Do you think I'm foolish?

Little do we realize that development is a difficult paradigm. There are no straight-forward answers. You cannot adopt a business-like textbook approach to development.

I read a recent piece by P. Sainath, in the Hindu, about giving cows to poor farmers in the Vidharba region. These cows each costing Rs 17,500 are provided at a subsidized price. The high-yielding cows unfortunately eat a lot, sometimes feeding it for a day costs as much as Rs. 200. While the milk it provides, brings in an income of just Rs. 50 a day.

"I'm a poor farmer. I cant even make my living and my friends are busy killing themselves. I think about it sometimes. And then one day this government official/consultant comes in and says he has the solution. Then comes the cow, which eats more than my whole family and doesn't even bring me a decent income to break-even, leave alone profits. Do you think I'm foolish?"

Well, sorry poor guy, thats exactly what we think.

What works?

I just completed my first semester, an interesting academic journey. I was prompted to look back and examine what I have learnt and to evaluate if this has been a valuable enough experience. As usual, I was prompted to articulate my thoughts in my final memo to Prof. Paul Light :

To: Prof. Paul Light
From: Santhosh Ramdoss
Sub: What Works

As I have reached almost the end of my first semester at Wagner, I have begun reflecting on the lessons I have learned. The experience has been rich and has offered me numerous interesting perspectives and skills. But, I have also realized that there are not straight-forward answers to problems. I guess I was wrong in seeking one perfect answer, to solve the world's problems and hoping that my graduate school experience would provide it to me......

.....So, I have realized that in this complex world, it is increasingly difficult to determine What Works? May be that's one of the reasons why I have avoided giving straight answers in the memos I have written to you, and instead taken the philosophical route. I don't really know what works. But I do know that that our intentions, motivations and passion matter the most and as we go on, trying and figure out these problems. I guess it's the difference between human beings and being human.

I also would like to thank you for offering this really enriching class. Listening to you, participating in the class, writing the memos has offered me chance to reflect, learn and think above and beyond a normal academic experience. Thanks!