The India we think and hear about from what we see in the movies and from what we read is very different to the real India that lives everyday.

I had a two day trip to the rural market and got a chance to see for myself the lives of our #farmers and to see them up close and personally. Most of the farmers today have what we call a smart phone. I could not stop but to notice few of them even had an  #iphone (#Steve Jobs – if he were alive, would  have been proud to hear that his  products have found its way to the interior most part of rural India)

The farmer is willing to invest and spend money on products that showcase strong value attributes. They have the same aspirations as all of us have,  and want  products that are world class. They are quick to spot it and somehow find their way to financing it and getting it, because they don’t want to be left out from rest of the world … incredible!!

The Indian farmer is as  literate as the literate in the urban, the  main difference  is that they learned it by doing it  and the literate man learned it by reading it.  The knowledge is the same when it comes to farming or repairing a heavy duty machine. To support this thought, I  met a man who had no education background and yet had over twenty five years of experience as an engineer and today he is one of the most respected mechanic  in the area I visited.

He can repair an engine, a transmission or any part of a #tractor that you ask him to.  I was given to understand that our research team invited him to participate in one of the projects in our R&D, where he contributed immensely.

This is what I call the  frugal #engineering mindset  of rural India. Don’t mistake to  bunch them with what we call in India, the “Jugaad” way.

What prompted me to write this blog, a meeting with a seven year old boy (a son of an engineer, whose father today operates his own service work shop) .

The workshop is aimed to extend service to a tractor owner and  remove difficulty of any long travels of our customers.  So when I visited this work shop, my eye went to this boy. He had an innocent smile and had asked his father to bunk school, so that he could come and meet with me. So below is a short narrative of my conversation with the young boy and I also leave you with few pictures to catch the mood .

What is your name I asked ? He reluctantly said “My name is Raunak Sharma”. I got him to sit on my lap and asked, what he thought about what his father is doing, he said “I love what he does and I am also learning different things every day”. I asked, what is it that you want to do when grow up, he said “I want to be like my father, an engineer “he said with pride and a smile. I asked him, have you learned few things from him as yet “Yes I have and I do everyday and I will become good at it one day in my life”

After hearing him, I put my hands in my pocket and searched for  my visiting card  and handed over it to his father and told him ” that I would be honoured if he allowed me to financially support his ambition by allowing me to sponsor his education”

The young ambition of this child and the vibrancy of the rural India, left me with great insight of the India that is emerging!

I saw it and its matter of time that the world will also in time.

God bless us all!