joint Action ( SRIJAN ) along with technical support ofa Professor from Agriculture University had established the Custard Apple Value Chain in Pali District in Rajasthan. In next phase the Custard Apple Value Chain got replicated in the Chhindwara District in Madhya Pradesh. Witnessing the potential of the Custard Apple Project, Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) invited SRIJAN to replicate the intervention in the Mehboobnagar District in Telangana. It was certainly a challenging task as it had to be started from scratch right from mobilizing the women for collectivization, procuring machineries, training women for value addition process, exploring new buyers and marketing the pulp. I partnered with another Buddha Fellow, Kolli Madhu from IIM Ahmedabad for replicating the Custard Apple in Damargidda, in Mehboobnagar District in Telangana.

Custard Apple Procurement, Processing Pulp & Marketing

Forming the FPO: We conducted multiple village level meetings to convincethem to form the Farmer Producer Organization and explained to them how being stakeholders in the FPO will empower them. It was an interesting experience to conduct all these meetings in the late evenings after the farmers returned from working their fields. In the end we were able to mobilize over 850 families to come together to form an FPO. Infrastructure Procurement and Set-up: Madhu and I identified and negotiated best rates for deep freezers, hardeners and weighing equipment’s from vendors based in Hyderabad. Working against the clock in order to not miss the fruit season, we were able to have these freezers transported to Damargidda from Hyderabad, just in time for the processing.Procurement & Processing of Sitaphal from the Villagers: Though reluctant to bypass the powerful traders and middlemen, the villagers were ultimately convinced by us to sell their produce to

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Enterprising beyond Charity: Custard Apple Value Chain in DamargiddaVoices 3

the FPO collection centers. Women from the villages were employed for collecting, sorting and scooping of pulp from the fruits, earning them wages of Rs.150/day. The pulp was then processed and hardened at – 40 C and then transferred to deep freezers to store at – 20 C. In the phase August – November we covered 300 families from 2 Village Level Collection & Processing Centers and 6 Village Level Collection Centers and procured over 12 tons of the Sitaphal pulp. The frozen pulp is good to use for 12 monthsGoing forward we’ll be covering 850 families from 32 VLCPC’s & VLCC’s from the Villages in Damaragidda Block.

Reaching the Marketplace: Madhu and I were able to get on board well-known ice cream brands in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh such as Scoops and Dairy Fudge to buy our custard apple pulp. We sold machine pulped at the rate of Rs 190 per kg and hand pulp at the rate of Rs 225 per kg.

I was raised in Durgapur, the ‘Steel City’ of India. While pursuing Agribusiness Management from Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow, we visited many villages and interacted with the farming community, learning about their hardships and challenges. Thus due to this exposure I increasingly felt the pull to work amongst the less privileged rural people and contribute to enhance their lives. This prompted

me to apply for the Buddha Fellowship Program. As part of the Induction process, I was sentfor a 2 weeks Rural Immersion in Belkheda Village in Chhindwara District. It provides an opportunity to stay with communities in rural area. While staying with them we develop a true understanding of the community’s situation - their access to education, livelihood and health care, and participate in their daily lives.

Belkheda is a beautiful village nestling among small mountain valleys, consisting around 250 households, and 35 kms from any city area. Considering the resources, they had one primary school, a Government run Public Distribution System outlet. Transportation was a concern and any visit to Chhindwara city needed to be planned as there’s only one bus in the morning that goes to the city and one bus service in the evening for the return journey. A primary health care service was 10-12 km away. Initially I was quite anxious because I knew they spoke a different language, ate food that I was not familiar with at all and had an entirely alien lifestyle to the one I was usedto. So, I had no idea how I was going to adjust to this new environment. The Community Resource Person who was working with SRIJAN accompanied me to the village and introduced me to the family, told them about my background and left. Now it was up to me and the family. Well, for starters I didn’t even know how to break the ice with the family members.

Fortunately, after an hour thing started to change, I was able to start a conversation, told them about myself, my family and, they looked quiet interested while listening to me. Surprisingly in next 2-3 hours the scenario was completely changed, I no longer had the same feeling that I was carrying before reaching the village. The members of the family, especially the women tried their best to make me comfortable. From the next day, I tried to participate in their day to day work; helped them in their household works, in their fields, and started teaching the kids in the family. I was touched to see how this family with very limited means and education, welcomed me into their lives, extend their resources to make me comfortable. In fact, even their neighbors joined in welcoming to the Village’s fold. Despite living deep in a rural village, with limited access to just about any essential services and livelihood opportunities, they toiled hard to overcome these

difficulties and celebrated their little joys. I will forever remember the love and care I received from this family – Indeed I would say they enveloped me in their care and treated me as their own a family.Undergoing Rural Immersion Experience, I will never be the same person again. I will no longer complain about the small things anymore and the fear of living with unknowns had changed. Warm acceptance for me within the family had certainly made me to feel as if one of their own.

Our Learnings: This was a great startup experience for us, as we were involved atall stages of the project like getting quotations from the vendors for machinery, mobilizing the villagers for fruit procurement, procurement and installation of machinery, operations of the processing unit and selling the pulp to ice cream vendors. Helping to increase the income of these villagers, especially the women, was a highlygratifying experience.

“At 4 AM woke up hearing some noise, which I guessed came from the kitchen. At first, I was a bit afraid but then when I entered the kitchen I was overwhelmed to see Laxmi Didi packing a lunchbox for me. It was for my journey back to Delhi from Belkheda Village in Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh!”

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Beyond Bloodlines – Discovering known beyond unknownsSakuntala Majhi

I was raised in Durgapur, the ‘Steel City’ of India. While pursuing Agribusiness Management from Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow, we visited many villages and interacted with the farming community, learning about their hardships and challenges. Thus due to this exposure I increasingly felt the pull to work amongst the less privileged rural people and contribute to enhance their lives. This prompted

me to apply for the Buddha Fellowship Program. As part of the Induction process, I was sentfor a 2 weeks Rural Immersion in Belkheda Village in Chhindwara District. It provides an opportunity to stay with communities in rural area. While staying with them we develop a true understanding of the community’s situation - their access to education, livelihood and health care, and participate in their daily lives.

Belkheda is a beautiful village nestling among small mountain valleys, consisting around 250 households, and 35 kms from any city area. Considering the resources, they had one primary school, a Government run Public Distribution System outlet. Transportation was a concern and any visit to Chhindwara city needed to be planned as there’s only one bus in the morning that goes to the city and one bus service in the evening for the return journey. A primary health care service was 10-12 km away. Initially I was quite anxious because I knew they spoke a different language, ate food that I was not familiar with at all and had an entirely alien lifestyle to the one I was usedto. So, I had no idea how I was going to adjust to this new environment. The Community Resource Person who was working with SRIJAN accompanied me to the village and introduced me to the family, told them about my background and left. Now it was up to me and the family. Well, for starters I didn’t even know how to break the ice with the family members.

Fortunately, after an hour thing started to change, I was able to start a conversation, told them about myself, my family and, they looked quiet interested while listening to me. Surprisingly in next 2-3 hours the scenario was completely changed, I no longer had the same feeling that I was carrying before reaching the village. The members of the family, especially the women tried their best to make me comfortable. From the next day, I tried to participate in their day to day work; helped them in their household works, in their fields, and started teaching the kids in the family. I was touched to see how this family with very limited means and education, welcomed me into their lives, extend their resources to make me comfortable. In fact, even their neighbors joined in welcoming to the Village’s fold. Despite living deep in a rural village, with limited access to just about any essential services and livelihood opportunities, they toiled hard to overcome these

difficulties and celebrated their little joys. I will forever remember the love and care I received from this family – Indeed I would say they enveloped me in their care and treated me as their own a family.Undergoing Rural Immersion Experience, I will never be the same person again. I will no longer complain about the small things anymore and the fear of living with unknowns had changed. Warm acceptance for me within the family had certainly made me to feel as if one of their own.

I was raised in Durgapur, the ‘Steel City’ of India. While pursuing Agribusiness Management from Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow, we visited many villages and interacted with the farming community, learning about their hardships and challenges. Thus due to this exposure I increasingly felt the pull to work amongst the less privileged rural people and contribute to enhance their lives. This prompted

me to apply for the Buddha Fellowship Program. As part of the Induction process, I was sentfor a 2 weeks Rural Immersion in Belkheda Village in Chhindwara District. It provides an opportunity to stay with communities in rural area. While staying with them we develop a true understanding of the community’s situation - their access to education, livelihood and health care, and participate in their daily lives.

Beyond Bloodlines – Discovering known beyond unknownsVoices 5

Belkheda is a beautiful village nestling among small mountain valleys, consisting around 250 households, and 35 kms from any city area. Considering the resources, they had one primary school, a Government run Public Distribution System outlet. Transportation was a concern and any visit to Chhindwara city needed to be planned as there’s only one bus in the morning that goes to the city and one bus service in the evening for the return journey. A primary health care service was 10-12 km away. Initially I was quite anxious because I knew they spoke a different language, ate food that I was not familiar with at all and had an entirely alien lifestyle to the one I was usedto. So, I had no idea how I was going to adjust to this new environment. The Community Resource Person who was working with SRIJAN accompanied me to the village and introduced me to the family, told them about my background and left. Now it was up to me and the family. Well, for starters I didn’t even know how to break the ice with the family members.

Fortunately, after an hour thing started to change, I was able to start a conversation, told them about myself, my family and, they looked quiet interested while listening to me. Surprisingly in next 2-3 hours the scenario was completely changed, I no longer had the same feeling that I was carrying before reaching the village. The members of the family, especially the women tried their best to make me comfortable. From the next day, I tried to participate in their day to day work; helped them in their household works, in their fields, and started teaching the kids in the family. I was touched to see how this family with very limited means and education, welcomed me into their lives, extend their resources to make me comfortable. In fact, even their neighbors joined in welcoming to the Village’s fold. Despite living deep in a rural village, with limited access to just about any essential services and livelihood opportunities, they toiled hard to overcome these

difficulties and celebrated their little joys. I will forever remember the love and care I received from this family – Indeed I would say they enveloped me in their care and treated me as their own a family.Undergoing Rural Immersion Experience, I will never be the same person again. I will no longer complain about the small things anymore and the fear of living with unknowns had changed. Warm acceptance for me within the family had certainly made me to feel as if one of their own.

“How many of you have a dream?” asked Professor Trilochan Sastry to the Buddha Fellows. While I was frantically trying to articulate my answer, he followed up with the remark, “it`s fine if you don`t want to answer this.” Strange! But then some of us Buddha Fellows volunteered with our answers. He heard us out and then said “It`s important for you to have a dream. For it is the dream that will decide how far you will go in life.”

“”

I was raised in Durgapur, the ‘Steel City’ of India. While pursuing Agribusiness Management from Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow, we visited many villages and interacted with the farming community, learning about their hardships and challenges. Thus due to this exposure I increasingly felt the pull to work amongst the less privileged rural people and contribute to enhance their lives. This prompted

me to apply for the Buddha Fellowship Program. As part of the Induction process, I was sentfor a 2 weeks Rural Immersion in Belkheda Village in Chhindwara District. It provides an opportunity to stay with communities in rural area. While staying with them we develop a true understanding of the community’s situation - their access to education, livelihood and health care, and participate in their daily lives.

Belkheda is a beautiful village nestling among small mountain valleys, consisting around 250 households, and 35 kms from any city area. Considering the resources, they had one primary school, a Government run Public Distribution System outlet. Transportation was a concern and any visit to Chhindwara city needed to be planned as there’s only one bus in the morning that goes to the city and one bus service in the evening for the return journey. A primary health care service was 10-12 km away. Initially I was quite anxious because I knew they spoke a different language, ate food that I was not familiar with at all and had an entirely alien lifestyle to the one I was usedto. So, I had no idea how I was going to adjust to this new environment. The Community Resource Person who was working with SRIJAN accompanied me to the village and introduced me to the family, told them about my background and left. Now it was up to me and the family. Well, for starters I didn’t even know how to break the ice with the family members.

Fortunately, after an hour thing started to change, I was able to start a conversation, told them about myself, my family and, they looked quiet interested while listening to me. Surprisingly in next 2-3 hours the scenario was completely changed, I no longer had the same feeling that I was carrying before reaching the village. The members of the family, especially the women tried their best to make me comfortable. From the next day, I tried to participate in their day to day work; helped them in their household works, in their fields, and started teaching the kids in the family. I was touched to see how this family with very limited means and education, welcomed me into their lives, extend their resources to make me comfortable. In fact, even their neighbors joined in welcoming to the Village’s fold. Despite living deep in a rural village, with limited access to just about any essential services and livelihood opportunities, they toiled hard to overcome these

difficulties and celebrated their little joys. I will forever remember the love and care I received from this family – Indeed I would say they enveloped me in their care and treated me as their own a family.Undergoing Rural Immersion Experience, I will never be the same person again. I will no longer complain about the small things anymore and the fear of living with unknowns had changed. Warm acceptance for me within the family had certainly made me to feel as if one of their own.

A Clinic for Entrepreneurs

Sumit Jaiswal

This conversation happened during the recently concluded entrepreneurship clinic, a quarterly affair in Buddha Fellowship Program, in Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh. It may appear a bit unusual for an entrepreneurship workshop to happen at a place which hardly anyone knows about. But it is important to know the purpose behind it. Other than brainstorming sessions, pitching ideas, and some thought-provoking

sessions with eminent personalities from the business and social sector, we also got to visit the Custard Apple Processing Plant located in Mokhed block of Chhindwara which has created a very positive impact in the life of tribal families by providing them employment and business opportunities. Such a delightful scene it was to see the women in action and, managing the whole unit by themselves. So, you can see why

the clinic was organized at Chhindwara - The idea being to supplement the discussions with a dose of practical exposure to enthuse the Fellows to believe in themselves and their entrepreneurial journey.

Coming back to Prof. Shastri`s session, the way he wove stories around his ideas made him an instant hit among the Fellows. He probably understood the sentiment and said, “Everyone loves stories. You got to find the right one for your audience.” Another lesson from Prof. Sastry which I found very practical was “Don`t try to solve every problem under the sun. If you do, you will find yourself spreading too thin without doing anything significant. So always take one issue and solve it with all your heart”. His take on mobilizing people also broke many myths related to social sector. He said, “Become an enabler and then get out of the way! Let people mobilize themselves and take their own decisions”. Finally he signed off with this beautiful quote “Cooperation is an art of faith. For those who have faith no explanation is needed, for those who don’t have it no explanation is possible.”

Other eminent guest speakers at the clinic included Mr. Nanda Nandkishore from the USA, Mr Ravi Sreedharan, Founder of Indian School of Development Management (ISDM) and Suresh Warrier, CFO of Axis Bank Ltd. Mr. Nandkishore shared with us his own start up journey and said, “You should try to solve a problem which is big enough and could be solved in the most cost effective way and tested in a rigorous environment”. Also his focus on an exit plan from the beginning was an important lesson to take home. His advice on pricing strategy is worth mentioning here. He said, “Even if it’s a no-profit venture, it`s always a good idea to get people to pay something. Everyone loves free lunch but without understanding its value. So it`s important

to make people realize the value of it making them invest in the stakes. When they pay for it, they don`t have a choice but to care about it.”However, workshop was not just all gyaan. We had a fair share of fun among ourselves and with the team. Late night discussions, working on presentations and our emerging business model, exchanging in million dollar ideas among Fellows , and pitching in front of prospective investors who didn’t spare us if we were not well prepared made the 3 days’ workshop seem very short indeed! Finally, it was time to leave. Buddha Fellows said good bye to each other and wished each other success. The completion of one journey paves way for the other. The Fellows who have started their journey on a less travelled path have a long way to go. And this entrepreneurship workshop was an effort to help them in their effort to succeed. My sincere thanks to everyone involved in organizing this clinic.

Until we meet again with new hopes and success stories…

Beyond Bloodlines – Discovering known beyond unknownsVoices 5

Beyond the Horizon

Darshan D

The importance of healthcare can only be understood when you are out in the field and see the unavailability of the basic healthcare facilities. Over time JSS has been able to set up infrastructure along with the availability of well qualified doctors that tribal people have found hope to get the unmet needs addressed. The focus also moved to creation of capacities at the village level that people chosen from the villages were trained over time to act as paramedics to deliver not just basic medical treatment but also quality care. In one of my assignments at Jan Swastha Sahyog I had to understand the role and responsibilities of village health worker. On my interaction with the one of the workers, I understood how over years the woman has been trained and how she has picked up the skills needed to look after the medical needs of the village. In the interaction the person highlighted the fact that the villagers have slowly over time started accepting the JSS medicine and have stopped believing in superstition and quacks. Almost all the households visit the village health worker for their treatment. After 17 years of practising, there are now only few households who go for alternate medicine. The inventory of medicine available along with the equipment’s needed to deliver quality health care has been made available to

her. In another interaction, The Senior health worker who is a person chosen from among the village health worker commented that even without any formal training as a doctor, the person can deliver medical services and that gives him satisfaction.

The amount of work put in by the members at JSS and the belief that such a system lead by community was possible struck me. A person who had not had a decent education was able to deliver medical services and bring about a change in the village she stayed. This made me overcome my own fears of uncertainty. This gave me a kind of boost needed to undertake whatever tasks I would be assigned. Apart from this, other exposure visits also highlighted the fact that change can only be possible when people from the change is intended at see a transformation in themselves. They see a value addition to the skills they already possess which will translate into running a sustainable venture in the long run. Taking forward this learning and adding it to the few ideas which have sprung up due to the exposure visits undertaken, I have been trying to work out a sustainable model where the capacity building of the people would be the focus. This would help in giving the needed human resource to scale up in the future and help in bringing about acceptance of the people in the intervention/initiative to be introduced. However, the ideas which strike me are in the area of business but one which will address the nutritional requirements of the people in the rural areas which can later on be developed for the urban area for better price realization.

Man Social Animal

Ishan Pasrija

“Humankind rose from the middle of the food chain to the top of it in just a few thousand years, and all because of their capability to form large groups. We became the first animals to form groups greater than 150, and that was the breakthrough” -Essence of the bestseller book, Sapiens, by Yuval Noah Harari.

“”

Saggi Bai looked at me, standing tall in the verandah of her 1 room house in Uplabhimana village in Rajasthan. All 12 members of her family looked on, as she spoke, “I was also scared to speak in public, just like other tribal women. We’d be thrown out of police station, the sarpanch won’t listen to us, and we never even considered reaching out to the collector.” The family seemed bored now. Presumably, they had heard this story

Be it the most revered SHG model running successfully across the world, or a successfully running FPO like Kesla Poultry, run by 1200 families running backyard poultry coming together, and in 2 decades, reaching annual profits of more than 30 Crores, while none of the members can individually contribute any breakthrough to the organization, together they not only compete with the international giants but

beat them on many grounds.before. The pride with which Saggi bai spoke seemed to suggest that she told this story as earnestly to others, as she was telling me.

“But it’s all changed now. Now, if I come close to a Police Station, the Inspector would come out and ask if everything was alright. He would call for tea. The Sarpanch sahib too listens to all our suggestions, as a result you can see, many villages, including ours, have got a road for the first time since existence. And as for the collector, you already know”, Saggi Bai beamed.

Saggi bai is the head of a federation, called Ghoomar, in Pali district in Rajasthan. The federation consists of more than 400 SHGs and runs a custard apple business for its members. The federation apart from running the profitable

business, also involves itself in social issues, like requesting ban on alcohol- a petition signed by

more than 2500 women, pressurizing the administration for road construction in inaccessible places. The federation example takes Harari’s theories application beyond animals climbing food chain and shows how collectivization also helps humans climb the social and power chains. Tribal women like Saggi bai within 10 years have climbed up from the bottom of the social ladder to almost the top in their area. This is the power of collectivization.

Be it the most revered SHG model running successfully across the world, or a successfully running FPO like Kesla Poultry, run by 1200 families running backyard poultry coming together, and in 2 decades, reaching annual profits of more than 30 Crores, while none of the members can individually contribute any breakthrough to the organization, together they

not only compete with the international giants but beat them on many grounds.

Just spending 40 days in villages one realizes how collectivization is not just a means for social and economic improvement, but it is a survival mechanism. Every aspect of human life is dependent on it. Be it agriculture, to building your house, to ensuring safety, to entertainment, every aspect of rural life is based on the community. Maslow shared his hierarchy of human needs, and looking at that, we realize how dependent rural life is on community. Every aspect, every deficiency, every poverty, is fulfilled through community. Even a basic operation, like conducting marriage would not even be possible without the community coming together.

Saggi Bai looked at me, standing tall in the verandah of her 1 room house in Uplabhimana village in Rajasthan. All 12 members of her family looked on, as she spoke, “I was also scared to speak in public, just like other tribal women. We’d be thrown out of police station, the sarpanch won’t listen to us, and we never even considered reaching out to the collector.” The family seemed bored now. Presumably, they had heard this story

Be it the most revered SHG model running successfully across the world, or a successfully running FPO like Kesla Poultry, run by 1200 families running backyard poultry coming together, and in 2 decades, reaching annual profits of more than 30 Crores, while none of the members can individually contribute any breakthrough to the organization, together they not only compete with the international giants but

Man Social AnimalVoices 7

beat them on many grounds.before. The pride with which Saggi bai spoke seemed to suggest that she told this story as earnestly to others, as she was telling me.

“But it’s all changed now. Now, if I come close to a Police Station, the Inspector would come out and ask if everything was alright. He would call for tea. The Sarpanch sahib too listens to all our suggestions, as a result you can see, many villages, including ours, have got a road for the first time since existence. And as for the collector, you already know”, Saggi Bai beamed.

Saggi bai is the head of a federation, called Ghoomar, in Pali district in Rajasthan. The federation consists of more than 400 SHGs and runs a custard apple business for its members. The federation apart from running the profitable

business, also involves itself in social issues, like requesting ban on alcohol- a petition signed by

more than 2500 women, pressurizing the administration for road construction in inaccessible places. The federation example takes Harari’s theories application beyond animals climbing food chain and shows how collectivization also helps humans climb the social and power chains. Tribal women like Saggi bai within 10 years have climbed up from the bottom of the social ladder to almost the top in their area. This is the power of collectivization.

Be it the most revered SHG model running successfully across the world, or a successfully running FPO like Kesla Poultry, run by 1200 families running backyard poultry coming together, and in 2 decades, reaching annual profits of more than 30 Crores, while none of the members can individually contribute any breakthrough to the organization, together they

not only compete with the international giants but beat them on many grounds.

Just spending 40 days in villages one realizes how collectivization is not just a means for social and economic improvement, but it is a survival mechanism. Every aspect of human life is dependent on it. Be it agriculture, to building your house, to ensuring safety, to entertainment, every aspect of rural life is based on the community. Maslow shared his hierarchy of human needs, and looking at that, we realize how dependent rural life is on community. Every aspect, every deficiency, every poverty, is fulfilled through community. Even a basic operation, like conducting marriage would not even be possible without the community coming together.

Saggi Bai looked at me, standing tall in the verandah of her 1 room house in Uplabhimana village in Rajasthan. All 12 members of her family looked on, as she spoke, “I was also scared to speak in public, just like other tribal women. We’d be thrown out of police station, the sarpanch won’t listen to us, and we never even considered reaching out to the collector.” The family seemed bored now. Presumably, they had heard this story

Be it the most revered SHG model running successfully across the world, or a successfully running FPO like Kesla Poultry, run by 1200 families running backyard poultry coming together, and in 2 decades, reaching annual profits of more than 30 Crores, while none of the members can individually contribute any breakthrough to the organization, together they not only compete with the international giants but

beat them on many grounds.before. The pride with which Saggi bai spoke seemed to suggest that she told this story as earnestly to others, as she was telling me.

“But it’s all changed now. Now, if I come close to a Police Station, the Inspector would come out and ask if everything was alright. He would call for tea. The Sarpanch sahib too listens to all our suggestions, as a result you can see, many villages, including ours, have got a road for the first time since existence. And as for the collector, you already know”, Saggi Bai beamed.

Saggi bai is the head of a federation, called Ghoomar, in Pali district in Rajasthan. The federation consists of more than 400 SHGs and runs a custard apple business for its members. The federation apart from running the profitable

business, also involves itself in social issues, like requesting ban on alcohol- a petition signed by

more than 2500 women, pressurizing the administration for road construction in inaccessible places. The federation example takes Harari’s theories application beyond animals climbing food chain and shows how collectivization also helps humans climb the social and power chains. Tribal women like Saggi bai within 10 years have climbed up from the bottom of the social ladder to almost the top in their area. This is the power of collectivization.

Be it the most revered SHG model running successfully across the world, or a successfully running FPO like Kesla Poultry, run by 1200 families running backyard poultry coming together, and in 2 decades, reaching annual profits of more than 30 Crores, while none of the members can individually contribute any breakthrough to the organization, together they

not only compete with the international giants but beat them on many grounds.

Man Social AnimalVoices 7

Just spending 40 days in villages one realizes how collectivization is not just a means for social and economic improvement, but it is a survival mechanism. Every aspect of human life is dependent on it. Be it agriculture, to building your house, to ensuring safety, to entertainment, every aspect of rural life is based on the community. Maslow shared his hierarchy of human needs, and looking at that, we realize how dependent rural life is on community. Every aspect, every deficiency, every poverty, is fulfilled through community. Even a basic operation, like conducting marriage would not even be possible without the community coming together.

Saggi Bai looked at me, standing tall in the verandah of her 1 room house in Uplabhimana village in Rajasthan. All 12 members of her family looked on, as she spoke, “I was also scared to speak in public, just like other tribal women. We’d be thrown out of police station, the sarpanch won’t listen to us, and we never even considered reaching out to the collector.” The family seemed bored now. Presumably, they had heard this story

Be it the most revered SHG model running successfully across the world, or a successfully running FPO like Kesla Poultry, run by 1200 families running backyard poultry coming together, and in 2 decades, reaching annual profits of more than 30 Crores, while none of the members can individually contribute any breakthrough to the organization, together they not only compete with the international giants but

beat them on many grounds.before. The pride with which Saggi bai spoke seemed to suggest that she told this story as earnestly to others, as she was telling me.

“But it’s all changed now. Now, if I come close to a Police Station, the Inspector would come out and ask if everything was alright. He would call for tea. The Sarpanch sahib too listens to all our suggestions, as a result you can see, many villages, including ours, have got a road for the first time since existence. And as for the collector, you already know”, Saggi Bai beamed.

Saggi bai is the head of a federation, called Ghoomar, in Pali district in Rajasthan. The federation consists of more than 400 SHGs and runs a custard apple business for its members. The federation apart from running the profitable

business, also involves itself in social issues, like requesting ban on alcohol- a petition signed by

more than 2500 women, pressurizing the administration for road construction in inaccessible places. The federation example takes Harari’s theories application beyond animals climbing food chain and shows how collectivization also helps humans climb the social and power chains. Tribal women like Saggi bai within 10 years have climbed up from the bottom of the social ladder to almost the top in their area. This is the power of collectivization.

Be it the most revered SHG model running successfully across the world, or a successfully running FPO like Kesla Poultry, run by 1200 families running backyard poultry coming together, and in 2 decades, reaching annual profits of more than 30 Crores, while none of the members can individually contribute any breakthrough to the organization, together they

not only compete with the international giants but beat them on many grounds.

Just spending 40 days in villages one realizes how collectivization is not just a means for social and economic improvement, but it is a survival mechanism. Every aspect of human life is dependent on it. Be it agriculture, to building your house, to ensuring safety, to entertainment, every aspect of rural life is based on the community. Maslow shared his hierarchy of human needs, and looking at that, we realize how dependent rural life is on community. Every aspect, every deficiency, every poverty, is fulfilled through community. Even a basic operation, like conducting marriage would not even be possible without the community coming together.

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