Schindler's list

Im not really interested in completing the previous post .. to cut the long story short, it was a very forgettable experience.

Have you seen this movie.. wud like to highlight a scene towards the end. Schindler, a German himself, saves hundreds of Jews from sure death by various means, bribing Nazi officers, using old contacts, using his assets he created as a shrewd, fraudulent businessman. The war is about to end and British army is about to enter German territory. Fearing Schindler's arrest, his Jewish friends ask him to leave. The farewell scene is touching. Schindler, after having saved 100s of people unknown and uncared for, breaks down as he looks at his car,his only means to escape - it could have saved a few more Jews, his ring, one of his last possessions could have saved a few more, so could his watch.

Everytime one thinks one has succeeded,done something gr8, bettered the good one has to recall this scene. It reminds one.. no matter how successful one is, when one is up against poverty, one is going to fail. That is for sure. I think Gandhi felt the same way, Even Dr.Yunus, is going to feel the way Schindler did.

When I see NGOs competing, cutting corners and plotting other's downfall, Im sure their world view is too narrow. Only in other's success lies even a remote chance of our success. The basis of cooperation hold true even in the NGO world. We are all up against one enemy - poverty. So, let us pray that others succeed,let us let live first and then live.

Yesterday a man came to see me and asked a qn - why dont you come to my village and do something. There are hazaar NGOs in the coastal areas, not in my area. He is a successful businessman and i could see how much he wanted to do something for his village. I gave him loads of strategic fundas. Then he asked me, do you have an NGO in your village. I was dumbstruck. I told him, "We NGOs work where money is available and not where community needs us". Thats cute, except it raises a Qn, why is thr a disconnect between whr money is available and where community needs NGO intervention. I think most experts sitting in Donor Agencies are not experts but only speak like experts. One dumbo actually asked me, " Nagapattinam village is in which State". 3rd anniversary of Tsunami just coming up.. I sent a map of India, hoping she'd get the message.

I have the privilege of working with one of the founding members of SIFFS. He's a down to earth simple man. He was saying the trend among development professionals these days is to look at poverty in a faceless, dirtless way. Earlier, people used to spend lot of time in the field and face issues from the front ranks. I too think its true .. strategies have to be worked out in the field rather than in the comfort of the board room ..