Sunday, February 10, 2008
Collective action doers for others benefit and not individual interest.
it was 8th August 2006 when city of Surat was drowned under water and it took as long as six days for some area to around 3 days for some other to come out of water. But what was amazing to see that the people who got out instead of working for himself and family went out to help others. It was mass collective action in small groups we can say. As soon as water went down to chest level people from other areas entered in the water and helped anyone who met on the way. There was no dearth of help in form of food, milk and water (mark it was mineral water). People helped each other without discriminating on basis of caste, class, relative, known,etc. Help was coming in such a big way that people had to say no that we don't require help any more. I was myself working at Sumul Dairy and we had opened outlet for people who came for bulk purchase and we could see groups of people visiting dairy at least 10 times a day just to collect milk and distribute it to affected people. It was there own money and time they spent for others. Many industrialist used to come forward and apart from donating money they served as a labor in milk distribution system on gate of dairy denying to take care of collecting money. Peoples life were restored back in days and this was not the end. Once flood water completely vanished and people cleaned there house (again most of the apartment people came out voluntarily without discriminating as rich or poor and cleaned there compounds together) most of them were refilled with the grains and utensils at least for there current needs. Monetary help was also coming in a big way. Most of the people who could help in any way did help and that too without expecting anything is return or an individual gain.
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I have observed the same situation at anand (at Amul dairy) during flood time. All the employees in the plant had worked collectively for day and night to meet the milk demand of the city and no one has claimed even for overtime for this period.
But there is another side of it also after the flood, I was part of the flood relief operation initiated by AMUL dairy. When our team reached to one of the worst affected village Sodha-Vansol of district Kheda, Where twenty five people were reported missing from the villages, remaining people were living on the express way ( Baroda- Ahemdabad) in open. We as a part of Amul were distributing the relief material as plastic sheet, 5 kg dal and 15 kg rice. At the same time a jeep came with food (poori-sabji) to distribute. The demand for the food was more than the supply.
I saw a shocking scene that a man snatched poori from the hands of a boy of 5-6 years of age. The boy started crying so I could not resist and gave him biscuits, I have kept for my personal consumption and asked that boy, “Do you know who has taken your poori” the reply of the boy was even more shocking that “He was my father”
I was in complete shocking stage. Being a father of a same age child I cannot imagine how a father can snatch from his child?
If in three day a man can start behaving like an animal than we can try to understand the situation of the situation with the farmers who are continiously struggling from flood, drought, and heavy debt, and also miserable prices for their produce which ultimately create the same situation of hunger and finally committing suicide.
As an IRMAN we have to think collectively on this serious issue and move forward.
Akshay Kumar Gupta
Roll No. 28003
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