Youngsters or even not-so-youngsters who are thinking of doing 'social work' sometimes ask me: "Uncle, I don't know how to begin" or "Sony mama, what can I do all by myself?". So here are a few broad points which I picked up personally as I went along doing social work, mostly as a free agent, WITHOUT A VISITING card. And below the list, I have added a few lines about each point. I guess this should be enough to start thoughts of your own. And if you need more inputs, you can post comments or even email me at sureshjagranindia@gmail.com.


POINTS
1. Like other life-occupations, think about whether you wish to enter into social work.It could be a one way street.

2. For results, 'time'is the scarcest resource and the most important, along with 'perseverance'. Not money......honest!!!

3. It helps if born rich or if you have earned enough money or invested enough for security and personal comfort levels, and if you have first completed your responsibility towards dependents.

4. Choosing the issue(s)you want to tackle or the work location, is really up to you.

5. Look around for compatible partner(s), either individuals or a group, that you can support through your work.

6. Be prepared to pay your own expenses, especially in the early years.

7. Communication skills - written and spoken - are an asset.

8. It may take years to understand your selected social problem and be convinced of possible solution(s).These are the inevitable 'grind' years.

9. Ideally, as an individual, one can attempt to scale up the solution right up to the national level. Networking skills and building bigger better Partner Teams are the key.

10. Our own capabilities and vision are the only limitations.

11.Try not to build up expectations of 'results'. The act of attempting social work holds enough personal enrichment.


POINTS WITH ADD-ONS
1. Deciding on social work: This could happen by accident, conscious thought, or a mixture of the two when thought meets chance circumstances.For me it was a vague buried idea, dissatisfaction with 'earning' careers,and death of parents that gave the push.

2. Time: The accident of being 'single' allowed me to survive on little and allowed more freedom to spend time on social work.The death of my parents added still more freedoms of choice. But though part-time social work is possible, I have found that responsibility and committment for results demand perseverence. The long haul.

3. Money: I wasn't rich. Had only very modest income from journalism. So I got through the hard early years of social work. Later, the corporate shares I had bought in my early years through unconscious intuition, offered me some life security.

4. Choice of 'cause': I had some strange accidental meetings with blind people. My mother's intention to donate her eyes / body also influenced me. And the cause of maximizing cornea retrieval fitted in with my idea of working in Mumbai or other urban areas. The move to rural Rajasthan occured years later. The shift was work related. And it came about only when the appeal of city-life had diminished for me - maybe through age!

5. Search for a partner. This takes time and luck and a hard urge to search thoroughly and uncompromisingly for the 'proper' team. It took me frustrating years in the wilderness before I discovered Dr.Gulapalli N.Rao in Hyderabad as the President of the Eye Bank Association of India.

6. Paying one's way: I painfully bore all my social work expenses for many years. I found that people ready to sponsor your costs .CAN be found. But only after proving yourself. In my case I may have been rather fortunate. Sponsors have always appeared WITHOUT seeking them consciously. Maybe, as somebody as said: Hard work always brings luck.

7. Communication skills: Ability to articulate well and sell yourself, your ideas, your work, with skill and fervour really helps.Remember, you will be dealing with human beings.Though money IS necessary, their attitudes to voluntary action is what makes social work, work.

8. Understanding the problem and solutions: Here you need to be a harsh self-judge. Always, every minute.Am I doing any good? Are the people I serve satisfied and asking for more? Tough questions should be asked. No bullshit with yourself. Be ever prepared to change your convictions and ideas, and try new bold things, if you are getting nowhere.

9. Networking for scale up. Here I think it is best to give the example of Mrs Aruna Roy who took a close look at corruption during distribution of grains in rural Rajasthan and took it all the way up until the Right to Information Act (RTI)became law.

10. Limitations: Aruna Roy, like her husband is an ex-IAS offcer. He is also the founder of a successful prominent NGO. As I said, our individual vision and skills are the only limitation.In a small way, without using membership in any group, I could work with an NGO (a new National body) and a Law University, to draft and submit revisions in a Central Govt.Act for the attention of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health. Final results....unknown as yet, but prospects seem good. It helps, I found,to always dream big and be a catalyst to bring diverse specialist groups together. The fancy term for this, I believe, is a 'VIRTUAL organization.

11. Not bothering about results: This may seem contrary to Point No.2 and 7. But it isn't!!! While solo social workers need to stay ever focussed, it doesn't help to consider each failure "as the end of the world". Or we would go crazy. The idea is to keep plugging away as best as one can. And never be shy of looking at fresh new concepts, if getting nowhere.