Monday, May 17, 2010

Stepping Ahead

May 31, 2010 will be officially my last day in office as the State Coordinator of State Inter Agency Group - West Bengal. Immediately after that, may be for few more days, I shall hang around in Kolkata to complete the reports, close some files and accounts, and hope to be freed by 5 June 2010. And then comes the next step. A Big STEP. I need to see where I will be going to. Will it suit me? And do I suit the place? My experiences in Kolkata in the past one year have made me tougher by any measure, to take on challenges, and come out victorious. I wish to be challenged by bigger tasks. People are really wondering why I do not want to continue as the State IAG Coordinator. Even if I ask for around 40,000 rupees as salary, they would be interested in giving. Then why? The answer is simple.
This place has taken me away from reality. From people. From the poor. I have learned of the bigger things in life. But I wish to ensure that the bigger things are merged with the simple lives of the people. Or else, the bigger things will remain just a theory.

For those who are wondering what I would be doing.... my first step will be in the line of starting an SMS based geographically conditioned Early Warning System in the State of West Bengal ! The mobiles have been plenty in the villages, and yet this has not been sufficiently used to send out alerts and early warnings. This is what I wish to do first. Then... ? May be setting up a business partnership with an European friend and an American friend (Mary Taylor.... you fit in here!) for export of materials produced by poor women of the villages so that these women can get some livelihood out of it, and the consumers in Europe and the U.S. can pay less! Hugely ambitious, yet doable. Let us do it!

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