I too had a Dream...

Verghese Kurien is the father of the milk revolution.

This statement although is magnanimous, it does not convey the magnitude of service that this man has done for our country...

For he was the man behind AMUL...The man behind DHARA...The man who fought to uplift the farmers by cutting down the middlemen in food chain and by setting up co-operatives the true system of democratic business institutions.

"I too had a dream" is a must read for every Indian. I happened to pick up this book for i wanted to write a story of a urban youth getting involved in the village problems, by chance...as i looked around for something to read along these lines i came across what was my exact story or in fact even more dramatic! The story of Verghese Kurien...a man who accidentally lands up in a sleepy, dusty village of Anand in Gujrat in 1948 and ends up spending all his life there transforming India into the largest producer of milk in the WORLD!!

Here are some excerpts from the book...

If we are brave enough to love, strong enough to rejoice in another's happiness and wise enough to know that there is enough to go around for all of us then we would have lived our lives to the fullest...Kurien writes in the prologue which is a letter he addresses to his grandson, Siddharth.

"Working with the dairy farmers i saw when you work for profit the pleasure is transitory but if you work for others the deeper sense of fulfillment and if you work for others there is a deeper sense of fulfillment and if handled well there is adequate money too."

"I began to see then that when the government enters business, the citizens of India get cheated. The greatest repercussion of the government entering into business is that instead of safeguarding people from vested interests, they themselves become the vested interest."

"I have always maintained that since all the ambitious and selfish people from the villages make a beeline for Mumbai, Delhi and other glamorous cities what are left behind are only good people. It is necessary that we mobilise these people and involve them in the process of development."

What we needed to do was organise the farmers, place them in command and be their employees to provide technical, administrative and other strengths. This unbeatable combination at National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) is what became the organisations irresistible force.

What was painful is that in my own country there were powers who did not want the common man to become stronger.

I have always believed that once you identify the right person for a project and tell him or her exactly what you expect and then entrust him or her with trust, allow the person to work without independently without any interference. Such a project is bound to succeed.

Nothing is ever gained without takings some risks. There are so many opportunities that pass by and if you do not seize them, they are wasted.

We Indians are an extremely intelligent people but we can progress only we learn to unleash the collective power of our people...whenever this happens it disturbs a lot of people for they know that the giant is waking up.

There is no Govt agency which after spending 1000 crore which the NDDB(National Dairy Development Board) did, owns nothing. and in this i take great pride.

The tragedy with India is that we have no respect for Indians, Indian efforts or India successes. (Referring to the oil- "Dhara" which was looked down upon despite high quality and a noble effort(co-operative) and at an affordable price as against the multinational oils present in the market).

Kurien narrates an encounter with a high-ranking govt official in Delhi at the height of AMUL's success, the official said, "Kurien , these Nestle chaps are truly great people. What marvellous things they achieve. You must go and see how they run their dairy". Kurien retorted, " And shall i tell you how well the British ran this country? Should we call them back?" The official was silenced...THAT WAS KURIEN...no mincing of words.

Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin to Kurien- "Anyone who has seen the dairy plant, anyone who has looked into the eyes of the farmers in your village here, know what you are doing. You are eliminating the bloodsuckers. You are giving strength to the people. You are constructing structures and institutions of the people. What you are doing is absolutely correct."

As far as the multinationals are concerned Money is and will always be their GOD!

Kurien to Nestle Chairman, "I know your problem...you have met people in India who know about dairy more than you do. Your problem is that you are unable to pit a price on me or buy me out which is what you normally do but let me tell you that you cannot buy me out now can you ever buy AMUL."

...These are just a few of the gems in this treasure that narrate a story of guts and glory of fight, betrayal and triumphs of a vision that was rare and a vision that was accomplished.

Kurien gave all his life for a cause benefited millions of farmers and the country,

It is a story that inspires and makes us proud to be born in this land no matter what we feel at times or otherwise.

For more on this please read http://ameybooks.blogspot.com/