During a visit to a hill station recently, what caught my attention was the road side scenes, where tall and widely spread out trees still offered shade for pedestrians and shelter for birds. The overgrowth on the road side even covered a large sign board !
The hay stack on the road side reminded me of the agrarian life style that is still a way of life in the villages.
The terraced paddy cultivation was a fascinating sight to watch at day break. The paddy fields remained uncultivated in the village where Anna and I live, but the story of vibrancy with agricultural diversity as the way of life is prevalent in many parts in rural areas.
The sights and scenes, the cool air, the quiet pace of life and the ecological stability stand out in the interior areas, when one moves away from the urban environment.
During my morning walk I found a group of school students with their teachers, waiting at the road side, facing the hills, for the sunrise. What an applause it was from those students to welcome the sunrise! Coming from the city of Chennai, at least for some, this scene of sunrise with splash of colours on the sky was a novel experience.
On my way back to the guest house I met a man who stopped me to ask, about the reason of my visit to the hill station. He was polite and friendly. He told me that he sells honey that he gathers from the trees in the forest. Now that the forest is gradually disappearing, he sells tea on the road side in the morning for visitors and tourists. Having finished his graduation in commerce, he was still waiting for a job to practice his accountancy skills.
This is the paradox. The Indian economy has quadrupled the millionaires in India in the last ten years, if one report is right. And yet the unemployment among the youth in India is the highest when compared with the last forty years.
When I returned from the hill station, what stayed with me is the sights and scenes of a hill station which has preserved its rural ambience. The people living there are also facing the adversities common to others in India-unemployment.
I feel that the political climate in India is not youth friendly! That worries me!
When I was at school, there was provision to join college by using the loan facility which the government of India offered. One clause in that loan scholarship scheme was that if any student after completing the course were to be a teacher for five years, the loan did not have to be returned. That scheme was offered even for medical and engineering studies. What a foresight in the nineteen sixties to prepare a future generation of teachers in schools and colleges !
I wish our political leaders would catch a vision to give hope and security for young people in India!
M.C.Mathew (text and photo)
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