How Mysore Should Exploit its Advantages for growth

As a fellow Mysorean, it is always a proud moment to witness Mysore on the National and International maps, discussions and debates. Over the years, the heritage of the city, dynamism amongst the citizens and proactive administration has helped Mysore bag multiple feathers on its cap, ranging from being the cleanest city for three successive times, or winning National award for setting up ‘Trin Trin’ public bicycle sharing system, or implementation of Intelligent Transport System (ITS) or for being the unofficial yoga capital of India for domestic and foreign travelers. In addition, fellow Mysoreans like Gita Gopinath achieving excellence in the global landscape brings a reason for joy for all us.  

While Mysore has evolved over the decades, the economics of the nation has significantly transformed. Post 1991 economic reforms, India’s integration with the world has increased significantly. This reflects that the competition is not merely with the neighboring districts and states but it is with the global network, which makes it critical to distinguish oneself, and reap the benefits of the greater liberalization, privatization and globalization. The evidences are visible with McDonalds, Apple and other global premium brands setting up shops in the city. 

During the 2014 election campaign Mysore tourism was envisioned to be scaled up in lines with the city of light “Paris”. Last year, India in total attracted about 10 million foreign tourists’ arrivals (FTA), however, Paris alone attracted over 30 million foreign tourists in 2017 , in spite of growing disturbances in the region. Are we at least moving in the right direction to reap the benefits of globalisation? 

Although Mysore is hailed as the heritage city, the district’s literacy rate is 70.1%, which is lower than the State average of 75.6% and India average of 74%. Of the 30 districts in the State, Mysore ranks 18th on Gender Development Index (GDI), with a value of 0.605. As per the Karnataka Human Development Report 2005, HDI for Mysore is 0.631, much below the state average of 0.65.  This reflects that there is tremendous work on plate to do for all of us. 

Mysore is a blessed city 

Inheriting the heritage of the king’s rule with about 14 palaces in the city, overlooking Chamundi hills, beautiful Brindavan gardens, annual Dasara extravaganza, blessed with two rivers supplying plentiful water to the the district and numerous tourists spots like Bandipur, Kabini, Melkote, Shravanabelagola in close proximity provides natural advantage. Supported by soothing moderate temperature and rainfall, homogenous mix of rural and urban dynamism and above all the generosity amongst the citizens makes it all the more vibrant place to live. In terms of democratic movements, the activism and proactiveness among the citizens is far superior compared to other parts of the country. This puts the city in advantageous position and ahead of the other cities and towns in India. It provides a great responsibility to adopt and showcase better models of development for other local governments. 

Containment, peace and harmony is witnessed only when all its citizens experience the same. This can happen when all citizens experience gainful livelihoods and peace in society and at home. Although the latter is personal, the former could be ensured by the society, and government working together. Trained workforce supplemented by availability of suitable jobs, will bridge the mismatch, and add to the economic growth. Although the ecosystem, involves concerns of poor quality of education, slow industrial growth, limited governance reforms, access to healthcare other key issues in this write up will focus on the skilling workforce in potential sectors in the district. 

Skilling Mysore

As per Census 2011, Mysore district has a population of 29.9 lakh persons, about 4.9 % of the State population. While 65% of the population in the district is in working-age group (15 to 64 years), only 42 per cent is actually working (i.e. worker participation rate). The primary sector employs about 58% of the district population, however accounts for to only 15% of GDDP (Gross district domestic product), whereas the service sector accounts for 54% of which trade, hotels and restaurants accounts for to about 16%. However, the potential for peripheral services and value added products is expected to grow significantly. 

As per the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) Skill gap Analysis study, Mysore faces issues of lack of quality in graduates from the educational institutions, and shortage of highly skilled people, especially at the mid and senior management levels. In addition, high rates of attrition in the manufacturing sector and unwillingness of youth to work in manufacturing is identified as potential threats. It also predicts that major growth in employment will be driven by sectors such as travel, tourism and hospitality, IT & ITES, agriculture and allied sectors, building, construction and real estate.

Although the orientation of growth is towards services industry in the country, the propensity to create jobs is very low with employment elasticity of 0.08 against 1.13 in construction. (Employment elasticity is a measure of percentage change in employment with 1% change in economic growth).  Therefore shifting focus to employment generation in labour intensive sectors will ensure harmony between economic growth and gainful employment. Travel, tourism and hospitality is the key sector for growth for Mysore, however adequate skilling in newer areas of adventure sports, health & wellness and eco-tourism could provide potential opportunity for entrepreneurs. 

Added Advantage for the city is existing Leather cluster in Satagahalli and Hootagalli, textile cluster (silk and cotton), agarbhatti cluster, packaging cluster, food packaging in addition to other industrial clusters. No doubt these labour intensive sectors has high scope for employment generation. At the same time it has ample scope for value addition & innovation in product which could fetch higher margins in the national and global markets. These sectors will generate employment for low and semi skilled workforce which are best delivered using short term courses of NSDC courses aligned to various NSQF (Qualification Framework) levels. The medium to highly skilled labourers have adequate opportunities in the IT/ITes firms and industrial clusters in the district, in addition to the offerings in Bengaluru. 

Karnataka state has about 39 registered Geographical Indication Tags, and is the highest amongst all states in the country. A few of the key products include Mysore Silk, Mysore Beatle Leaf, Mysore Sandalwood Oil, Mysore sandal soap, Nanjangud Bananas, Ilkal Sarees and many more, which makes Mysore unique. It becomes advantageous when its benefits are reaped by its growers, processors and citizens of the district. Adequate training and support to produce high value added products, along with the marketing, efficient logistics and exporting capabilities are required to make inroads into untapped markets. 

The benefits of globalisation is shared only when Mysore make inroads into global markets, just the way the west in reaping benefits of the Indian markets. Time is set for Mysore to compete globally to make a mark by leveraging its rich heritage, and capitalising on the demographic dividend. This could make Mysore a model for the other cities to follow. 

Author

Nitin Ningaiah

(Consultant in the development sector).

(Education – IIM Ranchi (PGDM), NIT Surathkal (B.Tech) & DMS Mysore)

(E-mail – nitin29687@gmail.com )

(Edited by: Dr. Bhamy Shenoy, Founder MGP, Mysore)

Mountain Biking in the Nilgiri Hills of India

Mountain Biking on the Nilgiri Hills of India

A brief snippet of my experience participating in the National Western ghats Mountain Biking Expedition in Ooty with YHAI (Youth Hostels Association of India) 2017 December. 

With intent to explore and experience the diversity of cultures and the blissful nature, this year I decided to participate in the Mountain Biking Expedition with YHAI starting at Ooty (also known as Queen of Hills,  Udhagamandalam, OttakalMandu – which derives its name from the Toda tribes meaning single stoned hut).

Ooty Base Camp

The lush green tea estates, tall green eucalyptus trees amidst the Blue Mountains (Nilgiris) makes Ooty is a unique destination for tourists and nature lovers. No wonder, the journey offered a lot more adventure and surprises than I could imagine. It varied from witnessing about four large dams to sniffing scintillating scent of eucalyptus oil, savoring the traditional tea and snacks, appreciating the pluralism and peaceful co-existence among communities, benefiting from the fragile economy built on tourism, agriculture and small processing plants and breath taking views. No wonder, the British fell in love with this beautiful town. 

Preparing for the start

22 nature and cycling enthusiasts from across the country, ranging from mallus’, to marathis’, to gujarathis’, to Punjabis’ to tamilians and of course the lone Kannadiga set of on this expedition. The anxiety of cycling in the mountains was high for many who were pressing the pedals on the firefox bikes after ages. However, the cold climate, scenic landscapes, vibrant atmosphere, clean environment made everyone gear up and warm up for the long ride. The base camp at Ooty, YHAI is located on the Missionary hills, (slightly off from the city centre) providing a scenic view of the town on one end, and view of chain of mountains overlooking the town on the other end.  

Cyclists all set for the start

Although day 1 activity was to acclimatize to the local environment, by riding on the uphills of the missionary hills, many found it hard to push themselves through the hills, however it did not stop one from  setting out to capture the tenderness of the hill culture. The ride was spread across 5 days, with each day covering about 25 - 30 kms, and the last day about 40 kms. Although the distance was not a challenge but the uphills of the mountains strained the muscles in the calf's and the thighs.  All the cyclists' set of with great excitement to our first destination that is Manjoor, a small village town in Coimbatore district, which is about 30 kms from Ooty. The tea gardens on both the sides with labourers plucking the tea leaves, and packing them in large clothes is a common scene during the ride. Mr. Ramappa, a tea estate was gracious to interact with us and explained his 30 year long journey in growing tea in his 2.5 acres land. According to tea coffee spice of India the weather conditions of Ooty provides Nilgiri tea with exceptional fragrance and exquisite flavour. Nilgiri tea has also been registered as a Geographical Indication (GI) in India, and around 92 million kg of this tea are produced every year - around 10% of India's total tea production. However, Mr. Ramappa said, off-lately there is severe shortage of labour to pluck tea leaves. Although traditionally leaves

Tea leaves cutting using sickles

are plucked by hand, currently the labourers are resorting to use of sickle to be able to gather more leaves in limited time. The leaves are sold to processing plants for about INR 35 per kilogram. Throughout the region there are numerous tea processing centre, and one prominent destination is the Chamaraj Tea
processing centre. It also has a tea tasting and a purchasing store, which serves unique choices of tea including lemon tea, peach tea, tulsi tea among other flavours.

During the course, we witnessed the Lovedale toy train station which is part of the Nilgiri Mountain Railways(NMR). NMR is one of the oldest mountain railways in India. UNESCO has declared it as a world heritage site in 2005. It is popular for it breathtaking views amongst the valleys, tunnels and bridges in the hills. Lovedale train station, with its traditional outlook and ancient architecture provided tinges of colonial history.

Mr. Ramappa, Tea estate owner explain art of growing tea

Lovedale toy train station

Chamaraja Tea Centre

The hill region has been very well planned to capture and the running water flow, and address the water scarcity in the region. We were fortunate to witness 4 large dams, and enjoy resting and playing in the backwaters of the dams. Dams were mainly the Emerald dam, Avalnche dam, Pykara dam and Kundah dam. We were lucky to get access to one of them and have a closer look at the gates. 

The whole trip was a paradise for tea lovers, as tea/coffee shops were available at regular intervals which served tea made from the home grown tea leaves. Emerald village also offered us a soya manchurian dish which is unique to the region. Of course, other healthy locally grown vegetables like carrots, raddish and other roots vegetable were available throughout the journey for consumption. 

Kundah Dam

In the present scenario communal disharmony, the villages of the region provides a lesson for rest of the nation. Witnessed multi religious people residing in hamlets living in harmony by mutually respecting each others customs and practices. Churches, Mosques and Temples are located in close proximity, however human values superseded the communal difference leading to peace and harmony. We were blessed to witness the festival preparation at the emerald village which was gearing up for their annual festival. 

View of Hut preparing Eucalyptus Oil 

The economy of the region in predominantly based on agriculture, tourism and small processing industries. Walking down the lanes of Ooty one can witness numerous homemade chocolates, tea and eucalyptus oil selling stores. But much more exciting was watching the process of preparation. During our stay at forest at Governor Shola, we could view large quantum of smoke coming out from a hut at the foot of the hills. We climbed down the hill to witness the hut made from  leaves of Nilgiri tree, and inside two people working in a den cladded with smoke with strong aroma of the eucalyptus oil. It’s prepared through the process of boiling the leaves with water and capturing &  condensing the steam and later separating the oil from the water.  The local traditional knowledge is significantly rich in the region and capitalizing on them could  be a step in uplifting the rural population. 

Smoke Clouded Hut to prepare Eucalyptus Oil  

The ride amongst the hills wasn't a easy one. Cutting through 34 hairpin bends, and uphills National Mysore-Ooty Highway, dirt roads of Governor Shola reserve forest tested one's endurance and sturdiness. Intense heat in the noon, made all of us sweat and tan our skins, however the shades of the tree provided pleasant and cool breaks during the ride. The region also hosts a diverse fauna. Best moment was the Nilgiri Langur's jumping from tree to tree across the road in the forest, and trying to escape from the urban animals riding on their cycles. 

ride through the forests

ride through the forests

Although Ooty has originally inhabited by the Toda tribes, however with urbanization the traditions of the tribes has undergone metamorphosis with other customs. However, the tribal welfare museum has artistically captured the essence of tribal life of Toda's, Kota's, Irula's and other tribes of the region. The artifacts, model huts, images and pictures has beautiful captured the diverse traditions of the inhabitants. The footfall of visitors to the muesum is quite low, however, its exciting for those who appreciate multiple cultures of the remote lands. 

Government School of Manjoor

Capitalisng the public assets for multiple purposes is the current norm. This time we spent 2 nights sleeping in government schools at Manjoor and Emerald village respectively. Being in the education sector, the view of the government school in Manjoor took me by surprise. The well kept, neatly maintained school with mid size playground, and computer training room was no lesser than some of the leading private schools located in cities. It was astonishing to hear from the teachers that the school was able to scale and provide good amenities to the children, by garnering additional support from the teachers and the local villagers in form of funds to manage, maintain and run the school and facilitating child to learn and perform. This is a classic example of crowd funding by community, and ensuring accountability of government teachers to the community. Collective responsibility is the ideal method to manage the public assets and resources, and will help truly live the spirits of our vibrant democracy. Of course the best part of the trek was our stay in the community hall of the reserve forest. The shivering cold, view of the tea plantation on one side, and tall Nilgiri trees on the other, and small hamlets in the hills, and sipping warm tea and feeling the glitters of early morning sunshine on the cold skin was eternal. One could only beat the cold with camp fire on.

Camp Fire Time

The hardest of the expedition was the last day, covering a total of about 40kms, with the forest range of about 8kms, and rest cycling down the Mysore-Ooty National Highway covering the shooting spots, tea park and reaching the popular Pykara Falls. Promoted as a eco-tourist spot, the the waterfall although shorter in height, flows down the red stones providing a colourful and serene view and an ideal picnic spot for tourists and travellors. The last segment of the ride amongst  the busy highway back to base location was the hardest as the uphill with high density of vehicular traffic, straining the tired calf muscles.

Early morning rays with tea 

In a nutshell, it was blissful experience along with the gift of mother nature. Above all, best part of the expedition, is the altruism of local people who were extremely generous and guided us throughout the journey, and their eagerness to understand and help us. The curiosity amongst the kids to have closer look at the cycle and wave their hands was a pleasure to all of us. I must admit the greater consciousness amongst the locals to keep the environment clean, was evident throughout hill region and is a lesson for all of us.  For nature lovers, or fitness freaks this ride definitely provided great experience and exploration in the wild. The whole experience rejuvenates one's mind and soul and provided the much needed break from the urban jungles. 

Picture with few tourists from Italy

A small view of the Emerald Lake 

At last, the scent of the eucalyptus trees, the pictureseque landscapes, and aroma of the tea estates, chillness of the climate will continue to reside in the memories for a long long time. 

and thats me :) 

Disclaimer: Not a great writer, but trying to become one. 

Trek along the Mystic peaks in the Shola forests of Western Ghats

Post the treks amongst the serene beaches of Goa, Odisha and gigantic Himalayas, this time I set out to explore the Shola forests in the western ghats between the Princess of hill stations, “Kodaikanal” all the way to Kashmir of Kerala “Munnar”.

Kodaikanal lake

Kodaikanal sits on a plateau on the upper Palani Hills in between the Parappar and Gundar valleys about 2100 mts above sea level. Blessed by the tranquil kodai lake in the heart of the city surrounded by the meadows and grasslands. A 30 min cycle ride around the lake through the guzzling markets flooded with homemade chocolates, spices, tea outlets and the warm woolen cloth shops along the rich flora was placid.

After the evening session of orientation and excitement of meeting fellow trekkers from different parts of the country, sharing each other’s past experiences we settled down to rest in the shivering cold of kodai. Once again the team comprising of 20 year old lazy bums to the hyper enthusiast 60 year old couples, from ISRO scientist, bankers, students, consultants to of course IT professionals.

Trail down foothills of Kodaikanal

On the Christmas morning we set out along the lake downhill amidst the shola forest and the grassland complex comprising of Indian Mahangony, Bishop Wood trees. It is along the route to the popular Dolphin’s nose and echo rock tourist destinations. The rolling stones all along the path ensured everyone to experience minor slips and skids and cautioned to watch ones steps with intense toe bits. Early evening we made it a pristine village by name Vellakavi.

Vellakavi is a small village on hill top with about 300 people and numerous temples. This has ensured to restrict the usage of slippers in the village and maintain a clean atmosphere all around. As the village is a part of the trekking circuit, they quite often host foreign travelers and of course very hospitable. With the smell of oranges and tinglings of the bell on the neck of horses and goats depicted an unique aura of the village. We were strictly instructed to keep our volumes lower post sunset to abide by the village rules.

Camp Site at Vellakavi

The next day, everyone geared with much more excitement as the destination was the kumbakarai falls which is one of the lesser known falls in the foothills of kodaikanal hills.  However, with some of the fellow trekkers crippling over the previous days muscle catches and pain, we slowly set out along the steep trail to the falls. With tamarind trees, lemons amidst the tropical montane forests added to the excitement and provided much needed breaks.

As per wiki, Kumbakrai falls has two stages. At the first stage, water collects in huge rock recesses which are each named after wild animals such as tiger, elephant, snake etc. The Pambar River then flows to the second stage before falling as the main waterfall. Thanks to the Sabarimala crowd for flooding all the water streams. However, managed to have a nice bath in the first stage of the fall to relive of the tiredness of the trek and refresh myself.

With fresh and chillness of the kodaikanal hills we board the mini bus to our next campsite at Kurangani.

Kurangani Falls 

Kurangani is a hill station atop Western ghats in the Kottagudi valley of Theni district and popular for coconut, mangoes, spices, arecanut and coffee estates. State forest department is actively promoting community based ecotourism. In our interaction with one of the forest he explained how strictly commercial establishments were completely banned and only trekking and other pro nature anthropogenic activities were allowed. It is a popular destination for many film shoots. Camp site located amidst the Arecanut and coconut farm with sound of the stream in the background. All were utterly cautious to place themselves in tents at the same time protect themselves from the possibility of falling coconuts. Early morning sun rays passing through the trees, reflection from the gigantic mountains and reading a book amidst the sunshine was a priceless moment.

Kurangani Camp site amidst Arecanut farms

All knew the day is gone be hard as we had a 8km trek uphill with minimal trees and grasslands along the way with sun shining bright adding to the heat. People slipped, lost breathes and mutual help and support was put into test. Fortunately, expect for minor slips we managed to reach the uphill which included almost a kilometer of vertical trek. After gaining back our breathes we further moved along the forest witnessing some of the forest fires in few spots of the forests.

Early morning view of the sun shine of the arecanut farm 

We anticipated to  have glimpses of Niligiri Tahr or Indian Gaur we trekked along however not much luck. Thankfully we were able to spot Malabar giant squirrel with long tail. The sharbat station just prior to the camp site ensured all made it their destinations successfully. Although sharbat was mere mixture of lemon sugar solution and water, it energized each one’s body and resorted trekkers to initiate usual discussions on demonetization, modi vs congress etc.

Bamboo houses for travellers as a part of Eco tourism initiative

Central station camp site was located in picturesque location amidst the trees and hills and overlooking the valley. Post tea break we head to watch the sunset and capture some of the vivid snapshots to upload to ones profile. With just another day left for the trek, post dinner session involved the star gazing session trying to spot the constellations, and stories from Bhangad in Rajasthan to each ones encounters with the ghost made it enthralling. Next day again, wake up by 6.30 am grab your cup of tea and set out to explore the other side of the valley which has a ruins of a old mosque on the edge of the hill. The beauty of the mountains is the unpredictability of the weather. With onset of fog engulfing the valley we all had to run back to the camp site before loosing visibility of the path.  

Uphill trek to Munnar via central station

All geared up for the final day of the trek with just 4kms uphill. For a few young vivid trekkers who wanted more out of nature were still looking out for more extreme conditions which could burn the fat within. And thanks to our prayers. With less than a kilometer onward, rain god started to pour. Everyone tried to protect their bag packs with the rain sheeters or the coat and set out to the top station. Rain wasn’t intense, however continued for the rest of the trek journey. The drops on the flowers, with view of the valley, rain drops refreshing ones senses and goosebumps all over was exciting. With the path getting slippery and divergent paths all along made one cautiously move one step at a time and make it to the top station. First thing one does on reaching is to go and grab one’s share of the chai, Maggie, break omlettes which are perfect for a cold chilly trek. The local tamil songs playing the local restaurant made one tap their feet as everyone was aware that this was end of the momentous trek and all had completed successfully.

Kottagudi Valley view

We boarded the jeeps and drove down to Munnar with brief stops of Mattupetty dam, mattupetty lake and lucious green tea gardens. Munnar is popular hill station in the Idukki district of kerala location at 1600 mts above sea level. It is a confluence of three rivers namely Mudhirapuzha, Nallathanni and Kundaly rivers.

As we refreshed and packed our bags to head back home, the essence of chillness of hill stations, smell of the tiredness and sweat amidst the joy of completing the trek, remembering the arecanut farms, oranges, the kurangani falls, kottagudi valley, the heat of the sun, chase of the fog, blessings of the rain god filled our hearts. Once again YHAI treks continue to amuse inspire and make us better human beings.

 

And thats me

Life In Dubai Is Not As Rosy As It May Appear

By Nitin Ningaiah:

(written during my internship program at Dubia, UAE. Published in - http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2014/08/life-dubai-rosy-may-appear-accounts-indians-migrated-will-tell/)

The city of gold, the city of life houses, the world’s tallest building, the largest aquarium, theme park, airport, mall, mosque etc. – all of this portrays the picture of Dubai and life in Middle East as rosy and soothing. But, in reality, things aren’t exactly as is being portrayed. UAE hosts 2.2mn Indians, which is 26% of the total population, of which 40% are Keralites. During my stay, meetings with different people brought out contrasting as well as disappointing realities of life there.

It is indeed quite unfortunate that a 22-year-old young man couldn’t manage to find a decent paying electric job in Delhi, and thus had to move to Dubai for job prospects. This man hails from the suburbs of Delhi, stricken by poverty and other family issues. He managed to join an ITI training program, but failed to complete it. But his passion for electric currents and techniques of wiring helped him to master the art, and he loved the work he did. Unfortunately, a few organizations in Delhi refused to recruit him, in spite of his talent, due to the lack of an ITI degree.

After hearing about possible opportunities in Dubai through his cousins, he finally moved to Dubai and started working with a contractor/middle man who holds charge of his passport but ensure he has enough work, and pays around INR 35,000 per month, which is comparatively good. He knows that if he works for a couple more years, his salary would be doubled, as skilled and talented labour is appreciated and well paid for in Dubai. Also, they don’t really let them go back to their native place. Unfortunately, money wouldn’t bring content to this man, whose heart and soul lies with his family and in the streets of Delhi, and he dreams of joining the Delhi metro family, but is scared that the riches in Dubai might compel him to work and remain here.

Thanks to Indian Elections, IPL moved to UAE and excited all the Indians there. The atmosphere wasn’t much different as compared to Indian stadiums, since it was the same energy and passion. Post-match, there was a ruckus, as roads got jammed around the stadium, and no arrangements from RTA (Road transport Authority) for bus facilities to move to city were made, which left us stranded. As all taxis were already booked, we (2 of us) finally had to ask for help, and fortunately, a taxi driver from Himachal, carrying another customer, agreed, and we occupied the back seats. This well-built taxi driver from HP moved to Dubai assuming he would work here for a few years, and this could get his family out of poverty and afford a better life. Little did he know that the style of business was very different in India and Dubai. Dubai is all about rules, regulations and money. In India, we add compassion to the list. As a taxi driver, it took time to adapt to roads and movements, but there was no warning or exception, as heavy fines were levied on him without even listening to his tribulations. And during accidents, along with life insurance, money would be deducted from drivers’ salaries. In order to fight back, there are no labour laws. This made his life miserable, as his dream might not be fulfilled, nor would he be able to go back home, as being a failure hurts even more.

The other gentleman was average built, very well dressed, milky white shirt with cufflinks on, and a golden-framed spectacles, which made him look rich. He had been working in Dubai for 10 years and had made a lot of wealth. He earned well and had a family. Remember, 10 years! No joke at all. Unfortunately, on this day, he had quit his job and come down to watch the match all alone. This made us very curious. His next statement was that “There is no life in Dubai”. This left us stranded. There were much more important moments of life that he wanted to experience and live; unfortunately, the prospects of riches made him sacrifice his younger days instead of spending time with his kith and kin, but they hold little value for him, as the moments gone could never be re-cherished.

This story indeed is one of many Indian expats residing in the Middle East. Every day, hundreds move to Gulf countries on tourist visas to look for jobs, without knowing the bitter reality. Most bachelors, or married men (who leave their family behind) end up living with 4 to 6 people in a single room (like PGs in India, which are commonly known as bed-spaces in Dubai), with shared bathrooms for 12-15 people. Many would have never lived like this in India. At the same time, strict rules from the municipal administration, like heavy fines in crossing roads other than zebra crossing, or for sitting with folded legs on bus stops (which is difficult for Indians to quickly adapt to) adds to their misery.

The case of the Keralities is a different story altogether, and much more complicated, as many feel that Dubai is an extended Kerala, and are happy and content with work and social life there. Nobody cares for stories of the construction workers from Asian countries here, but the ones exposed by various human rights activists have been a bitter reality. This short snippet is for you to re-think and evaluate your decision before moving to the Middle East.

New Education Policy - recommendations

New Education Policy - recommendations
(prepared for a panel discussion) 

Sole objective of new education policy need to be Building global citizens of India who empowered to put India at the top of the global competitive map.

How do we do this.

1.       Self-oriented/ driven learning :  Currently the students are getting moulded to certain knowledge or skill sets. Emphasis in the primary education need to ensure kids how to learn them selves as information availability is high.

a.       Digitisation of learning experience, so that barriers are open

b.      Reduce the quantum of books and issue digitized tablets. On an average cost of money spent on books is over Rs. 1,20,000.

c.       Up gradation of existing teacher skills to own technology driven methodologies to help children, making it mandatory for the other teachers

2.       In Primary education, language is a critical important factor. Major barrier amongst students who technically strong but fail to communicate or express the same. First 2 years of primary education should be merely emphasized on language learning.  Three language formula emphasized in the 1976. 

3.       India hasn’t been able to make a mark in the Global innovation index.
Collaborative learning experience – Teachers are just facilitators

a.        Bring in critical thinking and creative learning approach and methodologies which include role play, brainstorming sessions, and push rote and text learning back to home.  This would be a step forward in India moving up the innovative index. If India doesn’t move up the innovative index in couple of decades we would still be doing unimportant work.  

4.       Value based and moral education.

a.       It is important for each child to realize that “10 rupees earned is better than 100 rupees found”. But unfortunately our existing moral system of education hasn’t been inculcated and be successful. Only medicine for this is value based teachers. Included a component in the teacher recruitment process to test the ethical quotient of the teachers.  

Also eliminating existing space for moral values would more space for other collaborative learning process.

5.       To reach out to rural segments, and bridging the need for more faculties. In the short term increasing the size of the teachers is difficult; therefore follow Teach for India model and higher students. These students would help the teachers or the school in restructuring the schools, modifying the curriculum locally, engage with students personally and to the families as well.

This would be a major step in building social leaders amongst students,

a.       Adoption of Teach for India model : self-sustainable educational model with alternative revenue sources

b.      Create a program called, “Each one teaches one” – is a part of CBSE curriculum but never followed.

Government and civil society can’t exist in isolation and move towards a change.

6.       Using civil society to monitor the implementation and engaging change.

-          Implementation of the policies at the grass route is extremely critical and tough for the government to monitor. Money has been sanctioned by the government towards infrastructure has to be implemented.
Create CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT CELL / Complaints cell.

-          This would reduce the nexus between school principals and District education officers.

(Background work)

Challenges:
40% of India’s population is illiterate.

 Indian classrooms are understaffed (1 in 4 teachers will be absent on any given day)

Teachers are not engaging ( Only 50% are likely to be teaching at any given time)

Drop-out rate is unusually high (More than 1 in 3 children who begin primary school will drop out before reaching 5th grade)

Education spend is relatively low (India spends only 3.3 percent of its GDP on education, compared to an average 5.8 percent in developed countries) (Source: India’s Educational Crisis, Teach For India)

 Unquantifiable improvements in a child’s mental abilities, lack of immediate results and the sorry state of public schools are the major factors behind the drop-out rate being unusually high in India. 

Though Education spend is relatively low in India in terms of GDP the high rate of teacher absenteeism is not due to low salaries

in India, the ratio of average teacher salary to per-capita income is more than 3.5. The corresponding figure for US and UK are less than 2.0 and those for East Asian countries are less than 2.5.

Kothari Commission (64-66) - - science and SUPW , vocational education, research- modernization, new methods, unversalize education,   - introduce common school system, develop modern indian languages - moral, social and spiritual values, religions of the world, group meditation

42nd constitutional amendment (1976) - Education changed from state to concurrent

,    policy - Union government in    1. Reinforcing national & integrative ,  character
  2. mainitaing quality education ,   3. manpower development research and , advanced study, international aspects

National Policy (NPE) 1986, Child centred approach,  - National system of education - Education for quality, - Promotion of adult education, - Elementary education and operation black

, board, - Pace setting (Navodaya vidyalaya), - Vocationalisation, - Rasising the status of the teacher, - accountability in education , - incentives to backward familiers, , Operation black board, Rural education , 86th constitutional amendment (2002) , - Right to education added to Article 21,

RTE (2009)
- Free and compulsory education (6 to 14  )
- No detention till completion of elementary
education
                - Limit in pupil teacher ratio
        - 25% economically disadvataged in private schools
         - professional qualification for all teachers,
         - minimum infrastructure

Strategic marketing plan to Brand Mysore

Strategic marketing plan to Brand Mysore

(created as a part of course work during b-school training)

Mysore has been graded as the royal heritage city of India. Has been a hot spot tourist destination for millions of tourists across the globe. The famous Dasara festival, numerous palaces, unique dishes, premium products like sandal wood and silk puts it in a unique spot on the map.
Over the years with ongoing tourist experiences and destination it’s important to address a few key issues to pop the image of the city.

1.       Purpose & Goals

a.       To make Mysore as the favorite tourist destination

b.      To grow retail and service business sectors via tourism

c.       To increase visibility and appeal to visitors

With the ongoing competition there are numerous options available to the tourists, and at the same time their preferences have been very selective and need for customization. Therefore, on the verge it is extremely important to have multiple packages keeping tourist interest, passion and preference in mind.

New services or packages:

      

    a. Learning based packages:  Mysore which houses great institutions/structures of learning important to leverage their existence. This would include visit to places like Sandalwood factory, Silk weaving factory, Agarbhatti factory, Visit to Palace and brindavan gardens with a engineering marvel perspective

b.      Activity based packages:  In order to cater to tourists passionate about adventure sports and nature exploration. A trekking on the Chamundi hills, exploration in Bandipur forest and gopalswamy hills, water sports in KRS.

c.       Family bound packages: A soothing comfortable stay for the families with an experience of a lifetime with real taste of Mysore and best shopping experience. This should include visit to the prominent tourist attractions and get to experience the taste of the city.

d.      Bird Watching Tours : Exclusively dedicated to Ornithologists to experience the migratory birds visiting Karanji lake, Kurkkarahalli lake, lingambudi lake and Ranganthittu bird sanctuary.

As ensuring the packages as needed by the tourists it is extremely important for the state to understand their changing taste and preferences. A complete tracking mechanism is required to know the tourist better. This could be done in multiple ways.

a.       Dedicated card: all international tourists would be assigned a travel card (prepaid card) which could be used to make to visits to various spots. Also use them in shopping purchases, tourist hotel transactions. In the end analysis of this information would help us understand what exactly does the consumer require. If this could be used in Taxi’s and other transportation mediums would be phenomenal.

b.      Swipe in swipe out mechanism using magnetic cards or wrist bands could be easily used.

Seasonal Schedule

Dasara ‘naada habba’ of the city keeps the city buzzing between the months September and December. Majority of business for the retailers, hotels and transport service providers making maximum profit in this time period. During the rest of the months it is essential to increase the footfall of the tourists.

a.       Monsoon months (June – September): Unique monsoon experience packages in Coorg could be capitalized as Mysore is the route to coorg for passengers from Bengaluru.  Short or quick visit packages of Mysore attractions would be most appropriate. Monsoon treks to mandalpatti or Kotti betta would be an added experience.

b.      Summer Months ( March – May ) : Leverage on the opportunity of existence of Ooty and Coorg and promote hill station experience amongst residents of hot climatic regions.

c.       Months January – March should be dedicated to hold festivals like yoga fest, harvest festival (in sync with sankranti) to give foreigners local cultural experiences.  

 How to Market ?

a.       With the advent of digital technologies with smart phones on every ones hands, people prefer navigation applications to commute as well as to explore nearby places like restaurants, shopping areas etc. This makes evident for small business to be registered on Google maps to be able to be prospective options for travellers.

b.      Though Print and other display mediums are conventional sources of advertising, the rising trend is the peer review on online travel portals. Foremost, it’s essential to be active on social medium, have a website with all details including booking, facebook, twitter accounts as well be active on travel portals to reach prospective tourists. All visitors should be requested to write reviews and comments and take feedback from them and should be displayed on the social media. Who could be better ambassadors than the tourists themselves?

Other Aspects :

a.       Important business to understand the need for basic necessities of tourists to improve their businesses. A numerous amount of business is lost in Devaraja Urs road just due to lack of parking spaces. Immediate construction of Multi level car parking is need of the hour.

Odisha Sea Beach Expedition with YHAI

Odisha Sea Beach Expedition with YHAI

Youth Hostel association of India (YHAI) has been fore runner in promoting adventure sports has been successful for decades in providing unique experiences to trekkers in unexplored areas across the nation. This time I joined them for a 6 day Odisha sea beach expedition which was spread around Puri district and the islands around Chilika Lake.

YHAI trekker’s group is usually around 25 in number, but due to unforeseen weather conditions and last minute cancellations we ended up with a group of 8 trekkers. The base camp at Youth Hostel, Puri was very well arranged and the simple vegetarian food they served made me nostalgic of home cooked food.

Day 1 being the registration day for the participants, gave me enough time to visit the popular Hertiage village Raghurajpur known for it’s unique artistic skills and dance art form and the very famous lord jagannath temple in the heart of puri.

A typical day in youth hostel trek starts at 5.30 am with bed tea (customary for privileged people), and breakfast at 7am and all get set to start of sharp at 8am. Day 2 the team starts with bustling busy roads of puri and the sea beach flooded with visitors and slowly move towards the deserted beaches and head south towards chilika lake. 

 

The excitement of being in a new place spending your vacation and adventure into an unknown land slowly starts nauseating one. Unlike the other beach expeditions which are usually beach shacks, foreigners, life guards and liquor, Orissa beaches are more or less deserted except for small fisherman settlements. The villages are moved interior into the land in order to protect from unprecedented cyclones. All along the beach trek one is greeted with numerous dead turtles. These turtles are unfortunate targets which get caught in the fisherman nets and since they are prohibited from trading and either killed or left to die in the sea coast. One of the government institutes is carrying out a physical survey to trace the amount of dead turtles but hundreds of the left unturned. 

On the way we meet local fisherman, villagers and interact with them on our destination and brief about their profession village etc. An interesting encounter was this small fisherman settlement which uses a small solar lamp to survive in the evening hours, at this moment you feel proud about the advancement in technologies and penetration to unknown lands.

And finally this trek covers 12 kms on day2 and 14kms on day 3 all along the sea coast. End of day 2 is we rest at a multipurpose cyclone shelter built by the government in each of the villages to protect the villagers from cyclones.

End of day 3 was spent on in tents in a beautiful camp site which is encircled between bay of Bengal and chilika lake. All along we find continuous man made forest built to protect the village from cyclones.

Though the sea as well as the lake is salt water, there is this  small well in between these with fresh sweet ground water, which is the source for a few hundred fishermen around this area.No one is sure the principle behind this phenomena.

Then we proceed in lands of Chilika lake viewing the sea mouth where chilika meets bay of Bengal and the migratory birds flocking into chilika. The small white  building seen in the picture is a mosque around a small islam following people settlement known as Bhagwanpur and also    next to it is a hindu people settlement known as shahjanpur. Classic example of community living in a democratic secular India. 

This led us to the next island Rambhatia which is usually visited by inland visitors to experience chilika, migratory birds and of course enjoy the fresh sea food.

Then spend rest of the day exploring the island which is inhabited by cows and ox  and finally reach SATAPADA Wild life Range.  As shown in the picture this area is popular for the dolphins. We were equally excited to see them.

At 4pm we set off to visit the dolphins while the sun sets and towards   our next destination which is a forest guest house in Brahmapura.

This is the best moment of the whole trek. Cool calm serene environment   surrounded by gustling of the dolphins and other sea animals or the birds returning back to their nests. In the background sun sets quietly.  Moist sea  breeze dust out the tiredness in you make one lose self and hug the wide arms of the splendid nature, it was priceless.

That night was spent in a well laid forest guest house of Brahmapura facing chilika lake. 

After another long 1.5 hours in the boat we reach inlands and catch a bus and return to the base camp at Puri. Rest of the day spent in exploring the Sand art exhibition by Sudharshan Pattnaik sand art institute, the old city puri around the temple and savouring sea food.

 Evening was well spent in sharing our experience with the next group of trekkers and wishing them luck. Next day a local tour was arranged with Odisha tourism, heard stories of Konark, Lingaraj temple, Ashoka  and visited Khandagiri Udaygiri hills, Stupa and of course the Konark temple. In the end bid good bye for my trek friends I made in these days and moved back to my abode.

I must appreciate the splendid hospitality of the camp leaders in various camp sites who fed me more than my capacity. As it’s always said “No one loses weight in YHAI treks” is indeed quite true.  

(nitin29687@gmail.com)