The Memoirs Of 4 Researchers.

Pragati, the second most used word in the campus(Refer post #1), has moved up the list. This time around the students have founded another wing of Pragati for “Market research”. This wing works for companies which have untapped segments in the rural market by preparing questionnaires, carrying out the research and making the results available to the companies. Our MR imitative aims to leverage the demographics within which KIAMS is located. The clients this year include KBL,Dandekar’s and talks with companies like Colgate, Uninor are being finalized as I write.

The inaugural of the MR was done 4 days(10-feb) back when 4 students embarked on a journey to a rural with a back pack, a water bottle and a map, apiece. They embarked on the first survey to be conducted by this wing. The village was “Honnebagi” which was tugged away 10 odd Kms from the nearest taluka “Channagiri”.

(Switching over to first person narrative)

It was 8 in the morning. The four of us had assembled at the main gates of the campus after having gone to the temple to take Lord Hanuman’s blessings. We were going on a journey that we knew would be demanding, physically. In a unknown village ,under a hostile environment all we had at our aid was a group member who spoke kannada, Mr Abhayesh-An Andhra joker(Anathram sir Fans please appreciate!!)

20 mints later after having a hard time trying to figure out the appropriate mode of transportation we got onto a bus which the conductor claimed would take us directly into the villages of Karnataka. With a wide grin and a happy heart we flagged off our journey. 2 hours post sitting in a crammed up bus, with a child each in our laps, we were told we would be reaching our destination shortly. The definition of “Rural India” as I knew it was going to change forever!!

After a long and a tiring ride we finally got down at the bus-stand. To cut the long story short we finally reached the village,45 mints hence.(A dosa per person, A piping hot tea, A 6 Km walk, A Tractor lift and A short police inquiry happened in the interim) Our objective was to determine the farming practices of the villagers and the kinds of water pumps that were being used within that area. Our sample size was 50, which we were confident we would be able to cover.

On seeing us in the village some villagers were scared, some worried, some hostile, some inquisitive. We felt like foreigners in Timbuktu(Not quite, perhaps!) Within 30 mints of we landing in the village the news had spread like wild fire. The village being mainly inhabited by the minority community we found it reasonably easy to converse(Mr. Abhayesh, who was feeling very proud of his Kannada speaking skills throughout the journey, was considerably let down as the need-gap for him was growing with every passing moment)The initial 3 questionnaires took us around a hour to complete. This was because the people were wary of us and mistook us to be city dwellers who had come there with the motive of taking over their farm lands. A pen and a official looking paper in hand acted as a catalyst to their fears. As we conversed with one farmer, we were constantly surrounded by around 20 adults who were looking from over our shoulders, 10 children who were peeping from between our legs. We managed to convince them that taking over their farms was not our motive. After thorough interrogation from their side they did start to believe us. (We learnt a lot from their questioning too. How to ask two related questions at different time intervals and interpret answering discrepancies, was one of them. Our questionnaire modeling style was hence improved!!!)

We learnt about the conditions they were living in. Abject poverty, in accessible electricity, insufficient drinking and farming water were their primary concerns. They were ,in short,
Being denied the basic necessities of life. Almost the entire village used electric pumps. Electricity to run them was available only for around 6 hours a day at infrequent times. People had no food to eat, no water to drink, children had no schools to attend. They told us the primary reasons were a non-cooperative government, an uncaring panchayat and a un-educated village population. The purpose with which we had gone to the village had long taken a backseat. There are times when a goal is not everything. This was one of those times!!!

The learning curve came into effect as we learnt which villager to approach, how to approach and how many questions to ask. The questionnaire we had developed had some questions that were not at all applicable in case of the village. (Example :- Income and Education. People were not earning much and many of them were illiterate, Facts they were unwilling to reveal and sometimes even hostile.) We started neglecting such questions and were more concerned in determining how and what can be done to improve their conditions. With a heavy heart I have to admit that there is not much we can do unless we have strong finances. Government cannot be instigated to take any action as any instigation MAY lead to more promises. Promises is the last thing Honnebagi needs today! It cries for action.

By the end of the day we had managed to get only 25 questionnaires filled. But we were least concerned about that . As we started to head back to Harihar the memories held onto us. As we left people with hopeful eyes bid us farewell. There are probably a million villages out there with conditions worse than in Honnebagi. But it gives me no comfort. It only fuels my uneasiness.

As I finish writing this a child somewhere is crying. Not because he did not get his pizza, or because he broke his toy, or because the AC is not working. He cries for he is holding a rug, with an empty stomach, trying to sleep. But the damn mosquitoes refuse him that royalty!!!