Nurungukal…2…contd…

       I have been lucky to be part of many a  work shops or seminars on various subjects, mainly related with conservation and biodiversity. Now at this age of 75 years, when I look back and evaluate the end product of such gatherings, a sort of dismay creeps in. Because many, the majority of them, were conducted for the sake of spending a fund. There was no sincere effort to follow up. You can notice that in our society the months of February and March are always busy for people like me with such programmes. Because before the end of the financial year the organisers have to utilise the funds. I have struggled to comply with the schedule, many a time.

       Professionalism in managing the proceedings of such events is a matter to reckon with. Some institutions,for example , M.S. SWAMINATHAN FOUNDATION, have a retinue of manpower, who knows the pulse of the faculties and audience as well. More over the infrastructural facilities with them are most modern and flawless. The home work such institutions do are meticulous. Even in such arrangements I have come across instances when the power point system failed and the speaker grappling in the dark. Most of them now depend on such gadgets to ensure the flow of their presentation and any failure in the system will force them to draw a blank. Some used to manage the situation with ingenuity, but many struggle to put up with the it. I was also once or twice the victim of such embarrassing situations and that too before an elite audience of scientists and scholars at a workshop organised by CFTRI Mysore.

    The scenario is entirely different when it comes to a village level programme. I had the opportunity to conduct many in my capacity as the president of a milk co-op society. Here we have to observe some strict schedule of protocol. The printing of invitation letter itself is a difficult process, because if we by chance make a mistake in positioning the name of a dignitary, it can attract his wrath,which some time may even be by boycoting the function not only by him but also by his political followers. The omission of a personality may lead to even more dangerous situations. The most difficult task is to get an impressive gathering and to make them patiently sit till the very last event. The ring tone of the mobile phones very often interrupts and above all one or two will be always on the move to the sides of the hall  to attend to their calls, distracting the speaker. The functions usually as a matter of routine take off at least one hour late from the scheduled time. So now the organisers have started requesting the dignitaries to report only after a call.

    The last minute cancellation of the invitees to attend the function always put in a difficult predicament, especially when it is the person to preside over the function or the one to inaugurate it. After noon sessions used to be always very drab as many of the participants, especially the elders like me will prefer to enjoy their routine siesta unintentionally. Usually the kids from the nearby schools used to oblige us with welcome prayer. But on most occasion it has become convenient to satisfy with a silent prayer, leaving it to the choice of the audience to make mental recitation.

      Now when I sit back and take a mental stock of the results of such elaborate exercises in the process of knowledge imparting and efforts to induce a change in evolving policies and above all the impacts on our practises, it draws a pathetic picture. How many hours  and how much public funds we have spent on matters such as conservation of biodiversity, waste management,discarding of plastic etc. Still the issues stare at us often unresolved,questioning our sincerity of purpose and commitments to the society at large.