Recently I got the opportunity to visit a village surrounded
by hundreds of factories. This is only 60 kilometers away from Gurgaon. Water
is available within 20 feet below the ground. The land is extremely fertile
where three crops can be grown in a year. But still the villagers are below the
poverty line. I was surprised and out of my curiosity I interacted with few
villagers to understand the reason for their poverty. What I gathered gave me
some new insight into poverty mindset.
A young man explained that he is a graduate but unemployed,
the factories don’t provide job to villagers and there aren’t many
opportunities around. A farmer said that it is difficult to get proper rate for
their crop. A woman with five children explained how difficult it is to make
ends meet. But despite of all the difficulties, they have accepted “poverty” as
their way of life. When I asked the villagers, do they know of any successful
person from the village, they said that there are no successful people in the
village. Some villagers explained that they are poor but still they are rich in
their hearts, they feel that poverty is necessary to stay happy and together.
I found a school in the village, I met the principal and he shared
that villagers are not ready to send their children to school and most of them
are reluctant to spend money on child’s education. There are around 20%
dropouts from the school every year. He also mentioned that some people have
done exceedingly well despite of the demotivating environment – One villager
have become a MBBS doctor, another person became an IAS officer.
During the one hour drive back to Gurgaon, I kept thinking
about all the conversations I had with the villagers. Lots of questions kept
popping in mind:
Why the villagers did not mention the success stories of their
village?
Why the factories do not employ villagers?
Why some villagers are proud to be poor?
Why do they talk only about poverty?
Why do they feel that there are no opportunities around?
The questions which came to my mind were also the lead to my
answers. I realized that it is not about availability of resources, but the
mindset. Somehow, it is hardwired into their mind that the world is a difficult
place and nothing can be done about it. Finding pride in penury further strengthens
their belief about poverty. As a result, they have accepted “poverty” as their
way of life.
This is an extreme case, but when I introspected, I realized
that most people have shades of the villager’s mentality which can be
corrected.
