Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The audience exceeded 3,000. The sponsors: India8217;s largest infotech company, Tata Consultancy Services. Among the audience were sundry ministers, Karnataka8217;s governor-and his security detail of swarthy policemen, as intensely involved in the proceedings on stage as the participants themselves. The setting for this extraordinary evening was the third rural IT quiz in Bangalore8217;s Palace Grounds last week. The innocuous-sounding event largely escaped the attention of the media, but its success showcased how change permeates a society to its grassroots. The criterion for taking part was simple: participants should be students of schools outside the municipal limits of Karnataka8217;s major towns.
More than 48,000 students 8212; 6,000 more than last year 8212; sent in their entries. The groundswell of popular enthusiasm at the finals was clearly a message that the ideal of technology was permeating through to the hinterland. How did this happen? Could other states replicate this silent stream of knowledge? It8217;s possible. But it8217;s not likely to happen in a hurry. A lot of the things that Karnataka does are indeed replicable 8212; and to some extent is going on in states like Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
Still, these are support functions at best. Ultimate success seems to occur when all these happen at once, seamlessly segueing into the other, not in isolation. In Karnataka, it all seems to have come together rather beautifully over the last decade. At the end of the day, children and their parents only consider a career option if they know it works, when they see others make their fortunes. In Karnataka8217;s hinterland, they see that and they want in.
