A nation which is consistent force of life, vibrant, incredible beautiful, extraordinarily spiritual, extremely colourful, covering all shades, hue, tones and styles; projecting deep within a solid, stable, peaceful spirit and soul of India which collectively makes India − A truly amazing place. Life goes on in India − We quarrel, fight, love, trust, hate, But, India will go on, always making its own styles, its own spicy and zesty living, always improvising.
In many dimensions, today the industrialised (urbanised) world has a tremendous influence on the direction of development in developing countries. And as our economies grow, the exploitation of resources continue at a tremendous pace. Governments (politicians and bureaucrats) do get their bonuses from the corporate houses overseas, while Cronies of Capitalism does what it does at its best and in turn exploiting economies and hammering the nail on small and medium local businesses, deplete the natural resources to the fullest and later again bring in the concepts of organic and eco friendly products into the markets at premium prices and then boast themselves as a social responsible organization. Amidst of all this competition, the younger force rattles among themselves in the rat race while the bourgeoisies tries to maintain their standard living. Hardly any social welfare scheme or actions of the capitalist society takes cares for the downtrodden and it is shocking to see when most of those unfortunate ones at the bottom of the pyramid go unnoticed in the voter list of the country. And then finally Countries like India or Brazil or Senegal would have noted film makers from Hollywood like Danny Boyle to make a documentary or a movie that becomes an Oscar winner. Remember Slumdog Millionaire. So, the question − where have all the leaders gone?
The Barefoot Brigade is a compilation of 25 experiences from the 30th batch of IRMA spanning villages scattered across the country. The journey takes us through the villages of Deccan to the Western Ghats and from the footsteps of Himalayas to the forests in Jharkhand and from the Rann of Kutch to the desert in Rajasthan. All they share is a dream of inspiring and collectively bringing a sustainable change and thereby making lives better. As we are known to the world as Incredible India, let us first make our Indian lives incredible.
Contents –
1. Introduction
2. Fieldwork
3. The Journey
4. Princess in the Mountains
5. The Gods Own Village
6. 23 Years of Bhadreshwar Waiting
7. EUREKA! I did it
8. King of Koraput Times
9. From Bangalore to Bihar
10. Bhilwara ki Gudiya
11. The RAT Eaters
12. BIHARI Baboo
13. Simplicity the Name “Godda”
14. Amchi Andhra
15. Yeh Dhaulpur hai mere Yaar
16. The Angels Journey
17. Paradise
18. Correct me, If I am Wrong
19. Stairway to the Seas
20. Bihar ki Sana Rita
21. Meri aankhein khul gayee!
22. The Nightingale of Nandurbar
23. The best Gift of my Life
24. Uttarakhand Calling
25. Bhavnaon ko Samjho!
26. My Village − My Story
27. Mera Hindi accha hai!
28. Mr. Emotional Thinker
29. The Reflection
30. The Last Word
31. The State, the Economy and Society
32. Where have all the “Leaders” gone?
33. Summing up for the Leaders of the Future
34. Wake Up
